3 Strikes~Calum Hood A.U.

Chapter 20

|Julie|

Its been about two weeks since the guys and I had totally left Benny. Now that things have been ironed out with the guys about how everything is going to work, we were finally able to practice. Things were going pretty well at school. Benny's kept his distance after he finally got the hint that not just me, but all of us were pissed at him.

Since its Saturday morning, we were all down at the field running a very productive practice. Yea yea was on the other side of the field working with all the rest of the infielders, and I was over here with all the outfielders, getting ready to hit for them.

"Alright boys, you ready?" I yelled, getting ready to start practicing with them. "Luke! I need you over here to pitch for me!" Luke was one of the best pitchers I know, it was probably how tall he was and how long his arms were. He did pitch baseball, but it didn't matter. Baseball or Softball, I can hit both. Well.

"Alright J, you ready? Ive been working on this new curveball. I dare you to even try to hit it." He said picking up the ball and turning it over in his hand. All i did was nod my head and I saw him get into position. He pitched the ball, and it was not what I was expecting. I hit it with ease, sending it out to Smalls in the outfield.

"Come on Luke, you call that a pitch?" I said, giggling at how well i had hit Luke's 'hard curveball'.

"Oh shut up J, I went easy on you, just wait." He said, getting the ball back from Smalls and getting into his pitching position again.

"Oh really Luke?" I said questionably. "Outfield move back, this ones going far." I yelled, getting Luke pissed off so maybe he would throw harder pitches.

"Oh your in for it Julie." He said as he started to pitch again. This pitch was fast, but I wasn't going to let him beat me at my own game. I hit it, just not as far as I was hoping too. It went to Tommy in the outfield.

"Thats better Luke, you actually pitched an actual curve ball on that one."

"Are you kidding! That was just a luck hit for you!" He yelled, he wasn't mad, this was just what we normally did every practice. Id hit balls to the boys, and Luke would try and strike me out with his pitching skills.

This went on for a while. Me hitting balls to the outfield, Luke pitching to me. Eventually the infield came in and we were running a full on practice. And I actually felt under control. There was no yelling, no pressure, just a simple practice. And Im pretty sure all of us were loving it a lot.

I haven't seen all the guys so happy to be practicing in such a long time. They all had genuine smiles on, not the fake ones that they used to wear. And no one was afraid to mess up, there used to be so many consequences when someone would even drop the ball. But right now it didn't matter. All that mattered was that we were all together, having one hell of a great time.

It was now about 1:30, and I knew that my mom would be here soon to bring me and the boys something to eat/drink. Benny used to hate when shed come down to bring us stuff. He'd say that she was 'distracting us from our practice'. But she just wants to make sure that were all okay.

And just as Luke had finished throwing my Mom had showed up. Thank god, I was hungry as hell, and m sure the boys were too. I saw her get out of the car and grab a bag of food and water out of the back, but that wasn't it. She also had 'the beast with her. Aka, Dolly the yorkie.

Dolly was like our own little team mascot, she loved coming to see us. The boys all loved her, especially Luke. Yet, there was one person who Dolly absolutely hated, Benny. It was quite funny, she would always bite or chase him, it wasn't like I minded though.

My Mom made her way onto the field and let dolly go, who ran all the way over to Luke.She jumped up onto his leg, wanted to be picked up so she could say hello to him. She absolutely adored Luke, it was so funny to watch.

"Hey Julie! I brought you some water and snacks!" My mom said, walking over to me and giving me the bag from her arms.

"Oh! Hi mom, its great to see you, I feel like we haven't even had a full conversation all week" I said, laughing. I had hardly seen her all week since shed been working late hours at the hospital.

"Yea, I know honey. But its great to actually see you for more than about three seconds." She said, giving me a hug. "So, it seems like you actually have everything under control today." She knew about everything that had happened with Benny, and she was the one who helped me with all my decisions.

My Mom believed in me, and told me that I could take control instead of Benny. And look at me now, every things going great. All the boys are happy, and there respecting me. I couldn't be happier with the improvement we've all made today.

"Oh my gosh look at her." My mom said, pointing to Dolly out on the field, she was out chasing all the baseball either being rolled or thrown around the field. It was such a sight to see.

"Oh my, I absolutely cant even. She's so adorable." I said looking at the dog. But thats not what caught my eye.

No, that wasn't what caught my eye at all. It was the two tall figures walking towards me. The two people I though I would never see together in my entire life. Benny and Calum. Looking right at me. This can not be happening right now.

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Guess whos back, back again :p I hope you liked this chapter, I already have the next one written so itll be up soon.

This chapters dedicated to @limonashton ! Thanks for goign and voting for every chapter. Comment something funny below if you want a chapter dedicated to you.

And thank you all for alll the votes on the last chapter. It means alot, if we could please do that again itd be amazing! <3 Love you all!

~Erin