The boys came back out after getting dressed. Then I helped them warm up.

During the game, I sat in the duggout and kept stats for the boys.

We won 3-1. I made eye contact with Davidson after the game was over, and he fixed his hair. Laughing, I went out with the boys for a celebratory dessert from McDonalds, since we all already ate.

I got a caramel frappé. "White girl," Daniel said, sitting next to be in the booth.

"White kid," I replied, eyeing his ice cream cone.

"I know that look," Daniel said, reading my expression.

"One lick?"

"Fine, but only because you're Lindsey."

"Yay!" I screamed, taking a lick of his ice cream. Then he reached over and took a drink of my frappé.

"Gross, is there coffee in this?"

"Yeah, McDonalds puts some in frappés, but nowhere else does."

The rest of the boys joined us, and we talked about the game. Then I gave them each their papers of what they wanted me to keep track of. Mark wanted strikes and balls, Ben wanted outs, since he plays first base.

After we finished, Ben offered to give me a ride home, since he lived only a minute from me. But we both lived fifteen minutes from the school.

"So what's so bad about this Davidson guy?" I asked.

"He raped my older sister," Ben blurted.

My mouth formed an "o" shape, and I remained silent.

"And now, you're like my little sister. I don't even want him to look at you."

"Oh, I see. How fab did I look slapping him across the face?" I asked, trying to rid of some of the tension that had settled.

"That was great. I'm glad you did. Hopefully that guy won't be messing with you."

The rest of the ride was silent. He pulled into my driveway, I said thank you, and went inside. Fortunately, I didn't have any homework.

My bed was screaming, "Come here, dear," so of course, I layed down, and went to sleep.

ச

Tonight, the boys have an away game. As promised, I wore Tommy's jersey to school. Then I waited around with them afterschool for the bus.

"That jersey looks sexy on you," Tommy said, first to get out of the locker room.

"Such a tool, Tom," Zack said, coming out behind him.

The boys came filing out from the locker room, and onto the bus. JV and Freshmen don't have a game today, thank God. We get the whole bus to ourselves.

I sat somewhere in the middle. Next to me was Daniel, behind me was Mark, and in front of me was Tommy.

"Ready for the game?" I asked them.

"That's a stupid question," Mark said, "because we are gonna kick some Cardinal ass tonight!"

The guys all cheered. I looked up at the coach. He pretended that he didn't hear the naughty word.

"So, Lindsey, what are your weekend plans?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing yet, why?"

"I was hoping you could make cookies. Actually, the whole team was. For the cook out at Mark's, of course," he replied.

I forgot about going to Mark's house on Saturday. It's a team party.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Great."

Mark reached into my seat, and took my iPod. I typed the password for him. Little did I know that "We Will Rock You," by Queen coming behind me later was from my iPod.

"We will, we will, rock you!" All of the boys sang along and stomped and clapped.

If you're wondering why I have that song on there, it's because I absolutely love Queen. I even have "We Are the Champions." Guess that one can be for the ride back.

I got my iPod back once the song was over. Then I put it in my backpack to prevent anyone else from taking it.

The team was all riled up when we pulled in. They came off the bus running. I just walked with the coach, since I didn't want to run.

They began warming up, and I made myself comfortable on the bench. I took off Tommy's jersey and put a sweatshirt underneath, then put it back on.

The boys all told me what they want me to keep track of, every single one. Luckily, over half had to do with batting, and the rest were individual positions. It won't be too much.

We took batting first from the coin toss, so all of the boys came into the duggout. The coach told them the batting order, then their positions for the first inning.

Mark was batting first, then Zack. They both stood on the field, practicing their swinging. Ben would go on deck next, so he was beside me.

Even though most people would find it ridiculous to go in order on the bench and slide down, the boys liked the system. Apparently they've used it for the past five years.

Mark wanted me to keep track of how many bases he got on each hit, along with his pitching stats. Right off the bat(pun intended) he got a double.

I marked it on his sheet, and then the stats sheet for the game. I should get payed for this.

Tommy hit a single, which I marked down. Mark got to third base, so I shaded the first and third bases for the play.

Zack struck out. Ben went up to the plate, and another boy went on deck.

Ben had a huge hit. He got to second, and the two boys made it home. This inning is going well for us.

Ben made it to third with Daniel on first when we reached three outs from a fly ball. The boys came back for their gloves, and took their places on the field.

A sophmores, a few juniors, and a senior sat on the bench. Not everyone could play at once. To be specific, Nick, John, Dylan, Ethan, Sam, and Cameron.

In case you were wondering, Nick is a sophmore(the only other one besides Daniel), Cameron is one of the six seniors(he pitches the other three innings) and the rest are juniors(John, Dylan, Ethan, and Sam.)

I don't really know anyone from the Cardinals, except for my cousin and one oh his friends. They are both seniors.

The game ended a little after seven. We won, thankfully. After the game, I went to look for my cousin.

"Cal!" I screamed, jumping on his back.

"Hey, little Lins!" He said, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Nice try tonight," I replied, smirking at him. Cal just laughed.

"Little Lins!" Oliver yelled, running up and hugging me. He is Cal's best friend.

"Hey Oliver!" I hugged him back.

"Lindsey, bus is leaving," Mark said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll see you guys soon!" I called over my shoulder as I followed Mark out to the bus.

I climbed on, and took my seat. I remembered them playing Queen earlier, so I put on "We Are the Champions" on the highest volume setting. Everyone sung along, including the bus driver.

-

"Want a ride home?" Daniel offered.

"Usually Ben drives me, since he only lives a few minutes away," I replied, putting my backpack on.

I looked over at Ben. He was hugging his sister.

"I guess not," I added, sighing.

"It's alright. I kinda want to talk to you, anyways," Daniel said.

I texted Ben that I was riding with Daniel, then I walked to his car. It was a pickup truck.

"You can toss your backpack in the back," Daniel said, throwing his bags in the back. I put my backpack next to his stuff, and climbed in.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, buckling my seatbelt.

"The team code."

"Oh, no. This can't be good."

"You know how the manager doesn't date guys on the team, right?" Daniel asked.

"Like I said, this won't be good. Does it have anything to do with Tommy?"

"Not really. It's about me, I guess. I really like you. I have for a while now."

"Oh."

I thought about it for a moment. Did I like him too? I mean, I've always felt different about him then the other boys.

"I guess we won't have to worry about the code the then," Daniel said, sighing.

"I was thinking, okay? I think I really like you, too," I replied, looking at my feet and playing with my hands.

"Are your parents home? I don't mean that like I want to go in, I'm just wondering," Daniel said.

"No, they took my little sisters out for Chuck E. Cheese's," I replied.

"Here's your street."

My house was just a little ways up the road, after the long driveway. Daniel pulled his truck in, and stopped it.

"I thought you said you didn't mean going inside?" I said in a questioning tone.

"I don't. But I just want to try something. You can say no, and I'll leave. Will you kiss me?"

My heart pounded hard. No one will find out if we don't tell them, right?

"Don't tell anyone," I whispered.

I climbed over the front compartment, and sat on Daniel's lap. Then I leaned over and gently kissed him on the lips.

It was sweet and soft. I wanted more.

My hands wrapped around his neck and I went in for more. Daniel put his hands at my waist, and I think we even got some tounge in it.

His hands went just under my shirt, igniting my skin. We pulled away, both of us breathing hard.

"No one can know," Daniel whispered in my hear. As he pulled away, he gently kissed my neck.

I opened the door, and climbed out. The whole time, my cheeks burned pink, and I took my backpack.

I waved one last goodbye, then went inside.

The door closed behind me, and I sunk to te ground. What the heck Lindsey?