It's Obvious

Chapter 4

June's POV

About a week has gone by and everything is fantastic. Nancy is having a lot of fun and everyone else is having fun with her. She still hasn't tried playing baseball yet, but I won't force her to.

Nancy was cheering us on from the sidelines while we all played baseball. I had just hit the ball when I heard the sound of bikes. I knew exactly what that meant. Phillips. I looked behind me and my theory was proven right. Him and his entire team were riding their bikes to the sandlot.
"Guys, Phillips is here," I groaned. The guys dropped their mitts and walked over to Phillips and his team.
"What do you want Phillips?" Benny asked.
"Oh nothing, just checking in with all of you," Phillips mocked him. "I see you have a new friend," he said while looking Nancy up and down.
"Don't even think about it Phillips," I snapped.
"Well you can't control what I think and you also can't control if your friend wants me or not," he said.
"I know she doesn't," I replied.
"How?" He asked with a cocky smirk.
"She has standards," I countered.
Phillips rolled his eyes and basically ignored my insult. Even though everyone else was laughing at it.
"Well you play ball like a girl!" He practically whined. I guess that was the only comeback he could think of. It was both lame and unoriginal.
"I am a girl," I said.
"She also plays ball better than you and your entire team combined," Benny chimed in. I couldn't help but smile. It was always nice when the boys would defend me and compliment me at the same time.

Phillips was silent for a moment. I couldn't tell if he was taking in Benny's insult or trying to think of a insult of his own. I found out which one he was doing when he spoke two seconds later. "Rodriguez, you know the only reason you keep her around is because you have a giant crush on her." I glanced at Benny and then looked back at Phillips. I felt my face heat up and I knew it was turning red. I have actually had a crush on Benny for years now. There was no way he liked me back. Come on, think about it. Benny liking me? That was impossible. I knew Phillips was just messing with him. He was trying to get inside his head or something like that.

Everyone was silent now. Phillips and his team all rode away in unison. After they were completely out of our sight, I broke the silence. "I swear one day I'm going to punch him."
"Please make that day sooner," DeNunez joked. We both laughed for a few seconds.
"So what Phillips said, that was pretty interesting..." Smalls mumbled.
"Yeah, but I'm sure he's just trying to get under Benny's skin," I replied.
"Y-Yeah, that's exactly what he was doing," Benny murmured. I now noticed that his face had a fresh tint of red to it. He was probably just embarrassed by Phillips's comment.

Nancy suddenly came up behind me and grabbed my arm. "June, remember how our moms want us home early today?"
"Shit! You're right! Sorry guys, but we have to leave. I'll see you all tomorrow!" I was talking really fast for some reason. Nancy was walking really fast. She dragged me out of the sandlot by my arm. I guess she really cared about getting home quickly.

Benny's POV

I stood awkwardly and watched June and Nancy as they left. I'm kind of glad they had to leave early. I don't know if I could have spent more time with June after what Phillips had said. I'll be able to hang out with her tomorrow, but I couldn't handle it today. It wasn't the comment itself that made me awkward. It was the fact that Phillips was right. I have no clue how he figured it out. It's not obvious, right? I got yanked out of my thoughts by Bertram's voice. "Benny?"
"What?" I replied.
"I have to ask...do you have a crush on June?" He asked.
"Yeah yeah, do you like her?" Yeah-Yeah repeated his question.
I sighed. "If I tell you guys the truth, will you keep your traps shut?" They all nodded quickly. I could tell they were all eager to hear my answer. "Yeah, I like her. I've liked her...I don't even know how long."
"I knew it!" Smalls exclaimed.
"You knew?" I was shocked and honestly a little scared. This was the second person who knew about my feelings for June. Maybe my crush is more obvious than I thought. I really hope June hasn't figured it out.
"Yeah I knew, it's obvious Benny." Smalls said.
"Did the rest of you guys know?" I asked. They all shook their heads. That was a relief.
"You know what I just realized," Ham started, "You have been blushing since Phillips said that you liked June."
"Shut up!" I said. Everybody laughed and smirked. At least they weren't making fun of me. I took the opportunity to ask a question, a very important one. "Can you guys promise to not tell June or tease me in front of her?" They all nodded. Let's just hope that they would actually keep that promise.

June's POV

Nancy and I walked home in a comfortable silence. Well, we did until she broke it. "June?"
"Yes?" I responded.
"Do you have a crush on Benny?" She asked.
"How did you know that?!" I never told Nance about my feelings for Benny so I was shocked that she was aware of them.
"I know because I know you! Also, you are blushing right now and have been since that annoying Phillips guy said Benny liked you," Nancy took a breath, "Also also, you talk about him all the time!"
"I don't!" I retaliated.
"Yes you do! Every single time we have talked on the phone, you talk about him or tell some sort of story about him!" She argued.
I caved. "I guess I do talk about him a lot."
Nancy snickered and smirked. "That's because you like him a lot." I held back a smile and rolled my eyes. I was going to force Nance to swear that she wouldn't tell Benny, but I knew she wouldn't. She wouldn't do that to me. I was confident in the fact that Benny would never find out about my feelings for him.

Author's Note: Chapter 4!! This chapter is kind of long, but that's not a bad thing. I really like this chapter. I think it came out really cute! Just like Benny and June lol 😂. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! 😊❤️
Like always, I proofread but if you see any typos please let me know! 👍