Unexpected Friends

With my heart pounding in my chest, I forced a smirk in my face.

"Hey Lund! Pleasure to see you here!" I said as he took his seat, turning around to face me. I lowered my voice. "How are your family jewels doin?"

The grin dropped off of Tyler's face and he leaned close to my face.

"That was a lucky shot freshman. " He growled. "You better watch yourself. I'm not past hitting little girls."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "And I'll gladly kick you in the nuts again, Lund."

Tyler opened his mouth to respond, but turned around when Mr. S called for the class' attention. He taught for the rest of the class period, stopping when the final bell rang. Everyone packed up their stuff rushing for the door. I stood up and swung my backpack onto my shoulders. Tyler had thankfully already left. Matty and I walked out of the classroom and met up with Johnny near the staircase.

We met up with Zack at his car. It took about 15 to arrive at the Baker residence due to the traffic.

We all climbed out, swinging our backpacks onto our shoulders.

"Thanks for the ride Zack," I said, shutting the car door.

"No problem J." He replied, locking his car. "I'm guessing I'll see you tomorrow morning also?"

"Yup."

He nodded, then walked into the house.

Matty turned to me. "Hey J, after we all finish our homework, do you wanna come over? Johnny and I were thinking of playin' catch or something."

I thought about it. I didn't have that much homework, and I was pretty sure I could finish it all in half an hour.

"Come on J!" Johnny pleaded, tugging my shirt sleeve. "It'll be way more fun with you!"

I pulled my arm away from Johnny's reach. "Alright, alright! I was gonna say yes! Matty, should I just come over when I'm done?"

"Yeah, just ring the doorbell and I'll come get ya."

The three of us parted ways, heading to our own homes to tackle our homework. When I walked into my house, I saw that my dad was sitting in the kitchen looking over some important looking papers. He looked up when he heard me come in.

"Hey J!" He smiled, standing up and embracing me. "How was school?"

"It was good. Hey dad, is it alright if I go outside when I'm done with my homework? I'll be over at Matty and Johnny's street."

He sat back down and nodded. "That's fine, but make sure you finish your homework!"

I nodded and headed upstairs to my room. I pulled out my binder and started on my homework, finishing it in about 30 minutes. I quickly packed up my stuff, then headed downstairs.

"I'm going out now Dad!" I called, as I put on my shoes.

"Okay just be careful! Make sure to be back by dinner time!"

"I will!" I answered, heading to the garage. I pulled out my bike from a pile of clutter, the tires thankfully still full of air. I opened the garage and ride to Matty's house, the trip a lot shorter on bike. set the bike down on the grass, then went up to the front door and rang the door bell. I heard the sound of someone running down the stairs inside and the door was yanked open by Matty.

"Hey J!" He said, pulling me inside. "I just need to put my stuff away then we can go outside."
I nodded and followed him up to his room. His walls were covered with posters of baseball players and bands. I sat on his bed while he shoved his homework into his backpack.

"Do you have a glove?" he asked, making me tear my eyes away from his Pantera poster.

"No sorry, I don't."

"That's okay, I got an extra." Matty said, reaching under his bed and pulling out two gloves and a baseball. He tossed a glove to me and we ran outside. I spotted Johnny on the driveway and waved. He grinned and waved back.

We went onto the street and spread out into a triangle: me and Johnny on the sidewalks and Matty in the street. I slipped on Matty's glove and signaled that I was ready. He threw the ball to me and I caught it smoothly, throwing it to Johnny.

"You got a pretty good arm, J" Johnny said as he threw the ball to Matty.

"Thanks dude," I said, catching the ball and throwing it. "I used to play with my neighbors back home."

"How well can you bat?" Matty asked, catching the ball from Johnny.

"I'm decent." I shrugged, passing the ball on. "I'm not a heavy hitter, but I make contact most of the time."

We soon got bored of just standing there and decided to change things up. One person would stand in the street and throw the ball to the other two standing on the Baker's lawn, taking turns diving for the ball. Matty threw to Johnny first and he dove for it, catching the ball easily. Matty threw to me next and I dove, landing on my stomach as I caught the ball. I threw the ball back to Matty and he pitched it to Johnny's right. As Johnny began to sprint for the ball, I stuck my foot out, tripping him. He fell forward and hit the ground with an oomph!

Matty and I burst into laughter. Johnny rolled onto his side, an eyebrow raised at me.

"Oh, you wanna play like that JJ?" He asked, getting up and running towards me.

I shrieked and ran around Matty's lawn, desperately trying to avoid Johnny. He soon grabbed ahold of my arm and wrestled me to the ground. He turned me over onto my stomach and sat on my back and began flicking my ears.

"Ahh! Quit it Johnny!" I yelped, covering my stinging ears. "Matty, help!"

Matty threw his glove off and ran to me and Johnny. But instead of getting Johnny off of me, he jumped onto Johnny's back, making him fall onto me.

"Dog pile!!" Matty yelled as I struggled under the weight of the two boys.

"Argh! Y'all are squishing me!"

Both Matty and Johnny giggled as I flailed my arms in a futile attempt to get them off me.

"What are you guys doing?"

The three of us looked up to a rather confused looking Zacky staring at us from the driveway.

"Nothing." Matty answered, sitting up on Johnny's back.

"What do you mean nothing? It looks like JJ is suffocating under the weight of you two!"

Matty snickered and rolled off of Johnny onto the grass. I pushed Johnny off of me, grateful that the weight of two teenage boys was no longer on me.

"Thanks Zack." I said, sitting up and brushing some grass off my shirt.

"No problem. Hey Matty, mom said it's time to eat."

Matty looked up at his older brother from the ground. "Why didn't she just come out and call me?"

Zacky shrugged his shoulders and walked onto the porch. "Maybe you seemed a little busy crushing your friends." And with that, he walked inside and shut the door.

Matty turned to Johnny and I. "He makes it sound like I'm super fat or something."

Johnny laughed and laid on his back, arms tucked under his head. He reached his foot out and prodded Matty's thin stomach. "Because you are dude."

Matty snorted and batted Johnny's foot away. "Whatever! I got more abs than you do!"

"Matty, you probably just draw on your abs." I said, catching myself as he shoved me over. Matty got up and brushed grass off of his clothes. "Well, I better head inside before Zack locks me out." He stepped onto the porch and placed a hand on the doorknob. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Johnny and I waved and Matty shut the door behind him. It was silent for a few seconds before I turned to Johnny, who was now sitting up.

"How about you, Johnny? Do you draw your abs on?"

Notes