Phillips' Sister (Benny Rodriguez)

Chapter Sixteen

"What?" I turned around, stopping in my tracks. This was the first time Benny talked to me in a long time.

He stood in front of me, "What you did right now was amazing, yesterday at lunch too."

"So?" I gave him attitude.

Benny sighed, "I genuinely thought you were choosing popularity over me. Now it doesn't really seem like it."

"Because that wasn't the reality in the first place!" I raised my voice, "When I went up to your door last week to try and explain things, you just shut me out!"

"I did that because I was upset that you left me." He remained calm.

"Well I'm sorry I got up and left you that day!" I was yelling at this point, but my voice was somewhat scratchy because I was trying to hold back tears. "But you're an asshole! Practically going on dates with my so-called best friend! Did you ever think to put the pieces together of why I left?!"

"Well then, why did you leave?!" Benny started to get slightly irritated. I could tell because of the tone in his voice.

I sighed and stated calmly, "Think about what my brother said right before I stood up." I turned around and walked away. I was so done.

I walked home slowly, not looking forward to being there. I felt so drained. Once I was a couple houses down from my own, I saw my father standing out in the drive way. He appeared to be angry and my heart began to race.

I continued walking, trying to seem as settle as possible. He grabbed me by the collar, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" He yelled. I looked to the left to see Jordan standing there confidently. "Look at me!" My dad demanded. I looked back at my dad in the eyes. "The hell is your problem?! You think you can just hit your brother and get away with it?!"

I didn't respond to him, I knew it would only make matters worse. My dad let go of my collar and smacked me across the face, he then shoved me onto the ground. "Get inside!"

I got up from the ground, my face was stinging from the impact of the slap. My dad hits really hard. I ran inside the house and tried to make my way up the stairs, but my dad grabbed the back of my shirt pulling me backward.

"Stop running away you little shit!" He threw me against the wall, he held onto each end of my yankees shirt. "I don't ever wanna hear that you hit your god damn brother again! You don't disrespect a man like that!"

Tears were streaming down my face, I remained silent. My dad grabbed the belt that was hung on the back of the couch. He got ready to swing at me, but someone knocked on the door. Thank god for whoever that was.

My dad opened the door, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm a friend of Rowan's." They answered. Holy shit it was Benny. What the hell did he want?

"What a whore." My dad mumbled to himself, "Rowan your friend is here."

I went outside the house and my dad shut the door behind me aggressively. It made me jump a little. "What the hell do you want Rodriguez?"

"Let's go for a walk. I think there's a few things I should explain to you."

"A few?" I sarcastically mocked him.

"Well a lot." He grew nervous. I rolled my eyes and began to walk down my driveway. He followed after me, "I saw what happened outside your house."

"What do you mean?" My voice was full of attitude and I avoided eye contact.

"With your dad." He responded calmly, "It makes a lot of sense now, I probably would've got up and left that day too."

"Good for you I guess."

"I'm sorry I didn't let you explain things, I was upset in the heat of the moment. I know I've also been hanging out with your friend Jacky lately, I did that to hopefully make you jealous."

"Basically just made me feel even more shitty." I mumbled.

Benny continued, "I'm really sorry I did that. I knew Jacky stabbed you in the back the minute she threw herself at me. I shouldn't have let her do that. Once you stopped coming the sandlot, the boys wouldn't stop asking about you. They actually do like you Rowan, and I want you to come back. We all do."

"And you expect me to just forgive you after everything you put me through?!" I yelled.

"No." He shook his head stopping in his tracks, "I'm not expecting you to ever forgive me, all I'm hoping for is for you to be my friend again. You deserve so much better."

I sighed, "If I was in your situation, I probably would have been upset at me too in the beginning."

"Yeah, but all the other things were overboard."

I nodded, "Are you with Jacky now?"

"No, I cut her off when you confronted your brother that day at lunch." He stepped closer to me, "You mean a lot to me Rowan."

I sniffed. He cupped my cheek, making me look at him for once. He brought me in and kissed me. Only a small one. I looked at Benny nonchalantly.

"Rowan..." He began.

Word Count: 903