A/N: Update 6
After school, I headed over to the baseball diamond. It had been a long day. Girls could be so rude. They gossiped about Winnie all day. I was doing my best to make sure she didn't hear much of it. It wasn't too hard when she was around me, because the girls here are head over heels for me, but I wasn't so sure about the rest of the day when she was in her other classes. I was ready for some really good practice where I wouldn't have to deal with any catty girls.
"Peter, wait!" I heard a female's voice from behind me. I cringed. I did not want to deal with anymore girls today. I turned around and sighed in relief. It was only Winnie. Her I could handle.
"Hi, Winnie," I smiled stopping to wait for her to catch up.
She slowed her jog down as she got closer. "You said it was okay if I came and watched your baseball practice, right?" she smiled, looking up at me with those bright blue eyes.
"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem. I'll just tell coach that I'm your ride home. He shouldn't care, as long as you just stay on the bleachers," I replied looking at her beautiful blue eyes.
"Perfect," she said smiling. We stared at each other for a lingering moment before she pulled her gaze away from mine, breaking the heated tension. Her face flushed, and I felt my face get hot as well. We continued across the school's parking lot to the baseball diamond.
Practice was less than effective today. I had an incredibly hard time concentrating with Winnie sitting up in the bleachers. I was trying much too hard to impress her. The team definitely noticed, and was giving me crap for it in the locker room.
"So, Peter, I see you have a little crush going on," my friend, Blake, said. "It's about time man. I don't think I've ever seen you so head over heels for a girl."
I laughed toweling off my hair. "I'm not head over heels for Winnie," I lied. "She's my neighbor. I'm just being nice. Besides, even if I did like her, it's not like she likes me back."
"Right," Blake scoffed. "First of all, every girl in this school likes you. Second, no girl would sit through two and a half hours of high school baseball practice just for a ride home. And third—"
"She's new. She doesn't know anybody. How was she supposed to get home?" I replied, interrupting Blake.
"And third," Blake continued unfazed. "Didn't you notice her watching you the entire time during practice?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. She was not," I scoffed in reply.
"Whatever, dude," Blake shook his head.
I walked out to my car and saw Winnie leaning on the hood. Her head was down looking at her phone. She didn't see me walking up. I watched her. Not in a creepy way, but in an observational way. Her hair had fallen in front of her face hiding those beautiful cheekbones. Her blue sweater had inched up a bit from leaning against the car revealing a trim of her tiny waist. I was definitely checking her out, and needed to make myself stop. I found it strange that she had this effect on me. How could someone I barely know make me blush and fumble around? I have never felt this way about anybody, besides Wendy. Wendy! That's who Winnie reminded me of. But how could that be? I haven't seen Wendy since she was twelve years old. In fact, strangely, this is the longest I've gone without thinking about her. Since Winnie showed up I haven't felt sad or lonely. I never thought that could be possible.
Winnie looked up. "Oh, hi, Peter. There you are. Ready to go home?" She asked smiling.
I nodded. "Sorry I took so long. Blake and I were talking," I replied unlocking the car.
We both got in and Winnie said, "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? My dad wants to meet you and thank you for driving me to and from school."
I sat staring at Winnie for a minute. Was she really inviting me to her house to meet her dad, Hook? I couldn't. But I had to. I nodded slowly, cautiously. "Yeah, that would be great. I really want to get to know your family," I forced a smile.
"Great! When we get home, you should go get Sam. I'm sure my brother, Nate, would love to meet him," She replied settling into the seat. "Ow!" She jumped. "Oh, right, I forgot," she said scooting over to the middle of the bench. She nestled in next to me. I tensed up. She looked up at me with a self-satisfied grin. "It's a little cold don't you think?"