ARABELLA ⇢ BENNY RODRIGUEZ

four

4th July, 1962

Scotty had already left the house by the time Arabella was about to leave to meet up with Rose and Susie. He tried an endless amount of times to try and convince her to come because the boys were beginning to miss her, but she refused. She didn't tell him this, but it wasn't because of Bertram's sexist remarks, but it was because she genuinely liked Rose and Susie and wanted to spend the 4th of July night with them.

Arabella and Benny hadn't talked ever since the day she left The Sandlot, which was two weeks ago - too long for both of them. Benny desperately wanted to talk to her, but he'd never gotten the chance to see her.

Arabella, Rose and Susie were walking down the street with their candyfloss, eagerly talking about the fireworks. The three of them all shared one thing in common: they all loved fireworks. They loved the atmosphere, they loved the colours, and they loved the suspense whenever the display would take a quick pause.

The three girls were currently stood at the front of the crowd, ready to watch the display take place.
"You think it'll start soon?" The blonde girl asked, taking a bite of her candyfloss.
"I hope so-" Rose began. She was cut off faint cheers, that were becoming clearer.

"C'mon guys, we need to get to the front!" A voice that was way too familiar shouted.
Arabella mentally rolled her eyes at the sound of her younger brother's voice, knowing his friends were with him.

She didn't want to turn around, because she didn't dare to see how close they were stood, but telling by how clear and loud their voices were - they were definitely close.

Benny was stood in between Smalls and Ham, eager for the fireworks to start. Once Smalls told Benny that Arabella was gonna be there, he cancelled their game. Instead, they played a little earlier and ran to the fireworks display just in time so they wouldn't miss it.

The Sandlot boys were annoyed that they couldn't play whilst the fireworks were going on, but Benny didn't care; he wanted to see Arabella.

Benny was looking around for Arabella, but couldn't see her anywhere. Little did he know that Bertram was blocking his view of her.

"Hey, Smalls." Benny whispered, getting his friend's attention. "I thought you said Arabella would be here."
"Yeah, she should be." Smalls said, turning around to see if she was anywhere. "She said she'd try to be at the front since she loves fireworks so much but-" Smalls trailed off once he leaned back and turned to his left.

He saw her stood there, taking a bite of her candyfloss, talking with her friends. "There she is!" Smalls said. Benny's head snapped over to where Smalls was looking and his eyes lit up at the sight of her.

She had a small American flag painted on her cheek, light eyeshadow and light red lipstick, matching the red on the flag. Her hair was left down like it usually was and she was wearing light blue shorts and a white t-shirt tucked into it.

"Wow..." Benny sighed.
"Hey, Arabella!" The younger Smalls brother called out.
Arabella's attention was drawn away from her friends and towards her brother. She then noticed Benny who was staring at her from over his shoulder.

Benny was about to walk over to her, but a loud bang stopped him. The fireworks had started and everyone was gazing at the display in awe.

He looked over to Arabella and to his dismay, she was no longer looking at him, but at the fireworks. Benny couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked with the colourful lights reflecting onto her skin and brown orbs. He forced himself to look away and focus on the fireworks.

Arabella watched the different bursts of colour appear, making loud bangs. From purple, to blue, to red, to orange, to pink. The strong smell of smoke hit her nostrils, but she didn't mind. All she wanted was to see the beautiful fireworks with her friends and celebrate the birth of her country.

Arabella's heart sank once the display ended, but applauded along with the rest of the crowd.
"That was amazing!" Susie exclaimed, almost jumping up and down as she clapped.
Rose cheered and nodded in agreement.
"Just one more year and we'll be here again." Arabella joked, chuckling.

The crowd began to spread themselves around the neighbourhood now that the display had finished, including The Sandlot boys - all of them but Benny.

"Can we go and see what food they're selling?" Rose asked. "I promised I'd get my boyfriend something, since he lives in Ohio."
Susie chuckled. "Sure, Rose."

"Hey, Arabella." Benny asked, after finally getting the confidence to walk up to her.
Arabella spun around to see the tall, pretty boy stood in front of her. "Uh, hey, Benny."

"'This Benny Rodriguez?" Susie whispered to Arabella, who nodded. "I'll catch up with you two, okay?"
Rose sighed. "Okay, but be quick."

Arabella nodded and watched her friends walk off, before turning to her long term crush. "How've you been?" She awkwardly asked.

"Great. How have you been?" Benny asked.
"Same. I'm beginning to really like this town." Arabella replied.

The two stood there in silence for a while, Arabella stared at the ground.
"Candyfloss, huh?" Benny tutted his head, breaking the silence.
"Uh yeah," Arabella looked back up at him, meeting his gaze. "you want some?"

Benny nodded. Arabella picked a bit off and handed it him.
Benny shoved it in his mouth, which made Arabella giggle.
Benny's heart skipped a beat at the noise of her giggling - she genuinely sounded happy.

"Listen," He sighed. "I'm sorry about what happened that day at The Sandlot-"
"It's okay." Arabella cut him off. "Really, it is."
"We all miss you..." Benny began, looking to the ground as his cheeks heated up. "I miss you."

Arabella chuckled. "Look at you getting all sloppy."
Benny looked back up and Arabella's chuckle turned into a laugh. "You've got so red!"
"Shut up." Benny chuckled, shaking his head.

"But," Arabella began. "I kinda miss hanging around The Sandlot; I also really enjoyed playing baseball. It's just that I know the boys don't think 'I'm good enough' or whatever."

Benny shook his head. "They don't think that, trust me. They were just... surprised, you know?"
Arabella and nodded. "Yeah, I get what you're sayin', and I do want to come back. But if they say one more thing... then I'm gone."

Benny's brown orbs lit up, making Arabella smile.
"That's great! Bitchin' face paint by the way, do you know what would make the whole outfit look even better?"

Arabella cocked an eyebrow, a grin tugging at the end of her lips. "What?"
Benny took off his blue baseball cap and put it on her head. He laughed as he readjusted it before taking a step back and scanning her up and down. "The blue matches." He grinned.

Arabella giggled. "Thanks, Benny. Now I feel like a real American!" She joked.
Benny laughed. "So, come to The Sandlot at 8, yeah?"
Arabella nodded with a smile. "Okay, uh," She took his baseball cap off. "do you want this back?"

Benny shook his head. "Keep it. It looks better on you than on me."
Arabella's smile was plastered across her lips as Benny tutted his head at her before jogging off to join his friends for one last 4th July game.