she's alright {benny rodriguez}

~1~

You pulled up to your new house on your new street, right behind the moving trailers. You hopped out of the car and inspected your new home. A one-story yellow house with a nice porch and front yard, on a shady street. You grabbed the first box from the U-Haul and took it inside, where your parents were inspecting the house. Honestly, it didn't look too bad.

You took the box to a bedroom you had chosen to be your own and set it on the floor. That process continued until your room was filled with all your belongings. The last box was waiting on the porch, and you stepped outside to grab it. As you stood up, you caught a glimpse of a group of boys running down the street. You look after them until they were out of sight and continue inside.

It took a few hours to get everything moved in, but once you took that last box in, it was all done and you were working on your room. As you were putting some clothes away, someone calls you down the hall.

"Y/N!" your mom calls from the kitchen. "Can you walk the dog?!"

"Sure! I'll be right there!" you call back, and grab your old, beat-up sneakers. It was a fairly warm day, so you had on some longer jean shorts and one of your dad's old tshirts.

Grabbing your dog's leash, you hook it on and they pull you outside and down the street. You had gone a few blocks when you faintly heard boys yelling. Your dog pulled you towards the sound and you came around the corner to see a field with a dozen boys throwing around a baseball. Your dog wanted to go see them, but you pulled her back and tried to continue on the sidewalk. One of the boys, the oldest looking out of all of them, waved at you and you waved back.

The rest of them quieted and turned around to look at who the dark-haired boy waved at, and you waved again to all of them.

Their yelling started back up as you turned around, and you finished the walk with your dog.

+++++

You had started taking your dog on that way normally and the boys, when they were there, always waved to you. It became routine, and they would always yell hi. You enjoyed walking past them, and you wondered if you could find friends like that in California.

The first few weeks you were in California, nobody really came to greet their new neighbors (aka your family), and you hadn't seen the baseball group near your house, except for when you walked past the field.

One evening, you were sitting on your porch, petting your dog and reading a book, when someone walked past on the sidewalk across the street. Your dog started barking, and you looked up. The dark-haired boy from the field had walked down the street. Your dog stood up, barked, and chased after him.

"D/N!" you call out. "Come back here!" you stood up and ran towards the boy, who was now petting D/N. "Oh geez, I'm sorry. I should've had them on a leash," you pant, and grab D/N's collar.

"It's alright," the boy chuckles. "They're sweet." He bends down to pet them again, and you do the same. After a bit, he looks up again and smiles at you. "You're the girl that walks past the sandlot every day, aren't you?"

You nod and smile nervously. "Yep, that's me. I'm Y/N L/N, what's your name?"

"Benny Rodriguez, nice to meet you. Are you new here?" you two shake hands.

"Yeah, just moved here from Y/H/T a few weeks ago." Benny nods, and looks back down at your dog.

After a minute of silence, Benny speaks up. "Do you play ball?"

"Ball... Oh! Baseball. Um, I've thrown a ball a few times, might need some lessons. Why?" you rock back and forth on your feet, and nod your head towards your house. Benny follows, and responds to your question.

"Um... would you like to meet the other boys, and maybe play a bit with us? It's fine if you don't, but it's hard to be new, so I just wanted to ask." He rubs the back of his neck, and shuffles his feet on your porch.

"I'd love to, thank you. It is kinda lonely here, and I need chances to make new friends. Um, when should I... come to the sandlot?"

"Well, we just finished up for today, so tomorrow. If you don't want to get up early, just come anytime before noon and we'll be there. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll be there. Bye, Benny, nice to meet you!" You wave at him as he walks away, and he nods back at you.

"Remember a hat!" he calls back, and you give a thumbs up.

You walk in, and your dad peeks around the corner. "Who was that?" he asks.

"A new friend."

{jan. 25, 2021}