REPEATING HISTORY (2) (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER ONE: SUMMER BREAK

HAYLEY'S POV
I walked into the building for my first day at Broadwater High, I'm starting at the most inconvenient time. With school finishing for the holidays, I was very nervous. I didn't have any friends or relatives to depend on, I hadn't been in the area since I was little. Walking down the tenth-grade building, I can feel people's eyes on me. I attempt to shrug them off as I make my way to my first class, hoping they would stop staring soon enough.

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Lunch, finally. Introducing yourself in every class is soul draining, but this is what happens when you move I guess. I sit down and start picking at my rather bland lunch from the cafeteria. Two girls, who couldn't look more different, walk over to my table and sit down.

"Hi, my name is Jenny Smith-Smalls and this is my twin sister, Penny. What's your name?" The brunette introduces the two with a confident and friendly smile.

"My name's Hayley, Hayley Rodriguez," I don't have to force a smile on my face as I greeted the girls happily, knowing this was the perfect opportunity to make new friends before break.

"Do you mind if we hang out with you?" Penny asks, glancing at the empty table.

"Well I don't see anyone else here, sure." The girls laugh at my comment before sitting down.

"Do you play any sports, Hayley?" Jenny asks, taking me by surprise. It wasn't expected of girls to do anything besides housework or makeovers, a rather sexist stereotype, but we're slowly changing the world.

"Yeah, I play softball and baseball," I briefly explain, trying not to get into the details. I wasn't exactly popular for my sporting skills at my last school.

"That's awesome, Jenny and I love baseball too,"

"There's this place where we can play, not many people know about it. It's great for practice." Jenny continues, peaking my interest.

"Really?" I ask, even more intrigued by the two girls. If you didn't know them, you'd assume they'd never seen a baseball in their lives.

"Yeah. We can play after school, at a place called the Sandlot." Jenny states casually. An unstoppable grin grew on my face. The legendary pitch itself, had been revealed to me by two helpful girls. Mum and dad hadn't had the chance to take me to see it yet. Guess I'm ahead of them.

"Awesome, my parents used to play there all the time." I smile, not knowing if the girls knew of the history of the dusty old pitch.

"Wait a minute, your mum and dad were part of the original Sandlot gang?"

"Yeah, my mum and dad are Emma and Benny Rodriquez." I nod my head, now eager to share my parents' experiences together with their gang of misfits.

"Of course you love baseball! Your mum and dad are baseball addicts." Penny cries out with joy as people start to stare, but we pay them no mind.

"Wait, is your dad Smalls?" They both nod eagerly and I laugh in disbelief. "How have we not met?"

We finish our lunch and head to the school baseball diamond to watch two teams battle it out. I see two teams playing against each other fiercely. One in uniforms and the other clad in a mismatch of different jeans, t-shirts and the occasional baseball jersey. I sit down with Jenny and Penny as we watch with the crowd rather closely. A boy with baby blue eyes and blonde hair runs around the plates, kicking up dust as he went.  The other team attempted to scramble to grab the ball and tag him out. He smiles at me, winking in a cheeky manner. I shake my head in disbelief as my face flushes and my heart skips a beat, I play it off. The bell rings and after a few more lessons, school finishes and it's time to leave. I grab my bike and find the twins at the front gate, looking energetic and raring to go. We ride away from school and head to the Sandlot with a ball, baseball glove and bat in hand and bike basket. We begin to practice.

"So, any boys?" Jenny asks, taking a few practice swings, loosening herself for the first pitch.

"Oh come on, it's her first day. I doubt it."
Neither pair of eyes even glances at my cheeks as they redden, their eyes stick to the ball.

"Well, one of the guys on the casual team is pretty cute." I pitch the ball to Jenny, using my special underarm trick. The girl seems unfazed as she hits the ball and Penny and I run after it.

"What does he look like?" Penny asks, panting slightly from the run.

"Blonde hair, baby blue eyes, tall and tan." They chuckle knowingly. "What?"

"You seem to have taken a liking to David Durango. Captain of Broadwater's unofficial baseball team. You and a hundred other girls." Jenny fills me in.

"What about you two?"

"I like a boy named Matt." Jenny mumbles.

"And I like kid named Caleb." We practice for ten minutes and the air fills with tension as the mismatched group shows up on bikes, including David, or as I like to refer to him, Blue Eyes.