head over heels | benny rodriguez, the sandlot

| chapter seventeen |

I arrive at the sandlot at the usual time, on the sunny morning of July 3rd, five days since my return. I've been feeling great, maybe even superb, and nothing weird has happened since my and Benny's chat. Just a couple of buddies, nothing more nothing less for the rest of history.

Today, however, was not like other days, as we were interrupted mid-game by a pack of familiar boys on their bikes. 

"Oh, damn! Incoming!" Bertram shouted from across the field, making all our heads turn. They all walked toward the visitors who were now stationed in the middle of the field, but I kept my distance.

"Yeah, it's easy when you play with a bunch of rejects and a fat kid, Rodriguez. But hey, at least you got the hot girl on your team, I'm quite jealous!" One of the boys yelled. 

Me? Hot girl? This must be a fuckin' joke.

Benny snapped back quickly, "Shut your mouth, Phillips." My eyes widen in shock. Was that actually Phillips? Several questions were swirling in my head at this point, so I jogged over to get a better view.

"What'd you say, crap face?" Ham clamored.

"I said you shouldn't even be allowed to touch a baseball. Except for Rodriguez, you're all an insult to the game." 

"Come on! We'll take you on right here, right now! Come on!" The boys shouted in agreement.

"We play on a real diamond, Porter. You ain't good enough to lick the dirt off our cleats. Besides, you've got a pretty girl on your team. Wouldn't wanna fuck up her face, those baseballs can leave nasty marks!" I furrow my brows, glaring back at him.

"C'mon Phillips, you're better than this dude. Just leave us be you prick." I shout as I shake my head, but feel a firm grasp pulling on my arm.

"Giselle, you know Phillips?" Benny whispered into my ear, "Since when?"

"Shut it," I say after yanking his head down to my eye level by his collar, soon letting go of the boy with a firm release.

"Woah there, someone's protective of their girlfriend huh?" Phillips shouts as his possie of boys giggle.

"Watch it, jerk," Ham grumbles back.

"Shut up, idiot!"

"Moron..." This back and forth insult list between both groups continued over and over so many times I couldn't count, but the argument finally ends after a shocking statement from Ham.

"You play ball like a girl!" The crowd goes silent, gasping in awe, but I try to contain my laugh as I see Phillips's eyes well up.

The boy scoffs, but chokes out a response, "What did you say?"

"You heard me."

"This Friday, July 7th. Noon. At our field. You better be there." 

"Count on it, sir." I chime in. "Now shoo, you're wasting a lotta valuable playing time buddy!" We all wave them out of the lot, as they shakily ride away on their bikes, leaving nothing behind besides a trail of dust, and possibly Phillips's dignity.

Making our way to the dugout for a quick break after that extremely heated argument, I hear Benny call me over.

"I didn't know you knew Phillips?"

"I don't know him really, just accidentally stumbled into one of his practices at the high school nearby when I was exploring around town. He was really nice that day, even invited me to play ball with him. Super odd though, he was kinda being a dick back there."

"Woah. I see." He grumbles back, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Just don't talk to him, got it?"

"Why do you get to dictate who I'm friends with Benny? What, you jealous?" I tease the boy, but he clearly didn't get the sarcasm in my voice.

"Wait, who said that? I am not jealous, why would I be jealous? You're losing it. I'm just standing up for my friends, cause he's a shitty dude."

"How would you know what kinda "dude" he is?" I ask him, making his face heat up.

"Cause I've had shit with him in the past, Phillips just likes to get reactions outta people. All I'm saying is I don't want you hangin' out with guys like him."

"What are you, my dad now???" I whine back, readjusting my hat.

Gotta be honest, I couldn't care less about this whole situation, I just wanted to make Benny angry. After all, seeing him all mad is very entertaining. 

"My god Elle, just tryna tell you that-"

"You know what? Maybe I will play ball with Phillips instead. After all, I'm just a stupid little girl who doesn't know how to tell if someone's a douchebag or not. Oh, how I need a perfect man like Benny Rodriguez to inform me what to do with my life, or I mustn't go on!"

"This can't be real." The boy clamors while gripping handfuls of his messy hair in agony, making me feel sorta bad.

"Oh c'mon Benny, I'm just teasing. Phillips is a huge asshole anyway." I emphasize, elbowing him in the side.

"You are?" He chuckled with a sigh of relief as I saw his shoulders relax.

We make our way over to the group, sprawled out across the bench as we continue to chat, "Duh? Wasn't that obvious! Besides boys, we've got a long day of baseball ahead of us if we wanna make up for the practice we're missing tomorrow."

"Wait, what practice are we skipping?" Timmy asked while scratching his head.

"You are idiotic, you know that right?" They all roar.

"That's enough guys," Benny mumbles as he shushes the group. "We've got the night game right when the sun sets and the fireworks go off at seven, then we're gonna hit up the carnival for a couple of hours! We do this every Fourth of July, plus, it's a way to celebrate Elle's almost-one-month-anniversary of coming here, 'cause it's on the 8th."

"Wait a damn minute, how'd you know what day I got here? We didn't meet till a few days after I got he-" However, I am soon silenced by Benny's cool hands pressed against my lips, prohibiting me from talking. 

"Ignore her. She's clearly high or somethin'," Benny jokes, soon releasing me from his grip. I wipe my lips in horror, staring up at him in shock, but he ignores me. "Let's get our asses off the bench, and play some ball ladies! Gotta get ready for the big game on Friday."

"You betcha!" Squints vocalized as we all made our way to our respective positions.

I'm not paying attention at this point though. I just can't believe he remembered...