𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒
It was finally morning, and I got up early and read my clock that read 8:13

I decided I should get ready so I can get there by

I put on a pair of loose fit jeans, but not to loose, I put on a round neck long sleeve T-shirt and wore my hair down and put an LA Dodgers hat

I grabbed an extra glove, just in case. It's not that I didn't want to play it's just that I don't want to get in the boys' way

I walked out the door to be met with Benny walking out of his house. I gave him a simple nod to which he did back.

We started walking to the sandlot, talking about our excitement and what we're gonna do over the summer

We finally got to the sandlot, and all the boys were there waiting

We got straight to playing baseball because we wanted all the time we could get

After a while of playing, I noticed a boy near the fence

That was the same boy that Benny and I saw yesterday

I stayed quiet as Benny kept calling plays, warming up the boys

They got to DeNunez pitching to Benny

That's when Benny hit the ball, and it flew straight over to the ball over to the boy

"WATCH OUT," Ham had yelled out

Instead of catching the ball, the boy fell over hopelessly. To be honest, I felt really bad because all the boys were laughing and told him to hurry up and throw the ball

The kid finally got the ball. "Were watingg," squints yelled, trying to get the kids' attention

He got into a... ridiculous, shall I say, stance and tried throwing the ball

But instead, he threw it 4 feet in front of him. That's when the boys threw their gloves down, laughing at the boy

The boy ran out of the sandlot in embarrassment. Benny and I looked at each other, then looked at the boys, mad at their actions

"C'mon guys, give the kid a break, I mean, that must have taken a lot of courage, gosh."

"You know what, I have an idea," I told Benny, getting his attention. "What?" he asked in total confusion. "I'll tell you later. Let's just keep playing," he nodded

We got their attention and kept playing until the sun was starting to set

"Guys, it's getting late. Let's go," I told them

We all started walking home, and then once everyone went inside, we stopped in front of Benny's house so I could tell him my idea

"So what was your idea?"Well, remember that boy from earlier, I was thinking maybe we should invite him over to the sandlot. We could call the boys and tell them to meet behind Vincent's drug, then head to the sandlot with that boy, " I said

"That's actually a good idea, since when did you have good ideas?" he said jokingly

"Oh yeah," I said, just looking at him. "Relax hermosa. I'm just playing, " he said laughing "yeah you better be playing. "

"Well, I should get home. It's getting late, " I said

"Ok, hermosa, see ya tomorrow. Bye, " he said while running back into his house

"Bye Benny,"

I ran back inside to get ready for bed, but before I called the boys to tell them to meet behind Vincent's drug store

Afterward, I went in and took a shower and put on lotion, then put my hair up and went to bed peacefully

The next morning, I woke up, got dressed, were wearing a thick black strap tank top, jean shorts, and a Babe Ruth jersey over

Once I went downstairs, I put on my Black Converse, grabbed my glove, ran out the house, and went to Benny's

He was walking out of the house as well. We greet each other with a "Hey" and saw the boy from yesterday

He had a black eye from who knows what. We walk up to him. "Hey, we're gonna go play ball, and we need an extra guy wanna come?" Benny asked the kid

"No, I can't," the kid responded, and he sounded disappointed. "Why not? Don't you like baseball?" I asked

"My glove, i-its busted see now I can't go." Benny rolled his eyes and pulled out an extra glove from the back of his pants

"Here, c'mon," the kid opened the door. "Ma, I'm gonna go play some ball." he came, and we started jogging

It was a little awkward, so I started a conversation. "So what's your name?" I asked

"Scott, Scott Smalls," he said and asked right after answering, "What's your name?" Both of you"

"I'm Y/n Y/l/n"

"I'm Benny Rodriguez," then the conversation continues but just with small talk

We eventually got to Vincent's Drug Store, and we went and bought a baseball

We walked to the back door and heard the boys messing around. "IuM te grayt bambeno," Ham said with something in his mouth, making him mumble whatever

"What?" The boys said, questioning

"IuM te grayt bambeno." "What?"

He took whatever was in his mouth out and stated, "I'm the Great Bambino." A collective group of 'ooohs' were heard

"Whos that?" Smalls asked." Everyone turned to him while Benny and I looked down, shaking our heads.

"Were you born in a barn man?"

"Yeah, yeah, what planet are you from?"

"You've never heard of The Sultan of Swat"

"The Titan of Terror"

"The Colossus of Clout"
"The Colossus of Clout"

"The King of Crash man," Benny finally stated

"Oh yeah, the Great Bambino, Of course, I thought you said the great ... Bambi, " he said, which I knew he was lying

"That wimpy deer?" Ham exclaimed."Exuse me, Bambi is in no way a wimpy deer, so be quiet, " I said

"Anyway Scott that's Timmy and Tommy Timmons,*𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡* Michael 'Squints' Palledorous,*𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡* Alan McClennan we call him yeah-yeah,*𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡* Bertram Grover Weeks,*𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡* Kenny DeNunez, *𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡* and Hamilton Porter we call him Ham *𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡* guys this is Scott Smalls"

"Hi," Scott said, Slience

"Uh yeah, but he's gonna be playing with us because he makes nine. Let's go to the sandlot. Were it wasting time? " Benny said in a rush

The boys started complaining, saying it's 9

Han was shoving past Smalls. I nudged Ham, scolding him not to do that

We got to the sandlot with the boys once again, complaining, asking Benny why he brought Smalls

"Why'd you bring him?" Kenny asked

"Yeah, yeah, so would my sister, but I didn't bring her." Yeah-yeah said "Hey I like your sister," I said, annoyed

"With 9 guys, we got a whole team, yeah, yeah,"

"No, with Elswenger, we had a whole team, Elswenger could catch," Ham said . "And throw," Bertam said

"C'mon, Benny, man, he ain't game. You saw the way he threw," Kenny said. I was getting pissed off at this point

"Yeah, you already filled up the empty positions since Elswenger moved to Arizona," Timmy said

"Right, and now I get to rotate 8 positions instead of 7, c'mon guys I need the practice." I could tell Benny was getting annoyed, too

"You're the best on the team. You don't need any practice," Ham stated

"Ok, I can't deal with this. Deal with them for me, would ya?" I asked Benny

"Yeah, I guess," he said

I started walking over to Smalls, who had his head down from the boys insulting him, calling him an L7 weenie and stuff

"Look, Smalls, I hate to be the one to tell ya, but if you wanna play, you're gonna have to ignore people like them," I told him

"What kinda people?" he asked cluelessly "Assholes but you have me if you don't feel comfortable, Benny too." After I said that, I heard Benny telling those blockheads to base-up

"Smalls you take left center ok"

"Ok, where is that exactly?" This poor kid

"Right there, man," he pointed to left center

"Right . . . Here?" He asked, standing in left field

"No, that left, I said left center," Benny said, correcting him

"Oh," then he shuffled a bit to center. "Here?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding. We both continued walking to home plate

"Hope I don't regret this," I said quietly "Ah so is hermosa questioning herself," Benny said jokingly

Kinda

"No, I'm just concerned," I said, looking at the ground

"Whatever you say,"

Benny was giving the guys a couple of plays until it was Smalls' turn

"Smalls, throw it to second," Benny yelled loudly for Smalls to hear

He looked nervous but just said ok

Benny hit it up in the air, and Smalls failed to catch it, landing on his back

He scrambled a little to pick it up. He was about to throw the ball, but instead, he ran to the pitching mound and gave the ball to Kenny

He jogged back to the left center, and everyone started at him and utter shock

I gave Benny the look, and we both started jogging to Smalls

We looked at each other, then Smalls

"You can throw it, you know," Benny said kinda obviously

"No, I can't, I don't know how, thanks for taking me here, but I should leave," Smalls said with disappointment in his tone

"Man, you think too much, betcha get straight A's and shit huh," he said with a slight chuckle

"No, I got a B once ... actually, it was an A-, but it should have been a B. " Me and Benny shared a small glance at each other

"Man, this is baseball. You gotta stop thinking, just have fun, I mean, if you were having fun, you would have caught the ball," I told him straightforwardly

"You ever have a paper route," Benny asked. "I helped a guy once," Smalls said

"Well, chuck it like you would throw a paper. When your arm gets here, just let it go, that easy, " Benny said, demonstrating

Me and I started walking away
"How do I catch it?" Smalls asked

"Just stand there, stick your glove, out in the air." Before Benny could finish, I interrupted him

"Benny will take care of it," I said, and we both started jogging back to home plate

"About time, guys, my clothes are going out of style," Squints yelled. "They already are Squints," I yelled back at his impatience

"Shut uuup" he said, annoyed

Benny looked nervous, too. If Smalls didn't catch this or throw it, we would never hear the end of it

Benny yelled for Smalls to throw to second, then spit on the ball, which he sometimes does for good luck

He hit it up in the air, and Smalls had his glove straight in the air

After what felt like forever, he caught the ball. He actually caught the ball

I was so excited and proud, but I didn't really show it

I don't know why

Benny looked back at me with his charming smile. It gets me every time

Again, I don't know why

Then Smalls threw it to second like nothing

Bertram said, "Ok, let's play some ball."

"I knew it, I knew it all along," Kenny peeped

Benny looked at Smalls and gave him a thumbs-up, to which Smalls have him one back

We kept playing for a while, and everyone got tired, except for Benny and I, of course

We all decided we should start heading home, even though we could've kept playing longer

Ham was talking to Smalls, saying how he could teach him some more about baseball, then he ran back inside, waving us a goodbye

"8 o' clock tomorrow?" Smalls asked us, making sure to meet at the sandlot at 8

"Yeah," Benny said, assuring him

"Benny, wait." we both turn around to see what's wrong. "Your glove," he said

"Keep it, man." Aw that was generous of him "THANKS" Smalls said excitedly

"Wait, Smalls." I already knew what Benny was gonna tell Smalls

"Uh bring a tee shirt and jean tomorrow, k" he said as Smalls was wearing a button up shirt and cargo shorts

"Oh and um you got a fireplace" Benny asked

I was trying to contain my laughter but it was too hard, so I let out a small chuckle

"Yeah why?" Smalls asked so innocently

"Throw that hat in there" Benny said flicking the curve of the hat

"Oh yeah it was the only one I had" Smalls said

Benny took out his hat from behind, wait that one was mine, whatever, I have a ton extra

"Not anymore" He gave MY hat to Smalls

"Thanks Benny, you too Y/N, great, 8'o clock tomorrow" then he stared running inside calling his mom

We stopped in front of Benny's house

"My hat really" I asked "Sorry it was the only extra one I had on me" he said with a little laugh

"Eh whatever"

I said goodbye and ran back to my house which wasn't far

I went home and slept good that night, for no reason I just slept good

Authors note:
I'm so excited for what I have in store of the next chapters 😍
Bye for now pookies
Word count: 2.2k