what if → Benny Rodriguez

chapter 7 | she's my best friend

"Yeah, you can get off our lot now" Tommy repeats after Timmy.

"i haven't even told you what we wanted yet." Phillips says.

"yeah, well we don't really give a shit what you want." i point at him.

"but we-" i cut him off.

"no. we don't care. go away." i shoo him.

"we'll be back." Phillips scoffs and signals for him and his gang to ride away. good riddance.

when we walk back to the dugout to get some popsicles, Brynn turns to me and asks "what happened with Phillips? he used to be like one of our best friends."

"that was years ago Brynn. a lot of shit has gone down when you were gone." i explain.

"i understand." she nods. "i won't talk to him like that anymore now that i know." i just chuckle.

-

"Benny man, can you just explain to me what's holding you back?" DeNunez asks. he was coming to hang out at my house after playing at the sandlot, so we were walking with Brynn and Jordyn but a few yards in front of them.

"what do you mean?" i asked acting confused, but i wasn't. i knew damn well what he was talking about.

"you know what i mean." he shakes his head and chuckles, "boy, you two are a lost cause."

"she doesn't like me, Kenny." i sigh, "and even if she did who ever said i like her? hm?"

"i know it. i can feel it. whenever you guys talk or look at each other, it's there. i've never been wrong about this stuff man. i talked to Brynn the other night. you guys both need to stop lying to yourselves." Kenny shakes his head.

"it's not that simple, alright?" i scratch the back of my neck. "me and Brynn you know we have a lot of history. what if we dated and then broke up. i'd lose my best friend and it would never be the same. i don't know if i want to lose what we have."

"that sounds logical, but ask yourself this question." Kenny puts his hand on my shoulder, "if you saw Brinley with someone else, how would you feel." boy, did he hit me with a tough question. i couldn't lie to Kenny. he can always see right through me.

"i guess i would hate it." the realization hit me.

Kenny throws his arms up in the air, "hallelujah!" he exclaims. "so cut the bullshit already!"

i knew we couldn't though, no matter how much i wanted to. baseball is the main thing in my life right now, i can't have a distraction. and i don't want to lose my best friend. it was an overall no.

B R I N L E Y
point of view

we walked a few yards behind DeNunez and Benny. i could barely hear their conversation, not that i wasn't trying.

"you can't spend much more time in denial, you know." Jordyn says to me.

i didn't even bother playing dumb anymore. "i'm not in denial, i speak the truth."

"no you don't." she shakes her head. "you and i both know it." I feel like DeNunez said those exact words to me a few nights ago. "heck, all those boys know it. whenever you guys start talking or look at each other y'all blush. it's really starting to get quite annoying, actually."

"how is talking to my best friend annoying?" i say defensively.

"because you're more than friends, at this point. but for whatever reason, both of you are refusing to make a move on what you have. as i see it, you guys are perfect for each other." Jordyn kicks the sidewalk.

i hear DeNunez shout "hallelujah!" and start to wonder where their conversation is taking them.

"that's it." Jordyn speeds up her pace.

"what are you doing?" i whisper shout grabbing her arm.

"speeding up the process" she pulls her arm away from me and walks up beside Benny. oh great, what kind of embarrassing shit is she gonna dish out now?

"hey Benny," she taps him on the shoulder, and he turns towards her.

"yeah?" he smiles. i just know whatever she's going to say, i'm not going to like. i burry my face in my hands waiting for the pain of embarrassment.

"do you like my sister?" she asks. oh god it is bad. i wanted nothing more than to disappear.

"yea i love your sister." he smiles, "she's my best friend." he looks back at me. that's not the kind of like i think Jordyn meant. and i think it pained her just as much as it pained me to hear those words come out of his mouth.

-

Heyyy! I have a ton of fun and new ideas planned for this story coming soon. Today's april 2nd of 2020 and the whole US is pretty much in quarantine rn because of the coronavirus. so i'll have lots of time on my hands to be able to work on this story.

honestly i'm really excited thinking about where this is going to go. it's 2:05am rn and i don't want to stop writing!

anyways, please leave comments i would love to hear how you guys feel about this story and the thoughts you have along the way. thank you for reading:)