June 16, 2021

I was the last one up that morning. I woke up from a call from Gran.

"Hello?" I said in a tired voice, rubbing my eyes.

"Are you coming to the bakery today pumpkin?" she said concerned. "It already one."

My eyes went wide and I shot up.

"Gran, I'm so sorry I overslept. We stayed up really late last night." I got out of the sleeping bag and rushed to get my bag and went out the door.

"It's okay sweetie, just get here when you can." she hung up.

I climbed down the ladder with my bag on my back when I looked to see all the guys sitting on the grass staring at me.

"Why didn't you guys wake me up? I'm late to the bakery!" I said looking at all of them.

"We didn't wanna wake you up." Squints said taking a bite out of a sandwich.

"Yeah yeah, you looked so peaceful." Yeah Yeah said smiling at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Timmy, can I use y'all's bathroom please?"

"Yeah, the sliding door is unlocked, just turn left and go down the hall and it's the door at the very end."

"Thanks" I ran past them and into the house towards the bathroom.

As soon as I got in I locked the door behind me and changed into the extra Jean shorts and a white t-shirt.

I brushed my hair and put on mascara, deodorant, perfume, and my shoes then packed everything back into my bag and ran out the bathroom, into the hallway, and out the sliding door into the backyard.

I didn't even say bye to anyone before running out the back gate as quickly as possible and towards the bakery. That was the fastest I had run in a while.

When I had got to the bakery I was sweating and out of breath.

Gran looked up from what she was doing at me and started laughing.

"Glad you could join us today pumpkin. You look like you just ran a marathon." She said walking towards me with my apron so she could help me put it on like always.

"Maybe because I did," I said turning around so she could tie it.

"You didn't set your alarm before you went to bed?" She asked.

"No... I got a little sidetracked." I said blushing as I remembered Benny and I's kiss.

"Really?" She said spinning me back around to face her. "How so?" Her hands were on her hips, and she had that look on her face she made when she knew something.

"I'll tell you all about it later, right now I just need something for breakfast," I said handing back behind the counter, Gran following closely behind.

"There's fresh muffins in the kitchen. You can sneak one if you'd like." Gran said winking at me.

"Thank you, you're a lifesaver." I said running into the kitchen to grab one.

The bakery wasn't as busy today as it normally was, so I had a break between customers every now and then.

I was sitting on the counter reading my book when I heard the bell at the door ring. I put my bookmark where I was and stood up to walk over to the register to see who it was.

Of course, it was the last person I wanted to see... Jake. My heart sank just seeing him smile at me as if he hadn't looked at me like he wanted to kill me that night.

"What are you doing here. I told you to leave." I said walking out from behind the counter and towards him.

I kept my distance because I still didn't trust him.

"Calm down, I just want to talk." He said.

He soup fed tired, but I could care less.

"Calm down? Like you did the other night?" I said furiously. "You have no place to tell me to calm down."

"I know, but can we please just talk?" he said taking a step towards me.

I took another step back.

"What is there to talk about? I don't even know who you are anymore."

"You think I'm the only one who's changed?" he said raising his voice. "You're the one who's already making out with another guy!"

It was silent for a moment, but then I realized what he had just said.

"How do you know about that?" I said quietly but my anger was very much present.

"I followed you to the treehouse," he said as if there was no problem with that.

"So now you're spying on me?"

"What? No, I-"

"Then what were you doing?" I crossed my arms. "You think it's a normal thing to just follow people who clearly don't even want you in their life anymore?"

"You don't mean that." he said, tears forming in his eyes.

"If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't have said it."

"Okay, so I shouldn't have followed you, but-"

"You shouldn't have done a lot of things." I yelled.

I turned around, I couldn't even look at him anymore. Tears were forming in my eyes and I knew if I looked at him, they would all come rushing out.

"Ella, please just look at me." he walked up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

I jumped at his touch then shoved his hand off my shoulder.

"Don't touch me." my face was turning red with anger.

"I messed up, I know that, but you out of everyone should know that all the years we've spent together can't just go away overnight," he said backing away from me and towards the door. "You'll be running back. I know you will. You always do."

And with that, he left. I watched him through the window to make sure he didn't come back. When he was out of my sight I went back behind the counter and waited for the next customers to walk into the door.

Thankfully Gran was back in the kitchen the whole time so she didn't hear what had just happened, and the rest of the bakery was empty.

I went back to the counter where I was sitting and lifted myself up onto it then picked up my book and returned to the page I left off on.

His words were stuck in my head, "you'll be running back" playing over and over again in my mind. It would've been true if we had fought about anything else, but this time I was gonna run away from him. Not back to him. I couldn't.

The next couple of hours felt like the longest. Only a couple more customers came in, but none of them stayed for long. They just ordered then left once they got their food. I was kind of glad though, I didn't feel like having to talk to anyone much right now.

At 5, Gran let me leave. I could've gone to the sandlot because the sun didn't set till 7, but I just felt like going home.

I lay there in bed, my AirPods in blasting music, when I got a text from someone.

Wanna hang? We left the sandlot early today, it was too hot.

Sure, my house?

On my way.

Right then I heard a knock on my door.

"That was fast." I said to myself as I walked down the stairs.

I opened the door to let Benny in and he was completely out of breath.

"Did you run here?" I said laughing.

"Yeah, I'm really bored." He laughed.

We went up to my bedroom and closed the door. Right when the door closed, he flew across the room and onto my bed.

"Sure, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks." He said with an obnoxious but adorable smile.

I sat down on the bed next to him, my back resting against my pillows.

He rolled over onto his stomach and was kicking his legs in the sir behind him like a schoolgirl.

I wasn't in the best mood because of what happened at the bakery earlier with Jake. I was trying to not make it obvious but Benny always knew when something was bothering me.

"What's wrong? You seem off." he said letting his legs drop back onto the bed.

"Jake came to the bakery earlier." I said.

"He what?" Benny said quickly sitting up on the bed with his legs crossed. "What did he say? Did he hurt you again?" His eyes were full of worry.

"No, I didn't let him touch me." I said rubbing my wrists.

The bruises were gone for the most part, but there was still a hint of purple there.

"What did he say?" he asked.

I paused for a moment. I didn't want to tell him that Jake followed us to the treehouse and saw us kiss... twice. But I knew I had to.

I sighed, "He followed us to the treehouse, and he saw us kiss. Both times."

"So he was that noise we heard when we were looking at the stars?"

"Yup."

We sat there in silence for a minute. Benny looked lost in his thoughts. I could never really tell what was going on in his mind, and it drove me crazy.

Finally, he asked, "Remember the day before your birthday when we were just watching tv and then Jake called you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was gonna ask you this question but I never did." he paused.

I sat there looking at him curiously waiting for him to finish talking.

"What do... did... you see in him?"

I looked up from my wrists and into his eyes. He looked angry but calm at the same time. I could read everyone's emotions so well, but Benny was hard to read.

"He wasn't like that when I left." I said finally breaking the silence. "Growing up, he was sweet and put others before himself. I always loved that about him. We knew everything about each other and I was always happiest when I was with him. Then my feelings for him changed from just friends to not wanting to be with anyone but him. I guess he felt the same because one day, he just kissed me."

I could tell Benny didn't know what to say. He sat there looking down at his lap and fiddled with his fingers.

"I'm sorry for asking." He said not looking up at me.

"It's fine. All those feelings are in the past. He doesn't mean anything to me anymore."

I lied. Of course Jake would always mean something to me. He was a big part of my life. I just felt like if I said I didn't care about him any more out loud, it would come true... But it didn't. Maybe Jake was right. It was the only time he did it, and what we had for years can't just be thrown away like that. Right?

"Let's change the subject, shall we?" Benny said breathing in deeply.

"Good idea." I laughed.

"Have you drawn anything yet?" He asked looking over at the sketchbook on the floor.

"Um.. no." I lied.

"Uh-huh, sure." He stood up and walked over to pick up the sketchbook and opened it while sitting back down on the bed.

I reached over to grab it before he could see the first page but he stood up and held it in the air before I could grab it.

"Benny I swear." I said standing up and walking over to attempt to grab it again.

I tried my best to jump up and get it from him but his arms were too long. I felt like an idiot jumping like that, but I didn't want him to see my drawings and think they looked bad.

He just laughed, not letting the book drop.

"Benny come on." I said laughing.

"Nope. Just let me look at them and then I'll give it back." He said with an obnoxious smile on his face.

After reaching my arm back up and grabbing at it a couple more times I stopped then he looked down at me. Our bodies were inches apart. I could basically feel the warmth of his body. He smelt pretty good for just coming over after playing baseball for hours. Our eyes were locked. Then, I had an idea.

I pulled the collar of his shirt down so his face was even closer to mine. His eyes went wide and his smile slowly faded. When the arm he was using to keep the book away started to drop, I grabbed it and let go of his shirt then ran back to the bed.

"Oh, you little shit." He said laughing.

I put the book behind me and laid back so he couldn't get it, laughing the whole time. He just stood there staring at me. He was planning something, but I couldn't tell what it was. Then suddenly, a mischievous smirk came over his lips. He ran over to the side of the bed where I was and picked me up bride stile. I squealed like a little girl as he ran towards the door and lightly set me down in the hallway, then shut the door and locked it before I could get back up.

"Benny!" I yelled standing back up and walking over to the door.

"I just want to look." He said. I could practically hear the smirk on his face.

"This isn't funny you idiot." I turned the doorknob over and over even though I knew it wouldn't do anything.

I stood there for a few minutes with my arms crossed staring at the door.

"Can you open the door please?" I asked when finally, I heard the lock pop and the door open.

Benny was standing there with the sketchbook in his hand with the same annoying look on his face.

"Oh I'm sorry, did you get locked out here?"

"I'm gonna get you back for that." I walked past him and back into my room then plopped back onto my bed.

"We'll see about that." He said smirking as he closed the door.

I put my face in the palms of my hands and closed my eyes.

He walked over and sat next to me, opening the book again and looking at the drawings again. "These are amazing." He said, nudging me on the shoulder.

"You're just saying that so I don't feel bad." I said looking up at him.

"I'm not, I swear." He looked back at me with a sweet smile then back down at the book and kept flipping till he got to a drawing of the sandlot. "This one is amazing." He pointed at it.

I smiled. I couldn't tell if he was just saying it to make me feel better or not, but I was glad he didn't hate them.

"You should draw me some time." Benny laughed. "I mean I'm pretty hot if I do say so myself." He said flipping imaginary hair off his shoulder.

I shrugged my shoulders and laughed as I said. "I'm not very good at drawing people, but I could try."

"Oh bull shit!" He said lightly slapping my arm with the back of his hand. "I bet you could draw me."

He closed the book and handed it to me.

"I don't know... you might be a little too funny looking to draw." I joked.

He gasped and put his hand on his chest.

"Ouch. That hurt."

"You know I'm joking Benny." I said rolling my eyes.

"So you think I'm hot." He said, his gesture quickly changing from being offended to cocky.

I just looked at him and laughed.

"I don't hear a no." He winked at me.

"You're an idiot." I said purposely bumping into him with my arm.

We looked at each other for a minute with small smiles on our faces. I don't know what it was about him, but he made me want to forget all about Jake and just be with him. But I couldn't. If I just jumped into something with Benny now, it could ruin the friendship we've developed. I know he's nothing like Jake, but I don't want to end up how Jake and I are now.