head over heels | benny rodriguez

| chapter seven |

Smalls shut the door with a loud 'bang', quickly zoning me back into reality.

"Yeah, that was Benny, met him about a week ago. Nicest kid on the block by far!" Smalls stared at me intently, furrowing his brows. "Is something wrong?"

"Hm? No, no, I'm fine! Just peachy!" I spoke.

"Really? You seem a bit flustered." I immediately palmed to the side of my face. God, was I blushing?

"Oh- Nah, I think the heat is just getting to me. Can I use your bathroom really quick?"

He looked at me, almost in a suspicious way, but led me down the hall.

Once I made it to the bathroom, I quickly locked the door, melting down the wall. 

What the hell? Why was I so nervous? I swear, I'm never like this when meeting other people. Just, some weird just grew in the pit of my stomach when I set eyes on him. It's probably just because of that encounter I had with him last night, or the time I took his hat, but I can't shake the feeling. 

Actually, it's probably the fact that I'm new around town or something like that. Yeah, that's definitely the reason.

All I know is that soon enough, I'm gonna have to go play baseball with Benny and his friends. Seems easy enough, right?

I gave myself a few more minutes of thinking aimlessly to myself on the bathroom floor, before I pulled myself off the ground, towards the mirror.

Smalls was right, I do look a little flushed. 

Washing my hands, though I didn't even use the bathroom whatsoever, I briskly flung cold water on my cheeks and the rear of my neck, in hopes to shake myself back to normal. I'll be fine.

-

After my bathroom break, Smalls and I just hung out for a bit. Made him listen to some of my favorite bands, and he showed me around the neighborhood a bit. There's actually a community pool here - Smalls said Benny would take his friends there on days it was too hot to play ball - but that wouldn't be much use, as my grandparents had a pool. Though I wouldn't mind going there, they have snacks and some diving boards. 

We walked around for quite some time until both he and I had run out of things to look at. I tried to convince him to do some other activities...

But I can't stall forever. 

"We should probably head to the sandlot now, right?" 

"Hey, I'm not really feelin' like playing anymore, why don't you go without me Smalls. Besides, I have some... some- chores! Yeah, chores," I stammered.

"Cmon Elle, the boys are nice, I swear! Well they weren't that nice to me at first, but that's beside the point. You said you could play, so what's there to worry about? Besides, Benny's probably waiting for you."

"Why would he be waiting for me?" I sputtered as I slouched over.

"He's just a nice guy, that's all. We also need an extra player for the rotation, so he's counting on you, come on!" Smalls quickly started to pick up his pace, and soon enough, he was running down the street.

I sighed and threw my head back in anguish. "Fine, but wait up!"

-

We eventually made it to the sandlot, or whatever you call it.

"Here we are!" Smalls called with glee. To my surprise, I found myself at the same fence I ran into last night.

"This is the sandlot?"

"You betcha." No wonder Benny was here last night, he was just practicing at his spot.

I throw my palm against my forehead. I am such a fucking idiot.