Take Me Out to the Ball Game

But I AM Twelve!

Lilly's POV

Oliver's dad left us off by our gate so we quickly got into the stadium. Turns out that it was batting helmet day. Oliver really wanted one, but it was only for kids under twelve, so he wasted five minutes trying to convince the guy that he was twelve. The guy was extremely peeved by that and he threatened to call security. Oliver just said, "Fine. Don't believe me. But I'll have you know that I will call and complain," at which the guy just laughed and smiled and said, "You do that, sir."

"Come on Oliver. Let's get to our seats." I pulled him by the sleeve away from the guy. "It's just a stupid batting helmet."

"Yeah, but can you believe he didn't believe that I was twelve?"

I stand in front of him and look at him. "Huh...Yeah...I wonder why he didn't believe you. What do you think Oliver? You look older than you actually are, not younger"

"Whatever." He turned his head to the side and his eyes just brightened. I followed his gaze and it was a T-shirt stand. "Come on! We have to get T-shirts!"

"What? But I don't have any money!"

"Yeah, but I do!"

"But Oliver I can't-"

"Listen Lilly. I'm buying you a shirt whether you like it or not. Now let's see. Do you want a Jake Peavy or Greg Maddux shirt?" He looks at me, sees my face and then realizes that I have no clue who the heck these people are. "Or I can just get you a regular shirt." He turns to the guy and gets a shirt for him and one for me. "Here you go."

"Thanks Oliver. I'll go put it on." We both went to our respective bathrooms and put our shirts on. When we came out, we headed to our seats.

"Ok. Here we are."

"We're sitting here?"

"Yep!"

"Wow!" Our seats were right in the front by left field. RIGHT IN FRONT!!!

"Yeah. Hey! Maybe we'll catch a foul or even a homer!"

"That would be awesome!"

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers!" The announcer guy came over the loudspeaker and said the names Dodger's players. "Now the San Diego Padres!!!" Everybody in the stands went wild with cheers while the announcer dude said the Padres player's names. "Now please rise for the National Anthem." The cheering died down and everybody stood up while some lady sang. Then everybody sat down again and the game started.

I actually didn't know it had started, because I was looking around at everything. I only realized it when I looked at the field and saw Jake Peavy pitching. "I didn't know it started!" Oliver just looked at me and chuckled a little.

"Just watch the game." And that's what I did. I watched the game, even though I had no clue what was going on sometimes. When that happened, I just asked Oliver and he explained it to me. I'm surprised he didn't frustrated with all of my questions, because if I were him, I would get frustrated at me.

It was the bottom of the fourth, the Padres were up at bat, the bases were loaded, there was two outs, the score was 2 to 1 Dodgers, and Adrian Gonzalez was up. He had two balls and two strikes. Jason Schmidt, the Dodger's pitcher, threw a fastball right down the plate. Gonzalez swings his bat. The crowd is biting their nails. His bat makes contact. The ball goes flying. And flying. And flying. And then it looks like it's going to fly into my face. Wait! It is flying into my face! I can't move. I'm way too scared. Then I feel some sort of force push me down. I hear the ball slam against something, and then I feel it against my back. The force let go of me and I sit up, but that was pretty uncomfortable, considering I have a baseball between my back and the seat. I reach behind me and grab it. Gonzalez scored four runs which gave the Padres a 5 to 2 lead over the Dodger's. The crowd was going wild! Then some other guy went up to bat and struck out, but during all of this I'm looking at Oliver.

"Did you just push me out of the way?"

"Yeah. Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Then I jumped out of my seat and gave him an enormous hug. I could tell that he was shocked because he didn't respond at first, but then he put his arms around me and hugged me back. While I was hugging him, I whispered into his ear, "Thank you, Oliver. If you didn't push me out of the way, I would be extremely injured or worse-"

"Don't say it. It's just too horrible to even think about. You're welcome." We then let go of each other and continued to watch the game, but that scene just kept replaying in my head.

A few more innings pass, the Padres keep their lead, and then the 'Seventh-Inning Stretch' comes along. Soon the eighth inning begins, but something else began along with it. You'll see.