she's alright {benny rodriguez}

~25~

The next morning, you woke up elated. Today was your first date with Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez.

It was fairly early, so you took your time getting ready and decided to toss a ball to your dog to pass the time. A couple minutes in, Ham walked past your house on the way to the sandlot. You waved and put your dog inside, before walking out to him.

"What's up with you?" he asked with a weird look on his face. You frown and start walking.

"Whaddya mean, Ham?" you ask.

He side-eyed you suspiciously, before saying, "you're too happy. Did something happen?"

"Ah, that. Did Benny not tell-" you start, but he cut you off with a guess.

"Lemme guess: you and Ben are going steady."

You turn to him and open your mouth. "How'd ya know?"

He shrugged and kept walking. "It was bound to happen. I'm not surprised."

You chuckle and follow him with a smile on your face.

+++++

When the two of you made it to the sandlot, Benny and Smalls were already there tossing the ball back and forth. Benny looked up and waved, giving you an extra big smile. Your neck heats up and you nod back. Ham just watches and laughs.

Smalls looks between the two of you and raises his eyebrows. "What?"

Ham smirks and nods.

When everyone had arrived, the game started. You were at second base, and Benny was batting. He tossed up a ball and swung, hitting it to right field where Squints ran to catch it. It  was thrown around the bases, and Bertram on first threw it to Ham.

"Nice play, everyone," Benny cheers. "Kenny, choose who you're gonna pitch to next."

Kenny looked around, and pointed at Yeah-Yeah. "You get my heater," he smirks and Yeah-Yeah runs to home base.

+++++

Around noon, the game came to a stopping point. You had asked your mom to grab some popsicles on her way home from work, so you ran home to grab those. When you got back to the field, the boys gathered around you and grabbed for the popsicles.

"Hey, hey, woah! Calm down or no one gets any," you threaten, and everyone backs off. You smile with satisfaction and hold one out to everyone.

"Thanks Y/N!" Everyone cheers and they all give you a hand shake before plopping on the ground. You grab one for yourself and pull the cover off, looking around at everyone enjoying their treat. Benny walks around you and sits down at your side, eating his popsicle.

You all sit in silence until Ham speaks up. "Guess what guys." Here it comes.

"What?" the boys ask.

He looks at you, then Benny, and you roll your eyes. "He knows?" Benny whisper to you. You nod.

"Benny has something to say, and you all will not be surprised. Trust me." He points his hand in your direction and Benny sits up straighter.

"Um, so... Y/N and I are going steady now and we're going to the carnival tonight. As a date." he says and rubs the back of his neck, quickly looking at you. You were so happy hearing those words come from his mouth that you weren't even embarrassed.

The boys looked around with open mouths, but that soon turned to looks of triumph.

"I knew it!" Squints called. "I knew it, I knew it. I told you guys! It was gonna happen." He did a dance around the circle, and everyone laughed.

"Hey, congrats guys," Kenny says.

Yeah-Yeah pats Benny on the back. "Yeah yeah, this is great!"

Everyone yelled over each other stating how they knew this was gonna happen, and congratulating the two of you. A smile was plastered on your face the whole time, while Benny was a blushing mess.

Baseball was still on, so the rest of the day was spent playing and getting sweaty. You dove quite a few times and got dusty, which the boys would not let go.

You were up to bat, and Ham was catching. Kenny wound up, and you got ready. "You got dirt on your nose," Ham teased and you missed the ball. Rolling your eyes, you got ready again. This time, you hit a home run.

a/n- this is a short part to lead up to the last one, which will be right out. enjoy!

-j
{jun. 8, 2021}