The Sandlot // Benny Rodriguez

18.

"Need help?" I called out when I was in earshot. He turned to look at me, the tent held in one hand and the directions in the other.

"I think I got it," he said, confidently as he backed away from the extremely sad looking tent. A few seconds later, the entire tent toppled over and I had to look away to keep myself from laughing hysterically. "Okay, maybe I need help." He admitted, defeat evident in his voice.

"I'm an expert at this," I said once I gained my control back and I walked closer to him. "My dad, Scotty, and I used to go camping all the time. Well, before he died."

I felt Benny look at me. I never talked about my dad and people were shocked when I did. My dad died when I was eight and Scotty was four, so he didn't really remember him as much as I did. My dad was my everything. He was the one who taught me to play baseball and I thanked him everyday for that, because without him, even though he wasn't here, I wouldn't have met the nine people that meant the most to me. He wasn't here, but I now had these nine extremely obnoxious boys to call my best friends.

"I'm sorry," Benny said, quietly. "I didn't even know."

"It's okay," I reassured. "I just-don't really like talking about it, because I don't like people feeling sorry for me. I think about him everyday, though." Benny nodded and stayed quiet, like he was at a loss for words and I really couldn't blame him, because there isn't really any right thing to say when someone has died. The best thing you can do is be there for that person and listen to them when they need someone to listen, which I knew Benny could do without any effort at all. I cleared my throat, not wanting to be on the topic anymore. I knew Benny could sense how uncomfortable I was.

"Okay, show me how to set this thing up, expert." He said with a smirk, making me glare at him. He held out the directions to me and I denied them.

"No expert needs directions!" I exclaimed and began fixing Benny's terrible excuse of a tent. Shorty after, I finished and took a step back to admire my work. Benny stared in awe, looking from me to the tent.

"Wow," he said, "who knew?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," I answered, "now, leave me alone so I can change into my swimsuit."

And with that, I zipped up the tent, leaving Benny outside with a flummoxed look on his face.

***

After hours of swimming and enjoying each other's company, it began getting dark and like the sun, the rest of the people around us began disappearing as well. We were soon the only people still at the lake. Although, down on the other end, there were a few people sitting around a fire.

Thankfully, a family that had been right next to us, left some firewood and fuel for us after Squints guilted them into it. So, some of us were gathered around the fire pit while the others took advantage of the now empty lake and continued to swim about. I was sat around the fire, my blanket wrapped tightly around me as I watched the dark silhouettes of my friends moving around in the lake, the sound of the water sloshing around with every movement they made echoed through the atmosphere around us. Benny, along with DeNunez and Yeah Yeah were spread out around the fire with me. DeNunez and Yeah Yeah were both on their fourth s'more and I was not looking forward to when the sugar kicked in. Benny sat across from me, his arms wrapped around his legs as he looked into the fire, his face lighting up from the flames dancing about. I watched him, wondering to myself what he could possibly be thinking about. I was then pulled into thoughts about Benny and I hadn't noticed I was still staring at him until he came and sat next to me, his arm pushing against mine as he sat down.

I looked up at him, taking in the content smile on his face. I held out my arm, telling him to scoot closer to me and he was soon pressed against my side, his body heat instantly warming me. His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him as we watched the boys. DeNunez and Yeah Yeah joined them again after another s'more and then Benny and I were alone again. I rested my head against him.

"Today was fun," I mumbled, feeling slightly tired. However, I wasn't going to sleep until the rest of the boys were safe and sound in the tent. I felt Benny nod in agreement and it fell silent between us.

"I don't want this night to end," Benny said after a few minutes of listening to the boys still in the lake.

"It doesn't have to be over yet," I answered. "We can stay up as late as we want."

"Would you stay up with me?" He asked, looking down at me.

"Of course," I answered. He smiled and brought his lips down gently over mine.

Soon, all the sugar the boys had had began to wear off and one by one, they said goodnight to Benny and I and trudged into the medium sized tent. When the tent grew quiet, we both knew the boys had finally all fallen asleep and I spread out my blanket on the sand, so Benny and I could lay on it. I laid back, looking up at the stars scattered randomly about the now pitch dark sky. Benny did the same, laying down next to me.

"I like being out in the middle of nowhere," Benny said, "the stars shine so much brighter." And he was right. The stars shined brightly, lighting up the sky around them.

"There's the Big Dipper!" I exclaimed, quietly as I pointed up to it.

"Where?" Benny asked, following where my finger was pointing.

"Right there!" I said. It was quiet as he continued to look for it.

"Still don't see it," he answered.

"Are you serious?" I said, losing all hope. I turned my head to the side to look at him. I could see a huge grin form on his face. "Benny, quit messing with me!"

"Sorry, sorry." He said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. I heard him moving around, then his face met mine as he looked down at me. "I like watching you get excited about little things, like the Big Dipper." I felt myself blush as I looked up at him. "I liked spending the summer with you."

"I liked spending the summer with you, too." I replied. His hands grabbed my face as his weight shifted on me and he kissed me. My arms wrapped around his neck, so he wouldn't pull away from me. After a few minutes, he pulled away from me, out of breath.

"I hope the school year goes by fast, so I can be here, with you again." He said as he tried to catch his breath.

"That's a long ways away, Benny." I answered, looking up at him.

"I know it," he answered, "but I also know we'll still be together then."

"How do you know?"

"You can't get enough of me." He answered. I let out a loud laugh at this, but quickly covered my mouth as to not wake any of the boys up. He sat up, a pretend hurt look on his face. I followed pursuit and sat up, pulling him by his shirt toward me. I gently kissed him, then let him go.

"You're so full of it, Benjamin Rodriquez."

----

Wow, okay. LET ME JUST SAY, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING. Here's a long chapter as an apology. I don't know if I'm gonna end this soon or follow them into the school year idk just comment whatever you think :)) thank you for reading and commenting and adding this to your library. THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU OMG I appreciate you all