The Sandlot // Benny Rodriguez

9.

Today was the last day of school and I was beyond relieved. That meant an entire summer playing baseball, going to the pool, and having camp outs with the guys. And I was hoping it wouldn't be any different now that Benny and I were dating. My parents were certainly not going to know, because I guaranty they would not let me hang out with Benny anymore, probably not the guys either.

Anyways, we were sitting at lunch, talking about how awesome this summer would be.

"No, Elswenger moved right before summer started last year, remember?" DeNunez said. "Because we only had 8 players last summer."

"Oh yeah!" Squints said. "I remember now."

"This summer will be a lot better than last," Benny said, looking at me and squeezing my hand under the table.

"Do you still think your parents'll let you go to camp outs, Em?" Bertram asked.

"Actually," I said, awkwardly. "I haven't told them." Benny went to speak up, but I finished quickly before he could. "Because, I know for a fact they won't let me hang out with any of you if they found out."

"She's right," Scotty said, biting into a carrot. "They would never let that happen."

"Then we won't tell them," Benny said, smiling at me.

"So," Yeah Yeah said. "What are we doing after school?"

All the boys looked at each other with smirks on their faces, after knowing them for a good two weeks, I knew nothing good happened when they did that.

"Bonfire!" they all said together.

"Where at?" I asked.

"Timmy and Tommy are the only ones with an actual fire pit," Benny said. "You think your folks will care?"

"Probably not," Timmy answered. "But we'll have to ask."

"We'll have to ask," Tommy repeated.

"Great!" Ham said. "I'll bring the food."

• • •

"Finally!" Benny yelled after the last bell rang. "I'll meet you at your locker in a few minutes, I need to do something." He kissed me on the lips, then ran the opposite direction. I smiled, shaking my head at him. I reached my locker and started taking the few things I did have inside it and shoved them into my empty backpack.

"Hey baseball girl," I heard from behind me. I mentally sighed, because I knew exactly who it was.

"What do you want, Phillips?" I turned around to glare at him, my hands resting on my hips.

"I heard you and Rodriquez were dating."

"What's it to you?" I snarled, turning back to my locker.

"Why date that loser when you can date me?" he said, grabbing my shoulder and spinning me around so I was facing him again.

"One," I started. "You're a stuck up jerk. And two, Benny is better than you and he always will be." His eyes went narrow and they filled with rage. He grabbed both of my wrists and in one swift motion had me pinned up against the wall of green lockers.

"Don't you ever say that to me again," he said, his breath ragged.

"Get off!" I shouted, squirming under him which only made his grip tighten on my wrists. I whimpered, feeling my wrists start to ache. Suddenly, Phillips was pulled off of me and there was Benny to my rescue once again. He threw him to the ground, his eyes wild as he punched Phillips square in the nose.

"Stay away from my girlfriend," he said, his words filled with venom. He walked over to me. "Let me see." His large hands grabbed mine as he examined my wrists. They were red, but nothing bad.

"You'll regret that, Rodriquez." Phillips said, holding his nose which was now bleeding.

"Come on," he said, picking up his backpack and grabbing my hand. "Lets get out of here."

BENNY.

I walked out of the science classroom after I returned the teacher a text book. I smiled to myself as I remembered Emmy was waiting for me. I hiked up my backpack as I walked down to her locker. I saw Phillips approach her and I stopped, quickly pulling myself behind a wall, so I could listen to what he was saying.

"Hey baseball girl," he said.

"What do you want, Phillips?"

"I heard you and Rodriquez were dating."

"What's it to you?"

"Why date that loser when you can date me?"

"One, you're a stuck up jerk. And two, Benny is better than you and he always will be." I smirked, but that quickly changed into a frown when I heard a loud bang. "Get off!" Emmy yelled. I peaked my head around the corner to see what had happened and I saw that Phillips had Emmy pinned up against the lockers. I felt myself grow furious as I charged forward, ripping him away from her and throwing him onto the school floor. I punched him in the nose as hard as I could, blood instantly gushing from it.

"Stay away from my girlfriend," I said, coldly as I stood up. I walked over to Emmy. "Let me see," I said, grabbing her hands as I looked at her wrists. If they were bruised or scratched, I would turn around and beat the shit out of Phillips, but to his luck, they were only a little red.

"You'll regret that, Rodriquez." Phillips said, his voice nasally. I ignored him, grabbing my backpack.

"Come on. Lets get out of here," I said to Emmy as we turned our backs on Phillips.

EMMY.

"Great, we missed the bus."

"That's okay," Benny said. "We can walk it's not that far and we get time to talk. Just you and me."

"You're right," I agreed. "We never hang out just the two of us. We're always with the guys. That's not a bad thing either, it's just, they're annoying sometimes." Benny let out a laugh.

"Tell me about it." He said. Then it was silent.

"Hey Benny?" I said, turning to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for today," I said, wrapping my arm around his torso.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "What Phillips did was wrong. You never touch a girl like that no matter what. And, he had it coming for a long time."

"I know."

• • •

"Hey guys," I said, sitting in an empty lawn chair next to Ham. Scotty took a seat across from me. All the chairs were in a neat circle around the fire pit and the fire was already warming me up even though I had just got there. The sun was just setting, the sky filled with beautiful pinks and purples.

"Our first night of summer," Bertram said, contently as he grabbed a soda from the cooler.

"Cheers to many more," Benny said holding up his root beer. We all raised our sodas, then set them down, each staring at the fire deep in thought.