Be who we are

6. Statuesque

"The fact you have never been to a professional baseball game hurts me deeply, Rae," Ferris told me as we settled into our seats at Wrigley Field. I snorted and rolled my eyes as I squinted my eyes into the sun.

"You were gonna take me but then you got the flu and vomited all over your bedroom floor, remember? You had the suckiest fifteenth birthday in the history of fifteen birthdays," I reminded him, chuckling at one of the only times he'd been truly sick. Ferris pulled a face at the memory and sniffed indignantly, obviously not willing to admit that he was the reason I had yet to attend a professional baseball game.

I was seated at Cameron's right, holding a bag of popcorn that was probably going to serve as my lunch since pancreas was--surprise, surprise--not that filling. As I munched on the snack, I glanced over at the dark haired boy beside me, watching as his eyes flit over the field attentively; he was one of the biggest sports fans I'd had ever met. I didn't watch the games often, but when I did, Cameron would waste no time in giving my house a call to talk about it live with me.

"I can't believe we got tickets that last minute," Cameron commented.

"Well, more tickets sold, more money--that is one of the only applicable uses for math," I mentioned. Cam laughed and watched as the next player came up to bat; we'd come in late, but after a brief glance at the scoreboard (which read nothing to nothing), we were ready to go. The one thing I was honestly most excited about was the fact that Cameron seemed like he was actually having fun. What with the first half of the day absolutely destroying him emotionally, I would have expected him to sulk through the entire day, but, to my surprise... he was smiling. "Want some popcorn to go with your hotdog?"

"Oo, yes," he hummed happily, shoving his hand into the bag I held. I laughed as some of the popped kernels fell around my feet, his eagerness for food apparent as he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. He looked at me all puffy cheeked with his eyebrows furrowing. "Whaa?" I laughed more at how distorted his voice was and just shook my head in response to his question, wrapping my arms around his in a hug.

As the inning wore on, the four of us continuously made comments that blended into the crowd. Cam and I decided to see who could outdo the other in the most enthusiastic cheering, a competition that both amused and annoyed those sitting around us. One old guy thought it was absolutely hilarious and laughed whenever one or both of us would jump up, clapping as hard as we could. At one point one of the balls soared towards our section of the stadium and as everyone threw their hands up to see if they could catch it, Ferris--miraculously--snatched it out of the air. As the crowd cheered and people congratulated him, Cam and I were staring at him in shock and awe, watching as he held up the ball victoriously and then shook his hand out wincing slightly.

"Wooooooooo!" Cameron called out as we sat back down again. I laughed in disbelief as Ferris tossed me the ball.

"Keep it," he told me with a smile before he went back to wincing. I shook my head with a grin, tossing the ball between both of my hands. Ferris flexed his fingers. "I think I broke my thumb."

"He-eyyy, batter, batter, batter, batter, swing, battah!" Cameron called out loudly through a mouthful of hot dog. He nodded to me and Ferris. "C'mon!" Sloane rolled her eyes and went back to doodling on some paper she'd had in her pocket. I snorted at her disinterest and joined in the boys' antics.

"He-eyyy, batter, batter, batter, batter, swing battah!" we all called out. Cameron dropped his head back slightly and squinted his eyes shut as he continued to chant,

"Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, sa-wing battah!"

"You're a riot, Cam. I love ya for that," I told him truthfully as we all began picking at our snacks again. He smiled at me and nudged my side with his elbow.