Thanx to everyone who's still reading this by the way. Don't want you to be waiting too long, so here's the next chapter. :-)
Disclaimer: Do not own any of these characters .... etc.
___________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 8
Still Stronger
Being a vampire did not at all alter my attitude towards sport. Not surprising really, considering that I still hated pretty much everything I hated back when I was human; such as hugely expensive sports cars, for example. I am not looking forward to this, something my family around me had not failed to notice.
"Cheer up Bella!" Alice said, as we made our way to the pitch. I ignored her; cheering up was a little difficult at the moment, especially when you were about to make a fool of yourself in front of the rest of your family.
"You know what," I said, pretending to brighten up, "Maybe I'll just referee or whatever. I mean, I don't want to make the teams uneven in numbers." Alice growled, I knew there was no way I was going to get out of it; not that way at least. I sighed, and sped up to catch up with Edward. "I can't believe I'm doing this." I mumbled. I had a sudden image in my head of when I had injured Mike Newton during one of our Gym classes. That was playing badminton... how on earth was I supposed to survive baseball?
When we reached the meadow Carlisle was just finishing setting up the bases. To my human eyes it had looked so far apart, now I saw differently. I knew that I could get round in a matter of seconds. Of course, I didn't want to think about 'getting round' them, I still had a vain hope that I wouldn't have to play at all. Of course, Edward wasn't going to have that.
He pulled me into his arms so quickly that I didn't see it coming. Then, ran over and put me down next to Carlisle. "Carlisle, can Bella be one of the captains?" He proposed, ignoring me completely when I hissed menacingly at him. Carlisle laughed, guessing the reason behind it. He agreed, much to my annoyance. "Bella Swan, team captain. Ugh." I mumbled. "What are the chances." Edward laughed, taking my hand.
"No chance in the slightest. Bella Swan would never have been captain. Bella Cullen was so reluctant to play I had to do the only thing I could to stop you running away; so it's your own fault really." He laughed when I growled again.
"Ok." Carlisle called to get our attention. "Emmett, you're the other captain. Choose your teams." We began picking our members.
It ended up as Edward, Carlisle, Alice and I against Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Esme, who usually refereed, but to make up the numbers had decided to join in. On the sidelines Jacob sat with Renesmee, and Seth had even turned up to watch. Great, more people to humiliate myself in front of.
"Emmett, your team up to bat first." Carlisle said, and everyone moved into position. I stood out of the way; just let them get on with it. For a while I just stood there, watching. I was lucky, and not a single ball came my way, or at least not at first. Emmett was the first up to bat, knocking the ball with such force in Edwards direction. He caught it, getting Emmet out. Rosalie was up next. She was more successful than Emmett, and made it round all the bases.
It was only when Esme came to bat that the ball came my way for the first time. She probably did it deliberately, thinking that I was being excluded from the game. I panicked when the ball came my way. "Eep." I could see Esme running around the bases. I jumped, in an attempt to catch the ball. I missed it by an inch. It went flying over my head. I cursed, knowing that any one of my family could have caught that with ease. As soon as my feet touched the ground I was running after it. I grabbed it, but I couldn't see the game through the trees. I lobbed it hard and fast in the direction of the game, then sprinted back to find everyone guffawing with laughter. The only exception was Emmett. If I could I would have blushed.
"Bella!" He was annoyed, but you could tell he was trying not to laugh because of the smirk on his face. "Look where you're throwing that stupid ball!" Yes, if I could blush I would have gone scarlet. "Gimme a break!" I said back in my defence. "It is my first time. No one's perfect Emmett!" It was obvious that I'd hit him with the ball; hard I'd imagine and in the back of the head. Yes, I definitely didn't like sport still, especially baseball.
Edward came over, still laughing, and took my hand. I elbowed him in the stomach. He shouldn't be laughing; he knew how much I didn't want to play. "Love, we're up to bat." He nodded over to where everyone was changing round. Great, everyone was still grinning. I sighed as he began to lead me over.
I tried to sneak to the back, but Edward caught me. "Oh no you don't. Your team captain, you're going first." Great. I knew I was going to have to have words with my husband. He pushed a bat into my hand. Focus, focus. I thought. Then I saw the ball coming towards me, almost in slow motion it seemed. It wasn't hard to position the bat just right. And for the first time in my existence I hit a baseball without injuring anybody. I hit it hard too. Maybe a little too hard. I was so stunned I nearly forgot to run. It was only Edward's voice that reminded me, and I sprinted around the posts as fast as I could.
When I got back I could see Edwards stunned, yet pleased face. "You hit that further than Emmett." He said softly into my ear, pulling me closer. "That's because I'm still stronger." I said, before I kissed him.
The game continued. It soon became apparent that our team was losing. Not that it particularly mattered to me. I couldn't help but change my mind, at least a little bit. Baseball wasn't so bad after all. Not something that I would always necessarily enjoy, but something I could perhaps tolerate, at least for Edwards sake.
Renesmee was fast asleep on Jacobs lap. Seth was dozing, but Jacob seemed very focused on the game. He smiled a wolfy grin; he knew that for once in my life I was, almost, enjoying baseball.
___________________________________________________________________________
Sorry... I know that could have been ended a little better. By the way, sorry if my action stuff is really bad, coz I really can't write about baseball because I don't know the rules and I've never played. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. I'll get the next chapter up ASAP. Don't forget to review!
