Time for another chapter to this lovely story.

Thank you for those who have reviewed. I really appreciate it.


Chapter 3

Jackie woke up earlier than usual and lied in bed. She sighed and rolled over on her side, a tear rolling down her cheek. She wiped it quickly awake, not allowing herself to cry. She wasn't going to let the dream win today.

She got up and grabbed her things for the shower. She heard Smalls mumbling in his sleep in his room. She locked the door behind her and turned the shower on. It took the water a few minutes to turn warm so she took the time to brush through her tangled mess of hair.

After she got dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans, she put her short wet hair up in a ponytail. By this time her aunt was awake and making breakfast.

"Morning Jackie." She called a gentle smile on her lips.

"Good morning." She replied.

"Have a good sleep?" she asked. Jackie nodded lying. "That's great. Breakfast?" she asked. Jackie sat down at the table, as her aunt set a plate of food in front of her.

"Morning girls." Bill called, fixing his tie.

"Morning Uncle." Jackie replied.

"Morning, Honey. Breakfast?" Jackie's aunt asked. Bill sat next to Jackie and smiled at his wife as she set down a plate for him.

"Scotty!" she called. "Scotty, wake up, and come eat your breakfast." She shouted.

"Should I go wake him up?" Jackie asked.

"Would you please?" her aunt smiled. Jackie got up and went to wake her cousin.

"Bill." Bill looked up at his wife. "Jackie's birthday is next weekend." She said.

"Is it?" he asked, and she nodded.

"She's been through so much. You think we can throw her a birthday party?" she asked.

"Why not throw her a surprise birthday party?" he suggested.

"That would be perfect!" she squeaked and kissed his cheek.

"Smalls! We're late!" Jackie shouted in Small's ear. Hearing that he was late made adrenaline race up his veins, sending him flailing off the bed. Smalls woke up to a laughing Jackie, and a sore butt.

"Jackie," He whined, but she only laughed in response.

"Come on, your mom made breakfast." She said, and walked out of the room.

With a giant sigh Smalls got up and dressed for the day. He walked into the kitchen and was immediately swarmed by his mother's good morning kisses.

"Mom," he whined, and his mom giggled. "Go eat your breakfast Scotty." She ordered, returning to the stove.

"Well I better get going to work." Bill said, standing up. Smalls took a seat next to Jackie, taking a piece of toast. "We will finish our discussion when I get home." Bill said to his wife.

"Yes, Honey." She replied. Bill kissed her cheek and waved at the ids as he left.

"So? What is the plan for today?" Mom asked. "Another day for baseball?" she asked already knowing.

"You bet." Smalls answered, quickly eating.

"What about you Jackie?" Mom asked.

"The same." She answered, drinking the rest of her orange juice.

"Baseball?"

"Yup." Jackie said with a smile.

"Come on Jackie, we're goin to be late." Smalls said frantically. The two got up from the table and rushed to get their things.

"Bye Aunty!" Jackie called.

"See you later mom." Smalls called too. Both of them ran out the door. Smalls began to run, Jackie following and they met up with Benny on the corner.

"Hey Smalls, change of plans." Benny said disappointedly.

"What is it?" Smalls asked.

"We need to meet up in town, come on I'll explain when we get there." Benny said, ushering the two in the opposite direction.

Benny wouldn't tell either of them what was wrong or what was going on. Jackie could see the tenseness in Benny, and decided to distract him a little.

"How old are you Benny?" she asked. Benny looked at her curiously, but answered anyway.

"I'm 16." He answered.

"The oldest on the team?" she asked. Benny shook his head.

"Burtrub is 17." He said. Jackie nodded and thought of another question to ask, but was interrupted.

"Jackie turns 16 next week." Smalls announced. Jackie's heart stuttered to a halt.

"Really?" Benny asked, sounding interested.

"Yup!" Smalls said happily.

"I'm still a year older." Benny teased. Although Jackie didn't like the mention of her birthday, she didn't' mind having it distract Benny.

"There he is." Ham's voice boomed. Benny, Smalls, and Jackie jogged up to meet up with them.

"What took you so long?" Squints complained.

"Yeah, Yeah Benny man, we've been dying of boredom." Yeah-Yeah added.

"Sorry, Smalls slept in." Jackie joked.

"You're killing me Smalls!" Hams said, and Jackie couldn't help a little laugh.

"Hey Benny, why did you drag us out here anyway?" DeNunez asked.

"Right." Benny said, but before he could explain what was going on, he was interrupted by a bunch of giggling behind him.

"Hi, Benny." A girl said. She was had straight long, brown colored hair, and looked to be Jackie's age. A girl stood next to her with long, curly blond hair.

"Hi Martha, Bridget." Benny replied to the girls.

"What are you boys doing over here?" the blond, Bridget asked.

"Official team business." Benny answered. Martha and Bridget smiled at Benny, knowing how dedicated and gifted he is in baseball. That wasn't the only reason they had developed a crush on him. He was also a gentleman.

"Could we come watch a game sometime?" Martha asked, batting her eyelashes. Benny scratched his shoulder unsure what to say.

"Sure, if you can find out where it is." Squints laughed, making the team laugh including Jackie. That caught the girls' attention.

"What is she doing here?" Bridget sneered glaring at Jackie.

"Who?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, who?" Repeat repeated.

"Her." Bridget pointed at Jackie. Jackie slunk back behind DeNunez.

"Jackie?" Smalls asked.

"Is that her name?" Martha asked.

"We all assumed it was a boy name." Bridget teased.

"Why would you assume that?" Benny asked.

"Because she looked like a boy." Both girls laughed. Jackie looked down embarrassed.

"Just look at her. The clothes, the hair, the way she talks, there is nothing girlish about her." Bridget said. Jackie unconsciously picked at her clothing and her short hair.

"What are you talking about?" Smalls asked a little angered by the comment.

"Yeah, Jackie might not look like a girl, but she's cool in my book." DeNunez said. Jackie looked up shocked.

"Now get out of here, we have business to take care of." Squints said, waving off the girls.

"Yeah, Yeah, Scram!" Yeah-Yeah said. Both girls scoffed, and walked away.

"Don't pay them any attention Jackie." Smalls said, turning towards his cousin.

"Yeah, they're just jealous." Timmy said.

"Just jealous." Repeat put in.

"Jealous of what?" Jackie asked not believing them for one second. She knew she didn't fit in with those other girls, she never did. So what did have that made them so jealous.

"That we let you hang out with us." Burtrub stated. "No other girl as before." He added. Jackie still didn't feel any better.

"Listen Jackie," Benny said. "You have one thing that those girls don't." he said. Jackie looked up at him curiously. "The love for baseball." He said, putting his right fist over his heart. Jackie smiled at this.

"Those girls can never understand it. Baseball is what bonds this team together, including you." Benny confirmed, making Jackie smile again.

"Yeah, so forget about those brads." Ham interrupted. "Why are we here instead of the Sandlot?" he asked.

"Right." Benny said, going back to business. "Boys we have been challenged to a championship game." He announced. Immediately the guys started to chatter amongst themselves.

"Hey guys!" Benny shouted over them and they all went silent. "This is big for us. The winning team gets $500 cash award. Do you know what type of baseball equipment we can get from that?" Benny said his eyes lighting up.

"You guys can get your own team shirts." Jackie said, getting just as excited.

"Yes!" Benny said. "Not only that, but we have never backed down from a challenge." He added.

"Who challenged us?" Burtrub asked.

"Phillip and his team." Benny answered. The guys automatically went into game mode. Jackie just nodded, not knowing who Philip was.

"Those blockheads?" Squints laughed.

"We'll crush 'em!" Ham said, popping his knuckles.

"Sure we will." Benny said determined. "Especially with her help." He then pulled Jackie next to him. He smiled at her and pattered on the back. "Right Coach?" he asked. Jackie looked at him unsure.

"Yeah, we can do this!"

"Come on Coach, you got this!"

"Let's do this Coach Jackie.!"

The team erupted in cheers as Jackie smiled at them, accepting the position and the new nickname.

"So, what now Coach?" Smalls asked. Jackie looked over the boys; her new team.

"I say," she smiled. "Let's go play some baseball!"

The boys cheered and ran off towards the Sandlot, ready for practice.


So Jackie is now Coach of the Sandlot boys. What will this mean for the team?

Thanks for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and give me your honest opinion.

Thank you.