head over heels | benny rodriguez

| chapter fifteen |

A diner? Out of all places, why a diner? Maybe a private spot, like someone's house or the sandlot, but seriously? A diner?

It was about time for him to apologize though, maybe he'll buy me dinner to make up for it. After all, he was the one who instigated this whole diner thing.

Though I was hesitant at first, I decided I was gonna go. But I'm definitely planning on showing up late, just to make him a little anxious.

The clock read 11: 26 at this point, meaning I had to wait approximately six hours and thirty-four minutes until I should be there.

Maybe a little bike ride will help me kill some time.

Throwing on some jewelry and my walkman, I laced up my trashy Converse and made my way to the garage.

Grandpa told me that there was a bike that should metaphorically fit me, passed down from one of their neighbors.

Cautiously opening the garage door, I was overwhelmed by a dark room smelling of dust and concrete.

I clicked the light on and began to scavenge through piles of boxes and miscellaneous junk, where I found an old sage green bike. Pulling it out from under the bags and bins, it was in better shape than I thought. Sure, the screws on the handlebars were a little loose, and the gears were slightly squeaky, but nothing major.

The bike's wheels were perfect though, which was shocking saying that the bike has probably been sitting in this garage for a couple of years.

I don't really know my full way around the neighborhood yet, but I'm hoping to find the diner and explore around a bit for future reference.

-

After biking around for a bit, I discovered an elementary school, grocery store, liquor shop, a community park with huge oak trees, a small breakfast place, and something else I wasn't quite sure of.

Rolling up to it, I was greeted with an extremely large chain fence with stacked bleachers, along with some huge signs. Didn't think this town had the money for places like this, but I guess not.

It's probably just some stadium for the high school nearby, maybe a football field they use during the school year.

Curious about the noises coming from inside, however, I quickly biked in.

Oh fuck

There I saw a group of boys, about my age, all in red uniforms, standing in the middle of a GIGANTIC baseball field. The field wasn't like the sandlot though, it was covered in fake grass and spraypaint lines all over, along with many fancy chairs and benches.

The group quickly turns their head at me, where I awkwardly laugh.

"Uh sorry, wrong turn!" I shout as I began to bike out. But before I could leave the premises, one of the boys shouted at me,

"HEY, WAIT A SECOND!" I debated whether to stop or continue to bike but ultimately made the choice to stay. The boy quickly jogged over to me, giving me a better view. It was a typical white boy with shorter, fluffy brown hair, wearing a red letterman jacket and a pair of baggy jeans.

"Haven't seen you around before, you're new?"

"I guess?" I mumble back as I stare at my shoes.

"Cool, cool. What are you doing here anyway, you play ball?" The boy chuckled.

"Yeah, but I was just exploring a bit, stumbled in here accidentally. I'll get going though, don't wanna leave your team waiting!" I then turned around, propping one leg on the bike pedal to escape, but the boy softly grabbed my wrist, giving me extreme deja vu to a few nights ago with Benny.