SLATER// B. RODRIGUEZ

COMPASS

"YOU'RE THE STAR I LOOK FOR EVERY NIGHT."

I GROANED fanning myself with my dodgers cap. "It's too hot out here!" Ham complained, all the boys except Benny agreeing.

Benny would play baseball all day if he could. Thunderstorm, earthquake, hurricane, you name it. No matter what, you could always find Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez at the sandlot.

"It's not even hot out here!" Benny argued. "sure it isn't." I muttered. I could feel Benny staring at me. "If you guys can't take it, go home." Benny said.

"Sure."
"Fine with me."
"Thanks"

I watched as each of the boys dragged their tired sweaty selves out of the sandlot to their air conditioned homes.
Sighing, I grabbed my glove, ready to head home.

As I was leaving, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn to a sweaty Benny. "Hey, um. I- I just wanted to say i'm sorry for making you upset yesterday."

"It's alright, don't worry about it."

"No, It's just, we've been 'friends' for six years and I was just kinda... i don't know.. mad?" I couldn't help but giggle. "Mad over what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

Benny

"Mad over what?" she asked, giggling. I could listen to her laugh all day. "Um, I-I th-" "Slater!" Kenny shouted across the sandlot, making me groan in annoyance. "You coming?" he asked. "Yeah, hold on!"  she shouted back. "What were you saying?" she asked with a smile. "Oh um nothing important." I said returning a small smile.

"Do you wanna come hangout with us?" she asked, pointing back to Denunez. "I- um sure." She giggled again making my heart flutter. "Alright, come on." she said as I followed her. Denunez smirked as he saw us walking towards him, together.

Her sweet voice filled my ears, "You guys wanna hang out at mine?". "You always have the best snacks, so yes." I lightly chuckled, grabbing her attention. "You coming Rodriguez?" I just slighty nodded, earning a small smile.

She's adorable.

Before I new it, we were on her front porch. She opened the door, Kenny running in making her chuckle. Looks like he's around a lot. I walked through the door  immediately being greeted by the smell of cinnamon and a women with a light hispanic accent.

"You didn't tell me we were having company over!" the woman exclaimed. She stuck her hand out in front of me. "I'm Salma, Nai's mom" Nai? I put my hand in her's and firmly shook it. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Mendoza, I'm Benny" I said with a wide smile. "Please call me Salma" she gushed making me let out a small laugh.

"Would you boys like anything to eat? drink?" the kind woman asked. "Maybe in a little bit Salma" Kenny said with a grin.
She chuckled "Okay, well if you kids need anything i'll be in the kitchen." she said with a smile. "We're gonna be in my room!" Slater shouted as she motioned us to follow her up the stairs.

Nailea
I let out a loud sigh as I fell onto my comfy bed. I felt the bed sink and looked over to find the two boys smiling innocently at me. "What do you guys want to do?" I asked. "We could just watch movies" Kenny suggested. I shrugged my shoulders as I turned on Rick and Morty, I heard Kenny groan as I turned my attention towards him. "Again?" I raised my eyebrow. "What? It's my favorite show." "Can we please watch something else?"

I hummed in response, tossing my ps4 remote towards my bestfriend. I scrunched my nose as I watched him click on The Outsiders. I squealed in excitement, catching Benny and Denunez' attention. "What? It's another one of my favorites." I gushed. "Yeah, I know, you've only made me rewatch it 100 times" Kenny responded in a duh tone making me stick my tongue out at him.

As I got comfortable in my blankets I looked up to Benny looking uncomfortable on the corner of my bed. "Hey, Rodriguez" I said, making him turn his head towards me. I patted the empty spot next to me. I saw him hesitate, for a split second I regretted my decision, until I saw him get up and slowly lay down next to me.

I softly smiled at him, as I drifted off to sleep I swear I heard him say, "Goodnight, beautiful."

a/n : hi luvs! i know i haven't posted another chapter in a while but i'm back! also huge thank you to my bae raiyaswriting for helping me with this chapter. if you could read her books and give her a follow i know she'd appreciate it. thank you for reading! muah! ~ zahira <3
word count: 792