"Gloria!" a high pitch squeal erupted from behind me. I jumped at the sound, spinning around to the voice I've had screaming at me for most of my life.

"Ellie!" I couldn't help but shriek back when I caught a sight of my blonde haired best friend. Her light green eyes danced with excitement.

We went running for each other to end up crashing in to one and another and tumbling to floor. Our arms and legs were tangled together, and we were both squeezing the life out of the other.

"I missed you so much," she fake weeped. I giggled at her dramatics, but I would be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way. This was the longest time that Ellie and I had been apart; she was like the other half of me. I rested my head into the waves of blonde hair that were half covering my face. I would assume her face was also plastered by red hair.

"Gloria Cantrell, do I not get a hug?" my mom said, looking on at the mess that was Ellie and me.

"Hi Mom," I greeted her, untangling myself from Ellie. I launched myself at her, snaking my arms around her shoulders.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever," she whispered in my ear.

I only nodded in agreement. My mom and Ellie were the two most important people in my life and dealing with this camp without them was rough.

It was only a quick reunion before Ellie was on to the next thing.

"Alright, enough hugging. Where is he?" Ellie prodded, looking around the stadium.

I unwrapped one of my arms from my mom and smacked her arm, which resulted in a yelp from her.

"Not driving," I teased, referring to our play fight at the very beginning of the summer before hiding behind my mom.

"Wow, using your mom as your human shield. Real mature," Ellie observed, narrowing her eyes at me.

I stuck out my tongue at her, but it was quickly retracted into my mouth when I was smacked on the side of the head.

"Ow," I whined, glaring at my mom, whose hands were on her hips, glowering at me.

"No hitting," she deadpanned.

"But Mom-."

"Don't you but Mom me."

I crossed my arms over my chest as Ellie gleefully chuckled at my own mother putting me in my place. Unwisely, she stuck her own tongue out at me, resulting in a smack upside the head for her as well.

"Hey," Ellie complained, rubbing the side of her head.

My mom was always the one to keep the two of us in control ever since we were little. When there was trouble, usually it was caused by the two little girls with red and blonde hair. Ellie's mom's approach to our antics was a bit softer, so we always got away with more under her care. My mom didn't tolerate any of it. Lucky for her, Ellie and I had grown out of most of our troublemaking, but we most definitely had not matured.

"No teasing," my mom said, pointing a finger at both of us. "And Gloria, where is this boy?"

My mom's question surprised me because I hadn't told her anything about Miles.

"What?" I finally managed to get out, after standing with my mouth gaped open for a moment.

"I may have filled your mom in on the way up here," Ellie answered quietly for her.

"Elle," I cried, slapping a hand to my forhead.

"It was a long car ride, and you know how persuasive she is," she moaned.

My mom had a pleased little smirk on her face, watching our argument. "Well?" she questioned.

"For my sake, do not talk to him," I pleaded. "Either of you," I added after noticing the evil look on Ellie's face growing.

"Oh come on, I was just going to size him up a little bit."

"No freaking way. I will only point him out, but neither of you are allowed to approach him. Got it?"

They both nodded their heads, bummed out they couldn't ruffle Miles up, which I know they both can do very well.

"You can meet some of my other teammates," I tried.

My mom shrugged, but Ellie looked a little more excited. "Are they cute?"

I rolled my eyes at the over eagerness of my best friend. She was always ecstatic to meet my teammates. "You'll see," I said, keeping the details vague. All the guys on the team were good looking. It should be interesting who catchs Ellie's eye.

The reason my mom and Ellie had driven all the way up to New York was because we were in the championship game. We had won the semi-final game 4-3. It was a tight, adrenaline pumping game, but thanks to some timely hitting, we pulled it out. The smile on my face passing the jerk who had tried to call me out at second, could not have been bigger. Like always, Jackson walked behind me during the handshakes and pushed me along.

It was now five days later and we were at Yankee Stadium, home to no other team but the New York Yankees. My dad would have been freaking out if he found out I was able to play on his favorite field. It did send a pang of hurt through me, knowing I couldn't experience this with him.

The entire team had arrived about ten minutes ago to the stadium, and Rust had allowed us to see our families before we had to get ready.

"So are we going to meet them?" Ellie pushed, searching left and right for any other players.

"Calm your raging hormones," I advised her before linking our arms together.

"Shut up."

We paraded ourselves down the long open corridors of Yankee Stadium, chatting nonstop. Finally, we chose to go down the stairs that led to the third base dugout. I could see a bunch of the guys milling around down by the dugout.

"I'm going to try to find a bathroom," my mom called down to us. I gave her a thumbs up before I continued to lead Ellie down the stairs.

Harrison caught sight of us first and came charging up the stairs, a wide grin on his face.

"Hey Gloria," he greeted me, before sneaking a curious look at Ellie. Recognition came over his features after a moment. "This is the girl from the picture."

"Yes, this is Ellie. Ellie, this is Harrison."

"Nice to meet you," she replied, giving him a warm smile. "Not to be rude, but how old are you?"

Harrison's face tinged pink like it always did, and especially since he was talking to a girl.

"I'm almost 14," he answered, slightly embarrassed.

"And you got selected?"

"Yeah..."

"That's so cool," Ellie exclaimed. Her enthusiasm was always present, and only made Harrison blush more.

"Th-thanks," he managed to stutter out.

Ellie widened her smile and continued to look around. She wore her usual jean shorts and gymnastics t-shirt, which was light blue to match our jerseys.

"Glors, Glors, Glors," two more voices said excitedly.

Harrison side stepped for his own benefit as Danny and Nathan came charging up the stairs.

"Have you seen the-," Nathan began with delight on his features before being cut off by Danny.

"You're the best friend from the picture, aren't you? I would remember a pretty face like your's any day," Danny purred, easily. Always the charmer.

Ellie leaned towards me, and whispered, "What picture?" Her face was twisted in confusion at the several remarks about a picture.

"Long story, but they saw the picture of you and me at the spirit assembly from last year."

She nodded her head, but I could tell she was a little weirded out still. "I'm Ellie," she introduced herself; the smile slowly returning.

"Danny," he said with the flirtatious smile fully present.

"I'm Nathan," Nathan piped in, maneuvering himself around Danny who had stepped in front of him.

"Nice to meet you," Ellie replied, nodding her head at both of them.

A ding came from her phone, so she pulled it out of her back pocket and was distracted momentarily.

"I so called dibs," Danny whispered to Nate. Loud enough for me to hear, but not enough to pull Ellie away from whatever her notification was.

"Dude, I called dibs before you," Nathan argued.

They began to have a heated discussion about who had dibs, which I promptly cut off.

"Would you two stop talking about my best friend like that?" I hissed, glancing her to make sure she didn't hear.

Knowing her for as long as I have, I knew very well how Ellie was a bit of a loose cannon about this kind of stuff. The amount of times that she has gotten into an argument with a guy about how he's talking about a girl is astounding. I have heard the phrase, "girls are not material objects" more times than I should.

"Where's Jackson?" I asked trying to divert the conversation before Ellie tried to punch one of them after she found out what they were talking about. As much as I loved them, they weren't necessarily the most... aware of everyone else.

"I thought I just saw-," Nathan replied before Jackson himself answered.

"Right here."

The moment Jackson stepped into our little circle, Ellie decided to look up from her phone. I swear to God, it was like the cheesy, cliche movies when two people's eyes meet and the freaking fireworks go off.

I let the moment last for only a little while or else I was going to throw up from how sappy this whole thing was turning out to be.

"Oh for the love of God," I couldn't help but mutter as they continued to lock eyes, but a small smile lit up each of their faces.

"I don't think either of us have dibs now," Danny commented to Nate, who simply nodded in agreement.

"Ellie, this is Jackson. Jackson, Ellie," I introduced them after they still had gone several minutes without saying anything.

"Hi," Ellie said shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

This was the first time I had ever seen my best friend become shy because of a boy. She has always been the outgoing and straightforward type of person. Ellie has had a few boyfriends over the past three years of high school. Nothing super serious, and none of them would make her act like this.

Jackson gave her a meek smile before sliding his eyes over to me.

"I'm assuming this is your best friend," he confirmed.

His eyes were back on my bashful best friend within a second.

When I was guessing who Ellie would become interested in, I should have known. The only person I could actually imagine dealing with my lunatic best friend was Jackson.

I didn't even bother answering because he wouldn't hear me.

"Mustangs, let's go," Rust yelled from the dugout.

"Gotta go," I pushed everyone along, grabbing Jackson's arm and pulling him along behind me. "Bye Elle."

"Bye G," she called back, still obviously distracted. Ellie waved and gave one of her award winning smiles.

Jackson waved back before finally walking somewhat more on his own.

"I thought I was going to have to carry you out of there," I commented when we were out of Ellie's earshot.

"What are you talking about?" Jackson chuckled, giving me a little push as we walked down the rest of the stairs.

I gave him an are-you-kidding-me look before crossing my arms over my chest.

"You were like a love sick puppy."

"I was not."

"Jackson, you could not take your eyes off of her for the solid three minutes that we were standing there."

A blush overcame his features and he scratched the back of his neck.

"Liar," I teased, slapping his stomach.

"Easy," Jackson chuckled, putting his hands up to shield himself from me.

"What are you talking about?" I imitated him from earlier with an overly dramatic deep voice.

He rolled his eyes at my immature behavior.

We walked into the dugout and down the stairs to the locker room underground. Perks of playing at a major league stadium was using all their facilities. Before being released to find our families, we had put all of our things in the locker room. Each player got their own open locker for the day just like the professionals. It was surreal to see your name printed above one of the large cubbies and jersey hanging in the locker.

"So does she have a boyfriend?" Jackson broke the silence that had been settling on us.

I couldn't help but laugh at his sudden question. His voice seemed worried with what the answer could be. I swung my arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry. She's all yours."

Jackson smiled a relieving grin at my reply.

"Get ready. We're warming up in less than ten minutes," Rust bellowed across the lockerroom.

"That's our cue," I told Jackson, lifting my arm from his shoulders.

I gathered up my things from from my personal assigned locker and headed to the bathroom. As much as I loved these guys, I needed my privacy while changing.

Locking the door behind me, I set to work stripping off my t-shirt and shorts before replacing them with my uniform. Tucking the familiar baby blue jersey into my pants, I adjusted everything to lay straight.

The noise level of the locker room was growing as the minutes ticked down to warm up. The other team was suppose to have the cages first to hit, and we were suppose to throw and catch in a different part of the facility.

I stopped in front of the mirror after stepping out of the bathroom stall. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I wrapped the hairtye securely around it and pulled two strands to tighten it. The blue ribbon came last to be put in. I glanced in the mirror after I was done.

"He'd be proud of you," I whispered.

"Let's go," someone called from the main locker room.

I tugged on the bottom of my ponytail before cutting myself off from my nervous habit. Walking into the locker room, I shoved my feet into my Nikes. Everyone filed out and went up the stairs, where our bags were waiting.

It was silent as the group pulled on cleats and gathered their gloves and bats from their bags.

Anxiety pulsed in the dugout. There was a nervous air that had always loomed before we played, but today, it was amplified. It had been quieter than usual on the bus ride over from the hotel. Miles switched seats with Danny to get away from me yet again.

Grabbing a bucket of balls, we moved like a herd to the outfield to stretch and warmup.

I glanced over at the other dugout where the other team had yet to emerge from.

We had asked Rust about what team we're playing. His only response was the other nine players on the field. We rolled our eyes at that answer every time. And it looks like we won't know for a little longer.

I pulled a ball from the bucket and stood a little ways away from Harrison to throw. We tossed the ball back and forth, but my mind was drifting.

This was the last totally carefree summer. Next summer, I'll be packing up my stuff and moving to D.C.. It was only a few hours from my mom, but it was such a drastic change from my whole life. I was growing up faster than I could comprehend was happening. Life was hurtling towards me, and I wasn't sure if I was really ready for it. A job, a house, a family was all in the near coming future.

"Gloria," Harrison said, yanking me out my head. We had stopped throwing the ball and most of the guys were going over to pick up their bats. "You okay?"

"Just thinking," I answered. I walked alongside Harrison to the fence, where we had left our bats earlier.

I could see across the field that some guys in dark green jerseys were milling around by the dugout. I didn't recognize them as anyone we had played this summer with those uniforms, so it must be one of the few teams we hadn't played.

I took dry cuts in the grass along with everyone else. We split off into groups to go to all the stations. Harrison, Dylan, Walker, and I teamed up together and started on tee.

"Do you recognize them?" I questioned the other three.

All three of them looked over to the other side of the field. After a long moment of observing the other team, they all shook their heads.

"The only team that I've seen with a jersey that color is one of the other teams from Marist," Harrison remarked.

I squinted and took another look to see if I recognized any of them from the meals everyday in the cafeteria.

There was one person that stared back toward me as I blantaly looked. A cold shiver ran down my back as I realized who it was.

I had avoided the guy who had sexually harrassed and assaulted me in the hall and elevator at all costs. I never went anywhere far in the dorms without one of the guys accompanying me.

I was too scared to go to Rust or one of the other coaches at our campus because I could easily be asked to leave for my "safety." I also didn't want to be pegged as a snitch.

I could make out the sleazy smirk that slid over his face at my recognition.

Nausea suddenly overcame me and I felt light headed. No one else knew about what had happen because of the fear that it would make its way to Coach or the guys on the other teams.

I turned around quickly and tactfully positioned myself behind Dylan. He smiled at me with a tinge of confusion in his eyes. I grimaced in return. Breaths came in and out quicker with panic slowly rising.

"Do you recognize any of them, G?" Walker asked after hitting a ball off the tee.

"Yeah, it's definitely one of the teams that was assigned to Marist," I replied meekly. "They were jerks though."

"You're right. They were always assholes whenever I rode the elevator with any of them," Dylan agreed.

The other two nodded.

When it was my turn, I took some cuts, but I was distracted by the lurking threat not that far behind me.

I needed to snap out of it before it affected how I played, and I lost my spot, again. This was not the game to that for, so I needed to focus.

When all four of us had finished tee work, we moved on to hitting wiffle balls that Colton was throwing.

Jackson was pitching this game, and Logan was going to be coming in for relief.

Walker was doing okay with his ankle from last week, but he was now wearing a brace and walked very gingerly. He didn't have enough mobility from side to side to play short, so Coach had pretty much told me I was going to start this game, but he wasn't afraid to put someone else in.

After we had made it through all the stations, our group put our bats in the bat rack in the dugout and began to throw short hops to each other. When everyone was finished, Rust hit the infielders ground balls and the outfielders flyballs.

Miles was only a few feet ahead of me taking short ground balls for first base. I dearly wanted to clear the air with him, but I don't think he would listen to a word I had to say.

I looked up to the stands and found Ellie's eyes, who were already watching me. A wide smile stretched across her face when we locked eyes.

She motioned to the short line of guys playing the corners. Then, she tugged on her hair, pointing at her blond strands.