STRETCH.

four » campout

"It's not normal for one girl to be hanging out with this many boys, and you're sleeping over!" She stressed.

"One of them is my brother, mom. What do you think I'm gonna do?" I ask.

"Just go, at least you made friends." She waved me off.

I tied up my converse and waited for Scotty at the door.

"Scotty, put a jacket on! Riley, grab a pair of sweats just incase it gets cold." Our mom ordered as she handed us our sleeping bags.

"Already packed a pair." I informed her while Scotty slid his jacket on.

We made our way to the Timmons back yard, where the treehouse stood. Scotty assure that it was it and we climbed up.

"Sorry we're late, my mom made me put my jacket on and do the dishes." Scotty apologized.

"Yeah and she gave me the third degree." I rolled my eyes, tossing my things beside Benny and DeNunez.

"You poor mama's boy." Bertram teased Scotty, making me laugh.

"By you wanna s'more?" Ham asked Scotty.

"Some more of what?" Scotty asked, very confused.

I rolled my eyes once again as I sighed. "My brother is a blockhead." I mumbled.

"You got that right, he's getting better on the field though." Benny laughed, agreeing.

"No, no. Do you want a s'more?" Ham asked once again, pointing to the s'mores items on the makeshift table.

"How can I have more of something when I haven't had anything?" Scotty questioned, making Benny and I laugh.

"You're killing me, Smalls!" Ham spits out.

"These are s'mores stuff. Okay, pay attention. First, you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then, you roast the mallow. When the mallow's flamin'," Ham paused to blow the fire out on the marshmallow, "You stick it on the chocolate. Then," he took another pause to eat the leftover mallow off of his finger, "you stick on the other graham. Then, you stuff."

Ham took a bite out of the s'more before handing it over to Scotty, "Messy, but kinda good."

"Okay, quiet you guys." Squints hushed all of us.

"Are you trying to wake it up? It just went to bed!" He whisper-yells.

"What just went to bed?" Scotty asks, causing me to cringe while the guys shushed him.

"The beast." I tell him quietly.

"Oh, yeah!" Scotty yells, making us shush him again.

And so, Squints goes on with the story of the beast.

Benny scooted closer to me as Squints began the story. I didn't mind, Benny was a sight for sore eyes. From the few days I had been here, I could already tell how much he loved baseball. It reminded me of myself, I used to tell my dad how I would become the first female MLB player.

"Forever." Squints exaggerated repeatedly.

Squints finishes the story, which seemed like a tall tale.

"See man, that's why you can't go over there. Nobody ever has, nobody ever will." Bertram explains to Scotty.

"One kid did, no one ever saw of him again." Ham added.

"That's bullshit." I blurted out, "None of that is true, you're just making it up to scare us."

Squints hopped down to the ground, "Stick your head out that window and look down." He ordered.

I got up and the guys all looked scared, even Benny.

I had learned that night that over 150 baseballs had went over that fence, and not one of them was ever seen again. Even when some kid peaked over, because they vanished.

It was true, because when I looked down in there I didn't see a single, solitary one. A nasty growl sounded from in the yard and I hopped back.

"He's down there!" I whispered.

"Bet he is." Squints answers me, a angry look one his face.

"Whatever goes over that fence," Ham puffed out some air, "stays there."

"Becomes the property of the beast, forever." Squints adds.

I took my spot back between Benny and DeNunez. Luckily, the atmosphere lightened up and we all started joking around.

"So Riley, have you ever played baseball before? Or softball?" Tommy asks me.

"Softball isn't as fun as baseball, but yeah I used to play a lot." I answer.

"Well why'd you stop?" Bertram adds onto the question.

I looked over at Scotty, he gave me a small nod and I sighed.

"Our father passed away when I was 7, Scotty was only 6. He had me out playing since I took my first steps, I don't remember a time where baseball wasn't apart of my life." I grinned.

"He passed away from some illness, our mom never specified. When he died a part of me went with him. I couldn't even watch baseball without crying. The game didn't feel right to me anymore, I just stopped playing." I finished.

I watched as Benny stood up quickly, "Just because you lose someone doesn't mean you stop living or stop doing something you love." He started.

"If you love baseball as much as we do, then get back out into the field! We can take turns batting for starters, you could get back into the game!" Benny says.

"I don't even know if I'm any good anymore." I tell him.

"Everyone starts somewhere, if the game is in your heart still then that's all that matters." Benny says, staring down into my eyes.

His short speech gave me a new light onto the situation. I appreciated it, it made me want to get back on the field.

The only thing holding me back was myself.

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I HAVE UPDATED.
this could've been written better oops