Ember

Name: Ember Pyro

Age: 14

Race: Caucasian

Looks: Bleach blonde hair, slightly tanned skin, Hazel eyes with bright red and gold flecks. Athletic build...average height.

Anything else?: Lives with her Mom, and hasn’t talked to her Dad in many years since he went off to war. Misses him alot…

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“OUT!” I screamed down at Luke. He glared up at me from the dusty ground.

“Don’t even try to argue it.” I cracked a smile. “ You’re out by a mile.”

Luke stood up and trudged back to the rusty bench, mumbling to himself. I eased my foot off first base and pulled the baseball out of my glove.

“Nice!” Josh laughed as I tossed him the ball. His shadow stretched across the pitchers mound as the sun was about to disappear behind the trees. I shrugged at him and returned a smile. A few of the guys on the bench groaned as Luke sat down, seeing as they haven’t made one run yet, and he was the second out.

“That’s it Emmy! You’re going down!” Chris Mackey yelled to me as he picked up the bat and did a few practice swings. I gave him a death stare and wiped the back of my arm across my forehead. I hated when he called me Emmy. He knew that too.

“C’mon Ember! Don’t take that from CHRIS!” Ben called from third base. Chris shot him a mocking smirk and locked his eyes back on mine. His wisps of brown hair poked out form under the dusty helmet. His eyes, a dark brown, were narrowed and determined. I took a few steps back and bent my knees, crouching slightly. I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead, pushing my baseball cap up. Then I tugged it back down and narrowed my eyes on Chris again. Chris glued his eyes on Josh as he wound up the pitch… and SMASH. The ball went soaring over second base, and Carter went running after it. Chris dropped the bat and started running. Carter threw it my way, and I raced towards first base in order to catch it. Chris was about 5 feet from the base… I was about 2 feet away. The ball clapped into my glove… one more step, and BAM.

Someone slammed into me from my right side and tackled me to the ground. Dust swirled around me and I heard the sound of thudding footsteps as Chris rounded to second base.. Third base… Home.

“OHHHH WHAT NOW!” Chris cheered, slapping his team high fives.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” I shrieked, coughing and trying to sit up. I looked over to see who tackled me, ready to beat the crap out of them.

“Did ya miss me?” I turned to see the brown haired boy with the bright blue eyes and a goofy smile.

“JAMIE!” I shoved him over and took a punch to his left arm. He laughed and stood up.

“You ruined my game.” I glared at him as he dusted himself off.

“Oops.” He grinned. Even though Jamie Williams was just as annoying and obnoxious as all my other guy friends, It was good to see him again. Jamie had gone to private school this year, and I hadn’t seen him since last summer. But now that school was out, we could hang out all we wanted. It be like old times again. That thought made me smile.

Jamie gave me a weird look and laughed.

“Good to see ya again, Emmy.” He smiled, his perfect teeth flashing.

“Ember” I corrected. For some reason though, I didn’t get mad when Jamie called me Emmy. I just liked the way he talked in general. And the way he looked straight in my eyes when he did talk.

“Whatever” He shrugged, the same smile plastered across his face.

“EMMY LOST THE BET!” Chris yelled over from the bench, where the other guys were gathered around.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, MACKEY!?” I shouted his last name as if it was an insult. He just laughed and put his hands on his hips, mocking me.

“I scored a home run while you were on the field! YOU OWE ME TWENTY BUCKS!”

Jamie laughed as we started on our way over. Crap. I had forgotten about that bet.

“DOESN’T COUNT! GAME INTERFERENCE!” I shoved Jamie.

“Doesn’t matter. Twenty bucks, cough it up.” Chris held out his hand.

“A bet is a bet, Ember” Jamie grinned.

“Twenty bucks.”

“ Shut up Luke!” I glared at him.

“ Make me.”

“ You really want to go there?” I smiled, crossing my arms over my chest. A few of the other guys laughed and Chris dropped his hand.

“OH! Guys, My cousin is coming over this week, and he’s brought three of his old dirt bikes. I finished fixing up that red one, so we have four. I’m thinking we should go down to Porter Fields. We can trade around the bikes and stuff, but I hear the jumps behind those fields are SICK!” Ben exclaimed, using hand motions as he talked.

The rest of the guys nodded and started talking at once, getting excited for the new plans.

“You finished the red one? YES! You can finally teach me to ride it now.” I poked Ben in the arm. He laughed and said Yeah.

“Guys, I gotta get going. It’s almost 8:00, and I got to get home before dark.” Carter announced, pulling off his hat and slapping it against his leg to get the dust off.

“ Yeah, me too.” Luke said. I glanced behind me and noticed that the sun had disappeared behind the trees, and the light was slowly dimming.

“Yeah, I should probably get home before my Mom throws a nutty.” I laughed lightly. “ See ya later guys.” We called out to each other and walked off our dusty baseball field. Jamie and I walked to the edge of the field, and I thought he would turn left, since that’s the way he lives. Instead, he turned right, and kept walking with me.

“How was school?” I asked casually.

“Are you seriously asking me about the one subject you despise?” He laughed. I shrugged.

“I wouldn’t despise it so much if you hadn’t left. 8th grade sucks. Especially since none of the guys are in any of my classes. It’s SO BORING.” I complained. Jamie laughed again. I liked how he found humor in everything I said.

Private school sucks too.” He sighed. We walked on in silence. The houses on my street had started lighting up their porches as night fell. The tall trees sprouted green leaves, which turned darker and darker as we walked. We didn’t say anything until we got to my house. I turned to Jamie and smiled.

“See you tomorrow right? This time show up earlier, and I’d rather not get tackled as a hello.” I glared at him, but couldn't help but smile.

He just nodded. Then he narrowed his eyes, and frowned. He brought his hand up and flicked my hat off. My blonde hair tumbled out, landing just below my shoulders.

“You’re so weird.” I laughed, tucking my hair behind my ears.

“Goodnight, Em.” He smirked, backing away.

“Night.” I called back, picking up my hat and jogging inside. It was good to have Jamie back again.