𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙑𝙀𝙉 ☾ 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘻

004

"You got us banned...awesome!"

     It was the hottest day of the summer, and all of the kids were sitting in the dugout of the sandlot, waiting for Squints and Yeah-Yeah to get back with the ball. They were all drinking pop, Camille and Benny throwing a ball back and forth while they all complained about the heat.

     "Where you guys been? We've been waiting here forever already." Benny asked, walking up to them.

     "Aw, Squints was pervin' a dish." Yeah-Yeah replied.

     "Shut up. I wasn't." Squints tried to protest.

     "Yeah-Yeah, you were! Your tongue was hangin' our of your head, and you was swoonin'." Yeah-Yeah argued, continuing to mock him. "Oh Wendy Peffercorn! My darling lover girl!"

     "I said shut up!" Squints said, turning around and grabbing a pop. "I've got a lot of things on my mind."

     Suddenly, Ham came up to Benny and Camille. Sweating like a pig, he complained; "This pop isn't working, Benny. I'm baking like a toasted cheese! It's so hot here!"

     "It's a hundred-fifty degrees out there, you can't play baseball! You have to call it for the day!" Mia yelled, earning agreement from the rest of the group.

     Benny looked irritated, sighing and glancing at Camille, who only shrugged. "Vote then. Anybody who wants to be... a 'can't hack it' panty waist... who wears their mama's bra, raise your hand." He said.

     Everybody raised their hand, except for Camille of course.

     "Fine, fine, fine! Be like that. So what are we gonna do?" Benny asked, taking a step closer to Camille and wiping sweat off of his forehead.

     Suddenly, Yeah-Yeah got this look on his face. Then they all had it.

     "Scam pool honeys!" They all yelled.

     "Mia, Mia!" Camille yelled as she splashed her best friend. "Look!" She said, pointing to Ham. He was on the edge of the pool, talking to some older women, flexing whatever he could. Then in a moment of glory, he did a cannonball and splash every single girl on the side of the pool, causing Mia and Camille to laugh uncontrollably. Mia had on a yellow one-piece bathing suit that tied together at the back of her neck. Camille, however, had a two-piece on. The top being a bikini, and the bottom a high waisted pair of watershorts. They went back to playing with the boys.

     "Chicken fight!" Someone yelled as they all paired up. Camille getting on top of Benny and Mia getting on top of Kenny.

     "You're going down Talarico!" Camille laughed as they fought each other. When Camille has successfully knocked Mia off of Kenny, Benny let her down, only for all of them to notice Squints get out of the pool. "What's he doing?" She asked.

     "I don't know but that's the deep end and Squints can't swim!" Yeah-Yeah responded.

     They watched as Squints climbed up the diving board, and jumped in. "Squints!" They yelled.

     As they reached the end of the pool, Camille was a bit behind, Benny grabbing her hand and pulling her out, so they could both run to the commotion.

     "Holy crap!" Someone yelled as they pulled the limp body of Squints out of the pool, laying him down on his back.

      "Benny..." Camille looked at him, squeezing the hand that she hadn't let go of, a worried look on her face.

     "It'll be okay Camille, he'll be fine-" Benny responded, giving her a nod of reassurance.

     After a few moments of CPR, Squints opened his eyes and smiled at the group of people around him, quickly closing them and acting dead.

     "Oh no-" Mia whispered.

     As Wendy Peffercorn went to give him another kiss, Squints held the back of her head and kissed her passionately, causing her to scream and flail around under his weak grip. After finally getting out, she screamed "Little pervert!" and yanked him up, throwing him and the rest of the kids from the pool. Forever banning them.

     "Squints, did you plan that?" Ham asked him.

     "'Course I did! Been planning it for years." He responded, putting his glasses back on.

     "You guys, he planned that! He knew what he was doing!" Ham yelled excitedly as he ran to the rest of the group.

     Mia and Camille finally got back to the group after changing privately. Mia wearing the same capris she always wears with a flowing green shirt, Camille wearing jean shorts, a small red shirt, her flannel...and Benny's hat.

     Camille caught up to Benny on their walk back "You sure you don't want this back?" She asked, gesturing to the baseball cap that rest upon her head.

     Benny chuckled and smiled "Yes, you can keep it." He said, pulling it down to cover her eyes.

     "Hey! Benny, not cool man!" She laughed, pulling it back up. "So, now what?" She turned and asked the rest of the group.

     Camille, Ham, and Kenny were hanging around a picnic table, one set up for the Forth of July festivities, watching Ham shove a hotdog down his throat.

       "Jesus, Ham, save some hotdog for the rest of us!" Kenny joked, causing Ham to mumble something.

     Suddenly, Mia ran up to them, holding something behind her. "I got it!" She yelled, exhausted.

     "Got what?" Kenny asked her.

     "A radio! I heard they play all of the best hits tonight, so I thought we could listen while we play?" She trailed off, waiting for a response.

     "I think it's a great idea! Some smooth Jaz while Long-Ball Porter out-balls you guys!" Ham said snarkily.

Kenny then grabbed the radio, smiling at Mia. "You look tired, I'll carry it." He smiled.

"Thanks Kenny," Mia blushed earning a smirk from Camille.

Suddenly, Benny and Smalls ran past them, yelling 'come on!' So they all followed them.

Every forth of July, according to Benny, they had a night game since the fireworks lit up the field enough for them to play. When they got there, they played a few rounds, Mia turned on her radio, a slow song playing, causing all of them to start dancing with one another. Camille laughed and watched, when suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a slow dance.

She smiled when she saw who it was. "I don't remember being asked to dance?" She joked.

"I don't see you running away," Benny joked back, putting his hands on her hips.

"I-" Camille started, but realized she had nothing to say. "Whatever you goof."

So they all stood there, watching the fireworks in absolute awe, while two young lovebirds stare into each other's eyes and share the greatest first kiss of all time.