The Girl That Made Baseball

3

"So how was school?" Alex asked, looking at Jess in the rear view mirror

"Baseball" Jess shrugged

"Sounds like fun. Get any homers?"

"The both of us, actually" Benny laughed

Alex nodded his head and focused on the road, Jess picking at a flyaway string on her bag

"Ah, shoot" Jess said

"What?" Benny asked

"I forgot my hat at school. Dang" Jess shrugged

"Here, take mine" Benny took off his hat and set it on Jess' head

"Thanks" Jess laughed and fitted it around her head.

Jess wasn't used to seeing Benny without his hat on. He rarely took it off.

The rest of the way to Jess' house was silent.

They got to her driveway and the two walked in to the smell of cookies. Great, the two thought at the same time.

"Jess?" Her mom, Lisa, yelled

"In here mom!" Jess yelled from the mud room

"Oh! Hello, Benny!" Lisa said when she saw Benny wall into the kitchen

"Hi Mrs. Logan" He said, waving a small wave and sitting down at the island

Jess came and sat next to him.

"You two are just in time" Lisa laughed, pulling some cookies out of the oven.

Jess and Benny shared a look and smiled before reaching across the island to grab a cookie for the each of them.

"Do you two have homework?" Lisa asked, leaning over the island

"No, I think we're going to go to the sandlot soon" Jess said, looking at Benny, who seemed to be staring at her.

"Speaking of, your father and I have a surprise for you," Lisa went into the living room "And you, Benny!" She yelled

Mrs. Logan came back with two brand new wooden bats, both with blue handles, and one said Benny and the other said Jess in real small print near the very bottom of the bat.

"Oh, Mrs. Logan, I can't take this..." Benny said, taking the bat into his hand

"Non-sense. It's yours. Jess was in desperate need of a new one, and we figured get you one too. C'mon, Benny, you practically live here" Lisa laughed

"Thank you, so much" Benny swung the bat lightly a few times

"Think of it as a thank you, for making our daughter so happy, and for the both of you passing the 8th grade" Mrs. Logan laughed

"Sandlot?" Jess asked

"Race ya!" Benny bust into a spring out the door, his new bat in hand

Jess laughed

"He's gotta get his glove" Jess laughed "And I need my new ball" Jess ran up stairs and grabbed her bag that had 4 brand new baseballs in it

Jess flew out the door and ran the shortcut to the sandlot, noticing no one was there

Jess laughed and dropped her bag, taking one baseball out of it and walking over to home plate

Just as Jess threw the ball in the air, Benny came running up, and Jess cracked the ball, making it go past the fence at the very end of the field

"H-" Benny bent over to catch his breathe "How did you get here before me" Benny asked

"Well, I knew you needed your glove, so I took the shortcut" Jess laughed

"Cheat" Benny mumbled under his breath while laughed

"Where's the rest of the guys?" Jess asked, knowing that they never come to the sandlot on school nights, because they could have ended up staying well past the time the street lights came on.

"Home" Benny shrugged

"Try out your new bat" Jess grabbed one of her baseballs and went over to the pitchers mound. She wasn't the best at pitching when she was under pressure, but she it was just her and Benny, she could pitch maybe even better than Denunez.

Jess pitched the ball and Benny hit it, it going as far as Jess'.

"Okay," Benny laughed "I don't want to waste all your baseballs." Benny laughed

"Well let's do something" Jess said, over exaggerating the 'something'

"Let's go back to my house then" Benny laughed

"Sure" Jess shrugged and slung her bat over her shoulder, grabbing the small bag she had and holding it.

"C'mon" Benny said, waiting for Jess to catch up and walk next to him.

"Summer vacations going to be great this year, Benny man, you watch" Jess said

"I'll bet. Baseball all summer for 3 months straight? Sounds like heaven" Benny laughed

"You know, when you get all big, when you become some huge big shot, you better remember me, or Alex at the very least, he's the one that taught you baseball" Jess laughed

"I could never forget you, Jess. Your parents just gave me a bat" Benny laughed

Jess laughed and looked at the ground.

"Hey, look" Benny pointed across the street to a U-Haul

"New kid. Think they game?" Jess asked

Suddenly, a short kid carried a box out of the U-Haul and set it down.

He waved at Benny and Jess, Benny not noticing because he had turned back around, and Jess nodded her head

"C'mon, Jess, lets go!" Benny said

Jess and Benny both entered the Rodriguez household and sat on the couch.

"Hey, Jess" Lily, Benny's little sister said

"Hi Lily, what's up?" Jess scooted over for Lily to sit in between Benny and her

"Nothin really. Did you bring Reagan?" Lily asked

"Nope. I think she was sick today. I'll have her come by here tomorrow, okay?" Jess said

You know that stupid voice you only talk in when you talk to little kids? That's how Jess was talking just then. She didn't talk to Reagan like that, but any other 5 year old, she did. She also talked to Benny's baby sister, Leah that way, maybe even higher pitched. So did Benny. He never talked to Lily like that, but he to Reagan and Leah.

Jess stayed over for dinner that night. She didn't even need to call her parents to make sure it was okay, because everyone knew that if Jess wasn't at home, she was at Benny's house. That's just how it was. Jess practically lived at Benny's house and Benny practically lived at Jess' house.