𝙨𝙖𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡. ━ rodriguez

[ 3 ]

THE SOUND — The 1975

My eyes widened as I heard the muffled echoes of my mother singing to the radio at such an early hour.

"And I will always love you!" My mother's voice rang through the kitchen as I peered over the staircase, drowsiness still ringing through my senses.

"Mom?" I asked, questioning her ecstatic mood.

"Morning Lina," she smiled brightly. "I'm making you your favorite omelet."

"Oh. . . cool," I replied nervously, scratching the back of my neck.

My mom served me my breakfast, going the extra mile to placing a glass of orange juice next to my food.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" she asked, sitting across from me as she glanced at the television in the living room to see the news.

"Baseball at the sandlot," I spoke through chewing my food. She nodded in response.

"I'm glad you've become more active, it's better that you put your stress into that than partying and smoking." She commented.

The subject was obviously awkward for the both us due to my stubbornness and the negative comments I kept to myself. She could tell the conversation was ranging from my comfort zone, so she just ate her food in contempt silence.

I finished my food and placed it in the sink as I rushed upstairs to get ready for the day.

I showered and managed to splash on some mascara and eyeliner for tonight's party. I threw on a black hoodie and denim jeans that were cuffed at the ankles and ripped at the knees. I avoided glancing at myself in the mirror one last time due to my own insecurities driving me to insanity. I'd probably change into three more outfits if I had.

I jogged down the stairs and threw on my ragged PF flyers and shoved my phone in the back pocket of my jeans.

My doorbell suddenly rang, alerting me that Benny had arrived. Expecting to be faced with the boy with lustrous hazel eyes, I was faced with Kenny DeNuenz.

My eyebrows shot up in confusion, "Hey DeNuenz, what are you going here?"

"The other guys are busy, I was wondering if you wanted to come with Yeah-Yeah and I to the grocery store?" He asked, nervousness dripping from his tone.

"Why the grocery store?" I laughed.

"I just didn't want to go alone and plus everyone's busy tonight so no baseball," He explained, Yeah-Yeah approaching my front door with an enormous smirk.

"Hello, Lina, why don't ya join Kenny and I for our world famous grocery shopping game," Yeah-Yeah said, interrupting the conversation.

"I mean, if we actually do something entertaining, I guess I can come for a bit, but
I—uh. . . have something to do in the evening," I replied to the boys' request.

I alerted my mom that I'd be out with the boys and we made our way to the large grocery store.

"So, what exactly is these 'grocery games'?" I asked, gesturing air quotes.

"Well, Yeah-Yeah and I usually go for our moms, so we created this revolutionary game to make it less boring," Kenny began excitedly. Yeah-Yeah nodded his head frantically as Kenny continued to explain.

"Basically, we get two carts, we get our assigned lists and see who can gather everything the fastest. Loser has to buy the winner whatever they want and the loser has to also buy the next baseball for the sandlot for when we destroy our old ones." Kenny elaborated further as we reached our destination of the grocery store, all of us excitedly rushing inside.