Every Beginning

4

"Here you go!" My dad handed me a hot dog before sinking down into the spot next to me. He began to happily munch on his own hot dog.

He had insisted on getting us hot dogs from the snack shack, despite it not being lunch time yet. Although I had fought it at first, now that the food was in my hands I felt my stomach grumble. In all the excitement earlier I had forgotten to eat before we left.

I was surprised by the large crowd that had gathered for Dylan's game, but my dad explained that the team marketed it well and that most of the people there were tourists looking for vacation activities. We watched as Dylan warmed up by the dugout with a teammate. The other guys on his team varied in age, but most of them looked like they were in their early twenties. 

Dylan hadn't noticed us yet, but by the excitement radiating off my dad, I knew he went to a lot of his games.

On cue, we were interrupted by the sound of someone yelling my dads name. "Mark!"

My eyes scanned the crowd until I found Dylan's coach, who was waving at us. He wore a grey t-shirt with the team name, the "Surfer Point Sharks" printed across the front and a pair of sunglasses shielded his eyes. When he started to motion for my dad to come over, I heard a heavy sigh. Turning to me, he had guilt plastered on his face, "I'm sorry kiddo, do you mind?"

I shook my head and almost immediately my dad was up and making his way over to the team. Dylan had now noticed us and was standing with his coach, waiting for him. "It'll only take a second!" my dad yelled out as he walked.

I glanced down at my half-eaten hot dog, suddenly not feeling hungry.

All around me the bleachers were filling up with people chatting happily about the game or the weather. Five minutes went by and I was quickly realizing that when my dad was way off when he promised 'one second'.

"Sawyer?"

At the sound of my name, I turned to see who at this game could possibly know me. 

Jess, the girl from the beach, was standing up at her seat, waving wildly. Glancing behind me to make sure it wasn't directed towards someone else, I waved back. She kept smiling at me and I realized she was waiting for me to come over. When I got closer, I noticed she was sitting with Sydney, who was sprawled out on the bleachers with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"I thought that was you!" Jess exclaimed, forcing Sydney to scoot over to make room for me. 

"Please tell me you're not here to be a part of Dylan's fan club," Sydney groaned as she pushed her sunglasses up onto the top of her head, "I can't take another one." She sent Jess a pointed look, who flushed pink.

Despite Jess's obvious annoyance, I couldn't help the laugh that escaped, "Trust me, I'm not. I was basically forced here against my will." Sydney nodded in agreement.

"I'm not his 'fan club', he asked all of us to come to the game."

"No," Sydney stressed that word, "He mentioned it to us. Notice that no one else came." She turned to face me. "Jess forces me to go to these things because her and Dylan have not-so-secret crushes on each other."

Jess shoved her--hard. "I could say the same thing about you and Bash!"

At this, Sydney sent her a look of disgust. "I do not have a crush on Bash. No self-respecting girl would."

Jess smirked at her, happy the conversation had shifted away from her and my step-brother. I had to admit that I was a little happy too. Despite not being close with Dylan, it was still weird talking about him with girls. "Anyway," Jess announced loudly, "Noah said he'd try to come, so it's not just us."