Friday, June 5, 2015

After a few hours of playing with the boys, I was convinced that they were ready to accept me, because they'd seen that I could actually play.

When the sun started to set, we decided to call it a day. With sweat dripping from all of us, we made our way over to the dugout, and we all grabbed a drink out of the mini-fridge. They all got sodas, but I took a water bottle.

"I gotta admit, you're really good, Makayla," DeNunez remarked, patting the spot on the bench next to him. I smiled and took the spot. "Where'd you learn to play like that anyway?"

"Thanks," I responded. "And my dad taught me and my brother when we were little. I've been in love with it ever since."

"Did you play on a team back where you lived before?"

I shook my head. "Nah. I never really liked using a softball. I don't know why. So I played on the basketball team, but that's it."

"You play basketball too?" DeNunez raised an eyebrow. I nodded in reply. "Oh, that's cool. What other sports do you play?"

"Just those two, I guess. I got into volleyball for a short while, but I stopped. Baseball and basketball are my life, so I just decided to stick to them."

"So, you're definitely not a girly girl at all, huh?" DeNunez chuckled.

I smiled and replied, "I could be girly if I wanted to be. But . . . I don't want to be, so I choose not to. I'm not a complete tomboy either, though. I don't know what I am. I'm just me." The two of us both chuckled. "But on my eighth grade graduation, my best friend did my hair and makeup, and dressed me in a pink dress. Guess what kind of shoes I wore with them?"

"What?"

"Combat boots," I answered, smirking.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that," he said, shaking his head and smiling. "I think that'd look cool."

"It did," I replied, laughing. "Not so much with the gown zipped up, but it still looked good."

"What are we talking about?"

My eyes landed on Squints, who was sitting down next to me, a boyish grin plastered across his face.

"Nothing that concerns you," I joked, and when his mouth dropped open in mock hurt, I punched his shoulder softly. "We're talking about my graduation outfit."

Squints chuckled. "Sounds interesting. But you're really good, you know."

"Thanks." I sent him a small smile. "That'll teach you not to judge a book by its cover."

He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry for saying you couldn't play because you were a girl."

"It's fine," I replied, and I looked past him to see Benny standing there with his eyes set on me. As soon as he realized that I caught him staring, he looked down and began talking to Ham like nothing ever happened. "Anyways, I think I'm gonna head home now. It was really fun playing with you guys though. I'll be here tomorrow. Do you guys come out here on a specific time?"

"Yeah, we're usually all here by eight," DeNunez answered.

I nodded, standing up. "Okay. I won't be here that early, but I'll be here. I'll see you guys later, all right?"

As all of the guys started saying their goodbyes to me, I walked away, taking a deep breath. I was really surprised things worked out so well.

When I got halfway through the sandlot, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I stopped and turned to find Benny standing a couple feet away. I cocked an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"Hey, I'm gonna walk you home," he said. "Hope you don't mind or anything."

I smiled at him. "Nah, I don't mind. Come on."

Benny and I continued walking together in silence. He stuffed his glove in his back pocket, and swung his bat around. I occasionally glanced over at him, but he was looking down at his bat every time. By the time we left the sandlot and took off down the sidewalk, it got a little awkward.

"So, tell me about yourself," I piped up, in attempt to get rid of the awkward air between us.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Anything," I replied, shrugging. "Just tell me about you. Who you are, where you're from, what you like, anything."

Benny sighed. "Well, uh . . . I was born and raised here. My whole life revolves around baseball, pretty much. My favorite color is blue. I have an older sister named Elizabeth. I can speak Spanish, obviously, but I never really do. Uh . . . I don't know."

A smile crept onto my face. "Tell me about your social life."

"Ah. Well, everyone looks at me for who I am. I'm the chill guy who's obsessed with baseball, and isn't really scared of anything. I don't know. I don't usually try to communicate with anyone besides the boys, because a lot of the people I know are jerks, stuck-up, or just promising drama."

"Hey, I'm an exception to that now, right?" I grinned, elbowing him lightly.

Benny chuckled. "Yeah, as far as I can tell. Anyway, tell me about yourself."

I stuffed my hands into my pockets. "Uh, well . . . I was born in a military base in Texas, and raised most of my life in Tennessee. My favorite color is blue, too. I'm a bit obsessed with Eminem, and other artists, but Em is the best. I'm obsessed with a lot of things, especially older stuff. I'm the type of person that's chill, but when you mess with me or someone I care about, it's going down." Benny and I laughed at that part. "But usually, I try to be nice to people. I have an older brother named Luke. I love baseball and basketball, and . . . yeah, I don't know what else."

Benny half-smiled down at me. "You're pretty cool. Were a lot of people scared of you back in Tennessee?"

I laughed, nodding. "Yeah, how did you know?"

Benny laughed along with me. "I don't know, you just give off that tough girl vibe. You look like an intimidating person."

"How so?" I giggled.

"I don't know, it's like . . . Okay, for example, when you're frowning because the sun is bright, you look like you're giving someone a death glare," he explained, chuckling. "And I don't really know exactly how to explain it, but you look like a tough girl, you know?"

I laughed again, which quickly seemed to become a habit around him. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But I'm not really that mean of a person, especially for no reason."

"Well, I still think some of the boys are scared of you," Benny said, smiling down at me.

"They have nothing to be scared of," I laughed loudly. "I mean, unless they do something to me, but other than that, I'm harmless."

Our conversation continued, branching out into a bunch of different topics, until finally, we reached my neighborhood, which just so happened to be his too. We walked over to my house, and stopped at my doorstep.

"Well, today was fun," I breathed, smiling up at him.

Benny returned the smile, and agreed. "Yeah, it was. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Don't let me down, all right?"

"I won't," I promised, giving him a small nod. "You can count on it."

He nodded. "Okay. And if you need anything, I live right across from you. Just come over, I'll be there."

My eyes widened in surprise, and his smile grew. He sent me a playful wink while walking backwards. He waved at me, and when I returned the action, he turned around and started jogging to his house, which was, in fact, right across from mine. I couldn't believe I never knew that.

I turned to open the door, but before I could grab the knob, the door swung open, revealing my brother.

"Who was that?" Luke inquired, sending me a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and pushed past him and inside of the house. "He's my friend. He's one of the boys who plays at the sandlot. His name's Benny."

"You know, if he hurts you, I'll have no choice other than to break his neck," Luke warned.

I cast a glare his way. "We basically only met today. I told you, he's only my friend. You'd like him."

Luke responded, but I ignored it by running upstairs and into my room.

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Sorry, it sucks right now, but it'll get better. That's my promise.