Innocence|Benny Rodriguez

The New Kid Next Door

"Would you like some help?" Jackie hollered, playing with the zipper of her jacket.  The box almost dropped the box at the sudden sound.  He turned his head to look at her, his eyes widening very noticeably.  The boy seemed to be around her age, possibly younger but she wasn't positive.  He wore a hat that would stretch out pretty far, which she had to admit, was super ugly.  She didn't want to judge him just yet though based on his appearance.

"I think I got it, thank you." He replied with a nod.  However, when he nodded his hat fell off his head.  Jackie thought it was for the best.  The boy looked embarrassed, trying to pick up his hat while holding a heavy box in his hand.  Jackie felt bad but was also amused, trying her best not to laugh at him to hurt his feelings.  She jogged up to the hat that he had dropped on the ground and picked it up for him.  She placed it on one of the boxes in the truck instead of placing it on his head. 

"Maybe it's best that you keep this off." Jackie motioned to the hat, hinting that it was an awful hat.  The boy probably assumed she said that to prevent it from falling off his head again.  Now that he wasn't wearing the hat, he looked much better.  He was an adorable-looking boy, she could tell he was an innocent boy.

"Sorry about that.  I'm Scotty Smalls, your new neighbor." The boy named Scotty smiled, struggling to hold the box in his hands.  He attempted to hold out one hand for Jackie to shake.  She smiled at how polite he was, she was glad he wasn't obnoxious or annoying.  Not so far.

"I'm Jackie Alonzo, pleasure to meet you." She replied, shaking his hand.  She could tell the boy was nervous, noticing that he was shifting his weight back and forth on his feet.  He seemed like a good kid, and she didn't mind having him live next door, maybe he'd be a new friend of hers. "I'll let you finish unpacking your stuff, see you later." Jackie grinned, turning around to head back to her house.  She was hoping that he liked sports, maybe he could play baseball with her and her friends.

"Yeah, okay.  Bye!" Scotty shouted excitedly, happy he made a new friend already.  When Jackie turned around, she saw that he tried to give her a thumbs up.  The box in his hands fell, which caused Scotty to yelp.  Jackie winced, hoping whatever in the box wasn't fragile.  When she turned back to face her house, she couldn't help but laugh, finding the boy's innocence loveable.

Later that night, Jackie's mom yelled from downstairs that someone was at the door for her.  Assuming it was Yeah-Yeah or Squints, she headed downstairs in a long baggy white T-Shirt, almost down to her knees and her shorts weren't visible because of the shirt's length.  She opened the door revealing Benny Rodriguez, her friend that she had a crush on for three years.

"Jesus Christ, Benny.  I didn't know it was you." Jackie closed the door slightly, only poking her head out.  She liked Benny a lot, and only Squints and Yeah-Yeah knew about it.  They also knew that he didn't reciprocate the same feelings.  He did like Jackie, but only as friends.  Whenever someone would confront him about girls, he would respond with the fact that he's too busy focusing on baseball.  Benny was positive that he was gonna become a professional baseball player in the future, and Jackie could definitely see it, he was amazing for his age.

"No need to hide, you aren't naked." Benny joked, fixing his hat.  He liked to tease Jackie, having a slight clue that she liked him.  He found it amusing that he could get her to blush with just one sentence.  He didn't deny to himself that she was extremely pretty, he wasn't the only one to think so either.  Hearing Benny's sentence made her even more embarrassed, she couldn't even imagine if Benny saw her naked.  Even though she knew him for years, she gets nervous around him all the time.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Jackie asked with annoyance, watching his eyes scanning her body.  She snapped her fingers in his face, snapping him back to reality.  Things like that made Jackie wonder how he didn't like her, it was frustrating.  He would flirt with her one second, and the next he acts like she's not even relevant to him.

"Are you gonna be at the sandlot tomorrow?" He asked, leaning his hand against the door frame, his other hand on his hip.  The position was intimidating, Jackie gulping at how cute he was even though it was dark outside and she could barely see him. 

"Yeah, I'm not sick anymore." Jackie nodded, clarifying that she would be there.  She couldn't wait to catch up with the boys, even if it was only a week.  She was used to seeing them every day.  Benny nodded, a smirk on his face.  She noticed that he still had on a baseball glove.  They usually play until it gets dark, not pitch black though.  When everyone else leaves, Benny stays a little longer to play by himself.  Jackie thought that was awkward, how do you play alone?

"Cool.  I'll see you tomorrow, shorty." Benny winked, turning around and walking down her porch steps.  Jackie was used to him calling her that, she was pretty short.  She was a little bit taller than Yeah-Yeah and Squints, the two being around the same height, she didn't know who was taller.  No one else in the group calls her that, just Benny.  Her two best friends will call her it shorty when the three were alone, only doing it to tease Jackie because only Benny says it to her.  She wasn't insulted by the nickname, she couldn't control her height, and he doesn't mean it in a rude way.

"Stop calling me that!" Jackie shouted as he watched Benny cross the street.  He only saw him shake his head, assuming he had a big smile on his face.  She closed the door and slid down the door slowly until her butt touched the ground.  She placed her hands on her cheeks, feeling how hot they were.  She hoped Benny didn't notice her blushing, he would easily tease her about it.

"That boy has you wrapped around his finger." Jackie's mom entered the living room, crossing her arms with an amused smile on her face as she watched her daughter on the ground.

"Mom, shh!  I don't want dad to hear." Jackie stood up from the ground and began marching upstairs, annoyed with her mom.  She knew about Jackie's crush since Jackie had no one else to talk about it with that's a girl.  She had her two best friends, but they're boys, it was harder to discuss crushes with the opposite gender. 

Squints admitted that he liked a girl at the public pool that they often visited with the whole group.  The problem was that the girl was way older than squints, at least Jackie assumed she was since she worked as a lifeguard there.  When he becomes an adult it would be legal, but there was no way the girl that was named Wendy would like him back.  Squints was a cute kid, but he looked too much like a little boy.  He had lots of competition. 

Yeah-Yeah isn't interested in any girls at the moment.  Unlike Benny, he actually is interested in girls, he just hasn't found one yet.  Jackie knew that he would grow up to be a heartbreaker, he was gonna be fine. 

Jackie was more than excited to see her friends the next day, already placing the clothes she was gonna wear on her dresser.  She placed her hat, glove, and baseball on top of the clothes and got ready for bed.  What she didn't know was that this summer was gonna be different from the rest.