Ronnie stretched her long legs against her headboard. She bounced a tennis ball against the wall, catching it in her baseball glove repeatedly. The sticky humid air made her bedroom seem 10 degrees hotter than it was. Ronnie was seriously bored. She was always bored on Sunday. Cory's family, consisting of 5 boys, was at church all day. A knock on her window interrupted Ronnie's train of thoughts. She groaned, having to get up, and looked out the window. Ronnie smiled when she saw who it was.
"Hey Cory." Ronnie said, surprised to see her neighbor at her window.
"Thought I'd stop by," he said.
"I thought you were at church?" Ronnie asked, confused.
"Oh, I told my dad I was 'sick' so I could stay home." Cory said, fake coughing.
"Well I'm actually not sick-" Cory began to say.
"Oh really...I had NO idea!" Ronnie said sarcastically.
"We need extra player, so do you wanna play football with the gang?" Cory said.
"You came over here just to ask me to play football with your little gang? How rude!" Ronnie said, jokingly. She actually loved playing football with the boys.
"Well...yeah." Cory answered, not noticing her sarcasm.
"Oh-I don't know..." Ronnie said, trying to make Cory beg for it.
"Ron! PLEASE!" Cory begged, making a puppy dog face. Ronnie slyly smiled.
"Well... I did want to be quarterback-" Ronnie said, trying to get her way.
"Fine! You can be quarterback! Whatever you want!" Cory answered.
Ronnie climbed out of her window, closing it behind her. Cory and her walked across the Ronnie's roof outside of her bedroom window. Ronnie placed her foot on the tree, which Cory called the "escape tree", and swung herself onto it's branches. She climbed downwards to the ground with Cory right behind her.
"Where's the game going on?" Ronnie asked.
"They're in Croak's backyard." Cory replied.
"Who's Croak again?" Ronnie asked, she always confused all of their gang names.
"Croak is Benny's nickname." Cory said.
Cory and Ronnie headed down Ronnie's brick street, passing Cory's house on the way. They headed up Forest Lane, where most of the gang lived. They passed multiple houses consisting of rocky driveways, warped roof tops, and dead grass. They finally arrived at Croak's house, where the gang usually played football. The house wasn't the prettiest, but it had a huge backyard that was perfect for games.
"Eh! Croak! We got another player." Cory yelled to his friend.
"You brought Ronnie again-" Croak began to complain.
"Hey, I know she's a girl, but she's the only thing we got." Cory said, defending his friend.
"Let's just play already!" Yelled Bruno, who they called Bugsy.
The gang got into their positions. Ronnie stood behind Bugsy, her arms ready to catch the ball.
"Set-HUT!" Bugsy yelled, and he quickly snapped the ball to Ronnie.
"I'm open!" Yelled Vinnie, who they called Venom.
"No, I'M open you little jerk!" Gunther, who was named "Trigger" said, pushing Venom to the ground.
Ronnie threw the ball across the yard, and Trigger caught it in his arms. He ran toward the end zone, only to be tripped by Freckles, a whimpy yet mischievous little kid.
"Ha!" Freckles laughed in Trigger's face.
"C'mon Freckles, play the game right!" Croak yelled.
"You never said no tripping!" Freckles complained.
Ronnie rolled her eyes. The gang could never play a normal game of football.
"Just shut up everyone!" Cory yelled. The boys were quiet again. They all went back to their positions in the yard.
"Set-HUT!" Bugsy yelled again. Ronnie caught the ball, and tried to find somebody who was open. She threw the ball toward Freckles, and barely missed his hands. Instead, the ball went flying past him and hit the neighbor's window. Everyone stood staring at the broken window in shock.
"This is exactly why we don't invite a girl to play football!" Croak complained.
Ronnie's face went red. She was in huge trouble. Croak's neighbor, a cranky old lady, stormed out of the house and looked at the boys.
"You're paying for this!" The women yelled.
"Don't just stand there Ronnie," Cory said. "RUN!"
Ronnie ran as fast as she could, following Cory's instructions. She ran down Forest Lane, trying to not to trip on the rocky path. She darted for her house on the brick road. She hoisted herself up on the "escape tree" and climbed to the top of her roof. She caught her breath as she sat on top of her roof.
"That was close." Ronnie whispered to herself. Ronnie felt the top of her head, looking for her baseball cap. She had a mini panic attack when she realized her hat flew off while she was running.
"Hey!" Yelled a voice coming from the other side of the roof. The voice startled Ronnie, making her jump.
"You forgot your hat!" Yelled a familiar voice.
"Cory! You scared me to death!" Ronnie said.
"Sorry. Well, here is your hat. By the way, you run pretty fast for a girl." Cory replied.
"Why thank you." Ronnie smirked.
In a matter of seconds, the sunny sky had turned into a giant black cloud. It began to storm, and the water furiously poured out of the clouds. Ronnie and Cory were drenched with water. Ronnie's teeth began to chatter from the cold rain.
"That's quite a storm." Ronnie said. Cory took off his jacket and wrapped it around Ronnie's shoulders, keeping her warm. It was a picturesque moment as the two sat together, sitting in the rainy storm.
"By the way, you're paying for that window." Cory said.
"I know." Ronnie said, smiling. She leaned her head against Cory's shoulder, and closed her eyes.