The following day, I woke up at 8:30. I quickly got up and threw a white tank top on with a red flannel over it. I pull jeans on and my PF Flyers. I pull my long hair up in a ponytail before I run out of my room.

"Where the hell are you going now?" Jacob asks.

I stop and roll my eyes.

"How many times will I tell you? It's none of your business. I'm older than you by four minutes you know," I say.

He grunts.

"Shut up."

I run out of the house and start making my way towards the sandlot. I finally come in from the opening in the outfield to see two kids waiting on the field. I run over to them to see that's it's Benny and a short boy.

"Where's everyone else?" I ask.

They both shrug.

"Two of them are supposed to get the baseball. The rest should be on their way," Benny says. "By the way, this is Scott Smalls. We call him Smalls."

I nod.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Benny looks at me.

"Which one of you is older? You or Phillips?" He asks.

"I'm older by four minutes," I say.

He chuckles.

"That's good."

We wait around a little while longer before the rest of the kids run towards us.

"Finally. Alright, I guess I should introduce you to all of them. That's Timmy and Tommy Timmons, Mike 'Squints' Palledorous, Alan McClennan, we call him Yeah Yeah, Bertram Grover Weeks, Scotty Smalls, Kenny DeNunez and Hamilton Porter. We call him Ham," he stops to take a breath. All the boys spit at my feet when they're names are called. "Guys this is Ashley Phillips."

I nod my head up and glare at them.

"Well?" Squints asks.

"Well what?" I ask.

"Are you gonna spit?" He asks.

I roll my eyes.

"Man, I ain't gonna spit at your feet," I snap.

They take a step back.

"Okay then," Timmy says.

"You're a feisty girl, aren't you?" Benny asks me.

I roll my eyes.

"No, I'm the nicest person in the world," I say, and I could tell everyone picked up the sarcasm.

"Do you not like guys?" He asks.

I shrug.

"Baseball is the only thing I care about. I don't give a shit about guys. I don't give a shit about having friends. As long as I get the privilege to play the game, I'm good," I say.

They all look from me to Benny.

"What?" Benny and I ask at the same time.

They shrug.

"You and Benny are kind of alike. Regarding the fact that you don't give a shit about having friends," Ham says.

"Ok. Well, can we play?" I ask.

"Right!" Everybody exclaims as I roll my eyes.

"Ashley, you take third base," Benny says.

I nod and run to the position.

"Smalls!" Benny shouts.

<><><>

By the end of the day, I would say I did pretty good. Just as I'm about to leave, someone calls my name.

"Hey Ashley!"

I turn around to see Benny jogging over to me.

"What?" I ask.

He smirks.

"How would you like it if you beat your brother in a friendly game of baseball?" He asks.

I smile.

"I'm listening."

He chuckles.

"You see, we are all enemies with his team, but more specifically him. So, we were wanting to know if you wanted to kick his ass," he says.

My smile widens.

"Count me in."

<><><>

I finally make it home and open the front door.

"Hey sweetie," my mom says.

"Hey mom."

Jacob looks at me.

"Where were you?" He asks.

I roll my eyes.

"It's really none of your business."

I walk over to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water. I slowly chug it down before walking into my room and changing into pajamas. I curl up under the covers and fall asleep, not worrying about dinner.