A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope you guys like it.
Notes:
1. Cheerleaders, view whatever you want about it, in the 1960's cheerleading was NOT a sport.
2. The date is correct, I checked.
3. I made up the dress code, but I know it's pretty accurate.
4. Less than 300,000 girls played sports in the 1960's and lower(most of which was volleyball)
5. Also, the date was chosen on accident, but the events go along with the plot pretty well.
6. Thanks to my first four reviewers ever!
-White Buffalo Watcher
-abby
-babiixilyx3
-Whatever Way the Wind Blows
Perfect:
For the six days I lived here, people would stare at me. Not like I'm a model stare, more like a 'Is she crazy!?' stare. Or the occasional, 'Who the hell is she?! 'stare. As far as I could tell, no one except the Sandlot guys knew who I was. And I don't think anyone actually cared either. But that's just the way things go when you're new I guess. In six days I can't exactly tell you that I was earning much respect from anyone, except maybe Scotty.
Let's review. Day one, make boys squirm in their seats. Day two, throw fit at them for not letting me do anything but pitch. Day three, leave early because of my siblings. Day four, accidentally throw baseball at Benny and bruise his left eye. Day five, bruise Benny again on his right eye and make a joke about how he matches now. Day six… that day actually went pretty well. Except for tripping over my own shoelace; everyone got a good laugh out of that. Today is the end of the first week that I have lived in the Valley and so far, I don't really like it. Also, school will start in five days. Five days! Only five more days to try to impress the Sandlot team. Five days to earn friendship from them. Let's just hope I don't screw up again.
Today is the last Wednesday in August. August the twenty-eighth. We've been let off of baseball of baseball today for school shopping. Benny wasn't really happy with the decision. In fact, right now he's sitting on his porch steps, playing catch with himself. I know this because I can see him outside my window. He looks like a teddy bear; you just want to go over there and hug him! Not that I will, but I just thought I'd let you know.
As I was saying, we don't have to play baseball today because of school shopping. And that is why I'm looking through my stupid school handbook for a loophole to clothing. You see, the district has a dress code in which I must follow or else I will be taken out of school. Here. You read it.
Dress Code:
The following apparel are unacceptable for young ladies to display
while in school.
1. Jeans of any type
2. Skirts should not be anymore than 2 in. above the knee
3. Slacks
4. Shorts
Pants may be allowed for the walk to school, but must be taken
off before you enter your homeroom. Showing any defiance to
the dress code could result in being sent home from school or
suspension.
Then it goes on about what 'young ladies' should wear to school. This is the sort of stuff that makes me want to puke. All of this, is just sexism. Girls aren't allowed to do this, girls aren't allowed to do that! It can really make a person feel down. I hate skirts, I always feel like someone can see right through me when I wear one. Trust me, it's not a nice feeling. We can't even wear pants! At my old school we were at least allowed to wear pants during the winter. And guess what? The only school activity we can join is cheerleading! It's not even a sport! How unfair is that?
Well that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Females will always be second best to the human being we know as male. This is also unfortunate for me and our family's financial problem because, I don't own a skirt that fits me. I haven't worn one a skirt in three years. That was right after we stopped going to church. My mom had always talked about how it brought our small family closer together. We just stopped going after that. No reason, we just didn't go. And I never bought a new skirt after that. I guess I kind of have to buy one now though.
Do you now know why I really don't like this place? I thought so. Well, I guess I better get going. I want to spend as little time as possible doing this. I grabbed the money my dad had left for me and checked on my sleeping siblings before heading out to the shopping district.
On my way there I must've seen five different people running in casual clothing to somewhere else. I just kept on walking, hoping that those were the only weirdoes in the Valley. The windows of the shops were decorated with new clothing and new trends. I came across a store labeled, Leona & Sue's in big fancy letters. I peaked through the large window and noticed a couple other girls my age also shopping in the store. This gave me the queue to enter the girly store in search of clothing.
The store had a very… pink atmosphere. Not exactly what I was hoping for but, I'll just keep going forward. I saw an orange colored skirt on the floor and picked it up. As soon as I looked up I saw a mountain of clothing in my face.
"Oh, thank you! Can you just put that on the top please?" The mountain asked.
"Uh… sure." I said and flung it on top.
The mountain of clothing was set down on a counter. The holder of the mountain walked back to me. She was a small girl with short, carrot-colored hair and chocolate brown eyes.
"Thanks for helping me out." She said.
"You're welcome?"
"My name's Luanne Doyle." She said and stuck out her hand.
"Kay McDowell." I replied and shook her hand.
"Like the letter?"
"Like the letter." I almost growled back.
"Oh, sorry, touchy subject?"
My features calmed. "It's alright, I just hate when people ask that question."
"Oh, ok. So are you new here? I haven't seen you around."
"Yeah, I just moved from Tulare County a little further up north from here."
"Why did you move?" Luanne asked generally curious.
"My dad found a nice job here, and it would set us up more financially."
"Oh."
It seemed that small talk was over and she just sort of stared at me. That's not exactly true, I stared at her too, but hers was more… actually, I really couldn't read the expression on her face. It was somewhere in between curiosity, disgust, and intensity.
"You're tall." She stated simply.
"I guess."
"Is that why you're wearing men's clothing?"
"No. I'm wearing this out of freedom that I don't want to wear a skirt." I answered proudly.
"That's weird. Why wouldn't you just wear a skirt? I mean unless you're like a tomboy or something, why not just wear girl's clothing?"
I looked at her strangely. This girl was the total opposite of me. She had just pegged me and she didn't even know it. "Wait, you're a tomboy?"
"Yup."
"You really are weird."
I smiled at her in a knowing way, which I'm pretty sure confused her.
"So what are you doing in here then?" She asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if you're a tomboy what are you shopping at a place like this for?"
"School clothing. The school doesn't allow girls to wear pants."
"Really? I didn't know that. I mean, I thought girls just didn't wear them. I never thought there was a rule."
"I looked it up, but it doesn't say I can't wear these babies." I said and stuck out one of my red chucks.
She giggled to herself and after a while just stared at me in disbelief. "You're going to wear those to school?"
"Yes, yes I am."
"What else are you wearing?"
"I don't know. How 'bout this?" I inquired and held up an ugly yellow ruffled skirt.
"Uh, I don't think so. Why don't I help you out?"
"Thanks! That would really help me."
"No problem, I don't want you to die of humiliation after the first day of school."
"It was that bad?"
"Yeah, it was. And maybe we can do something about your hair then too." She said as she observed my hair.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! The hair stays as is, no exceptions beauty queen." I said shielding my hair as I said it.
"Fine." Luanne mumbled and led me into the world of clothing.
About an hour later, Luanne had accepted the clothing I tried on and I decided to buy them. In my journey I tried to find the least girly stuff in here, which was hard considering I was in a very girly store. But it wasn't as bad as I expected. After the shopping experience, I went back home only to find Benny in the exact same spot he was in an hour ago. He was looking down at the pavement with little interest. It took me approximately 5 seconds for me to figure out what to do.
I quickly ran into the house and checked to make sure the twins had been picked up by a babysitter and then upstairs to grab my hat and glove. Then I sprinted back downstairs and outside. Putting the hat on my head, I casually walked over to Benny.
"Are you going to sit there all day or are you going to play some baseball?" I asked him jokingly.
He looked up and stared at me, obviously surprised. I smirked at him and lended him my hand.
"C'mon, I'll pitch for you."
He looked at me once and said, "You're not going to give me another bruise are you?"
"Only if you deserve it."
"Fair enough." He said and grabbed my hand.
I pulled him up and we headed out to the Sandlot where a clear field was waiting for us. It didn't take long for us to start. All I had to do was pitch and he'd hit the ball. It got sort of tiring because we didn't have anyone in the outfield, but Benny was content, which also made me content. I was so glad that he had finally trusted me, because if he did, the rest of team would too. Which meant that I would be accepted. It was sort of my goal since I got her. I always have a goal to achieve, because if I always have a goal, I can never stop progressing.
It wasn't until about noon that we took a break, because neither of us had wanted to stop. It wasn't until that point that I felt tired. I felt as if I was going to die in mere seconds. So I sighed melodramatically and collapsed onto the ground.
"You can't be that tired!" He yelled out to me.
"Yes I can! And don't try to stop me!"
"Fine, fine." I heard him grumble as he made his way over to me.
He sat down next to me. "I don't think any of the guys has ever offered to play baseball with me after I gave them the day off. Mostly because we went to the pool instead, but no one ever did."
"Why didn't you go to the pool today?"
"Yeah, about that… you see, we sort of got a two year ban from the pool."
"What the hell did you do to get you're self kicked out of a public pool?" I asked interested by the topic.
"Squints kind of faked choking and made out with the lifeguard while she was doing CPR."
"Squints? Are you serious?" I asked astonished.
"Very serious."
"God, I would've paid to see that." Benny averted his attention to something behind me as his face turned into a curious expression.
"What are you looking at?"
"A guy just ran down the street."
"Really? I saw a couple people do that this morning."
Benny yelled to the guy as he passed. "Hey! What are you running for?!"
"Didn't you hear?! Go home and turn to channel 5 on your television!" He said and passed on.
Benny looked at me and I shrugged. "I guess it's important."
"Yeah."
"Crap!" I yelled.
"What?"
"My television hasn't been set up yet. I can't watch it."
"Why don't you watch it at my house?"
"You sure?"
"Yeah, why not, if it's really important than you might as well see it."
"Alright." I agreed.
We stood up and walked back to his house.
Benny opened the door to his house to reveal a wood floor and yellow walls. It was very humble. Some place I would've liked to live.
"Es que Benny?" A female voice called.
"Sí, mamá, me trajo un amigo a su casa! ¿Está bien?" Benny replied to her.
"Muy bien, cariño. Ven por aquí, hay buenas noticias en la televisión."
"Estaré allí en un segundo!"
I stared at Benny wondering what he had said. "That was my mom. She's watching the television right now and wants us to come watch."
"Is it alright with her if I stay to watch?"
"She said it was okay."
I followed Benny to another room in his house. Benny was the spitting image of his mother, except in male form. She was a little taller than I was and had a pale pink dress on.
"Is this your friend Benny?" She said in an accent.
"Yeah."
"Hi, it's nice to meet you, my name's Kay McDowell." I spoke.
"It's nice to meet you as well, I'm Julina Rodriguez."
"What's this exciting news everyone is talking about?" Benny asked.
"Watch the television."
'This is live from Washington, DC where over 300,000 people have gathered to march for jobs and freedom. The march followed after a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. and has been going on since. As you can see, most of the marchers are African American, but some of the marchers are also white who oppose the rights that are given to the black people.'
"Wow." Was all I could say.
"Wow is right." Benny repeated.
"Isn't this exciting?"
"Yeah it is. I can barely believe this."
"I'll be able to vote!" Mrs. Rodriguez said in all of her happiness.
I laughed at her display of joy. "This is amazing, I actually think that this will work." I said.
We shared more small talk for a little while longer before I stood up to leave.
"I should get going, my dad will be home soon."
"Will you come back for supper?"
"Well, I was just here to-"
"Say yes, she'll insist anyway." Benny whispered to me.
"What did you say to her Benjamin?" Julina asked.
"Nothing mamá."
"That's what I thought."
"I don't-"
"I insist. You can bring your family too. Mr. Rodriguez will be home by then too."
"Oh… alright. I'll ask my dad. When should we be over here?
"Around 6 o'clock will be fine." She answered.
"Goodbye Benny, Mrs. Rodriguez." I said as I departed from the Rodriguez home.
This was turning out to be a good day. Aside from the shopping, I had made a new friend, who was a nice enough person to be around. It was the perfect day, and things couldn't get better than this. Maybe living here isn't as bad as I thought it was.
A/N: I was really determined to upload this. I spent about two hours or so on it. I get really distracted very fast, so it was a challenge to focus. I hoped you like it.
Questions for you guys:
1. How many siblings should Benny have?(Or should he be an only child?)
2. What sort of school schedule should they have?(subjects, periods, ect.)
3. When Kay turns 14, what sort of job will she choose?(remember it's only 1963, women couldn't do much work)
You don't have to answer them, but it would make all fuzzy inside. *Lip-Pout*
Please review! It gives me the encouragement to write.
