Scottie Smalls had a problem.

A galactic problem in fact.

A problem so massive, that it would make that summer The Beast had taken Bill's prized baseball hostage look like a cake-walk.

The teenager groaned, staring at the strap of magenta fabric covering her chest in evident despair.

A bra.

She knew the day would eventually come, despite being a late developer. She had had the talk with her mom after all—as embarrassing and awkward as it had been—and most girls she knew her age already wore one. Yet, as she regarded the evidence of her femininity, she still couldn't help feeling disbelief course throughout her body.

"Oh sweetie," her mom crowed, entering the bedroom. She clasped her hands together gleefully. "Just look at you! You look like a little lady!"

Smalls huffed, dropping her shirt hastily. That was exactly what she was afraid of.

How was she supposed to show her face at the sandlot now?

You see, she had been keeping a secret since she had moved to California all those years ago.

'Scottie' was actually her middle name.

Her full name was Johanna Scott Smalls, but since her deceased father had taken to calling her Scottie…the name sort of stuck. She had always been a strange girl, constantly tinkering away at her gadgets and not really fitting in with the girls back in her old town. They gossiped that she had no fashion-sense—she preferred her shorts and button-ups to pretty dresses because the fabric tended to get caught in her inventions. She'd also started wearing her hair short after a model-rocket fiasco had left most her dirty blond locks charred and damaged.

Her mother had been very upset.

So it was no wonder when she first moved here that Benny had automatically assumed that she was a boy, and even invited her to play when she'd finally mustered up the courage to follow them to the sandlot afterschool one afternoon. And even though they had laughed at her every chance they got, she had had so much fun with them all that summer and made so many new friends—that she just went with it.

Because in all honesty, she was terrified.

She had never had true friends like them before, and she was so scared of losing them that she kept her lips sealed and never told the truth.

It was why she kept her hair short even after all these years, and wore such boyish clothing despite being nearly fourteen.

She didn't want them to treat her differently. She saw how they acted around girls, and couldn't bear being kept at a distance. Especially by Benny.

Her pulse accelerated at the mention of the hazel-eyed boy.

If it weren't for him, she doubted she would have made a single friend that summer.

The others had immediately written her off as a goof and a lost cause, but not Benny. He'd taken her under his wing and taught her everything she needed, and the others had simply accepted her because he deemed her worthy. He had become such an important person to her. And if she were being presumptuous, she would even go as far as calling him her best friend.

And now she had to figure out a way of hiding her newly formed breasts from him.

"And they're so perky too!" her mom was gushing, causing the young girl to blush. Seriously? "Now if you'd only stop wearing those atrocious clothes and grow your hair out and Bill and I will have to start fighting the boys off with a stick!"

Smalls frowned at her mom.

"I like my clothes." she rebuffed, crossing her arms defiantly, before adding a contemptuous, "And why would I even want guys chasing me?"

As far as she knew, which was a lot considering she hung around eight daily, boys were show-offs, foul-mouthed, and just plain gross.

Her mother rolled her eyes at the girl's sassy tone.

"Oh please honey, they already chase you around that sandlot of yours." She stated dismissively, before adding a conspiring, "And I bet that little friend of yours Benny would appreciate the new look."

The older woman winked and Smalls felt her face burn with mortification.

"Stop it!" she hissed fiercely, "Benny doesn't think of me that way."

She'd seen the girls he flirted with at school. They were all really pretty and girly with flowing manes they kept perfectly styled. Smalls, with her scuffed elbows and knees, and boyish looks was nothing like that.

Not to mention, he doesn't even know I'm female, she added silently.

Her mom simply gave her knowing look before excusing herself from the bedroom, leaving the blond to fume by herself as she peered critically at her reflection.

Even with her shirt on she could still make out the subtle swells pressing against the material. Deflating at the realization, she groaned into her hands.

This whole thing was God's fault.

Why couldn't he have just left her flat-chested?

Honestly, she didn't mind.

It would have made her life a hell of a lot less complicated, that's for sure.

A sharp tap at her window sent her heart leaping into her throat, and she turned wide-eyed to connect gazes with a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

"Eep!"

She immediately crossed her arms over her chest, staring horrified at the dark-haired teen positioned outside her window. He was frowning at her from beneath his signature cap, brows furrowed as he once again rapped against the glass.

Smalls swallowed past a lump in her throat.

Had she left her curtains open the entire time?

Did he see anything?

Her heart was beating a million miles per minute as she slowly made her way over to the window, releasing her death-grip on her chest briefly to swiftly flip the latch, then promptly covering her chest again.

She watched as the baseball protégé lifted the pane and easily slipped into her room, not making a single sound. How he was so silent all the time was beyond her. Especially now that he was so tall. She always sounded like a herd of stampeding of elephants whenever she attempted to sneak out, which, granted, wasn't very often.

"Hey." He greeted, breezing by her and flopping unceremoniously onto her bed. He propped himself up on his elbows, sending Smalls, who had yet to move from the window, a peculiar look. "Why'd you take so long to open the window?"

The girl blanched, crossing her arms even tighter against her chest. Suddenly she felt very awkward with the Spanish boy in her bedroom, on her bed no less, though he had probably been in the same position a thousand times before.

"I, uh, wasn't expecting you." She fumbled, digging her toes into the carpet. Which was a total lie. She was always expecting him. She had just been hoping he wouldn't stop by today of all days.

Benny seemed to be thinking along the same lines, brows quirked as he surveyed his friend.

"Its summer." He stated as if that were a sufficient explanation within itself.

Which it was.

Summer equaled sandlot. It was that simple.

Smalls released a nervous chuckle.

"Ha-ha, right."

The two teens stared at each other, before Benny finally seemed to get frustrated and rose to his feet, closing the space between them and eying the blond with a pointed look.

"Well?" he drawled expectantly, hazel eyes cutting to the window and back, "Let's go."

Smalls bit her lip. God, why did this have to happen?

She glanced down at her chest and just knew she couldn't get away with going out like this. Not if she didn't want to expose her secret to all her friends.

"Actually…" she started, and nearly shrunk into herself when his eyes snapped to hers. The girls at school were constantly swooning about how intense and penetrating his eyes were, and at that moment she found she couldn't disagree with them. She suddenly found herself tongue-tied and flustered as he unleased the full force of his stare upon her.

"Spit it out Smalls." He ordered gruffly, and she knew he was irritated. He always got that way when someone was keeping him from baseball.

Scottie sucked in a quick breath, averting her eyes and saying simply.

"I can't go today."

She could practically feel his suspicious look, but refused to look up to confirm her thoughts.

"And…why not?" he asked slowly.

She searched her brain frantically for a suitable excuse.

"I, uh, promised my mom I would help her go grocery shopping." She blurted. That sounded reasonable, right?

Benny didn't think so.

"You hate the grocery store." He deadpanned, "Last time your mom made you go you escaped out the back and hid at Yeah-Yeah's house for four hours."

She cringed.

Right. She had totally forgotten about that.

"Well she's giving me no choice this time." She insisted.

The raven-haired boy's frown deepened.

"She gave you no choice last time."

Smalls was growing desperate. She couldn't go to the sandlot yet! She needed to buy herself some time to figure out how to hide her, ahem, assets.

"Well I just have to alright!" she snapped, and Benny's eyes widened at her harsh tone.

Realizing she had essentially just yelled at the boy, she attempted to apologize, only for him to brush her off.

"It's whatever Smalls." He mumbled, climbing back out of her window, "You can't go. I get it."

She could only watch helplessly as he picked up his bat and glove from her lawn, before ambling away.

"No Benny," she whispered as she watched his lean form grow smaller and smaller, "I'm afraid you don't."

And if she had her way, he never would.