YES I BASED BRADY OFF OF SODAPOP IS ANYONE COMPLAINING?!?!?!
The fourth of July was here. One of the biggest Celebrations of the year, and one of the biggest barbeques of the year. You had friends to share it with. Your mom and aunt insisted you host a party for your friends to come and hang out. Really it was just an excuse to meet them, because truthfully they've only seen you with them when they were dropping you off or picking you up.
You had invited everyone you knew, from the girls Mili and Esme from school, to the gang, to the girl you'd been hanging out with recently, Aaliyah. Roger and Aaliyah lately have been hanging out together, which you thought was weird since he was the one who warned you to stay away from her. You didn't know why he was with her so much recently, but you weren't complaining. You liked them both and were glad they were starting to like each other.
The gang also asked if they could bring some friends, and of course since you figured it would be fun, you said yes.
When they showed up though, there were a lot more people than you planned. You didn't mind, the more the merrier.
You of course missed playing ball, and knew that the boys would surely be playing a game tonight. You smiled at the thought, thinking about Benny playing a game under the lights of the fireworks.
Everyone had been having a good time as far as you could tell, playing different games, eating your mom's food, and lighting store bought fireworks in the front yard.
After about nine o clock, your mother was tuckered out, and came up to you privately.
"Ellis, me your aunt are heading to bed." She paused when she saw the sad look on your face. "Your friends don't have to leave, but make sure everything starts winding down by midnight okay?"
"Okay. Don't worry I'll be responsible."
Being responsible lasted all of five minutes. As soon as your mom and aunt went to bed, everyone started playing a game of truth or dare, except with a twist. Every time someone chickened out of a dare, they had to pick truth, and if you didn't answer the truth question, you had to take a drink. Yes, Jake brought beer bottles and other drinks, but he hadn't brought them out until you mom was no longer present. Of course, all their other friends left, so now it was just you, the gang, Mili and Esme, and Aaliyah.
"Okay, Mack, truth or dare?" Brady turned towards you, looking at you with a smirk.
"Um.... Truth." You chose to play it safe, however, when you said it, he almost looked happy about you choosing what you did.
"Okay, here's a good question. Out of all the gang, who would you go out with?" He asked, menacingly. Your eyes widened as you looked over everyone in the group. When your eyes landed on Jake, he gave you a wink and a smirk. As slick as he thought he was, he was definitely not your type.
"Honestly I'd have to say you." You shyly said, not looking back at him to see his reaction. It wasn't like you were actually gonna go out with him, but still you were embarrassed to even answer. You had to give an answer though, you didn't want to end up drinking tonight. That would result in bad things.
"Well you heard it here first ladies and gentlemen, I'm her favorite." Brady joked, making everyone laugh around the circle.
"Okay well it's my turn now. How about Aaliyah. Truth or dare?" You spoke across the circle to where she was sitting by the other girls. She glanced over at you a bit surprised before answering.
"Dare."
You weren't surprised.
"Okay, let me think." You looked around the group and knew exactly what to dare her to do. "I dare you to kiss one of the boys here." If she took the bait and did the dare, it might explain a lot to you, especially if she kissed who you thought she would.
"Done. Which one does it have to be?" She looked around the circle and waited for an answer from you.
"That's the fun part. It can be whoever you pick." You replied, crossing your arms and sitting back against your chair.
You watched as she walked over to where Roger was sitting, leaning down and planting a rough kiss straight on his mouth. He didn't pull back, and seemed to enjoy it.
Yep, that answered a few questions you had.
When she finally pulled back, everyone was oohing like a bunch of school kids.
"Get it Roger!"
"Yeah Rodge!"
Roger shook his head in annoyance, rolling his eyes. He stood up, glaring at each of the boys who were teasing him.
"Alright that's enough, Aaliyah it's your turn." He said, sitting back down in his seat.
"Okay, Mack."
"That's not fair, I just went."
"We each get one throwback, and I haven't used mine yet. Perfectly fair." She replied. She looked you straight in the eye and asked you the next question. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare." You said, trying to step out of your comfort zone.
"Okay, I dare you to make out with Brady for thirty seconds." She leaned forward with her hands on her knees, watching as your eyes nearly popped out of your head. When you turned to look at Brady who was right next to you, his eyes were nearly as wide as yours. He turned to face you, not really sure what to do.
"Can I chicken out? I haven't used my chicken yet."
Brady almost looked slightly hurt by your words, but he shook it off, looking forward to Aaliyah for her next move.
"Okay sure, here's a question, who in this group would you have sex with?"
"Make out with Brady it is." You quickly said, not letting that question dwell in anyone's mind.
"Hey, it's alright, I don't bite." Brady scooted in closer to you, trying to make you feel more comfortable with the very awkward situation.
"Sorry if this is weird." You apologized before slowly leaning in to press a kiss to his lips. It had been so long since you'd kissed someone, and you couldn't say it didn't feel good. As your lips continued to move together in sync, his hands found their way to your waist pulling you closer slightly. You let your arms slowly go up to his shoulders, letting them rest there as you both continued to get faster with your lips movements.
Even though your eyes were closed, you could practically feel the mouths dropping to the floor around you. It didn't matter though, it was just for a dare, and nothing else. You kept going for the sake of the dare being thirty seconds and you didn't know how long it had been.
You were starting to feel entranced with the feeling of his lips on yours now, and didn't really want to stop, neither did he. He tightened his grip on you a bit, pulling you closer again, to where your bodies were almost touching. You got really into the feeling, and accidentally let out a soft moan against his lips.
When he heard the beautiful sound, he kissed you harder, pouring out everything he had into that kiss.
You were completely oblivious as to how much he had fallen for you over the passed few months. He would act all smooth, flirting with other girls from time to time, but the truth was, he had been harboring serious feelings for you since you arrived. You didn't even realize how much these kisses meant to him right now, because he had never worked up the courage to kiss you himself, he had to wait for a game of truth or dare to answer his prayers.
"Guys," Aaliyah piped up, pulling you and Brady out of your trance. "It's been almost two minutes."
"Sorry." You mumbled, sitting back in your seat next to Brady, who was smiling so wide he had to put his head down as to keep everyone from seeing.
"Well, if we all wanna quit while we're ahead, I'd say it's a good time to head home." Roger said, everyone agreeing with him as he stood up.
Minutes later, everyone was pouring out the front door, leaving just you and Brady to be left.
He wanted to say a few things, and if you were completely honest, you wanted to hear what those things were.
"Hey, is it alright if we talk?" He was blushing super hard just asking you to talk, you couldn't imagine what he was about to tell you.
"Yeah, we can talk."
You walked back into the living room, sitting down on the couch and waiting for him to begin.
"Mack, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say with all this, but I'm gonna try my best so just hear me out." He was just sitting across from you, but somehow he felt like he was gonna drown if he didn't say this right. You nodded for him to continue, so he began telling you what he had wanted to tell you for a while.
"Mack, I've never met anyone like you. You're the toughest, roughest, coolest chick I've ever seen, but at the same time, you are the most soft, gentle and caring person. Not to mention how incredibly beautiful you are. When I first met you, I was really surprised I'm not gonna lie. I didn't think a girl could be so strong and beautiful at the same time. I know that we haven't known each other but for a few months, but at this point, I already think I waited too long to tell you this. I want us to be more than just friends, Mack. And I know you feel something for me, I know it. I could feel it when you kissed me." He was so genuine, and yet, you couldn't give in. You just couldn't. It would be wrong. You made a promise a while back, and you planned on keeping it.
"Brady, you are the sweetest guy I've met since I got here, and I've been lucky to call you my friend."
"But.." He knew where this was going, and his facial expression dropped when you said those words.
"But, I can't be more than friends. I made a promise to someone, and I can't break it."
"It's your old boyfriend isn't it?" He looked so sad, his eyebrows knit together in a sad manner, his eyes filling with tears that probably wouldn't fall.
"I gave him my heart, and I can't exactly just take it back." You replied. You watched him drop his head. Some part of him knew you wouldn't give him a chance, but the other part kept telling him you felt the same.
"Do you still love him?"
"More than anything."
"Does he still love you?"
This question made you think a bit more. Sure, you hadn't gotten as many letters as you used to, but in every single one you still got, he ended his words by saying 'I love you always'. You knew he still loved you more than life itself, and would move mountains for you.
"Always."
Brady looked down at his hands, still trying to contemplate a way he could end up winning by the end of this.
"So you don't feel anything for me?"
"Brady..."
"Look me in the eyes, and tell me you don't have any feelings for me, and I'll never bring this up again, I promise."
You looked him in the eyes, seeing as though he still had tears in them. You had hurt Benny in almost the exact same way before you left, and you couldn't bare to do it to someone else.
"I do have feelings for you Brady, but just don't think it would be fair. I'm not gonna be here forever. I'm going to go back to Glendale eventually, and I don't wanna leave behind someone so close to me like that. I already had to do it once and it killed me." You finished, looking down at your hands as to not see the sad look on his face anymore.
"I understand that, I do, but if we have these feelings for each other, doesn't that mean something?"
"It might, but I can't break my promise, not unless I know I'm never going back."
He gripped your hand in his, making you look up at him with the other.
"I'm not gonna give up on you." He began again. "If it takes me years to win your heart then so be it."
"Brady, I can't let you waste your time on me. There are so many girls out there who would die just to go out with you. We can always be friends, but I can't give my heart to you when someone already has it." You tried to make him see things your way, but he was stubborn as he was attractive, making two things at once very hard.
"What if you don't go back?"
"I have to, at some point."
"But what if something keeps you here? What if a sign comes along too big to ignore and you stay here, would you be with me then?"
"Hypothetically, yes. I wouldn't have any reason not to."
"Then that's it. If a sign comes along, and you stay here, then you can be with me." He started smiling, like he'd figured it all out.
"But if a sign doesn't come, I have to go back. I don't want to be sad if I leave." You told him sincerely. He nodded to you, still having that sweet smile on his face.
"I won't be sad, but I think a sign is gonna come." He said standing to his feet. You knew this is where you both would part ways for the night, but you suddenly felt scared for him.
"Ya know, you can crash here tonight if you want, I don't want you out there by yourself, you could get jumped."
"I'll be okay, I'll take backstreets. Mustangs can't follow what they can't see." He paused, coming closer to you again. "And besides, I don't wanna sleep over until I can hold you in my arms when I do."
He kissed your cheek before whispering in your ear.
"Goodnight, doll."
"Night."
He smiled dearly at you, his heart swelling in his chest before he finally turned his back and walked to the front door.
When he was gone, you couldn't help but feel relived, even though you had just confessed feelings for someone who wasn't Benny.
He was a nice kid, really, he was. You just couldn't lead him on when you already had someone waiting for you back in Glendale.
-
There was only one night game a year, and it was usually everyone's favorite. When the sky lit up with giant fireworks, you could see the field perfectly in the usually dark evening.
Benny was straight line focused on the ball, watching as Kenny pitched it with perfect accuracy. When he made contact with the ball, he watched it soar into the night sky, dropping his bat and running from base to base. Normally that hit would only be a double at most, but the boys were so distracted by the fireworks and how beautiful they were, that they didn't even realize Benny was heading for home.
Once he stomped on home plate, he noticed the boys were still dazed, so he ran around to each of them, getting their attention before the next batter stepped up to the plate.
The boys all knew that Benny would go on to bigger and better games, because whenever they stopped to watch the sky on those nights, benny was the one to pull them back. To them, baseball was a game, but to Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez, baseball was life.
Over the next few days, they were playing ball per usual. This particular day, they were met face to face with some not so friendly kids. The rival school baseball team.
Philips really had some nerve to come back around here, especially after what he did last year.
The boys all dropped their gloves on the ground, trying to act tough. Benny picked up the bat in his left hand, taking it with him as he strode up to the overly confident losers. He didn't usually get physical with fights, but if push came to shove, he had a better swing of a bat than anyone in town.
As soon as they came face to face, the insults started spewing out like always.
"It's easy when you play with a bunch of rejects and a fat kid, Rodriguez." Philips began.
"Shut your mouth Philips." Benny shouted back, not letting anyone make fun of his friends in that way.
"What'd you just say crap face?" Ham shot back, getting ready to fire his mouth canon.
Eventually, the war of words started, and neither Philips nor Ham could be stopped. Listening to these kids, you might have thought they rehearsed these insults everyday in the mirror or something. Nope. They just really hated each other, so the mean name calling clap-backs just came to them naturally.
Back and forth it had gone, until Ham lost it. He was about to give the most aggressive slam that a baseball player could ever think of. He narrowed his eyes at the boy in the uniform before letting loose.
"You play ball like a girl!" He said, his words dripping with the anger and rage that he had inside him.
"What did you say to me?" Philips asked in disbelief. Ham felt a sense of pride, knowing he had put a stop to this kid to where he couldn't think of anything to say.
"You heard me." Ham felt his fists unclench, and his nerves settle. He'd won that battle.
"Alright, tomorrow, noon, at our field. Be there Buffalo butt breath." He finally got out, stopping the conversation and rounding up his boys to leave.
"Count on it ya pee drinking crap face." Ham was still reeling out the snubs that just seemed to keep coming.
"Let's go!" Philips finally got all his boys out of the sanctuary the boys know as the sandlot, before leaving entirely.
After they were gone, Benny started to get really upset, and no one really knew why. Ham did. Or at least he thought he did.
"Hey Benny man, what's wrong?" Ham asked, figuring he should probably toe dip into the situation.
"Nothing... I just really wanna beat those guys for what they did to Mack." He confessed. There wasn't really much he could do to them outside the field, but when he was in his element, watch out.
"We're gonna beat em', I just know it." Ham replied.
-
You woke up earlier than usual one morning. You rolled over off your bed to go to the bathroom, but you almost tripped over a body laying on the ground. You quickly remembered that Aaliyah had stayed the night, and stepped over her carefully.
Once in the bathroom, you could hear the girl stir awake in the other room. You heard her walk down the hall, but after that her footsteps disappeared, and you were left to finish your business. You got done and walked out, trying to see if you could locate your friend, but she was no where to be seen.
You came down the hall, now seeing that she was on the couch, sipping a cup of coffee your mom probably made for her.
"Hey, morning." You grumbled. You honestly looked like a complete mess after last night. You and the boys had gone to the nightly double, before you all snuck into the last inning of the diamondbacks game. They all knew how much you liked baseball, so they wanted to see a game with you. Too bad it was all the way across town from where you live, and you got home at about two in the morning. The game itself didn't run too long, but the drive in diner afterwards sure did. You all ended up waiting an hour, just for Jamie's milkshake, and by the time he got it, everyone else just wanted to leave.
"Well don't you look lovely this fine morning." She mocked, sipping her coffee while staring into the void that was your crème colored wall. "You got mail by the way."
She handed you an envelope that was sitting on the coffee table in front of her, still not moving her line of sight.
"Thanks. Not used to staying out that late, back in Glendale, we usually headed home as soon as the sun went down." You said, starting to tear open the paper in your hands.
"What's the fun in that?" She asked, her snarky tone coming into play.
"We couldn't play ball after sundown, and that's usually most of what we did together, so.." You trailed off, beginning to read the letter.
Dear Mack,
Is it true that you're a girl?
'Oh shit.' You thought. Wow, first sentence and everything. Not even a hello, or a how are you?
If so, you're probably wondering how we found out.
Today we faced off against the rival school team that hit you with the pitch last year. We won, but Philips wasn't happy. After they lost, he said he wanted to let us know something. He told us there was a reason his pitcher hit you. He said it was because you were a girl, and girls don't play ball.
Anyways, we're not mad that you didn't tell us, we understand why you pretended for so long. Benny told us everything you were afraid of, and we can assure you, you got nothing to worry about. Don't get mad at Ham, but he told us what happened with you and your stepdad too. We didn't know what you'd been through and we're really sorry it happened. As soon as you come back, we'll be happy to replace yeah yeah and let you back on shortstop where you should be. Maybe some girls can't play ball, but you can, and now we miss you even more!
Let us know when you're coming back, or at least coming to visit.
With all our love,
The boys.
P.S. Hey Mack, this is probably crazy to read all at once, but Kenny wrote it so its not as good as my letters... anyways I love you always and miss you more than anything.
-Benny
You weren't quite sure what you were feeling right now, but it seemed as if all of your problems had just melted away in that very instant. The boys knew. They found out from Philips, but they knew. They said it was okay. You were begining to remember
You had this unreadable look on your face, one that had mixed emotions written into it. You hadn't said anything in almost a minute now after reading the letter. Aaliyah was a bit concerned. Usually you never shut up when you were around her. What was the deal?
"Hey man, you alright?" She finally broke her hundred yard stare, glancing over at your twisted features.
"Yeah, um... I just got a letter from my friends."
"What's it say?" She pried, holding her hand out for you to give it to her. She took it as soon as you handed it over. She read through it quickly, as fast reading was apparently one of her many, cooler characteristics. Her eyebrows furrowed once she thought about what the words were actually saying. "What does this even mean?"
"Well, without context I know it probably looks strange, but.... The whole thing is actually a really long story." You admitted. She handed the letter back to you, scooting over so you could sit down next to her.
"We got all day don't we?" She replied, settling into the couch for comfort, and giving you a sign that she was ready to hear the story.
"Alright, I guess... it all started at the beginning of summer last year, or actually, it was even before that." You paused for second, trying to find all the words you needed for this story. You hadn't told anyone else here about your past in Glendale, only that you had some friends there that you kept in touch with. "I wasn't really trying to make any friends, because the way I'd always been, people always thought I was weird because I dressed and acted the way I do. When I got to Glendale though, no one knew who I was, so it was almost easy to convince everyone that I was a boy named Elzwerner Mack. After I came home from school one time, I was out hitting baseballs in my front yard. I didn't think anyone was watching me, but uh.... There was this boy."
"Benny...." She guessed. She knew where this was going, so she thought she might speed it up a little.
"Yeah... Benny." You replied. "Benny took one look at me and thought I was a boy, just like everyone else. He wanted me to play ball with him and his friends, so I said yes. I started playing with them and I thought that if I told them, they wouldn't want me to play anymore. So I kept it a secret."
"Then how did this Philips kid know about you?"
"He saw me at his dad's restaurant one time, I was wearing a dress and I had my hair down."
"And why didn't he tell the boys sooner?"
"He didn't I know I was the girl in the restaurant until he saw me with the boys."
"And how did Benny find out?"
"Just asking all the questions now, aren't we?"
She shrugged her shoulders, still keeping her line of sight on you, compelling you to keep telling the story.
"Well that's the funny part actually." You smiled a bit, remembering how awkward it was at the time. Now looking back, all you can do is laugh. "I was in my room one day, and my mom wanted me to try on something a little more my age if you know what I mean... Anyways, long story short, he walked in at exactly the wrong time, and saw me in a bra. I had to tell him everything, but I'm so gad I did. Me and him got really close."
"You might think I'm stupid, but I know what that means. So, was he a good kisser?"
"How did we go from 'how did he find out?' to 'Is he a good kisser?'"
She shrugged again, urging you to answer her question while she was still interested.
You sighed, kind of annoyed.
"Yes, okay, he was a good kisser."
"Is he cute?" She leaned forward towards you, as if your story was the best thing she'd heard all week. Again you sighed, but not in annoyance.
"He's gorgeous." You looked up at her, but she didn't seem pleased with your answer, so you gave her a description. "He's tall...well, taller than me by a good few inches at least. He's got dark brown hair, almost black. He has a pretty good build, not anything like Roger or Jake, he's always been a little lanky, but he has broad shoulders. His skin is this pretty tan color, and his eyes..." You trailed off when you got to his eyes. The entire time you were describing him, you couldn't help but picture him in your mind. Now you were thinking about his eyes.
"His eyes are beautiful. They're like this dark hazel brown, with a hint of green in the middle. I love his eyes." You admitted, dropping your head forward a bit to hide the blush you knew was crawling onto your face.
"Well, he sounds like a real heartbreaker. Bet you had to really fight to get him huh?"
"No actually. He was the one who initiated things. Guess he just likes a girl who can play ball." You laughed to yourself softly.
"Alright well, if you don't wanna answer that's fine, but all this just begs the question... How was he when you hooked up?"
You almost fell off the couch because you snapped up so hard. Your eyes widened and you were honestly not even sure what to say. It wasn't like you didn't want to answer, but there wasn't really an answer. It never happened.
"Well, I'm gonna be honest with you, we never really got around to that part." You leaned over to the side kind of awkwardly. You weren't sure what she'd think of you since you still had that sense of innocence.
"Gotta say, I'm surprised. But uh... does that mean you've never gone all the way?"
"Nope."
"Do you want to?"
"Depends.."
"Okay, let me rephrase that, do you want to with Benny?" She made her question more specific, allowing you to easily give your answer.
"Yeah, but I'm still not sure I would go through with it yet...."
"Why not?"
You knew you would have to tell her at some point. She had grown closest to you out of the entire group. She wouldn't tell anyone either, you knew that.
"Well, we were going to... but something happened. My stepdad was a weirdo, and me and Benny knew it from the beginning. I didn't know that he would actually attempt what he did, but it turns out he was a pedophile the whole time. When we got the police report, we found out he'd taken advantage of several other young girls. They said I was the worst case though."
You turned to look at her, seeing how taken aback she was. You kind of smirked, because Aaliyah wasn't easily bothered, but now she looked fairly uncomfortable.
"Wow. That's heavy man."
"It is, but I'm getting over it."
Just then, your mother walked in, a somber look on her face as she sat down.
"Ellis, honey I have something to tell you."
It didn't exactly sound like good news from the way she was bringing it up.
"What is it mom? Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine, I just um... I just got a call from my boss. She offered me a new job." She told you, coming a bit closer to where she could place her hand on your shoulder.
"That's great mom!" You stood up to hug her, but she pushed you away slightly.
"A permanent job. Here in Phoenix." She kept going, and your face saddened in realization.
"We're not going back to Glendale, are we?" You asked.
"I'm afraid not. This job is going to be the best I've ever had, but it'll keep me here full time."
At this moment, you didn't know what you were feeling, but it wasn't good. You felt like you needed to take your feelings out on something, and right now.
"I'm gonna step outside for a second." You told your mother and Aally. They both nodded and watched as you practically sprinted out of the house. You slammed the door and kept running. You knew what you wanted to do right now. You wanted to feel something other than what you were feeling right now, and you knew exactly where and who to go to.
You continued to run down the sidewalk, wearing nothing but a shirt, shorts, and socks. You looked like crap, but you kept going anyways.
Once you reached the house you wanted to be at, you ran up and knocked on the door.
"Mack? What you doing here?" Brady opened the door, stepping aside slightly to let you in. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and only had on a pair of plaid pajama pants. You looked him up and down once before putting your arms around his neck and pulling him close to you. He instantly took you into his arms, even though he was confused as to what was happening. In no less than a moment, you reached up and put your lips on his. You kissed him for a good few seconds before pulling back momentarily.
"I got a sign."
A/N: OKAY so like this is a temporary thing, but I needed to extend the plot a little so no hate lol but we're getting closer to the return I promise!!! Also I know the diamondbacks didn't exist back then, but it's the only team Arizona has so I threw it in there.....