"oh come on Jay,please help me face the fact that Benny will never like me?" i said with my face in the palm of my hands . "Ri stop, Benny does like you and i know it and you like him" she said in a encouraging tone . "Now let's hurry up and get our books so we can go home". Jay is one of my best friends, our moms are very close, her dad unfortunately left when she was two. she says it doesn't really effect her because she doesn't remember anything about him. my dad on the other hand....well he was abusive. he would yell at my mom, hit me, he even would have affairs with other women. one day i was awoken by clanging and yelling coming from downstairs back when i lived in "new jersey". when i went downstairs i came to see my father with multiple bags and suitcases, i knew what was happening....he was leaving. him and my mom were arguing and it just escalated more and more to the point where he hit my mom right in her face, i ran over to my mom because he had literally knocked the wind out of her. so the first thing i thought of was to knock the wind out of him, so i did. i kicked him,punched him, and slapped right in the face, and before he could do it back i warned him i would call the cops. he left right after, i haven't heard from him since and i knew i wasn't going to see or hear from him. Jay doesn't know about my situation with my dad...i feel bad because she opened up to me about her dad but i never opened up to her about mines, i just told her he lived in Texas for work since it's hard for me to talk about my father because i feel like i'm the only girl in the world that has to deal with an abusive father who had other affairs and abandoned his wife and only child...it's just embarrassing to talk about.
"oh Ri are you doing anything after school? my mom said she wouldn't mind taking us to the mall, plus your mom approved ". i really wanted to go with Jay to the mall, but my head hurt bad and i just needed to get some medicine then lay down. " thank you for the invite but i'm tired and my head hurts, i think it's best if i go home and lay down" i said . " oh okay, well i'll bring you a little something back" Ri said. "do you need a ride home pumpkin? Ms. Tina said. " no thanks i'm good, i think i need some fresh air" i said. " okay be safe you hear!" ". "don't worry i will i said with a smile, bye you two have fun". they both waved "bye" then drove off.
Ms. Tina is the mother of Ari, to me she's like my second mother. she's always there for me, and cares for me. which is why i love her. she doesn't just make me happy, she makes my mom happy too. they met in middle school, and have been best friends since. i hope Ari and i can grow up just like them.
as i was walking home i noticed a u-haul truck in front of the pink house. i started to think whether i should go say "hi" or not. by the time i got done thinking, they had already saw me. so i kinda had no choice then to go greet them.
when i walked in the drive, i noticed there were baseballs and i glove. "sweet a kid who plays baseball!" i said excited. i made my way to the door, when i then saw a kid almost my height. i was a bit taller then him. "hi! i'm Ari, but you can call me Ri if you prefer. i'm your neighbour. i live in that blue house right there " i said and pointed across the street. fun fact is i live right next to Benny, and to make it worse our windows in our bedrooms face each other. " hi Ri nice to meet you, i'm Scotty Smalls" he said. " well Smalls why do you come 3 weeks before school is over? i said. " to be honest i'm not sure, i didn't have a choice. i'll probably make friends once the school year starts." Smalls said. "well to make your life a bit easier i'll be your friend and i'll even show you around tomorrow if your down...?" i said in a convincing voice.
"oh cool, and sure i'm down for i little tour" Smalls said with a smirk
we said "bye" and i left to go home, my mom works until 6pm and it was around 4:30 so i didn't expect to see her once i arrived home. when i walked inside i went straight to our medicine cabinet to grab some advil then i went to get some water. after i took my medicine i decided to go to the corner store and buy some chocolate, my mom always told me that helps with headaches and plus i just wanted something sweet. i grabbed the house keys and my bike then rode down to the corner store,i also grabbed my glove,bat and baseball in case i wanted to stop at the Sandlot.
it felt so good to feel the breeze and let my curly hair flow behind, i did have a skateboard but i mostly rode my bike because when i do it feels like all my problems flow behind me with the wind.
when i arrived i was in for a suprise, Benny.
Benny was at the corner store, but it was just him. i didn't ask questions,i just grabbed the candy bar and left.
i rode back home but stopped at the Sandlot to practice baseball,something about me is that i play baseball myself.
i lay down my bike, grab my bat, glove, baseball and my candy bar then go sit in the dugout unwrap my candy bar put in my mouth and went to go play ball.
—————————-Benny's Pov—————————-
i had just back home from getting some food for my mom and i, my father works a couple hours away from us. this week i felt bad for my mom...she had been working allll week when she usually works 3, monday, tuesday, wednesday. she starts working at 5am and gets home at 7pm, she's not use to working a whole lot. if your wondering where she works, she works at our family bakery. she just getting back to working, which is probably why she so tired when she gets home. last year in may ...my mom was in a horrible car accident while coming to pick me up from school. she's had a long recovery, and when she felt like she was a lot better she started work again.
anyway i had gotten food because i was going to make dinner just for her and i since my dad usually gets food for him on his way back from work. i had gotten something simple, spaghetti! i began to go ahead and let the water in the pot boil, after i went to get my jacket from upstairs because it was kinda cold in my house. i was in my closet getting my jacket when i saw there was someone at the Sandlot, the closer i looked the more i realised it wasn't one of the boys...but i couldn't figure out who it was.
i went back downstairs to put the noodles in the boiling water, and we had left over meat so i used that. it tasted fine anyways.
now i just had to wait for my mom to get home.
i went back upstairs to my room after i finished making some spaghetti, when i got upstairs i noticed that my neighbour Ri was in her room. not even gonna lie...i may have a little crush on her which is bad because the boys and i promised we would never crush on "yucky girls" but i couldn't help it...but i haven't told the boys and i won't tell them either. something i just now noticed is the baseball posters hung in her room, she also had a bat and glove beside her door. oh she plays or likes baseball i thought, good to know...
so she's smart, pretty, kind, and plays baseball? sweet!
————————-Benny's Pov Ends————————
————————Ari's Pov Starts—————————-
when i got back home from playing baseball,i came upstairs took a shower and laid in bed. even though it was pretty early, i was exhausted and had to make sure i made a good impression for Smalls. so i grabbed a book and ended up dozing off...
when i woke up i grabbed some clothes and threw them on, went to Smalls house, and knocked on the door. his mom came "hi, i'm Ari i live next door. i told Smalls i would show him around,is he ready?" i said. "ohhh so your Ari, Smalls told me he met you yesterday. he's not here right now , although he did take his baseball glove and left." Smalls mom said. oh no, he was at the Sandlot i knew it...and so was the Sandlot crew.
i went in the dugout to see if Smalls was on the field,i looked at every position to see if Smalls was playing one of them. then i came across to Benny, oh the thought of even talking to him made me get butterflies. "knock it off Ari" i said to myself, it's never gonna happen...never.
as i walked out i heard someone say my name," hey! in the bushes".
i turned to the bushes and well it was Smalls, "Smalls why are you in the bushes?" i asked.
"oh because i didn't know what time you were coming so when i saw them out here, i came here and hid so i could watch them. their really good, i wish i was out there..." Smalls said. " you should go out there and play with them". " no i can't, i'm too sca" Smalls was interrupted with.. "AHHHH IT'S A BEE, WITH A STINGER", bees are my worst fear.
i jumped out the bush and by that time i got up from the ground i was surrounded by boys...the Sandlot crew,and standing in front of me was Benny Rodriguez...."oh no" i said in my head.
