Jocelyn Mertle ※ benny rodriguez

Five

<>¥Benny¥<>

I wake up and suddenly feel excited. It's the last day of school. And then it's a summer filled with baseball. I quickly get dressed then grab my backpack.

"Benny!" My mom shouts before I could run outside.

"Yea?"

She walks up to me and grabs my shoulders.

"You know the boy who moved in next door?" She asks.

I nod.

"I want you to become his friend. He seems to not have any friends. Now have a good last day of school."

I nod.

"I was gonna say hi today anyways."

She smiles as I run outside. I see the crew on their way towards my house so I wait for them.

"Hey Benny," they all say.

"Hey."

We all walk to school and stop at the courtyard.

"Well, see you guys," I say.

"Bye."

They all run off in their own directions and I start walking towards the school building until I'm stopped by someone. Someone, I wish would get out of my mind.

"Hey Benny!"

I turn around to see Jocelyn jogging up to me.

"Hey Jocelyn," I say.

She stops in front of me and sighs.

"Alright. So I have something to tell you," she says.

"What is it?"

"So, that Phillips guy came up to me yesterday and said that he was better than you at baseball. So then I may or may have not booked a game against his team and your team at your field. Don't be mad!"

I shrug.

"Okay?"

She tilts her head.

"You aren't mad?"

"No. I hate Phillips. I'm always happy to get the chance to kick his ass."

She giggles.

"Well, I'm looking forward to it. He makes me uncomfortable. But, you're different. You know you're easy to talk to, right?" She says.

I smile.

"I'm taking it as a compliment."

She smiles too.

"Good. So meet me after school and we can go to your field. I can tell him to go to your field later."

I nod.

"Sounds good."

She nods and runs off to find her friends. I smile to myself and imagine myself patting my back.

I don't mean to be cocky, but I can't wait to kick Phillips' ass in front of Jocelyn.

<><><>

I tend to think about the future a lot. And I may keep bringing this up, but it's carved into my brain. I just want to play baseball. I want to beat Phillips.

But there's something other than baseball that I want.

I want someone.

The person I least expected to be this nice to me.