she's alright {benny rodriguez}

~24~

Unexpectedly, the Beast behind Smalls started licking his face. You frown, and everyone looks at him, confused. But you let out a chuckle. Once the Beast was done, he walked away and around to a shelter.

"I guess there's no reason to be scared of him," you state, and you were the first one to follow him. He led you to a huge hole in the ground, and you gasped when you saw what was there. The boys walked up behind you, and also gasped. It was every baseball that had ever been hit into that yard. He showed them proudly, like he had been saving them for an occasion like this.

When you were all done gawking at the collection of baseballs, you advised them to tell Mr. Mertle about the dog getting out.

Benny and Smalls offered to, reluctantly, and you shooed them off to the back door. They grabbed the dog by the collar and led him to the porch. Smalls knocked and the door opened.

"Hello?" Mr. Mertle asks.

"This is bad. This is very bad," Squints mumbles. You shush him.

"Uh, we- we brought your dog home," Smalls says.

"Hercules? How'd he get out?" So that's his name. Hercules. Had a nice ring to it.

"I'm tellin' you guys, should've just turned it loose."

"Squints, shut up," you whack his arm and he rubs it while looking at you.

"Um, uh.. well, uh, we-" Smalls stutters, but Benny finishes.

"Well, what happened was we hit a baseball into your yard and we tried to get it back."

'So you're the ones who've been makin' all that racket," Mr. Mertle says.

"Yes, sir."

"Did ya get it?" he asks, referring to the ball. Benny hands it to Smalls, who hands it to Mr. Mertle.

"Well, first time anybody's got the best of old Hercules," he says, inspecting the ball with his hands. "Why didn't you just knock on the door? I'd've gotten it for ya."

"Squints!" everyone yells, hitting him for saying Mr. Mertle was mean.

You roll your eyes. "I thought you said he was, and I quote, 'the meanest old man who ever lived.'"

"We got the ball back, didn't we?" he tries to defend himself, but he gets pushed around some more.

"We almost got killed!" Ham says.

"Didn't we get the ball back? Just shut up! We got the ball back."

Mr. Mertle chuckles and waves Benny and Smalls in. Benny waves for you to come, but you shake your head and motion for him to go with Smalls. "Thanks for bringin' him home. Come on in. We'll talk about this baseball."

Benny gives you one last look and closes the door behind him.

While you were waiting for them to come out, you and the boys talked about the events of that day.

"I can't believe we thought he was gonna die," you said, and the boys agreed.

"Did you see how he looked at you before he went over that fence?" Kenny asked, and you frown.

"Whaddya mean?" you ask.

"Y/N, I think he likes you," Bertram says.

"Nah, he don't. Trust, me. We're just friends."

"I'm no expert in love ma'am, but I agree with Bertram. He liiiikes you," Squints says, nudging your arm.

"Y'all don't know what you're talking about," you scoff, but they look at you knowingly.

The thing was, you had been developing a crush on your best friend. It started while you were away, visiting home. You were homesick, and missed him. Then, you came to a realization while you were having dinner at his house. The final push to make you accept your feelings was today, when Benny was being chased by Hercules.

Ham crosses his arms and smirks. "Yeah, we do. We may be kinda young, but we can be observant. And I observe that you like him too."

"You- I... ugh."

"Yeah yeah!! She didn't deny it. Y/N has a crush on Benny! Y/N has a crush-"

"Shut up, Yeah-Yeah! He's gonna hear you," you put a hand over his mouth.

"I'm gonna hear what?" The man of the conversation himself walks up and slings his arm around your shoulder.

"Oh, noth-"

"Y/N li-" you slap your other hand over Ham's mouth and smile.

"Nothing. Why don't we just go play some baseball, huh?"

"Sounds like a plan," Benny says, and jogs to the field.

+++++

You and Benny were walking home, talking about what had happened that day. You said goodbye at your front door, but Benny grabs your hand before you could go any further.

"Can I tell you somethin'?" He asks, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

You nod. "Anything."

"I- I like... gee, this is really hard to say. Y/N, would you like to go out with me? I already asked your dad and everything. Y'know, just in case."

When you heard this, your heart skipped a beat and your hand started sweating. "You- you want to go out with me?"

"Yeah. When you left to go back home for the rest of the school year, I missed you so much, and when you came back, I realized that I liked you," he confesses, and you blush.

"Aw, Ben. Of course I'll go out with you!" You step forward and wrap your arms around his neck. He laughs in disbelief and hugs you closer.

"That's amazing! Thank you, Y/N."

"Of course. Well, I'd better go inside."

"Are you available tomorrow night?"

"I am," you reply with a shy smile.

"The carnival's still in town, you wanna go again?"

"That sounds great, as long as you don't bring chew," you chuckle, and Benny laughs along.

"We swore off that, remember? Well, I can pick you up at six, and we can walk there?"

"Sounds amazing," you smile, and lean up to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Benny."

"Bye, Y/N." He smiles and walks down the front steps.

a/n- AAHHH this book's almost done!! i'm so grateful for y'all :)
-j
{may 1, 2021}