The Girl Who Made Baseball pt: 2

4

Jess swung the bat a few times, eyeing the girl that was standing in outfield. Jess had come to know her name was Charlie.

"You want my heater?" Denunez smiled

"I haven't played in 2 years, Denunez, go a little easy on me" Jess said

Denunez shrugged and wound up his arm, pitching a fast pitch and Jess missing. She heard a scoff from out field as Ham threw the ball back to Denunez and called strike one.

Denunez wound up his arm again, Jess missing and hitting her bat against home plate, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥.

Ham called strike two

"Hey, it's alright, you haven't played in a while" Ham said as he threw the ball back to Denunez

Jess held the bat so tight in her hands her knuckles turned white. She 𝘩𝘢𝘥 to be the best in the neighborhood. She had to show this 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 girl up.

Denunez pitched one last time, Jess swinging her bat so hard the ball flew into Mr. Mertles yard.

"She's back!" Ham cheered, everyone high fiving as Jess ran from base to base.

"She was the best in the neighborhood?" Jess heard Charlie whisper as everyone returned to the dugout at the end of the day

"Not was. Is" Timmy replied, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"She's the one the hopped that fence" Smalls pointed

"So she knocked over a fence?" Charlie laughed as if to make a joke about Jess' weight

"Matter of fact, I did. Right before I got chased around 20 blocks by that very dog just to get a baseball back for my friend. What can 𝘺𝘰𝘶 do?" Jess asked

Everyone oh'ed at what Jess had just said, Benny staring blankly at the diamond

"She's the jet, man. Jessie 'the jet' Logan" Denunez said

"Some nickname" Charlie rolled her eyes, Benny shaking his head

"She's 𝘵𝘩𝘦 Paul Logan's kid" Benny said, standing up and next to Jess, putting an arm around her

Charlie's eyes lit ablaze, standing up and grabbing Benny by the wrist and walking out of the dugout and down the street, where Jess guessed to be was her home.

"Who in the hell- What in the hell did Benny get himself into?" Jess asked

"It's a long story" Denunez said

"She's not even a good player" Repeat said, except he wasn't repeating his brother

"Yeah yeah, she sucks at throwing. None of us even know why she comes here. She's always crabby and cocky" Yeah-Yeah said

"Y'all don't like her to much?"Jess asked

"Not at all" Everyone spoke in unison.

"Well I better be getting home" Denunez said "Hey Jess, Ill give you a ride" He said, dangling his keys

"You 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 to the sandlot?" Jess asked. Last time she was here, Denunez lived on the same block as it

"We moves a few blocks down" He explained

"Well, uh, sure" Jess shrugged, waving bye to everyone as she got in the boys car.

"So uh, Charlie..." Denunez started

"Why's she even play if she don't like the game? Or at least the people she's playin with" Jess asked

"She's from New York. She was a pretty good player until her parents moved her and her brother out here. She met Benny in school and he took her to the sandlot. She's really... closed off. So we don't really know why she acts the way she does." Denunez shrugged

"Well... Maybe... Maybe the same thing that happened to me happened to her. Maybe she's just taking it worse" Jess shrugged

"How are you taking that, by the way? I didn't see you at the funeral-" He started

"I'm sorry... I tried to avoid everyone... really. And I'm sorry for what I told Smalls" Jess said

"What'd you tell Smalls?" Denunez quirked an eyebrow

"H-He didn't tell you?" Jess asked

"He told us he didn't really see you" Denunez said

"I uh... I told him I'm probably going to graduate from the school" Jess said hesitantly.

"And look where we are" Denunez smiled "going into Junior year with the best baseball player in the valley" He laughed

"Definitely not in the valley" Jess laughed

"Some little kids at school call you The Jet. Reagan and Lily love to tell stories" Denunez laughed

"Their true though, right? Nothing made up?" Jess asked

"Well yeah. When have you ever known a Rodriguez to be a liar? Or a Logan, for that matter?" Denunez laughed

"Well, actually, I remember right before I left, Benny promised me you guys would never replace me on the team" Jess started

"We didn't replace you. If we wanted to replace you, we'd find someone with your batting average. Charlie can't throw and can barely hit the ball. Believe me, there's a difference between replacement and a tag along" Denunez said

"Oh yeah? She's a tag along?"Jess asked

"Basically. It doesn't make sense. I've seen her highlights from New York and she was actually really good, but here it's just..." Denunez said

"It's like we're replacing her family, Kenny. Her real team is in New York, and she came here, and it's not the same, go easy on her" Jess said as Denunez pulled into her driveway

"Why are you on her side? She was a complete bitch to you today" Denunez asked

"And I returned the favor. I'm sure tomorrow would be no different, but if you're gonna talk shit on someone's name, do it to their face, other wise it just makes you a shitty person" Jess shrugged before getting out of the car and running up her porch steps and waving to Denunez

He smiled and shook his head before backing out of the driveway. Man did that school change Jess, but definitely for the better.