internet friends | w.l. ✓

one

[Skylar]

I couldn't hold in my excited grin as we drove through northeastern Pennsylvania, on our way to the Little League World Series. Not only had I been wanting to go for months, but I was about to meet my best friend, Walker, for the first time.

My other best friend, Kylie, was sitting next to me in the backseat of my mom's Toyota Sienna, texting someone on her phone. She was always texting or Snapchatting someone - she was the complete opposite of me. The only friends I had were Kylie and Walker, one of whom I had never even met.

"Looks like we're here," my mom announced as we pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. It was the perfect location - just a block away from Lamade Stadium and the players' dorms.

I made a mental note to ask Walker what hotel room he would be staying in as we grabbed our suitcases from the back of the car and started walking towards the hotel entrance. Once we were inside, my mom checked us in, and after getting our room keys, we went to the elevator. I pressed the button for the eighth floor, since Kylie's hands were full, holding her giant suitcase and matching duffel bag. I could never understand why she would need so much stuff - we were only going to be here for three weeks, and it's not like we wouldn't have access to a washer and dryer. She was one of those people who acted as if it was some heinous crime to wear the same outfit twice. How we ended up best friends, I will never know.

The elevator dinged as we reached our floor, and we picked up our bags and headed to our rooms. Kylie and I had a room to ourselves, with my mom in the conjoining room next door.

I put my key in and unlocked the door, stepping inside before running to claim the bed farthest from the door. I always chose that one - that way, if robbers or murderers came into the room, they'd see Kylie first and I'd have more time to escape.

"Why do I have to be the one who gets murdered first?" she whined, setting her things down on the floor next to her bed.

"Because I'm younger than you, so I should get a chance to live my life before I die. You've already lived longer than me, so it makes sense that you should go before me," I stated, shrugging as I started unpacking my suitcase.

She scoffed. "Shut up, I'm only two months older than you."

"Exactly. So I should get a chance to live out those two months, since you've already lived them."

Kylie stared at me, dumbfounded. "Every day you start to make less and less sense."

"So anyways," I said, ignoring her, "We should head to the stadium soon. The International game's starting in thirty minutes, and Walker said we could meet up before the game." I couldn't help smiling as I realized - once again - that I was about to meet my best friend.

She shrugged and stood up, grabbing her phone and her wallet. "Sure."

I followed her out into the hallway, shutting the door behind me before knocking on my mom's door and telling her where we were going. She knew I was meeting up with Walker; she's one of the few parents who's fine with their kid meeting someone they met online - but only because she's seen me FaceTiming him and knows he's not some creepy 40-year-old guy.

We went down to the lobby and outside, hurrying to get to the stadium. Once we were there, I texted Walker and asked him where he was. I nervously looked around, craning my neck to try and find him. Kylie was walking beside me, holding up her phone to record it all.

Then my phone buzzed, and I quickly opened the text.

from: Walker

turn around.