A.N.: Hey guys! This is my first 'Sandlot' story and it's been a long time coming. I've always wanted to write a fanfic for this but I never got around to it. Hopefully you guys like it. I DO NOT own any of the Sandlot characters, except for Aislin Smalls. Enjoy.

Moving to a new city was hard, especially for Scotty Smalls. It always seemed like everywhere he went, he had trouble making friends. His sister, Aislin, knew it was because he was so quiet and shy. Ace peeked in at her brother playing with his erector set. A frown pulled the corners of her lips down as she stared, remembering the last place they had lived in, which held the same results– Scotty sitting in his room all summer long playing with childhood toys. With a shake of her head, Aislin slowly and quietly closed his bedroom door. Maybe she would bother him about his loneliness later. Now didn't seem like the best time.

Ace felt eyes on her, causing her to turn around and her emerald eyes met her mothers' steely blue ones. "He's doing it again…"

Her mother sighed, her eyes looking sad. Aislin tried to smile at her mom but it was worthless. She knew how much it bothered her mother that Scotty didn't make an effort to make friends. Ace also knew that her mother had blamed herself for him shyness. One night Aislin had her Bill, her step-father, and her mother talking about how moving so often was a strain on Scotty and Aislin. The truth was, though, that Aislin didn't mind the moves. She was able to acclimate fairly easily. Scotty was the difficult one.

Her mother placed her hand onto Aislin's shoulder for a moment before placing a knock onto Scotty's door. She didn't even wait for a response, she just opened the door. Ace was already moving down the hall into her bedroom when she heard, "Hi hunny, oooh." She turned on her heel to see her mothers' finger against her forehead, then she heard Scotty – "Oh, I'm sorry, mom. It was an accident…"

A smirk crept across Aislin's face as she stepped into her bed. Apparently something had hit their mother square in the forehead. What it was Aislin wasn't entirely sure but she had to figure it had to do with the erector set.

Aislin plopped down onto her bed and stared at the ceiling for a moment. Her bedroom was like any teenage girl of the 1960's. Pictures of Dion and the Belmont's, Elvis Presley and The Four Seasons. A record player sat by one of her windows, and in it, sat a record from Bill Haley and the Comets, amongst a mass of other records. Aislin did like to rock around the clock, all night. She was, by far, more outgoing than her younger brother. Scotty would never be caught dead bopping around his room to any sort of music. He only liked to listen to it. Dancing to it was a whole other ball park and one that he didn't dare step onto.

Her bed was pushed up against one wall, with a window directly above it. She liked it that way. Incase on hot nights, she could open the window and maybe catch a cool breeze or to even prop a window fan in there. She also liked it there because she would be able to look out her window on a clear night and stare at the stars, trying to find constellations or even a meteor.

On the opposite side of the room was a medium sized vanity mirror. Her makeup was placed neatly upon, along with her hairdryer. Most people did their hair in the bathroom but because Aislin had to share a bathroom with three other people, she found it more convenient to do her hair and makeup in her own bedroom. It seemed everyone else in the house also found it extremely convenient.

Ace turned her head, eyeing her desk and the pile of books that were strewn across it. Having only started school a few days ago and school ending in a few weeks, she didn't have much homework. She did have, however, a pile of books that her schools' library was going to toss out. 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,' a few works from Shakespeare, a book or two of Charles Dickens, even a copy of 'Anne of Green Gables.' Among the books, was also a copy of Aislin's all time favorite book, 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' She smiled at the book before pushing herself off the bed and walking over to the desk. Her slender, manicured fingers grasped the Mark Twain book. She had read 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' in the past but something about the story captivated her, not as much as 'To Kill a Mockingbird' but it would have to do.

She lay back down on her book and opened to the first page. 'You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly,' she began to read. As much as she liked this book, she could not stand the grammar of it. Mark Twain was a literary genius, though, and he wrote the book in a way that Huckleberry Finn would have spoken it, like a backwoods hillbilly.

Soon she was engulfed in her book when a knock sounded at her door. "Come in," she said, as she placed her book on her stomach and looked up. Scotty stepped into the room, rather timidly. He gave her a weak smile. "Sorry…s-sorry I didn't know you were busy."

Her brother was always too polite and always thinking. Ace smiled at him then sat up straight. "What's wrong, Scott?"

Aislin hardly ever called her brother 'Scotty.' She preferred to call him 'Scott,' like he was a grown man. Maybe 'Scotty' sounded too childish to her. Who really knows? She only knew she didn't like the sound of it.

Scotty stepped farther into her room, shutting the door behind him. He fidgeted for a moment before finally speaking. "Bill says he'll teach me to play catch but I don't know. I don't want to disappoint him. I can't catch a ball or anything."

The emeralds that made up Aislin's eyes watched him carefully. A small laugh passed her lips and infected the air. "Well that's why he's going to teach you. That's what teaching is all about, Scott."

He looked at her exasperated. That was easy for her to say, she was girl and knew how to catch and throw a baseball. Their father had taught Aislin before he had passed and then Bill had even shown her a year or so before they moved to the Valley. "Can you teach me?"

"Scott, I don't think I'll be able to. I mean, you don't want the boys of the neighborhood picking on you, do you?" She smirked at him, but he continued to give her a melancholy look. "Look, maybe one day after school or maybe when I'm not busy. A few people from school want me to go out with them."

He just gave her a nod and left, leaving the door slightly ajar. She frowned. If Scotty wanted to learn how to play the game so bad, he'd have to let Bill teach him at some point. Aislin knew the basics but she wasn't a pro baseball player. She hardly even paid attention to the game anymore. Being a teenager was demanding. Boys were starting to really look at her, friends wanted to go to the local drive-in movie, maybe hit a theme park or a carnival. Before they moved, Aislin was hardly home, where as Scotty was always home. It did make Aislin feel a little guilty, since her brother and she had always been close. However, not being home all the time should have made Bill and Scotty closer. At least that what Aislin had hoped but it seemed like they were still trying to feel each other.

There was nothing she could tonight to help Scotty. Maybe tomorrow she would give him better advice but right now, she needed her beauty sleep. She walked to the light switch and flicked it off. Hopping into bed, she curled up on her side and slowly drifted off to sleep.

XoXoX

Light poured into her room, shining brightly onto Ace's face. With a groan, she turned over, pulling the covers over her head but it was no use. The light was still too bright. Curses, she thought. She would have to go to a tool store or maybe a window store to find room darkeners. Mornings were not her thing and, even though they were in California now, she was not going to like the sun and its mornings anymore than the last place they had lived.

She heard her door creak open, causing her to peer out from under the covers. Scotty stood in the doorway, his brow raised. "Mom says to come get some breakfast."

"What time is it," she asked, rather groggily.

"Almost 9." Damn, he was up early. Then again, Scotty was always up early. Ace could never figure out why. As a young boy, she figured he'd want to sleep in then watch 'The Flintstones' when he woke up. Scotty was a kid of a different breed. He definitely marched to the beat of his drummer.

Aislin sat up in her bed and cocked her head to the side. She noticed Scotty wasn't even wearing his pajamas. He was fully dressed in a green plaid shirt, a pair of khakis and that stupid tan hat with the long visor and the stupid fish on it. "Where are you going?"

"Oh … uh…well I saw some guys go over to the sandlot, so I figure-"

"Wait, wait, the sandlot? What in the world is that?"

"Just an old, beat up baseball diamond."

Ace raised an eyebrow at him, which had to have made him self-conscious. Ace could see it written all over his face. "I'm sorry. Continue."

And he did just that. He told her his plan about sneaking into the sandlot and standing in the outfield to take up space. From Aislin's understanding they didn't have a full team, so Scotty just figured he could be the almost invisible ninth man. Ace had asked him if Bill had already taught him how to play and when he answered 'no,' she stared at him in disbelief. This had bad idea written all over but Ace couldn't bring herself to crush his hopes. Scotty was getting himself into a rather embarrassing situation, she only hoped they didn't notice him, or didn't hit anything his way.

After what seemed like an hour or so, Aislin finally rolled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen table. She sat down as her mother shoved a plate full of food in front of her. Picking up her fork, Ace picked at her eggs. She noticed Scotty rush by her and head out the front door. Their mother peeked around the corner then looked at Ace with a raised brow. "Where is he going?"

"To make some friends," she said with a smile. She didn't know if it was true or not. She only hoped it would be true.

"And what about you? What are your plans for the day?"

She shrugged before answering her mother. She told her that maybe she would walk around the town and figure out what fun places it held. Ace also mentioned that she may be meeting up with a few friends. Her mother looked pleased, as did Bill. Bill smiled at Aislin over his paper. He was in his own world, like he was most mornings or whenever he was working. "So who are these friends," he asked.

"A few girls from school and some boys. I think one of them likes me. His name is Will. He's a baseball player."

That caught Bill's attention. He put the paper down, a blatantly obvious big grin on his face. "Hope I get to meet him sometime."

Aislin shook her head and laughed. She finished her breakfast, got dressed and decided to hit the town. It was hours when she finally arrived back home. Her mother met her at the home with a strange look on her face. "Do you know what happened to Scotty?"

"What? No."

Her mother sighed. "He's been in his room all day. Maybe an hour or so after you left, he came running back in here and straight into his room. It sounded as if he was crying. He won't answer me though."

Ace bit her bottom lip. Something must have happened at the sandlot. She looked up at her mother and assured her she'd make sure her brother was okay. That's what big sisters were for. She walked to his room and knocked gently at the door. "Scott, it's me…"

It took a moment but Aislin heard the door unlock. She opened it and poked her head in. "What happened?"

Scotty didn't turn around, he just motioned for her to come in. She shut the door once inside and sighed. "Scott, what happened today?"

"I went to the sandlot and made a complete fool of myself. One of the boys hit a ball, and I wasn't really paying attention to where it was going. I got pelted with it. They all started to laugh and I couldn't handle it. I just ran off like a loser."

Aislin's face dropped at her brothers words. She took a seat next to him on his bed and hugged him from behind. "Don't worry about it. It could be worse…"

Turning his head to the side, he asked, a little confused, "How could it be any worse?"

"Well you could be a girl," she responded and forced a smile. Scotty fully turned around, giving her a weak smile. It was hard for Aislin to see her brother so down and out. She ruffled his hair playfully, trying to lighten the mood. "Look, just ask Bill tomorrow to teach you. He can't sit there and work all day, can he?"

"I guess not…" She could hear the hesitation in his voice and frowned.

"You two need to bond at some point, Scott. He's our father now. That's something we all need to get used to." Her words were final, as she stood up and left the room, closing the door gently behind her. She didn't say it harshly. She could never say anything too harsh to her brother. She just needed him to know that he was acting foolishly and not bonding with Bill was ridiculous. The man was going to be in their lives for quite a long time and not interacting with the man –or even barely interacting with him- wasn't going to work. If that was the case, they would always be awkward around each other.

XoXoX

When Aislin finally got around to getting up the next morning, Scotty and Bill were already outside playing ball. Or at least attempting to. She propped her elbows onto the windowsill and watched. Scotty was very bad at catching and throwing. Her emerald eyes glanced over at Bill, who looked slightly frustrated. He wasn't exactly a patient man but that's what Scotty needed, some patience. Aislin didn't have the time, nor did she really have the patience.

She could hear Bill tell Scotty to throw the ball back to him. Scotty, looking unsure, bent over a little and brought his arm back to toss the ball underhand. Ace made a face at the scene. It was embarrassing. Bill just stood, baffled, staring at Scotty then looking at the ball then back at Scotty. She really didn't want to watch anymore but she continued to anyways.

"Keep your on the ball … okay?"

Scotty nodded and Bill threw the ball. He threw and BAM it hit her brother right in the eye! Ace hopped off her bed and ran into the kitchen, just as Bill and her brother walked in. Scotty was clearly in agony, yelling "Ugh, my eye! My eye! Oww, ughh!" Her mother, not slightly frantic told Bill to get some ice but instead, he grabbed the steaks that were for dinner and shoved them right onto Scotty's eye. Scotty explained to his mother, with the meat still pressed to his aching eye, that he took his eye off the ball. Bill commented, saying that he at least caught it and that he ought to watch out for his curve. Ace stared at them and frowned. This poor kid was never going to learn to the play the game. Maybe she would teach him after all.

Scotty kept the meat on his for a little while before Bill and their mother checked it out. His eye was still black but at least it wasn't swollen. Ace smirked at him and told him that he could always tell people he got into a messed up fight and that the other guy looks even worse than him. That seemed to cheer him up, at least for a few moments. He went outside shortly after that and as Ace was walking over to the door, she saw a tan boy walk up to the house, with a mitt and bat in his hand. "Hey," he started as he walked up the drive way and front walk in large steps. "I'm going to go play some ball and we need an extra guy, you wanna go?"

Ace watched as Scotty told him 'no.' "Nah, thanks."

"Why not? Don't you like baseball," the tan boy asked with a little attitude.

"Oh yeah but uh…"

"But what?"

Scotty stood up, holding his glove out a little. "Uh but my glove…it's busted. See? Ah, nah, I can't go."

The tan boy shook his head slightly then said, "That's okay…I got an extra one." He reached around to his back, pulling out an extra glove. Aislin smiled. It was really sweet of him to just come into the yard and ask her brother, someone he didn't even know, if he wanted to hang out and have fun. Maybe Scotty would make a friend.

The boy tossed the baffled Scotty the glove. "Come on, let's go."

Ace began to walk back to her room when she heard Scotty open the door and yell inside. "Mom! I'm gonna go play some ball, I'll be back in a little while!"

Ace wanted to follow them to make sure it wasn't a trick but the boy that came up to the house seemed to be really sweet. She had to wonder if it was one of the sandlot kids trying to make amends. Hopefully Scotty would tell her all about it when he got back from playing. Until then, she could only wait.