Benny had left and gone straight to the school cafeteria, slamming the doors open when he came in. He gained the attention of everyone in the room, walking in there like he owned the place. Confidence. He had confidence.
He stopped in front of a large table, where most of the cheerleaders, and other popular girls sat. He crossed his arms, looking down at three girls in particular, who were now staring back up at him like he was a problem. He had every right to be here and he was about to say why.
Of course, Rebecca still acted like she didn't know why he was here, giving him the stank eye.
"Can I help you, Rodriguez?" She asked with an annoyed tone. Benny was about to come unhinged, and if he didn't watch himself, he might get into some real trouble.
"Yeah, I think you can. You wanna tell me why you said those things about my girl?" He said aggressively. By now, the whole entire lunchroom, full of students was just watching as this dramatic event unfolded.
"I have not the slightest idea of what you're talking about." She replied, going back to the conversation she was having with her friend Cora.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Why would you do that to her? She's never done anything to you." He began his argument, trying to see if he even had a chance at taking this girl down.
"I didn't say anything wrong. I just gave her some good advice. She's never going to be one of us, so she shouldn't even try. It's just a waste of time." She seemed like she actually thought that what she did wasn't bad. Benny of course, wasn't exactly planning on stopping this fight until he had taken care of things.
"You know, you're right. She's never going to be like you." He paused, waiting to see the reaction on Rebecca's face. She held her nose high in the air and smirked, as if she had won. She had no idea what was about to happen. "She will always be better than you. Always. You know why?"
Rebecca looked disgusted by his words, as if he'd offended her by saying that the tomboy was better than her.
She shook her head instead of answering, seeming to be at a loss for words from his last statement.
"It's because she's kind. She's kind, and encouraging, and beautiful beyond words. You will never measure up to her. None of you will." He shot this last remark to her friends who were sitting beside her. He knew they were in on it; he could tell.
"Benny, you say these things. You don't even understand why I do what I do."
Benny had to think for a moment. He knew what she had just said had something to do with their past. It took him a second, but his brain lit up, and something clicked. He understood what she meant.
"It's because of me, isn't it?" He asked, remembering a certain exchange between the two of them the year prior.
"What do you mean?" She acted like it was a stupid question, but she was about to get exposed, so who's the stupid one now?
"Because when you asked me out last year, I rejected you." He tilted his head to the side, showing her how he still remembered that awkward day.
Everyone in the lunchroom was making crazy noises at the last remark that Benny gave. He called her out, and now her face was red with embarrassment.
"I rejected you, and you got mad. Now instead of you letting it go, because it was stupid, you choose to go and bully my girlfriend. You're obviously jealous of her, just admit it."
"I will not admit something so horribly wrong. I have my own boyfriend now, what is there to be jealous of?" She gestured to the handsome football player that sat on the other side of the table with her.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe your jealous because she draws people's attention without even trying, and you've never been able to do that." He snapped back. Again, the lunchroom went wild, laughing and oohing at each comeback that was thrown.
"She only draws attention because she sticks out like a sore thumb." Rebecca said, but no one in the room backed her up on it. In fact, they were all on Benny's side now.
"Is that really what everyone else thinks? Or is that just what you want people to think?"
She got really quiet after that. She didn't have anything else to say. She was totally and entirely speechless. Benny still wasn't done with what he came her to do, however.
"Now, I don't hit girls. My mom taught me to never be like that, but if I ever hear that you've said what you did about my girl again, I'll destroy you." He made it very simple, and as soon as he said the words, he didn't even give her a chance to respond before he walked out, everyone was cheering for him as he did. Honestly they were glad to see someone finally stand up to her and genuinely embarrass her. There weren't a lot of guys in that school that would stand up for a girl the way he just did, but Benny was different. He would always make sure if anyone hurt you, they had a fair warning as to what he might do to them.
-
You were walking towards the front of the school, trying not to be seen by anyone who might be leaving the lunchroom. Though you had cleaned yourself up a bit after your meltdown, you were still not in the best shape ever.
You had gotten out of the door, as luck would have it, and went to wait outside like Benny told you to. You sat down in a patch of grass, taking off your backpack and laying down to look up at the beautifully shaped clouds that were floating in the sky.
They were all different. Not one of them was the same.
That's what life is like, no one person is exactly the same as another, no matter how hard they try to be. It shouldn't be like that anyways. If everyone in life was the same, the world would be an immensely boring and mundane place.
You thought about this for a minute. You knew you weren't like those other girls, and you never would be, but that was a good thing. You were an incredibly interesting person just the way you were. Sure, you had your quirks, but who didn't? As far as you can remember, being different has made you the best friends of your life. Even if you'd only met them earlier this year.
You were still laying back in the grass, with your feet crossed and arms behind your head, gazing up at the clouds in thought when Benny came up beside you. For a moment you almost didn't even realize he was there. He laid down the way you were, right next to you, which gained your offset attention.
"What'cha thinkin' about?" He asked gently. He rolled over on his side so he could look at you while you were staring up at the sky.
"Just some things." You turned your head, and his face was just right there, all sweet and soft and innocent. "Benny, I know I'm different. I know I'm never going to be like everyone else. I like it that way, and I don't want to change who I am because others have a standard of what is normal. I would rather be abnormal than be somebody I don't wanna be."
"You should always be yourself.... I wanted to tell you something I should have told you earlier." He raised himself up on his elbow and gazed down at you. "If you dressed like all the other girls, and acted like them, I probably wouldn't be as attracted to you. I love you because you are so unique. There's no one out there like you, and there never will be."
He leaned down and kissed you like he did that first night in the tree house, just barely brushing his lips against yours, before deeply connecting them together in a slow motion.
Every time he kissed you like that there was this undeniable feeling that sunk deep into your stomach. I guess you could call it desire, a desire for something more than just his kisses. He was so innocent, as were you, but in that small and needy part of your mind, you thought about how you wanted him to take that innocence away from you, and you from him. It was something you thought about quite often if you were being honest. Most of the time you would push those thoughts away, thinking it was wrong of you to be thinking about those things when you were still so young. You knew you would someday give yourself to Benny, but now was just not the time.
Laying here now, feeling him with you, kissing you with all the love and emotion he had in him, was perfectly enough for you, and it would be for a long time.
There was no one else for you. There couldn't possibly be anyone that could be better for you than this boy right here. He wasn't perfect by any means, but he was practically flawless to you.
You couldn't help but remember the first day you saw him. You remembered how even then, the first moment you looked into his eyes, you knew you were done. You knew even then that there wasn't anyone else out there for you but him. He didn't even know you were a girl at the time, but you knew you loved him on the first day.
You both had to break apart for air, and when you did, you used it as an opportunity to tell him what you were thinking about in the last few minutes.
"Benny.... Remember the day we met?" You were still breathing heavily, with your lips slightly swollen, and your eyes still closed, as were his. He nodded his head against yours in a quiet answer.
"Do you remember what you thought of me the first time you looked at me?" You asked softly, your breathing now evening out as you spoke.
"Yeah..." He paused thinking about when he first saw you hitting baseballs into your crappy batting cage. "I thought two things. One was that you had a fantastic swing, and two was that I had to talk to you. I didn't know why, but I felt this weird pull towards you."
He chuckled lightly, shaking his head against yours again. Neither of you had opened your eyes until right this second, and you still stayed where you were, just feeling each other close.
"I didn't even know you were a girl, but somehow something inside me did. It knew that you were my girl." He said, kissing the side of your cheek. "What about you, what did you think of me the first time you saw me?"
You knew it sounded crazy, but you knew he wouldn't think it did, so you mustered up the words to tell him.
"Benny.... I knew I loved you the second I saw you. It was like as soon as I saw your eyes I knew what you were to me." You told him. It wasn't cliché like in a movie, because it was real and beautiful. Benny knew you were telling the truth, because he saw how much it meant to you when you said it to him.
He had this sweet look on his face, blushing cheeks and a small smile that was spreading. You both just laid in the grass in the school courtyard for a while, just being with each other and not dealing with the world for a few moments.
Eventually you both went home, changing your clothes before you went to hang out at the sandlot. You still couldn't play, as it was quite painful to jerk your shoulder around when catching and batting. It was even still sore when you were running, so you figured you would be sitting on the sidelines for a while until you got better. You weren't even on your second month of treatment yet, so this was probably going to be a long season.
Of course, you didn't want to be fully out of it, so every day you would come to watch them play. Mainly to watch benny, but that's beside the point. You still came to watch.
Over the next few months, you were very good about doing everything you needed to do to heal your shoulder injury, such as physical therapy appointments, trips to the doctor, no matter how much you hated them. You wanted to be able to get back out on the field and play like you used to. You might not be healed enough in time for tryouts before spring training, but you sure as heck were going to at least try and get back out with your friends.
Benny was very supportive about all the things you needed to do, and would remind you if you forgot about anything. He missed playing with you, because even though he never said it, you were the best player out there besides him. You were so fast and strong, and it made the game more of a challenge for him when you were out there. Not to say the boys were slow or anything, but when you were there, it was almost as if he was playing against his own skill level.
It got to where there was only one month left of treatment to do, but you were still very anxious to get back out, so you asked your doctor if it was possible for you to start easing yourself back in.
"Well, I think it would be okay for you to start getting back into the swing of things, but you would have to start slow. You wouldn't just be able to throw yourself back in full throttle." She told you. You nodded your head fast and started smiling wide.
The very next day, you got yourself up and dressed, ready to go to the sandlot. Benny had probably already left, as it was a Saturday morning and you never usually got up before nine on the weekends. Still, you thought it might be fun to surprise him and the boys, so you pulled on your hat and glove, running out the front door of your house before your mom could catch you.
You ran through the town, around the back of Vincent's drug store, and down the alley until you arrived at one of your favorite places.
You seemed to be unnoticed by everyone except Ham, him just giving you a simple wave, then going back to paying the game.
He didn't notice you were wearing a glove, so he had no idea of your intention of playing with everyone else. There was no one standing out in Left field at the time, as yeah yeah moved his position to cover yours at shortstop. You figured you could cover left outfield for the time being. Shortstop would be too aggressive for your first day back anyways.
You snuck out into your position, and realized that Ham was still the only one who knew you were here. Even Benny was too focused on the game to see you. You laughed to yourself, thinking no one would even notice you until they were finished playing. At least that would have happened, if Benny didn't crack a ball right into your portion of the field. They all looked in your direction, seeing you back up and catch the ball. Now they saw you.
"Mack's back!" They all shouted, running over to see you. Even though you'd still been coming to watch them, they missed playing with you. You made the game more fun, and they were glad to have you back. "The Mack attack is back!"
"Yeah, I'm back. Can't play shortstop yet, but I'll get there." You commented, rolling your shoulder as you did for a visual.
"I didn't know you were coming out; I would have waited for ya." Benny smiled at you, elbowing you in the side playfully.
"Yeah well my doctor said it was okay so I thought I would surprise you guys." You replied.
Ham came over and slapped you on the back, handing you the bat, which you gladly took.
"Wanna show us how it's done?" He crossed his arms and nodded his head up to you, almost as if to challenge you.
"Well, I might be a little rusty, but I think I could get one up, if I'm lucky." You looked over at Kenny and nodded to him. "And if Denunez takes it easy on me."
"Easy? On you? Boy are you crazy? I pitch an easy one for ya it'll end up in Arizona!" He replied, shaking his head and laughing at your comment.
"Hey, I said I'm rusty, take it easy on the injured kid alright?" You laughed, following everyone else back into the field. Benny stood out in left field in your place, watching you stand over the batter's box. You always crowded the plate, it made it much harder for the pitcher to throw a strike. Benny was smiling, seeing you back out in the setting you loved, playing your favorite sport, made him happy.
You missed being out with the team, having fun with them like you always did.
You patiently waited for the first pitch to come, breathing in and out slowly to keep calm. The adrenaline was pumping through you at an intense speed, and when you saw Kenny's arm wind up, it went even faster.
You saw the ball coming towards you, and it was straight down the middle. You didn't actually think he'd give you an easy one, but here we are.
You timed your swing perfectly, making sure you made exact contact with the ball. It went flying into left field, but went just over Benny's head. You ran as fast as you could, trying to get as far as maybe third base before they caught you with the ball, but they were taking a pretty long time to relay it over, so you stepped over third and ran for home. They did eventually get the ball to ham though, so you turned back and tried to save it at third. Too bad yeah yeah caught the ball from Ham just now and was charging you with it.
You turned on your heel as fast as you could, racing for home to see if he would throw it, which he did. You faced sideways between the two plates, taking long strides toward each one every time they threw the ball. You made it closer to home on this last throw and when Ham tossed it back to yeah yeah, you ran straight past him, stomping on home plate before stopping at the gate.
Yeah yeah and Ham were whining, but everyone else was proud and impressed. First day back, runner caught off guard, and still makes it to home. They all cheered for you, patting you on the back as they did.
"Benny you're gonna be second best soon if you don't keep up with him." Kenny admitted, even though he's the one who threw you the easy pitch.
"I think I already am." He said, slinging his arm around your neck, taking his hat off and smacking you with it playfully. You just laughed and shook your head, knowing he was just being his sweet self.
"Second best? Never. You're actually third to me and Ham." You joked, taking his hat from him and hitting him with it like he did to you.
You all laughed and played around, having the time of your lives before the sun went down later in the evening. When everyone decided they were dead tired, you all set out for your neighborhood. The walk seemed to drag on, everyone complaining about how tired they were, and how much they just wanted to go to bed.
You were just laughing at them the whole time. You were so glad to be back out with them and all they wanted to do was go home and to bed. The Irony.
You kept walking with them still, until they each dropped themselves off at their houses and it was just you and Benny.
You made sure that the boys were all inside their houses, before you took off your hat and let your hair down. It had gotten a lot longer since the start of the summer, even though it was still short, it framed your face nicely when it was down.
"You have a good time today?" Benny piped up, making you turn your head and smile at him.
"Yeah, I missed being out there. My butt was getting tired of sitting on the bench."
He laughed at you, leaning into your side like a little kid.
"We were missing you. It ain't as fun when you're not there."
"Of course its not."
You both teased each other until you reached your doorstep.
He kept looking down at your lips, and you knew he wanted to kiss you. He usually did. Of course, he was taking his sweet time, and you needed to be inside for dinner, so you decided to hurry things along.
You got up on your toes, seeing as how Benny somehow got taller lately, and pecked him on the lips.
"Goodnight, Benny."
"Where you going? I ain't kissed you good yet." He pulled you back into him, like he had done that day at school.
He leaned down to meet your lips once more, capturing you in his embrace as he did. You felt the fireworks you always did, shooting through you like a rocket.
As soon as he pulled back, you instantly missed the feeling of his lips on yours. He pulled back from you more, holding your hands as he looked at you.
"You better get inside; I think your mom is watching us from the window again." He chuckled lightly. You turned around and saw your mom, she was pretending to look at something down the street seeing as how you caught her, but as soon as you looked back at Benny, she started staring at you again.
"Yeah, I better. I'll see ya tomorrow."
"I'll be over to get you, we're gonna go see a movie."
You nodded at him one more time before opening the door and going in the house.
What a lovely ending to a great day.
(A/N): Sorry about the somewhat late update, I'm trying to get better about it. Also, I forgot to put something at the end of the last chapter so I'll just do that now.... I wrote it based on my own personal experience with bullies, and though I changed it to be less harsh, it was still kind of a rough thing for me to bring it back up again. Bullying is still something that goes on everyday, and just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening. Reach out to those who are being put down, and make them feel good about themselves.... I wish I had someone to do that for me when it was happening, but I wasn't so lucky. If you yourself are going through something similar, please please please feel free to message me anytime at all about it... I'm here for you guys and I want you all to feel special. Love you all and hope you have a good day! -A