ARABELLA ⇢ BENNY RODRIGUEZ

three

Later that evening, Scotty returned to the Smalls' household with Benny. Arabella was lying on her stomach in her bed looking through the pictures from her old town - she was beginning to miss it more than ever.

A knock at her door made her sigh. "Listen, Scotty. I'm not mad at you. I've just had enough of the boys for a while."
"Uh, hey, Arabella." A familiar voice said.

She spun around to see Benny stood there with Scotty. Benny scanned her room. "Nice room."

Arabella ignored him.
"Why did you run off today?" Scotty asked.
Arabella scoffed. "Seriously?"
Scotty sighed. "Arabella, you know I hate arguing with you. What happened?"

"I don't like your friends." Arabella said, bluntly. She saw Benny's hurt facial expression, which broke Arabella's heart in the slightest, but she tried not to show it. "None of them thought I'd be able to hit that far because I'm a girl. But do you know what? Girls can do anything boys can - girls are amazing and strong and your friends need to get that into their thick skulls!" She snapped.

Benny shook his head. "You know I don't think that, Arabella."
"I heard you gasp when I hit it over the fence." Arabella argued. "You were clearly surprised."

"Arabella, c'mon. Please come back tomorrow-" Scotty began, but his older sister interrupted him.
"No. Tomorrow, I am going out and finding some friends who are girls."

Scotty sighed and nodded. "Okay, fine. But please don't listen to them. Benny and I aren't like the rest of them, and you need to remember that."

Arabella didn't respond. Instead she turned away and continued to look back at her old photos.

***

They next day was a hot and sweaty day. Arabella decided that she'd go to the pool, since a lot of girls would be hanging out there.

She found her pale blue bikini at the bottom of her suitcase that she still hadn't quite unfinished packing. She brushed her hair quickly and left it down, since she wasn't planning on swimming. She grabbed her sunglasses, threw a light dress over her bikini and ran down the stairs.

"Mom! I'm going out!" She yelled.
Arabella didn't wait for a reply. She just slipped her flip flops on and left the house. The brunette was guessing Scotty was already at The Sandlot, which meant Benny was too, so she didn't need to worry about running into him or anything.

Once Arabella was at the pool, she began to feel anxious - perhaps trying to make friends on her own was a mistake.

"Hey!" A soft voice called out as Arabella walked along the side of the pool.
She looked in the voice's direction and saw a line of girls lying down in the sun. The girl who called out was sat up, giving her a smile. She had short brown hair, subtle freckles and blue eyes. "I've never seen you around before."

Arabella nervously brushed her hands through her hair and nodded. "Uh, yeah. I'm new here."

Her eyes lit up. "Cool! Come sit!"
The brunette girl shuffled across, making some room for her so that she would be in the middle of her and a blonde girl; she had hair that just went below her chest with green eyes and bright red lipstick on.

"My name's Rose, and this is Susie." Rose introduced.
Arabella smiled. "I'm Arabella."
"Pretty name." Susie said, sitting up.
"Thanks."

Arabella, Rose and Susie laid underneath the hot sun, getting to know one another. Things were going great for Arabella, and she was happy that it didn't take long for her to make some friends.