Do You Love Me? (Sequel to Just Being Friends)(Benny Rodriguez Love Story)

My Street

𝔹𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕪 ℙ𝕆𝕍:

I look around to see if I can see Destiny where the drinks are but there was no sign of her. It wasn't super late but I didn't feel like staying much longer. I got up from where Destiny told me just sit cause I was done blindly listening to her. I wanted to find her so I could take her home and just be done with all this party stuff for the night. I found a group of Destiny's friends and asked "Have you guys seen Destiny? I can't find her." They all just looked at me, drunk as can be, and started laughing which meant they probably were too drunk to know where she would even be. I walked around the whole party just trying to look for her but there was no sign of her. I actually started to get worried but I reminded myself that the party house was huge and I could have missed her. I walked upstairs to go make sure she wasn't up there but when I got up there it was just of couples and random people making out. I swear I could have been at some friendly block party but no I had to listen to Destiny once again. I knocked on the many doors they had upstairs to just check Destiny wasn't in one of them.

𝔸𝕟𝕟𝕒 ℙ𝕆𝕍:

All the boys sprinted ahead; racing one another to see who could get to the dugout first. The lights where bright and the air was fresh. It smelled like a place that made me feel safe and it was nice to be back. I felt a tap on my shoulder and as I turn around the boys handed me something. It was my baseball bat. The bat I signed my name on many years ago when I first found a love for the game. It had been awhile since I had picked it up and actually played the game. The boys told me I was up to bat first. I watched Kenny get ready to pitch it to me and took a deep breath. All the feelings, everything I was dealing with came rushing to the surface and I was ready to hit the ball. Crack. All the boys dropped their gloves and they watched, jaws dropped, as the ball sailed through the sky. I dropped the bat and started to run. The ball sailed right out of the Sandlot; far gone. I was used to running but running around the bases was different. As I stepped on each base making my way toward home, it was as if nothing mattered. The only thing that mattered was the boys and the game. The wind gliding through my hair and a smile forming on my face that hadn't been there in a while made me realize that sometimes running isn't the answer unless its running around the bases to make it where you belong. Home.

𝔹𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕪 ℙ𝕆𝕍:

Knocking on every door I could, I still couldn't find Destiny. Her phone was off because I had already tried calling her and it went straight to voicemail each time. I knock on one last door because I'm tired and really need to get home at this point. No one is answering when I knock on the door so I knock again. Silence. So I open the door and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My heart broke and I didn't have words to describe what I felt. My stomach hurt and I thought I was going to be sick. I couldn't breathe. I had found Destiny. "What the hell Destiny?! Are you out of your mind?" There she was fully making out with some random guy I had never seen before. She got up immediately and walked toward me. She tried to wrap her arms around me but I backed away. "Benny!! Listen this isn't what you think!!" I didn't even turn back to listen to her scream my name when I walked down the stairs and out the door.

𝔸𝕟𝕟𝕒 ℙ𝕆𝕍:

The boys surround home plate, jumping up and down congratulating me as I ran in. They celebrated as if I had just hit the winning home run for the World Series or something. I joined their energy and did the same. It put a smile on my face and that was good enough for me. We all sat around home plate talking and taking in the night sky. "Guys I'm hungry, we should go get as much snacks from the party as we can and bring them back here." Smalls saying this made all the boys jump up and sprint out the gate running to go get snacks. I yelled back at them letting them know I would stay behind.

Time passed

At this point, me and the boys had eaten our snacks and their parents had called them home. The block party had ended by now but none of us had gone back after eating those snacks to truly know it was over. Now I'm the only one looking up at the stars from home plate. The Sandlot is peaceful at night and the field is just still. I finally get up, put my hood from my hoodie over my head, and start making my way home. I walk slow because the last thing I want to do is go home. But not returning to my house just isn't an option at this point. At home I'm expected to be this perfect daughter; the perfect sister; the perfect friend. The perfect everything. Walking out here, being at the Sandlot, hell even being in Springwood I can breathe and nothing is expected of me. I know I'm close to my house because by now I'm walking down our street and I can see the tables and decorations left over from the block party. They will probably be cleaned up tomorrow and being the "perfect daughter" I will probably have to help with that. I keep walking as I still have a distance till I reach my house but I stop. I convince myself I'm not ready to go back just yet. So I turn around and head back the way I came. To be honest, I felt more at home looking up at the stars when I was at the Sandlot than being in my actual home with my family.

𝔹𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕪 ℙ𝕆𝕍:

Fuck everything. Fuck my life. I just got screwed over by someone who could give two shits less about what she just did. I gave up so much and for what. For some girl who I thought was my girlfriend to cheat on me. My friends...gone. The game I love...gone. And someone who was possibly everything to me...gone. All for nothing. Of course this is what I get. I feel sick to my stomach and I can't truly process anything. I decided to walk all the way home instead of calling my mom to come pick me up. I didn't feel like telling her what had happened. It was fine anyway because at this point I was almost at my house. I started to walk down my street. I could see the leftovers from the block party but there was something else. Or in this case someone else. A figure of someone walking toward me. The closer I got, the clearer the person became until the street lamp hit both of our faces.

...

Standing a good distance apart. I saw her. She looked up. We both stopped moving. It seemed as if we had both stopped breathing.

𝔸𝕟𝕟𝕒 ℙ𝕆𝕍:

My feet stopped moving. I saw him. My breath fell short. My heart....it felt like it had stopped.