Lina's P.O.V
"Lina hurry up." I heard Scott yell from my living room. He came over first thing in the morning to tell me that him and the rest of the guys were going to go play against the local baseball team. Apparently they had done the same thing a year or two years before I don't remember what he said exactly because I was half asleep. Though I do remember him saying that both teams had an ongoing rivalry of sorts, so they would play against each other whenever things got too heated. The games seem to replace physical violence; Scott had told me that no matter how angry any of them got they wouldn't resort to fighting. No one wanted to run the risk of getting an injury that would prevent them from playing the game they love so much. In my opinion it was a great thing to know that none of the guys that I've grown so fond of would be fighting. I ignored the voice in my head that told me I was more relieved for Benny than anyone else.
I ran out of my room with my shoes in hand, I walked over to the front door and slipped on my sneakers before Scott grabbed my arm dragging me out of the house. According to Scott we were late, Pshhhh late? Scott was always on time if not early. It was nearly noon and the game didn't start until half past. The guy really needed to lighten up. So just to annoy him I purposely walked at a slower pace than normal. He kept looking back at me and I could tell that I was bugging him; he made it too easy. And a lot more fun that it should be. On the way to the field where the game was going to be I decided to stop by the conveince store to buy something to drink for the guys and myself. The summers in the valley were brutal and the only thing that helped keep you cool when you were out in the blazing sun was a nice cold drink. I had told Scott to go on ahead of me; before he left he told me where it was. I payed for my arm full of water bottles and proceeded to the field. It turned out that the place where the game was going to be was the place I was at a few days earlier. It was strange being on the other side of that fence. The field was obviously much neater and put together than the sandlot; but it didn't feel as comfortable or welcoming as the sandlot. I mean baseball was a fun sport a family sport and it was suppose to be fun. The field we were on didn't feel fun at all, it felt down right depressing. It looked nice but that was about it. I took a seat next to squints and handed him a water bottle.
He looked at it disgusted. "You shoulda bought pop instead of this." I rolled my eyes, the guys preferred pop over any other drink. My guess was that all the energy they had was from a sugar induced high and that when they got home they'd crash before they even got a chance to get to their bed. Nevertheless squints opened the bottle and drank half it's contents in under three seconds.
I looked out and saw the guys the were already here tossing a ball around. Benny was of course, Scott, Kenny, and Ham. Timmy, Tommy, Bertram and Yeah-Yeah were still missing. While I was watching them I couldn't help but think what it would be like if I actually went out there and attempted to throw the ball around with them. Not play a real game just pick up a baseball. But I was a big baby who was afraid, though I do believe my fear was justified.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the team that were missing just a few moments before. They were walking over to me and squints; they were all smiles with ice cream at hand. I gave a small laugh, no wonder they were just getting here.
Yeah-Yeah walked over to me and handed me and ice cream cone. I smiled happily. "Thanks Yeah-yeah." I said throwing an arm around him. I sat back down and ate the ice cream. The people from the other team began to assemble; with a furrowed brow I realized that it was the same team I watched practice the other day. Talk about deja'vu So that was the team the guys were always complaining about. I couldn't see it. From where I was standing they didn't seem so bad, but I haven't been around long so I couldn't say anything.
Everyone began glaring at one another while I just sat there wide eyes, gawking at them all. After a few long seconds the glares disappeared and the other team went off to the side while the guys went out in to the field to take their positions. Each of them threw me a smile before putting their "game faces" on.
The game went on just like any other game. Ham kept making comments to the members of the other team to throw them off, sometimes it worked. Either way it made me laugh especially when one person would get fed up with him and yell. As I watched the game I could see that in a way both teams were evenly matched, though it wasn't hard to see why The Sandlot guys always won. They didn't take the game too seriously, even Benny. The guys had fun and they were easy going. They weren't trying to win they were just playing the game they loved. while the other team took the game too seriously. They were stiff and uptight, which often caused inaccuracy with their catching, throwing and batting. Their faces held scowls no smiles; that's what made it so easy for Benny and the guys. The fact that the other team was so serious allowed the guys to psych them out. I shook my head at how easy this all was, it was no wonder the guys always played against this team.
The sun was hot and I was beginning to sweat, I also ran out of water thanks to the guys. But I wasn't complaining; they were playing a game whilst I was sitting down watching. If I was just starting to sweat I can only imagine how much everyone else was sweating. I was thirsty and wondered if the guys would mind if I left for a few minutes. You would think that they wouldn't notice if I was gone but someone always did though it wasn't like I was going to be gone for an hour. I stood up from my seat and began walking towards the exit. I took notice of some of the other teams members starring at me as I passed them, they weren't glaring just taking notice of me. On my way out only one guy from the other team caught my eye. He was standing off to the side probably waiting to bat, he just like the others was looking my way. But unlike the others his gaze lingered, I could feel his gaze roaming over me; not in a sexual way but in a general way. Like when you meet someone for the first time and you think their attractive so you do a once over. I threw a smile his way, he was actually pretty cute well from afar. He returned my smile and I went on my way.
The game ended just like we all predicted it would, with The sandlot guys winning. The guys all began cheering once they got the last home run. I jumped up and down with excitement for them. I threw them two thumbs up even though I knew none of them saw me. I could see the other team sulking from the corner of my eye. Although I was happy for my guys I did feel bad for the other team, it must be hard loosing to an unofficial team even if they were great without needing to be official. Without really thinking about it I walked over to where the other team was, I wasn't sure what my intentions were. I kind of just spoke without thinking.
"You guys did a great job." I said smiling at them. None of them said anything; just gave me confused looks. I looked around awkwardly not really sure what to do next; so I nodded at them and turned to walk away. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I stopped walking and turned to see who tapped me. I was met with big brown eyes and a shy smile. I couldn't be too sure but my guess was that this was the same guy I was looking at earlier.
"Hi." I said breaking the silence.
"Hey." He said still smiling. "Thanks for coming over and trying to make us feel better. I'm sorry for my teams reaction. It's just not easy losing to the same team over and over ya know?"
"No of course, I get it."
The guy smiled, this time bigger. "Good, I didn't want you thinkin we were a bunch of jerks." I smiled back at him. "What's your name?"
"Catalina, but you can call me Lina."
"Well you have a nice name Lina."
I smiled up at him."Thanks, what's your name?"
"Sean, Sean Phillips."
Benny's P.O.V
The guys and I were on an adrenalin high. We all knew we were going to win the game but that didn't stop us from getting riled up when we did. It was the same every time. We win the game and we go crazy, well better said they go crazy. I'm the calmer one out of them all so I would hang back and make sure that none of them got in to too much trouble. On the inside I was hyped but on the outside I was cool and collected. That's how it was for me. I let the guys have their fun because they deserve it, I have my fun too. Only not as much, I know these guys sort of look up to me and if I were to go crazy they would follow suit, going even more wild than normal. I didn't want to take on that responsibility. We were all patting Smalls on the back for making that last home run. He barely made it but that's how it always worked. Point is he did make it and it resulted in our victory. I was going to be honest, Phillips team had gotten better since the last time we played them and for a moment there I was worried that they were going to beat us. They may have gotten better but we still won. We had heart they didn't. That's why our team always won, deep down I knew that Phillips knew it too. He just refused to accept it.
As we were walking over to the shade, I saw that Lina wasn't there anymore. I started looking around for her. My eyes landed on Lina who was talking to none other than Phillips himself. Why is she talking to him? I couldn't see her face, I only saw the back of her. Though I could see his face and he wouldn't stop smiling. I wanted to know what they were talking about, what he was saying to her because it didn't look like he was saying something to upset her. I felt a surge of jealousy? Run through me. I didn't like the fact that Lina had yet to walk away from Phillips.
I knew that he could be a complete ass to me and the team but I had never seen him around girls before. I would think just like any guy our age-minus squints and any other socially awkward guys-he would be charming and smooth. The thought sent another wave of jealousy; which confused me. I wasn't the jealous type. I've had girlfriends before, nothing serious, it was in my early teenage stage. Thirteen to fourteen when everything is cute about dating someone; when the biggest day of your relationship is Valentines day and the boyfriend gives the girlfriend a giant teddy bear. But even then when my 'girlfriend' talked to other guys I wasn't jealous I was fine. So why was I getting Jealous because Lina was talking to Phillips. Was it because I didn't like him or something else?
A/N just a small one please read: Hello my lovely readers, I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I was busy with school, Psychology is no joke but it is completely worth it because I love Psychology and Philosophy :)
Anyways this is only part one of this chapter the other part should be posted anywhere from the next few hours to the next few days, I wanted to post it so you can get an idea of where this story is going. At first it was going to be just a light hearted short story but it has been brought to my attention that when you are in adolescence nothing is light hearted everything is new and intense. It's not going to be an angsty story because I have enough of those but it is going to deal with jealousy and new emotions. This story isn't going to be centered around baseball because it's about developing relationships and growing emotionally. So I hope you guys will stick with me through the development of the story :)
Quick side note: I have no idea what Phillips first name was, so I thought of Sean I don't know why lol
BTW! I'm off of school now and I'm sure most of you who are in school are about to be too! Any exciting plans for the summer? :D
