All That Matters ❁ Benny Rodriguez

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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

When I woke up, it took a lot of effort to simply open my eyes. I got lost in my thoughts about Leon the previous night, and I ended up crying myself to sleep. Now, this morning, I felt horrible.

I didn't move from my spot for about ten minutes. Finally, I forced myself to stand up, grabbing my phone off of my nightstand. The time was 10:34 am.

As if on cue, my door opened, and in stepped Luke. When he noticed I was awake, he asked, "You going to the sandlot?"

I shook my head. "I'm not feeling it today."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you?"

"I just feel like crap," I replied, staring down at my feet. "I don't feel like getting out or anything right now."

"Have you been crying? Your eyes are swollen," he stated.

"I cried a lot last night. I just woke up. But tell the guys I'm sick or something, if they even ask."

Luke nodded. "All right. You sure you don't wanna come?"

"Positive."

"Okay. Well, if you decide to change your mind, I'm sure we'll still be there," Luke said. "Love you, and hope you feel better."

"Thanks, and I love you too," I muttered, letting myself fall back on my bed, ready to go back to sleep.

L U K E
point of view.

When I reached the sandlot, I immediately went to the dugout. The boys were already warming up, but when they saw me, they stopped, shouting their greetings to me.

I felt bad for Makayla. I couldn't imagine losing someone so close to my heart. I knew that was why she felt so horrible right now. I just wanted to cheer her up.

The sandlot boys approached me at once, and Benny asked, "Where's Makayla?"

"Home," I answered. "She said she doesn't feel well. She was really torn up about Leon last night, so I guess it left her feeling horrible."

"Aw," Benny mumbled. "I feel bad."

"Wait, who's Leon?" Bertram asked. "Was he, like, her boyfriend or something?"

"No, he was her best friend since kindergarten," Benny answered before I could even open my mouth. "Since yesterday, he died two years ago."

"Oh," Bertram whispered. All of the boys suddenly saddened, their eyes downcast.

"Yeah," I muttered.

"We should do something to cheer her up," Timmy suggested.

"Yeah, to cheer her up," Tommy echoed.

"Yeah-Yeah, we could bring her stuff," Yeah-Yeah agreed.

The boys started naming things off all at once, but Benny looked at me. "What would she like?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "Uh, I don't know."

"What does she like?"

"Anything that has to do with Justin Bieber or Eminem," I replied, chuckling slightly.

Benny nodded. "I have an idea. I have to go back home to get some money though."

---

All of the boys ended up stopping by their house to get some money, and we went to a few different stores. We each got her something different.

I bought her an Eminem poster and a Justin Bieber poster. Benny bought her a big bouquet of red and white roses. Yeah-Yeah bought her a Hershey's chocolate bar (I told him what her favorite candy was, and that was it). Squints bought her Skittles. Ham bought her a Monster energy drink (after I informed him that that was one of her favorite drinks). DeNunez bought her a big coffee cup covered in drawings of baseballs. Smalls bought her an orange bandana (he must have remembered her talking about how orange was the only color she didn't have in a bandana). Timmy and Tommy shared the credit for their gift, which was a red ribbon for your hair (she would probably never wear it, but I wouldn't let them know that).