The Girl That Made Baseball

13

The next day, Jess woke up very excited for the day. It was the 4th of July!

The beginning of the day consisted of Jess staying at Benny's house until the night came, the two messing around and trying Benny's mother's food for her.

"You two are going to be full before the barbecue even starts!" She laughed

"Night game. Gotta stock up" Benny said while stuffing his mouth with a brownie

"Well maybe do it a bit more... gentlemenly" The woman laughed and turned to her cooking

Pretty soon, the fireworks had started, and Benny and Jess were off to the sandlot

"Smalls?" Jess knocked on the door

Smalls appeared and looked at the girl, Benny down the driveway

"Night game, lets go!" Jess said, starting to run towards Benny

Pretty soon, as the entire team ran to the field, Jess realized just what was happening, or what was to happen.

Jess would leave at the end of summer, and everyone would grow up without her. She would be stuck in a world that wasn't hers while everyone lived their lives, waiting for her to come back.

In that instance, Jess knew Benny was going to the big leagues.

Jess and Benny's were both the same amount of serious about baseball as the other, it being both of their lives. The entire team knew Jess would go on to be something great, including a good baseball player, but they didn't have a team for girls. Instead, they had 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭. The girls version of baseball, which in Jess opinion had smalls diamonds, bigger targets, and was a wimps game.

The entire team would grow up in Jess' past world, while Jess rotted away in a boarding school across the state. Would Jess ever see them again after that summer? She quickly shook those thoughts away as they made it to the sandlot.

"Jess up to bat" Benny gestured to home plate

Jess smiled and grabbed the bat, walking over to home plate. The 4th of July was the one time a year that the team played their hardest. No one knew exactly... why... Maybe because the fireworks were like the were in a stadium at night, or maybe simply because it was a special and different type of game.

Jess tapped the inside of both her shoes with her bat, just as Benny always did, then hit home plate.

Kenny pitched, everything almost in slow motion. The fireworks set off in the back ground, and all Jess could focus on was hitting the ball

Jess hit a homer, it hitting the Beasts fence and bouncing off. Jess ran from base to base as Smalls got the ball back.

"Woah" Benny mumbled

For once, his mind wasn't on the game, but on the girl before him running the bases

The fireworks exploding behind her as she ran, her hair wistfully flowing behind her shoulders

Jess jogged to Home plate and high fived Benny before walking over to the bench.

Benny was up to bat now, doing the exact same as Jess, except, this time, the guys weren't distracted by the person running, but by the fireworks.

"Man" Ham mumbled, looking at all the bright colors in the sky

"Tellin me" Jess said under her breathe. Benny looked like a pro,
a big leaguer, running from base to base, with the sky lit up as if they were in a stadium.

The rest of the night, everyone got to bat, instead of just it being Benny and Jess to bat.

"G'night everyone!" Jess yelled and everyone started in their own directions, either to their house or to finish watching fireworks.

"Let watch some" Benny whispered in her ear. It sent tingles down her spine.

Jess simply looked up at the boy, grabbing his hand and running with him to the perfect spot to watch fireworks: the roof outside her window.

The two climbed the gutter effortlessly, and as Benny sat on the roof to watch fireworks, Jess went inside her bedroom to get a blanket to lay on.

"This isn't as comfortable as I thought it would be" Jess laughed

"Oh, here" Benny held out his arm for Jess to use and a pillow, Benny propping up his head with his other hand

"Thanks" Jess smiled, looking up at the fireworks

The loud explosions barely dazed neither Benny or Jess. And the bright pops of color made everything worth it.

The fireworks only lasted about an hour after that, and instead of Benny and Jess parting ways, Benny just slept on Jess' floor, something he did often during the school year anyway. Benny's parents would always know where he was if he wasn't home.

"Night, Benny" Jess whispered

"Good night, Jess" Benny whispered back and rolled over, so he wasn't facing the girl. What he didn't want her to see was the massive smile on his face.

Benny was happy that this was how he spent his night, watching fireworks with his best friend rather then going back home and falling asleep.