The Game

Potential Friends ~Sam's POV~

I left home in silence; I couldn't believe I had told him that Chase had played baseball.

I groaned; I couldn't tell him my whole damn life story.

I pulled into my driveway and slithered into my room. Max was at his basketball practice, and Charlie was at his golf session. My parents haven't been home since three this morning.

I groan and hop in the shower to take a quick rinse; after I get out, I change into some old sweatpants and a softball shirt.

I looked out the window and saw the black Audi parked across the street.

I decided to go downstairs and find something to eat for dinner. As I was debating whether I should eat the stale cereal, I heard knocking at the front door, thinking it was Max or Charlie coming home.

So it took me by surprise when I opened the door to see Ben holding Mac & Cheese and cups of lemonade.

I walk out and close the door. I stared at him, confused, and saw him holding his baseball glove. I laugh as I take a Mac & Cheese from him and sit on one of the rocking chairs on my porch, and he sits on the other.

There was an awkward silence for a little bit as he coughed and stirred his Mac & Cheese.

"Sorry if it's weird that I came over, I have the house to myself for a while, and I just needed to be with someone," Ben said with a dry laugh.

I looked over at him and said, "Well, honestly, I'm glad you did, I was about to have stale Lucky Charms, but this Mac & Cheese is way better."

He did another dry laugh and looked at the sun setting past his house.

"Do you ever wonder what life has in store for you? I've had my life planned out since I picked up a baseball, yet it seems like nothing is going according to plan."

I sighed, "Yeah, all the time; I wonder what the universe is trying to tell us sometimes."

He set his food down, ran his hands through his hair, and then put his face into the palm of his hands.

"I didn't want to go to Coop because I don't go to him for personal stuff, he gets awkward about it, and if I went to Natalie, she would just blame me for being a bad boyfriend," Ben said in a quiet voice.

"So you think it was best to go to the girl you've only known for a day." I laughed.

He smiled, "Yeah, kinda. Is that bad?"

"No, not at all," I replied.

"Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you barely know," I said quietly.

I felt his gaze on me as he started to talk, "You looked good out there today; I do not doubt that your old school misses you as a player."

I laughed dryly, "Yeah, I suppose we'll never know; my friends haven't responded to my texts since the day I left, and my..." I trailed off, not finishing my sentence.

I was thinking of Andrew, my boyfriend since the first year...well, ex-boyfriend.

It took me a long time to confess my feelings; I liked him throughout middle school. When I finally admitted it at the beginning of the first year, he told me he felt the same.

We started dating immediately after; it felt like he was the one. But, little did I know, he wasn't.

When everything started to go downhill back in Ohio, I promised myself the secret would never leave my family's inner circle.

So when my family decided it was for the best if we moved away as fast as possible.

That meant I had to leave my friends Kate and Lilly without explaining why I was going. I just told them my dad had a better job opportunity down here and refused to answer any more questions, which left them skeptical.