SUNSHINE POV

A week had passed, I had spoken to Benny almost every night since then and I couldn't stand being in the house any longer. Uncle James had told me about a ball diamond a few blocks over, it was no sandlot that's for sure. It was huge, it was regulation size with bleachers and sunken dugouts, no weeds or old rusted cars in the outfield but a large shiny fence with a banner reading

"Home of the Eagles."

I had been going everyday since Clara hit me day and hitting some balls around once my stuff all showed up, I had asked Smalls to mail me my mitt and bat but I was able to make due with my old equipment.

I picked up another ball and tossed it in the air, I let out a grunt of frustration when it only hit the fence rather than clearing it.

Batting practice was much harder without the boys throwing to me, and it was even becoming a little boring.

"Hey!" A voice yelled out, I turned to see some boys standing in the opening to the field down the third base line. "What do you think you're doing?"

Ignoring them, I dropped the bat and started to pick up some of the stray balls and place them into a bucket, but they were already walking towards me. "I said what do you think you're doing." Again I ignored them, I picked up my bat and was ready to head on out of there, but it was snatched from my hands. "Hey I'm talking to you."

"I heard you."

He was a good looking guy with a tall muscular frame, green eyes and sandy blonde hair poking out from under his ball cap, the other boys looked like they had been playing ball their whole lives. To me they all kinda looked the same, whereas the sandlot came in all shapes and sizes. "Well what the hell are you doing."

"I was just hitting some balls."

He looked over the field were a few balls were splayed across the field. "This is our field." I noticed that his practice shirt had a print out of an Eagle on it and shrugged."This is our field, we pay for the rights to practice on it so you can get the hell outta here."

"Sorry I didn't know." I said.

He glared at me. "Yeah you wouldn't, look this here is a professional baseball diamond and we don't need a girl chewing up the field and mocking it by wearing. . ." He stopped looking at me feet to see that I was wearing steel cleats. He looked back at me a bit confused, I took my bat from his hands.

"I'll leave." I said, I wasn't in the mood to make any enemies with the first people I met. "But if this is such a professional diamond I should let you in on something. Baseball is supposed to be a gentlemen's sport."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I was about to answer when another figure came entering the field.

"Hey assholes, you could have at least helped me carry the balls in." I tried to look around the boys to see who it was but I couldn't see past the mass of large bodies.

"Sorry Kenny, we were a little concerned with the person hitting balls on our field."

"Wait Kenny?" I asked using my bat I pushed the guy aside and walked around the rest of the team.

Kenny stopped in his tracks when he saw me, the bucket handles slipped from his fingers spilling them all over the third base foul territory. "Sunshine?" He broke into a grin and ran at me as fast as Benny could run. He tackled me in a hug spinning me around in circles. "I can't believe it, it's Sunshine Spena!"

He placed me on my feet and gave me another bone crushing hug.

"Kenny man, this your girl or something?" One of his teammates asked.

"What? No, no, no she's taken. . . I mean-" I he looked at me with a questioning look and I nodded. "Yeah she's taken. This is Toni 'sunshine' Spena, remember how I told you guys I used to play on a sandlot team? Well this is the best pitcher that LA has to offer."

The boys seemed confused. My assumption was that either Kenny never mentioned that I was a girl, or they just didn't believe it.

"This is the pitcher with the pitch that could set a boy back a grade?" another asked, Kenny only nodded and gave me another hug.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were moving to florida?"

"It was kind of a spur of the moment thing."

"Well you're here! Wait what about Benny-"

"Uh hello." The guy who had told me to leave called out. "You gonna introduce us or what?"

"Sorry yeah, Toni, this my team. We've been drafted to play for the college, its a team that the Yankees come a recruit from. These are the guys, that's Hank, Simmons, Tyler, Wesley, George, Sean, Matt, Cole K., Parker, Cole P., And that's Adam." He said finishing with the guy who had yelled at me to leave. Their expressions seemed to soften a little bit once I knew all of their names, but it was a lot of names to remember, I mean damn, they had twelve kids on the team and we were always struggling with nine.

"You wanna watch us practice?" Wesley asked, I shook my head, no I really didn't.

"You wanna practice with us?" Kenny asked getting extremely excited, his question was proceeded with some groans of disapproval. "Hey, I bet she can strike anyone of you guys out."

"pfffft." they all scoffed at this idea, Kenny was about to put me into a situation in which I was going to have to pitch to these boys but I quickly stopped him.

"I gotta go anyways, sorry I was on your field."

"Well where do you live? I'll come see you after practice is done." I wondered if Kenny had forgotten about how much I hated Clara or if he just assumed that I wasn't living with her.

"No, Uh I'll come by when your practice is over. What time?"

"In three hours guys yeah?" They nodded. "Three hours."

"Sounds good." I bid him farewell and started towards the exit, just as I hit the gate I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. It was Adam.

"I wanted to apologize."

"For what? Yelling at me or being a complete asshole?" He breathed out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah I'm sorry about that. We're kind of just really protective of our field. I really am sorry for yelling at you."

"And why are you sorry? Cause I'm friends with Kenny, or that you actually are just an obnoxious prick?"

"I deserve that."

"Touch my bat again I'll kill you." I made to move out the gate again but his words stopped me.

"So we will be seeing you again then?" I looked at him, there was no hint of flirtatiousness in his eyes like Phillips always had, and there was no maliciousness in his tone that suggested he was being sarcastic. "I really am sorry for how I acted, it wasn't gentlemen like." He was attempting to lighten the mood but I wasn't having it, even if he was being a jerk, his entire team just stood there and let him treat me like that and it made me miss the guys even more. I wondered how Kenny could stand to be around them, or if Kenny had changed and would have stood there like the rest of them if I was someone else.

Despite this boys remorse there still wasn't an invitation for me to stay, and it irked me. "Yeah it wasn't."

Rolling my eyes I walked away from him, he didn't say anything else just went back to his team and continued on with their practice.

Kenny had changed a lot, he was taller leaner and sprouting some facial hair and a newly shaved head, but his smile was still as bright as ever, I was giddy with excitement to see him but I was also terrified to speak to him again. It was obvious in the letters he had wrote me that he adapted to Florida well, he had all the friends he needed out here. Six years was a long time and being friendly was easy to do in letters, and considering the boys he hung out with it was concerning that maybe he had changed his opinions on things while he was here.

No one seemed to like the idea of a girl ball player, maybe he felt the same.

Clara wasn't at the house when I finally made it back, she had taken to visiting people at their houses since the mark she left had turned into a handprint shaped bruise unlike the others she had left.

I put down the bucket of balls and my bat under my desk and jumped on my bed, I felt a little bit better knowing I was about the rekindle my friendship with Kenny but I was still a little terrified.

I heard a noise coming from my left, and nearly fell off the bed when I saw the closet door move.

I scrambled to my feet, snatching my bat back up from the floor, but the figure stepped out into view.

"Benny?" I was shocked and in awe. Benny had tripped his way out of my closet and was standing in front of me. "What the hell?" My bat forgotten, it fell to the floor with a clank, Benny stared at me and smiled.

"Hey Sunshine." My feet moved without me knowing and in three long strides I was in front of him and kissing him with all the passion I had within me.

He was real, Benny the Jet Rodriguez was in my house, in my room, in Florida.

He kissed me just as fiercely holding onto me like he was afraid I was going to slip away.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked pulling away, my hands travelled up his arms, and along his chest, trying to fathom that he was real.

"What ain't you happy to see me?" He teased stroking my cheek, his brow furrowed as he tilted my head to the side to make out the bruise on my left cheek, "I'll kill her."

"I'm fine, it hurts a lot less than it looks." I was telling the truth, I barely felt it. "Did you drive here?" Benny's expression softened into a smile.

"I missed you."

"I miss you too but Benny you drove down to Florida? What did your parents say?'

"Well considering I called them from Arizona to let them know, they weren't very happy."

"Well you gotta call them Benny, let them know you're okay-"

"I will okay, but can you just. . . . Kiss me or something?" So I did, I kissed him and I kissed him like it was the last time I was going to.

He was here, he was here in Florida and all to see me. The pain of having to leave him came rushing over me, and a sob escaped my lips, which just caused him to hold me tighter.

"I missed you so goddamned much." He whispered into my mouth before kissing me again.

"You're not gonna believe this." He groaned in protest when I pulled away from him again. "I'm sorry, but, Kenny's here."

"What?"

"Yeah, I just saw him a few minutes ago, I didn't even clue in that I might end up living near him." Benny's expression held both confusion and excitement, the same one I had when I saw

Kenny.

"You mean he's actually here?"

"Yeah, I can go see him in a few hours. . . . .Benny why did you come here?" He was taken aback by that. "No I just mean, did you just come here to visit?"

Benny shrugged, "All I know, is that I missed you, I didn't really think about it. I don't want to think about it either can we just be happy that we're together right now?"

I nodded, my brain was going a million different directions but my body just wanted to be held by Benny, and enjoy him being here.