Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Chapter 9

Nancy's POV

I'm not complaining about this, but the school day went by incredibly fast. I think it's a new record for the fastest school day ever. I was walking out of school and simultaneously talking to June and Benny.
"Hey Nance, I got a question," June said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I'm not trying to accuse you of anything, but I have noticed that you and Bertram have been spending a lot of time together lately. I also couldn't help but notice you blushing when you talk to him sometimes. So, is there something going on between you two?" She explained.
"What? No," I lied.
"Okay now I definitely know there is something going on between you two," she laughed. "You are a terrible liar by the way."
"I am perfectly good at lying. I just can't lie to you," I corrected her.
"No, you're a bad liar," Benny butted in. I glared at him but ended up smiling and laughing.
"So what is happening between you and Bertram?" June asked.
"I don't know. My feelings are all over the place and I am confused. I think I still like Ham, but he also has a girlfriend now so I think I might be getting over him. Then on top of that, I think I am developing feelings for Bertram," I answered.
"Can I give you some advice?" She offered.
"You would even if I said no so yes," I said.
"You know me too well," she chuckled, "Anyways, here is my advice. Now I'm not saying you never liked Ham or you don't like him now, but I don't think you like him as much as you think you do. If you really liked Ham to the degree you think you do, why would you start to have feelings for Bertram? It's like the saying if it comes down to a choice between me and them chose them because if you truly loved me there wouldn't be a choice."
"Wow, that was actually really good advice,"  I was astonished by June's insanely helpful advice.
"Yeah, where the hell did you get that from?" Benny asked with a slight chuckle. June simply shrugged.
"I see your point," I said. "So I think I like Bertram."
"Do I get full permission to tease you about it?" June's infamous smirk was already plastered on her face. I say infamous because nothing good ever follows that smirk of hers.
"Yes, but only when he's not around," I clarified. I knew I would regret everything if I didn't make that clarification.
Her smirk turned into a devious smile. "I'll take what I can get." I laughed at her somewhat worrying comment and kept walking.

Thanks to June, I think I finally understand my feelings. I think I have feelings for Bertram. It took a while to figure it out, but I did it.

June's POV

So apparently Nancy has feelings for Bertram. I can't say I'm completely surprised, but it's still a bit of a plot twist. I saw her blushing around him so I knew something was going on. I just didn't know the entire situation.

Everyone went home and finished all their homework. Then we all met up at the sandlot. That's how all we hung out at the sandlot during school days. On the weekends, it was just like the summer. We played baseball all day, from dawn to dusk.

Luckily, nobody had a lot of homework today so we were able to get to the sandlot really early. We were in the middle of a game, but Ham hit the ball over the fence and ended it. I should say that he ruined it, but that is a little too harsh, even for me.
"Way to go! You knucklehead!" I said. See, now that was me being nice. In my opinion, knucklehead is a pretty tame insult. My words didn't affect him though. He ran around the bases while everyone else chucked their mitts at him. He laughed and joked like the moron he was. None of the chaos phased him.

Nancy watched the spectacle before revealing she had enough money for another ball. She even told us that she wanted to learn how to play baseball. I jumped on the opportunity to teach her. I've wanted Nance to play baseball since the first day she visited town last summer. I'm glad she finally wanted to learn how to play my favorite sport.

Nancy suggested that she should physically buy the ball herself and everyone agreed to that. However, she had one ground rule. She refused to go alone. She still wasn't completely comfortable with the layout and locations of everything in this town. She was afraid of getting lost and never being able to find her way back to the sandlot. Nancy most likely thought her ground rule would be an inconvenience, but it was actually the opposite. It gave me one of the best ideas I have ever had.
"Why don't you and Bertram go together?" I offered. I know that I'm evil. I just had the option and I couldn't resist.
"Sure. Come on Nance, let's go!" Bertram was happy to embark on the simple journey of buying a baseball. He also seemed happy about doing it with Nance.
"Yeah, let's go," Nancy was dying inside. Nobody else could tell, but I noticed. The moment Bertram replied to me she lost every shred of humanity that was left inside of her. She would be alright though. She was just experiencing the symptoms of having a crush. I've been there too, but things ended amazingly for me.

Bertram and Nancy left while Nancy discreetly gave me a death stare. She might be mad at me now, but she'll thank me later.
"Did you really have to do that?" Benny asked. He caught on to my plan quickly.
"Yes, I had to," I said.
"I guess that's fair. I mean we were the victims of it last time," he chuckled, "But you're still kind of evil."
"Guilty as charged," I laughed. I couldn't argue with him. I thought the same exact thing. Not to mention we were both joking about it.

Everyone patiently waited for Nancy and Bertram to come back. While they all thought about the new baseball, I prayed that my matchmaking skills would work. I should be fairly good at it. It would make sense considering that I was on the other end of it for almost an entire summer.

Author's Note: Chapter 9!! I love writing from June's point of view! For some reason, it is so much easier to write from her point of view. It hasn't been hard for me to write from Nancy's point of view though. I mean I literally did it for 7 chapters lol 😂
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! 😊❤️
Like usual, I proofread but if you find any typos please let me know! 👍