Hit Home || A Spralbert Story

Chapter 2 - Albert and Spot Almost Killed Race

Race mentally curses, shooting JoJo a not-so-subtle glare. "Is this really how I'm meeting my new neighbors?" He questions, looking at his brothers.

"You'd rather one of us, who aren't their neighbors, met them?" Jack asks him, leaning against the fence, his arms crossed.

Race rolls his eyes, but Jack did have a point. "Fine." He gives in, throwing the bat on the ground in front of him. "I'm going to get it," he grumbles, starting to walk off.

"Don't look so sad, Racer." Henry tells him, a playful smirk on his face. "Maybe there'll be a cute boy there." He teases.

Race rolls his eyes, making a mental note to regret telling the boys his sexuality later.

"Miss Hannah (his foster mother)!" Race shouts, cupping his hands over his mouth like a microphone. "I'm heading to get our ball from the neighbor's house!" His eyes were closed while he yelled.

He hated yelling.

It had something to do with all the yelling he endured when he was younger.

"Okay, Antonio!" Hannah shouts back from inside the house. "Be careful!"

"Give them some warning, won't you?" Blink jokes, pulling Mush into his arms. "I think they heard you."

Mush turns bright red.

Race rolls his eyes.

He grabs his hat, securing it on his head, some of his dirty, blonde curls poking out from under it.

He liked it that way though.

Race grabs his blue, white, and green flannel from the fence, where most of the boy's shirts or flannels were thrown.

They took them off because they got too hot.

He ties the flannel around his waist.

Race opens the gate to leave the yard.

"Have fun!" Finch yells teasingly.

"Be safe!" Davey and Specs call to him together.

"Don't forget to get the ball back if you get distracted by cute boys!" Romeo yells, smirking.

Race rolls his eyes, closing the gate behind him.

I hate them so much sometimes.

The distance between Race's yard and his neighbors wasn't much, but both of their yards were relatively big.

It was a hot day in Manhattan, New York, being about 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

(A\N, that is 31.11 in Celsius.)

After running around a lot, most of the boys were covered in sweat or water that they poured on themselves.

Race was an exception. He didn't like getting his clothes wet unless he really needed to and he didn't like taking his shirts off either.

Romeo and a few other boys weren't wet either, mainly (for Romeo) because he was having a 'good hair day' and didn't want to mess up his hair.

Crutchie was, as they (Les and Lucky) named it, 'the Hose Master' because he sprayed the boys with the hose when they wanted to be cold.

Or just when Lucky and Les wanted to play in the water or if they wanted to get payback on an older boy for being annoying.

They also played a few rounds of baseball with the littles and Crutchie.

Crutchie had a good arm, so when he played, he was usually the pitcher.

If he did bat, they made sure he was stable while standing and they threw the ball softer (like they did with the littles) and then, when he hit it, they'd let him hobble to the bases, them pretending to move in slow motion.

There was usually a lot of fake slow motion falling to the ground when someone missed catching the ball when this happened, and it made Crutchie laugh a lot.

It was worth it when they got all dirty because of this if they got to hear him laugh.

Crutchie just liked that they let him play and he was grateful they let him have the feeling of hitting the ball and getting to the bases.

Race could run, fast. He was usually picked first because of that.

Finch, Ike, and Mush could throw well, so they were usually pitchers.

Jack was usually Catcher, but Henry switched with him a lot.

The way it usually worked was that Jack would be on one team, Henry was on the other.

Blink, Specs, Boots, Buttons, and JoJo were usually catchers in the outfield or bases.

Mike, Elmer, Tommy boy, and Romeo were good batters.

Davey did stats and was the Ref.

Knobs also sat most games out, but if he played, he was outfield.

When Sniper and Smalls played, Smalls ran fast and Sniper could throw well.

That was just what people liked playing, not to say that they weren't good at other things or that they didn't switch occasionally, but that's what they usually did.

Davey never really played, unless they used fifteen pairs of puppy eyes.

Race was shaken out of his thoughts by the realization that he had made it to his neighbor's house.

Race steps up to the neighbors door, mentally preparing himself.

He stayed there for a moment, before forcing himself to put on a smile and knock.

The door opened after a second, revealing two boys about Race's age.

Race immediately turned bright red.

The taller one had firey red hair, pale skin, but not as pale as Race's, one green eye and one brown eye, and lots of freckles. The muscles on his arms were very noticeable and he had a muscle shirt on.

The other boy was a bit shorter than the redhead, but still slightly taller than Race, with greasy, brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was tan and he wore no shirt, making his abs very obvious.

The brown haired boy smirks at Race, seeing the blush on his face.

The redhead just smiles. "Hi." He greets.

Race shakes himself out of his trance, his cheeks still a good bit red.

Oh my God... Henry was right.

1364 Words