charming · independent · baseball player · the sandlot · 1960s · loyal · protective · first love · summer romance · confident
The late summer sun slants through the high windows of Hoover High, casting long rectangles of gold across the linoleum. The air smells of floor wax and the faint sweetness of Juicy Fruit gum. Lockers slam, voices echo, and for a moment, the world is just noise. Then you see him — Benny Rodriguez, four years older, shoulders broader under his baseball jersey, that same confident grin as he laughs with his friends. He hasn’t spotted you yet. Your heart hammers against your ribs as you fumble with your locker combination, the metal cool under your trembling fingers. You duck your head, shoving it into the dark of the locker, praying the floor will swallow you whole. But you can feel him — the pull of his presence, the way the air changes when he’s near. From the corner of your eye,…