chapter warnings

no spoilers, safe for work

Basketballs and jump ropes hit the pavement as children ran in circles on the playground. Girls sang nursery rhymes as they skipped and boys threw mulch. Donna, shifting her body to and fro as she rode on the swings, stared at the sky and imagined what it would be like if she were to jump off and fly.

It was Donna's second year of elementary school, and she loved it. School was fun; all they did was arithmetic and read stories. She would often brag to her parents' friends that, even though she was six, she could read chapter books without pictures. Donna was at the top of her class and was even a tree in the school play. She wanted to be a star on Broadway, but first, she knew, she had to accept the small roles to hit it big.

A sharp, piercing sound interrupted Donna's imagination. She snapped back into the present. The teacher had blown her whistle indicating that it was time to go inside. Her classmates began to line up in an orderly fashion. She hopped off the swing, landing on her feet with grace, and ran to join her peers moving slowly, dreading that they had to go inside and learn.

Donna and the other students sat down at their desks, quietly chattering amongst themselves, waiting for the teacher to come back in after rounding up all the kids. The class quieted down when she entered, but they were all surprised to see her with someone else. They curiously stared at a boy, who smiled brightly at all of them.

"This is our new classmate," Mrs. Williams began, "his name is Harvey Specter. Won't you say hello, Harvey?" She tapped him on his back and gently nudged him forward to talk to the class.

The young boy walked forward and stood in front of the class, with a confident smile and declared, "Harvey Specter. My dad is the great musician, Gordon Specter!" Students nodded excitedly and let "oohs and aahs" escape their lips. It wasn't every day that the average town of Riverside, New York had a famous person as a resident.

Harvey grinned, "I love baseball, and one day I'm going to be the best baseball player the world's ever seen!"

"You'll be better than Tom Seaver?" a student asked, as Mrs. Williams gave him a glare for not raising his hand, "My dad says there's no one better than Tom Seaver!"

Harvey grinned and nodded his head excitedly, "You should get my autograph now because I'm going to be the best of the best!" He mimicked hitting a baseball with an imaginary bat and the class clapped.

The teacher laughed as she looked around for an open seat for Harvey. "Thank you for the wonderful introduction, Harvey. We can't wait to see you in the big leagues! Why don't you go sit next to Donna? Say hi, Donna."

Donna lifted her head from the book that she was reading to see Harvey walking towards her, and she gave him a thin smile.

"Hello," the girl said, "I'm Donna."

Harvey nodded his head and smiled happily.

"I'm Harvey. Harvey Specter."

"I know."

He laughed, a full belly laugh as if what she had said was the best joke in the world.

"I like you, Donna. You're funny!"

"A lot of people say that."

The school bell rang, and kids ran out of the school in hordes. Donna, with her bright pink backpack adorned with a unicorn with sparkles, strolled out of the school to where her mother waited for her. Her mother was speaking to another woman, who looked slightly younger, with long, brown hair. Donna approached her mother with a hug.

"Hello, Sunshine! How was school today?" Donna's mother asked, kissing her daughter's forehead. "This is Mrs. Specter, she's new to the neighborhood. I walked with her to school today. She's picking up her son."

Donna's mom gestured to Mrs. Specter, and the woman gave the girl a small wave.

"Are you Harvey's mom?" Donna asked.

The woman laughed, "Why yes, darling! How'd you know?"

Before Donna could answer, Harvey responded as he came up to join the little group.

"She sits next to me in class."

Donna's mother gasped as she bent down to pat Harvey's head.

"Look at you! You're so adorable and you look just like your mother! I'm Donna's mom. You're our neighbor! We're all walking home together today."

Harvey smiled and looked at Donna.

"I think being neighbors will be awesome."

Once Donna was home, she sat down at the kitchen table and began to do her homework. It was an easy assignment, simple addition and subtraction problems. Nothing she couldn't do. Mrs. Paulsen placed cookies beside her daughter and sat down, tucking a piece of Donna's stray, red hair behind her ear.

"Look at my hardworking little girl! Mommy's so proud of you."

Donna blushed and murmured, "I'm just doing my homework, mom."

"I know, but you could be out playing instead. Look outside, Harvey is playing baseball with his brother. I don't suppose you'll join them?"

"I won't, mom. I don't like baseball. I'd rather play on the swings."

"Come on, Donna, you should get to know him. He seems like a sweet boy."

"Maybe later."

"Not maybe, you will. Come on," she took Donna's pencil and placed it down. "I can't believe I have to force you to go out and play!"

With a push, Donna was out of the door and staring at the Specter brothers from her driveway. Almost immediately, Harvey caught Donna's eye and grinned. He dropped his baseball bat and waved at the redhead, gesturing for her to come and play.

"We're hitting baseballs! Come over, Donna, I'll show you how to play!"

The girl sighed as she walked down her driveway, picking up his baseball bat. The three spent the rest of the evening with Donna being taught how to pitch and hit a baseball.

AUTHOR NOTES
Donna would be a softball queen and y'all know it.
Thanks for reading! This work will be updated bi-monthly.
(whether that means every two months or two posts per month...I have yet to determine.)
Follow my Twitter- link in my bio- in order to receive snippets of the story before they're released!

Beta-read by my great friend Claire. Without him, I wouldn't have the motivation to write.
Dedicated to Sarah, the girl who deals with all my fangirl bullshit. XOXO