She stared out the car window as the world flew by, not paying much attention. The bright sunlight streamed in, coating the young teenager in warmth. It was the beginning of summer here in the San Fernando Valley, and so far everything outside seemed picture perfect.

She hated it.

"Mom, are you sure we can't just stay in Seattle for the summer?" she pleaded up to the front seat. "Monica and I had so many plans!"

"Andrea, I told you, sweetie, it's best if we moved here as soon as possible to be more comfortable with the town. Wouldn't you like to start sophomore year off with some friends?"

Andrea huffed, narrowing her eyes in annoyance as she looked back out the window. She missed Seattle. It was cool and rainy; Andrea's favorite weather. Not to mention her friends and baseball team she'd be missing.

She looked down at the worn out leather glove on her lap. A soft smile played at her lips, the memories of playing baseball with her best friends floating through her mind. They had such a kickass team. Andrea was the star sec ond baseman, known for being able to dive and catch any ball hit her way. She was legendary at her old school.

But here, everything was different. It took her a good year in Seattle to warm up to the boys' team to let her on join them. How long would it take for her here?

In a matter of minutes, her parents' mini van pulled up to a cute little green colored house, part of a little neighborhood complete with white picket fences and short green grass.

"Oh, how precious!" her mother cooed, already getting out of the car to step outside. Her dad followed her, his chestnut hair looking lighter in the sun. Andrea groaned, leaning back in her seat. She knew she would hate it here. It was way too hot and she probably couldn't play baseball without being judged; it sucked.

With a deep breath, she opened her car door, her mitt tight in her grasp, and faced the humid breeze ruffling her golden hair.

"Jesus! Why is it so damn hot?" she fanned herself, rolling up the sleeves of her Dodger's jersey.

"Sweetie, help us unpack a few things and you can go explore the town a bit," her father suggested, opening the trunk of their blue van.

She nodded with an eye roll, pulling out her multiple suitcases and boxes of baseball equipment. She trudged into the little house, looking around.

"Awesome, air conditioning," she grinned, already liking the house a little bit more. She dropped her things down in the spacious foyer and walked around, taking note of the polished wooden décor and pretty looking fireplace.

"How you liking it?" her dad asked, leaning against the banister of the stairs. A large and excited grin adorned his face, looking around their new home.

Andrea shrugged ,"It's alright."

Her father smirked, ruffling her long blonde locks and motioning her upstairs.

"Go ahead, pick your room."

She walked up the stairs, listening for any strange creaks or groans of the wood, any fault that could be found in the newly purchased home. She found none, and huffed as she realized how nice it truly was.

Looking through the rooms, one of them sparked her interest. It wasn't too big, but it was homey and spacious enough. It even had a perfect place for her Babe Ruth poster!

Andrea began to unpack, pulling out her multiple pairs of shorts and t-shirts from her purple bag. Her mother would never approve of her boyish clothing, but that's what she found comfortable! Of course, she was still a girl, so she had few denim shorts and blouses, but she tossed them at the bottom of her drawers for another time.

After everything was finished unpacking, she collapsed on the bed, her hands behind her head. She gazed at her recently put up Ruth poster, staring back at her.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," she said to herself. "I could just play around at a park for now until school starts and I can try out for a team for real."

The idea seemed perfect, but she didn't know how long she'd be able to handle not playing ball for another three months for real.

A shrill sound of a doorbell startled her from her daze, making her sit up in bed.

"Honey! Get down here, the neighbors are here to welcome us! Put on something a little nicer, please," her mom shouted up.

Andrea groaned, stripping her Dodger's shirt to pull on a violet tank top and denim shorts. She quickly brushed through her blonde mane and checked her appearance.

Andrea Smith never really considered herself like the other girls at her old school: gorgeous, popular, self-absorbed. Her long golden hair reached her waist, wavy and usually untamable. Her eyes shone back at her, startlingly emerald under her dark eyelashes. She was slender and medium height, with a slightly toned build from years of playing baseball.

"Andy! Get down here," her dad reminded. She hopped down the stairs and followed behind her parents to welcome the new visitors.

"Andrea, this is Mr. and Mrs. Smalls with their son Scotty," her mother announced.

Scotty looked up to see a pretty blonde girl a little older than him walk up, a soft smile on her face.

"Hi! Nice to meet you," she greeted, looking the family in the eyes.

"Hello, sweetie! We're so glad to have new neighbors, especially with a daughter around my son's age," Mrs. Smalls grinned politely. "Scotty's friend Bertram used to live here but moved a few months ago."

"Oh, that's too bad," Andrea's dad shook his head. "Andrea, the Smalls live right next door." He pointed to the small pink house right next to theirs.

"Cool," she commented, nodding her head in understanding.

Scotty examined her, noticing she seemed to be looking around like she wished she could be doing something else. He thought the same way, not wanting to have to meet the new neighbors, especially with a pretty girl! He couldn't remember the last time he talked to a girl. He's been hanging with the Sandlot boys since two years ago. There was no time for girls during baseball season.

"Scotty, why don't you show Andrea around town?" Mr. Smalls said, looking at his stepson.

"That'd be perfect," Mrs. Smith laughed. "I was just telling her to explore after we finished unpacking!"

The parents continued to drone on and get to know one another when Andrea sighed and stepped through them, joining Scotty on the front porch.

"Well, ready to go explore?" she joked, her bright white teeth gleaming in the sunlight.

Scotty nodded, motioning her to follow him down the sidewalk. The walk was silent so far, a little awkward, but it wasn't too bad. Andrea fanned herself and wiped away a light coating of sweat from her tan forehead.

"How can you stand this heat?" she finally asked, squinting up at the bright sky.

Scotty followed her gaze with a furrowed brow. "It's fine to me. This is like everyday."

"Wonderful," she said with sarcasm, a small smirk on her face go show she was joking. "So what do you do for fun around here?"

"U-um, well, my friends and I like to swim at the pool, and um, hang around the drugstore in town. Oh, and we play baseball at the Sandlot everyday in the summer."

Andrea perked up at this, eyeing the shorter blonde boy. He didn't seem like the athletic type, but she was never one to judge only on looks.

"Nice," she said carefully. She didn't necessarily want him to know she wanted to play too. "Is there…is there a girl's team around here?"

Andrea flinched a bit as Scotty let out a quick snort. "Girl's team? Girls can't play baseball!"

"Just asking," she said quietly. Great, she'd have no place to play now. It was only a day and she realized she'd go crazy without playing baseball soon.

Scotty, or 'Smalls' as he suggested she call him, showed her around the neighborhood. She remembered the location of all the restaurants and the pool and his favorite store. The town was pretty nice. It was small and homey, just like her house.

"Yo, Smalls, we're heading to the Sandlot! Let's go!" a voice sounded from across the street. Andrea and Smalls glanced over, seeing a group of boys around their age walking over toward them.

'Probably the friends he was talking about,' Andrea realized, looking at each of the boys.

"Who's this?" one them wondered. He was African American with big brown eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," a short, tan, and pretty cute, one piped up. "She's pretty."

"This is Andrea. I'm just showing her around since she's my new neighbor." Smalls explained. She didn't see how he was one of them. He was just so scrawny and dorky. Oh well, if he could play, was she to say differently?

"I'm Hamilton, but you can call me Ham, baby," a chubby ginger kid winked. I rolled my eyes with a smile.

"I'm Michael, but call me Squints," a puny kid with thick glasses announced.

"Timmy."

"Tommy," two kids, brothers I'm guessing, introduced.

"I'm Kenny," the colored boy greeted.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Alan!" the gray-eyed cute kid grinned.

"We call him Yeah-yeah, for a secret reason though," Kenny chuckled.

A tall boy lingered in the back, looked up the street and playing with his baseball bat. His dodger's hat covered his face, but Andrea could see his deeply tanned and clear skin.

She temporarily ignored the other seven boys' chattering, and walked right through them, heading toward the mysterious one in the back.

"And who might you be?" she asked the top of his hat.

He looked up, and Andrea was met with the prettiest set of hazel eyes.

"I'm Benny."