The Sandlot // Benny Rodriguez

2.

The next day, I got ready for my first day of tenth grade at this new school. I wore a red shirt and blue jeans with my black converse and my straight, auburn hair falling loosely over my shoulders. When I was finished getting dressed, I brushed my teeth, grabbed my backpack and ran down the stairs to find my family already sitting down to breakfast. I sat in the chair across from Scotty and poured myself a bowl of cereal.

"You better hurry before you miss the bus," my mom said, looking up from the newspaper she was reading.

I quickly finished my cereal and put my bowl in the sink.

"Bye mom, bye Bill-I mean dad." Scotty said following behind me. We walked down the street in silence. When we got to the bus stop, the boy we saw yesterday was standing there, talking to a chubby boy with bright red hair. Scotty and I stood a couple feet away from them. A few minutes later, the bus came down the street, stopping right in front of us. That's when the boy from yesterday finally noticed us. He stopped shortly in front of the bus steps, looking from me to Scotty then back to me.

"Come on, Benny man," the red head said, pushing him up the steps. "We don't got all day."

So that's what his name was. It suited him. He smiled at us before climbing the bus steps. I followed behind the red head and Scotty was behind me. The bus was already full and it was almost impossible to find a seat. "Can I sit-" I cut myself off when the girl I was asking looked me up and down, then set her bag on the open seat. Ouch. Finally after being rejected three seats, I spotted an empty seat near the back of the bus and Scotty and I sat together. I could tell this day was going to go bad.

• • •

We finally got to school and Scotty and I went our separate ways, me to the tenth grade wing and Scotty to the seventh grade wing. I got my schedule and locker combination. Before I went to my first hour period, I went to my locker and shoved my backpack inside, bringing a pencil and notebook with me. I closed it and walked to my first hour class, math. Along the way, I got plenty of mean looks from girls I didn't even know and I couldn't understand why. I hadn't said one word to anybody. I sighed, rolling my eyes and walked into my first hour class, taking a seat near the front of the class. The same girl that wouldn't let me sit with her on the bus waltzed in, her hips swinging and her nose stuck in the air. When she saw me, she stopped in front of my desk and scoffed.

"Nice clothes," she said. "where'd you get them? Your brother?" she giggled and took a seat at the back of the room. I heard multiple snickers all around the room. I sighed and opened my notebook and began doodling. When the teacher finally came in and began talking, I didn't even bother paying attention, because I was already annoyed and I just wanted to go home. When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the hour, I went to grab my notebook, but someone grabbed it and held it out of my reach. It was the same girl that had already made my day horrible not even two hours in. I watched her eyes skim the paper and her eyes grew wide, then she looked at me with a disgusted look on her face. "You like baseball?" she questioned. "Gross."

"Can you please give me my notebook?" I said politely, trying not to lose my temper. She smirked and held it in her hands.

"Hmm," she said, setting a painted finger nail on her chin. "I don't know."

Then out of nowhere, someone snatched my notebook out of her hands and gave it to me all in one swift motion. "Leave her alone, Lisa." Benny said in an annoyed voice. Then he started for the door, Lisa followed behind him.

"Come on Benny, I was just having a little fun." I rolled my eyes and exited the classroom.

• • •

By lunch time, I was more annoyed than ever. I kept getting mean looks from people that I didn't even know and it was really starting to tick me off.

I met Scotty at the cafeteria, we got our lunch, and went to sit at an empty table at the back of the room. "So, how's your day been?" I asked Scotty, picking up my piece of pizza and taking a bite.

"Sucks," he said, swallowing the food that was in his mouth. I nodded, totally understanding where he was coming from.

"Well, at least the day's almost over." I said, taking a glance around the crowded room when I spotted Benny, sitting with the guy from the bus and a bunch of other boys I didn't know. I so desperately wanted to thank him for helping me, but couldn't bring myself to do it. It brought butterflies to my stomach just thinking about it. I hadn't noticed I was full on staring at him like a creep until he looked at me and stared straight back. My stomach did a flip and I quickly looked down at my tray. "You done?" I asked Scotty, looking at him.

He nodded, taking one last gulp of his milk and standing up. We walked together to dump our trays. When we were almost to the trashcans, I felt someone stick their foot out and trip me. Before I could react and save myself from falling, I fell to the ground with a thud, the leftovers from my lunch going all down the front of my shirt and pants. I looked up to see who had did it and I wasn't surprised to see Lisa sitting there, staring down at me with a big smirk on her face. "Oops, didn't see you there." She let out a giggle, followed by the rest of the girls at her table. I knew this was all I could take. I slowly stood up, grabbed her tray and dumped it all on her bright yellow shirt. The cafeteria then went silent, all staring at the catastrophe that had unfolded seconds ago.

"Oops, didn't see you there," I mocked, smirking at her. Then she did something I wasn't excepting. She began screaming, a loud, ear piercing scream. At that moment, I knew I was in deep trouble. Within seconds, a cafeteria monitor came storming though the cafeteria, heading straight for us. She looked at me to Lisa, then to the mess which was our clothes, grabbed both of us by the arm and began dragging us to the office. I turned around, giving Scotty an apologetic look. I could feel eyes on me the whole way out of the room and once we left, the noise continued again.

• • •

"What were you thinking!" my mom yelled, looking at me through the rear view mirror.

"I wasn't-" she cut me off.

"You weren't! I can't believe you got in trouble on your first day at a new school." I rolled my eyes. "I'm so disappointed in you." Ouch. That stung a little.

"It wasn't even my fault mom," I said. She was mean to me all day and I couldn't take it anymore!" I yelled back, feeling tears start to fall down my now burning cheeks. "You must not know what it's like to not have friends to back you up. I'm alone here, mom. Scotty too."

She sighed. "That doesn't give you the right to get in trouble! It's your first day and I already had to get you early. I definitely didn't expect this from you," she said. "You're grounded." She said just as she pulled into the driveway.

As soon as the car stopped, I pulled the door open. "I HATE IT HERE!" I screamed, slamming the door and running into my room. I just wanted to go back home. This was not home.