she's alright {benny rodriguez}

~17~

You had only been at the sandlot for a few minutes, and it was already boiling. Squints and Yeah-Yeah had gone to Vincent's to get a ball, since Ham hit a home run yesterday.

You all had sodas, trying to drink them to cool down. Which wasn't working. Even in the shade of the dugout it was only a few degrees cooler.

Suddenly, the two boys entered the sandlot. Yeah-Yeah was dragging Squints along behind him, and Squints was trying to pull away.

"Let's go," Yeah-Yeah urges. "Let's go! C'mon!" And Benny stands up to greet them.

"Where have you guys been? We've been waiting here forever already."

"Ah, Squints was pervin' a dish." Yeah-Yeah hands the ball to Benny.

"Shut. Up. No I wasn't," Squints protested.

"Yeah yeah, you were! Your tongue was hangin' out of your head and you was swoonin'! 'Oh Wendy Peffercorn, my darling lover girl'," he laughs and imitates Squints, who pouts.

"I said shut up! I've got a lot of things on my mind," he snaps, and goes to grab a soda.

"This pop isn't workin', Benny. I'm bakin' like a toasted cheeser! It's so hot out here!" Ham yells, sweat dripping down his face.

"It's 150 degrees out there, you can't play baseball. You have to call it for the day."

Everyone agrees, complaining about the heat. You yourself were dripping sweat, and you were wearing a tank top. And shorts.

"Vote then! Anyone who wants to be a can't hack it pantywaist, who... wears their mama's bra. Raise your hand." All the boys raise their hands and mumble "I can handle that." You raise your hand, deciding to disregard the bra part. You already wore one. The boys snickered a bit, but were otherwise too hot to say anything.

"Fine. Fine, fine! Be like that... So what're we gonna do?"

Yeah-Yeah perks up, and lets out a funny laugh while looking around. Oh no.

"SCAM POOL HONEYS!" They all yell.

That's what they wanna do? "Seriously, guys?" you ask, and they all look at you with pleading eyes. "Fine."

"Yay!" They all cheer.

+++++

As soon as you got to the pool, everyone threw their towels down and jumped into the water. You came up, feeling refreshed from the cool water.

Ham, however, walked along the deck and stopped in front of the girls sunbathing on towels. You didn't know why they came come to the pool to tan, not to swim. It was a pool for goodness' sake. But oh well. Ham cannonballs into the water, splashing them. Ha.

You and the guys wrestle for a bit, and have splashing games. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Squints wander off to the side. Great, Wendy was on her shift again. You turn back to the fight just to be hit in the face with a mouthful of water.

"Oh, man," Kenny breathes.

"Guys?" This is why you didn't want to come. It was bound to happen every time.

"Yeah yeah, too cruel."

"She don't know what she's doin'."

"Yeah, she does," Benny points out. Even he was in a trance looking at her. "She knows exactly what she's doin'." Obviously she did, or else she would've put on lotion before her shift. And she wouldn't be putting it on like a dainty princess, which you knew she was.

"I've swum here every summer of my adult life," Squints says while wiping his glasses, "and every summer, there she is. Lotioning, oiling. Oiling. Lotioning. Smiling. Smiling!" Wendy looks over at him and the rest of you, and smiles. You just glare at her.

"I can't take it no more! Move!" he exclaims, and pushes you and Kenny out of the way. Everyone just stared at her, awestruck at her amazing beauty. Now she was starting to make you insecure.

Squints just mumbled 'lotion' and 'oiling' over and over again, until he got to the ladder. He climbed out, and walked to the diving board. He looked over at Wendy and gave a huge smile.

"What's wrong with him?" Smalls asks.

"What's he doing?" Kenny also asks.

"Guys, he's trying to impress her. Just watch," you mumble, but no one hears you.

"Three summers of this, and I think he finally snapped," Kenny observes.

"I dunno, but that's the deep end and Squints can't swim!" Yeah-Yeah says. Of course he can't. He's gonna drown trying to get Wendy to notice him.

Squints climbs on to the diving board and takes off his glasses, waving at Wendy. She waves back, and he jumps in.

"He's gonna drown, guys!" You tell them, and they snap out of it.

"No!" You all scramble to the deep end, and Wendy notices. She stands up, takes off her sunglasses and whistle, and dives into the water. You follow along behind the boys, running along the deck to where she was pulling him out of the water.

"I got him, get up Wendy," one of the guy lifeguards pulls her up, and she kneels next to Squints.

"C'mon, Squints," you mumble, hoping he didn't drown. Even though he is a pain in the butt, he was still your friend.

"Should I roll him over?" Someone asks.

"Never mind, never mind," Wendy waves them off, bending over and giving Squints mouth-to-mouth.

"C'mon, Squints!" Everyone chants, waiting for him to wake up.

"C'mon, man. C'mon!" Benny calls. You just stand next to him, watching the whole thing play out and hoping Squints doesn't die.

"Yeah yeah, he looks pretty crappy," Yeah-Yeah points out. Not that far off.

"Oh god, he looks like a dead fish..." Bertram mumbles. All of a sudden, when Wendy was listening for his breath, Squints' eyes opened and he gave you all a smug smile. Everyone steps back and looks around, confused. When she came back to give him mouth-to-mouth again, he grabbed her head and pulled her into a kiss.

You gasp, and your eyes widened. "Squints!"

Wendy pulls out of his grasp and screams in his face. "You little pervert!" She grabs his arm and hauls him up, the rest of the boys following along. You just stand there, in shock. Squints pretended to drown so he could kiss the girl he has a crush on. Who also happens to be years older than him by four years.

"Oh man, he's in deep shit!" Timmy exclaims. Hell yeah he is. You had to admit, though, it was a bit funny.

"Stay out!" she tells him, and they all run away to get their things. You just grabbed your towel, shoes, and clothes and went out the exit. They were all definitely banned from the pool, and now you didn't have anyone to go with. Great.

You headed out after the boys, and heard Ham and Squints' conversation. "Did you plan that?!" Ham asked.

"Of course I did. Been plannin' it for years," Squints said proudly.

"You guys, he planned that! He knew what he was doing!" Ham called, and ran towards the other guys. You just shake your head and pull on your shorts over your swimsuit, then walk with them towards your houses.

"Squints, you're an idiot, you know that?" You say to him as you walked home. He nods matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I know," he laughs and you let a small smile slip.

thank you sm for 2k!!!
-J
{mar. 27, 2021}