You Have To Choose

chapter 15

Finally, Benny said, "When does your old man get home from work?"

"He's gone on business. Out of town. Could be back any time," Smalls said, talking quickly in a panicked tone.

"Alright, find out when. And guys, spread out and look for bottles and cash them in. We need 98 cents. We gotta buy us a ball," Benny told us all, and we nodded. He was great at calming everyone down.

I watched absentmindedly as everyone spread out, and I walked slowly out of the baseball field to search for bottles.

"Hey," I heard a quiet voice mutter from behind me.

I turned around and smiled when Yeah-yeah's icy blue eyes were gazing at me.

"Hey," I said as he fell into step with me.

We were silent for a moment, but I didn't mind. It was a comfortable silence. The type of silence that makes you feel cozy and warm and complete.

But eventually, he broke it.

"On a scale of 1-10 how rude did you think we were the first day you met us?" He asked, and when I glanced up at him, he had an amused look on his face.

"At least 100," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you did seem pretty sassy," he said with a smile.

"I think feisty was actually the word you used."

He gave a small laugh again, "Oh yeah," he said, giving a small nod as I grinned up at him.

"Hey, so me and the guys were gonna have another campout this Friday, and I wondered if you wanted to come," he said with a smile, "if your mom will let you, I mean. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

"I'm sure she wouldn't let me in a million years," I said with a laugh.

"Oh," he muttered disappointedly, and I looked in those gorgeous eyes.

They must have some kind of hold on me, because despite what a bad idea it was, I heard myself say, "But I'll be there."

He looked over at me and I gave a small smirk.

"Are you positive that's a good idea?" He asked me with a frown, "because I'm not so sure it is."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah-yeah, as precious as you being worried about me is, I don't need it. Anyways, what's she gonna do? Send me off or something?" I said with a laugh.

He laughed as well, but there was something deep in his eyes that worried me. I began to open my mouth to ask about it but before I got the chance, we were interrupted.

"Hey, guys, we got enough, let's go cash them," I looked up to see Benny with an angry look on his face as he kept his eyes on Yeah-yeah.

I decided to brush it off and we met up with the rest of the guys to cash in the bottles. They stayed in the store while Yeah-yeah and I walked ahead to Vincent's.

As we glanced in through the welcoming glass doors, the guys weren't here yet.

We sat on the bench outside.

"Man, Alan, I guess you're a ladies man, aye?" I heard a girls voice say, and looked up to see a blonde girl who looked a lot like Yeah-yeah. She was wearing light blue shorts with a white t shirt and sneakers. She was incredibly pretty and walked with confidence.

"Shut up, Ally, and don't call me that," Yeah-yeah rolled his eyes at her.

She only began laughing and stuck her hand out towards me.

"Hey, I'm Ally, and I'm his sister, unfortunately," she joked and I began laughing.

"I'm Adeline," I said, shaking her hand.

"I was just about to head over to the diner, you wanna come with?" She asked, pointing behind her back to the small diner.

"Sure," I shrugged, then looked at Yeah-yeah.

"Hey, I'll meet you guys at the sandlot in a little while," I said with a smile.

He shrugged and smiled back, then got up to walk where the other guys were finally arriving.

I walked beside Ally, and I wondered why she never really came to the Sandlot. I thought she seemed nice enough.