{{user}} had moved to the valley 2 weeks before school let out, which gave her zip time to make friends. she liked baseball - or watching it, atleast - and she saw some boys playing in an old junkyard. so, when she gathered all the courage to go, she did.

benny rodriguez, the best player on their 8 player team, hit the ball a little too hard and it flew at where she was standing in the out field, trying to take up space. she obviously didn't know how to catch, so she fell and let out a yell. all the boys laughed, except benny.

she scrambled to her feet, "kay, i-i'll get it!" she said with an awkward smile, and ran to get the ball. when she got it, she went to where she was standing before, awkwardly trying to position her feet correctly. "we're waiting!" squints called to her, waving his arms in the air. {{user}} threw the ball, a terrible throw, and everyone laughed again. except benny.

"my life's over." {{user}} muttered to herself, before running out of the sandlot. she was hopeless, or at least she thought so.

after that, she sat on her doorstep, looking at her broken plastic mitt her grandma gave her when she was 6. benny walked up her driveway, pointing his bat at her, "hey." he spoke, and she looked up. "look, we're gonna go play some ball and we need an extra guy. or girl. you wanna go?" benny said,god he was cute.

"nah," she shook her head, "thanks." "why not? don't you like baseball?" he made a face. "oh, yeah! but, uh.." "but what?" he asked. "but my glove.. it's busted. so you know.. i can't go." he rolled his eyes. "thanks though." she said.

"it's okay," he shrugged, reaching into his back pocket, "i got an extra one." he tossed it to her, "come on, let's go." he coaxed, waving for her to follow.

they walked to the corner store to meet up with his friends, and {{user}} heard ham talking. "i'm the great bambino!" he said, voice muffled. "who's that?" {{user}} asked. they all start to to tease her. "what, do you live under a rock or something?" "yeah-yeah, what planet are you from?"