July 5, 2021

I woke up extra early this morning so I could catch Phillips before he left.

I quickly shot out of bed and got dressed in a bright yellow baggy t-shirt and light blue jean shorts. I didn't do my hair, I just brushed it then put on mascara, and ran downstairs. I slipped on my sandals that were by the door then ran to the kitchen. I was awake before everyone else so I left a note saying where I was going just in case my dad or someone woke up before I was back.

My handwriting was sloppy, but I didn't care. I set the pen down next to the note even though it rolled off the counter, then ran outside and hopped on my bike.

He told me his address last night at the cookout because I told him I wanted to see him one more time before he left.

I peddled as fast as I could. My legs were burning, but I knew I had to get there before it was too late.

The blood was pumping through my veins and sweat was falling from my forehead. The sun was barely up, but it was still hot as always.

I turned onto his street just in time. Right as I pulled up to his house he was getting into the passenger seat of the car. I stopped my bike with my foot which made the bottom of my shoes lose their grip a little. When I came to a complete stop, I threw my bike to the ground and ran up to Phillips who had noticed me and ran to the sidewalk.

I basically threw myself at him, making him take a step backward so he didn't fall, and hugged him for what felt like forever. I didn't want him to let go.

"You seriously got up this early to see me?" he laughed as he held me in his arms.

I let go a little, but not all the way, and looked up at him.

"Of course I did." I smiled. "I wanted to say goodbye before you go."

"You're sweaty." he joked while making a fake disgusted face.

"Haha, very funny," I said sarcastically while pulling him in for another hug.

We held each other tightly until his mom rolled down her window.

"Come on Logan. We gotta go."

Her voice was like silk. I looked over to her and she sent me a sweet smile.

She had sunglasses on, so I couldn't see her eyes, I just assumed they were brown like Logans. Her hair was blonde and curled and her skin was pale and freckled like Phillips.

I looked back at Phillips with tears in my eyes.

He looked back down at me and his facial expression turned serious.

"Don't fall apart on me now," he said looking into my eyes.

"I'm not." I lied, "I just got something in my eye from riding my bike here." I said trying to hold the tears in.

He paused for a moment and admired my eyes which made me blush a little.

"Hey, " I said wiping underneath my eye to make my tears go away, "since you made me promise something, I think you should promise me something."

His smile came back on his lips as he said "oh really? And what would that be?"

"No fights." I laughed "And don't be a dick to everyone unless you have to."

I stepped back and held out my pinky, which he took with his.

"I promise." he smiled.

"Logan, " his mom said which made both of us look at her, "we really have to go if we don't wanna hit traffic."

"Okay, one-sec," he said turning back towards me.

He put his hands back around my waist and leaned down to kiss my cheek, sending butterflies throughout my body. His lips were soft and I could feel the breathing from his nose on my cheek.

His eyes sparkled and he had the biggest smile across his lips as he stood back up straight again.

We smiled and looked at each other for a couple of seconds more, then hugged again. I could his heartbeat, which was soothing at the moment, but would be painful watching him drive away.

"Goodbye Ella," he said quietly.

A tear fell from my eye as my face was buried in his chest.

"Oh come on, don't say goodbye." I punched him on the arm playfully, "can't get rid of me that easily."

"I hope not." he laughed.

And with that, he let go of me and walked to the passenger side of the car. He opened the door again but admired me once more before climbing into the car and closing the door beside him.

I watched in tears as the black car drove off down the street. Before the car turned the corner, he rolled his window down and stuck the whole upper half of his body out just to yell: "Don't forget our promise, Moore!"

"I won't Phillips," I said to myself as they turned the corner out of sight.

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The bakery was quiet that day. It was boring not having Phillips around to hit on me while we were supposed to be working.

Gran was stressed because Phillips leaving meant she would have to hire someone else... Again.

I swear she said "damn Phillips and Chicago." about five hundred times.

I kept thinking about the promise I made to him about Benny. Even laying in bed that night, all I could think about was how I could make that promise happening without my heart breaking in the end. I would be leaving California in August, and there was no way I could ever stand between Benny and baseball. It was too important to him.

As if on cue, I got a text from Benny.

It's supposed to be over 100 outside tomorrow so we're not going to the sandlot, wanna go to our spot?

I smiled at the words 'our spot'.

Of course :)

I turned my phone off and set it back down on the nightstand next to my pictures.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at my ceiling and went back to thinking about the promise. It's more than just a promise to me, obviously. I've had my eye on Benny since I got here, even if I didn't realize it at first. As he said himself, he's not other guys.

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June 6, 2021

Gran was interviewing new people today, so I didn't have to work which was perfect for my plans to hang out with Benny.

I got out of bed and decided to put a little effort into how I looked today, but not too much because I didn't want him to know I was trying.

I put on a maroon t-shirt and white jean shorts then threw on a thin jean jacket over it.

I slipped my Converse on after brushing my teeth and hair, then went downstairs to eat breakfast while waiting for Benny.

"Good morning." dad said while reading the newspaper like he did every morning.

"Morning," I said walking up behind him and kissing his cheek.

He smiled.

"What are you up to today?"

"I'm just going out with Benny today since it's too hot to play baseball," I said while pouring myself a glass of orange juice.

As if right one cue, Benny walked through the front door without even knocking.

My dad closed the newspaper and squinted his eyes at him.

"So there's no such thing as knocking anymore?" My dad said looking at Benny.

"Knocking?" Benny said, furrowing his eyebrows, "what's knocking?" he joked.

Dad rolled his eyes. "You're here almost every day anyway. Might as well just move in." he scoffed.

Benny stopped where he was and sent a mischievous smirk at my dad.

"Wait. No. Don't do that." Dad said quickly correcting himself.

My dad and Benny had gained a love-hate relationship since we got here. My dad acted like he hated Benny, but I knew he saw him as a second child. Even if he didn't show it. Benny just tried his best to annoy the shit out of my dad every chance he got. It was honestly really funny.

"You ready?" Benny asked, leaning with one hand on the table.

"Slow down turbo." I joked, "I haven't even eaten breakfast yet."

He laughed and sat down at the table next to me.

"Oh, make sure you bring your sketchbook and stuff today," he said reaching across the table and grabbing a piece of bacon.

"Okay?" I said cautiously, then took a sip of orange juice.

Once I finished eating, I ran upstairs to grab my sketchbook and colored pencils and put them in my drawstring bag.

As I walked down the stairs Benny was waiting by the door and opened it for me as soon as my foot touched the floor.

"Be back before dark please!" My dad yelled before we walked out the door.

"Yes sir," I yelled back.

Benny walked out behind me and closed the door then made a funny face in the Ring Doorbell. I rolled my eyes and laughed then grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the camera.

"I swear you're like a four-year-old." I laughed.

"Am not!" he said childishly.

On our way there, I couldn't stop thinking about what Phillips said again. I was definitely gonna tell Benny how I felt today, but I didn't know-how. Plus if he didn't feel the same way I would feel like an idiot and everything between us would be ruined.

He led me through the sketchy gate and we sat on the bench like last time.

The sun was shining right above us without a cloud in the sky. Birds were chirping as I took in the scenery. The city was definitely much more peaceful at night, without all the traffic honking and the faint conversations of the people walking in the streets.

I reached down into my bag and grabbed my sketchbook and pencils then opened to a new page.

"What are you gonna draw?" Benny asked looking at me with a smile.

"The town. I wanna remember it for when I leave next month." I said trying to find the perfect place to start the picture.

"I thought we weren't talking about that yet." He said looking down at his hands in his lap.

"You're right, sorry." I looked over at him with a small smile.

There was a silence between us for a few minutes as a soft breeze blew upon us, messing up my hair a little.

"You're gonna come back, right?" He shifted his body to face me, his eyes were full of worry.

"Of course I'll come back," I said in a reassuring voice. "I'll be here every chance I get, I promise."

He stared into my eyes. I could tell a million things were running through his mind. Suddenly, he started leaning in slowly. I found myself leaning in as well, not breaking eye contact. It felt like everything around us was slowing down as he pushed my hair out of my face and behind my ear.

My heart was beating out of my chest as he softly planted his lips onto mine. I scooted myself closer to him as he put both his hands on my lower back. I wrapped my arms around his neck as our lips moved in sync with each other. I could've sworn fireworks were going off in the background.

I know we've kissed before, but this time my heart felt as if it was about to explode... in a good way.

As we broke apart, he smiled brighter than I've ever seen him smile before. My face was hot from blushing and it took me a moment to control my breathing again.

He moved one hand from my back to the side of my face as his perfect brown eyes gazed into mine "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that again." He laughed softly.

"Then why haven't you?" I joked, even though I had major butterflies in my stomach.

"Because I didn't know if you felt the same way."

I smiled as I leaned in and kissed him once again, but not for as long as the last one.

"I'm gonna guess that means you do feel the same?" He said with a nervous laugh.

"You're an idiot." I joked as I backed away and he let go of me.

I picked my sketchbook and pencil back up then leaned my head on his shoulder.

As he put his arm around me, I began to draw a building in the middle of the city.

I wasn't completely sure if this meant we were dating or not, but I had a pretty good feeling we were.

We sat like that talking about life and baseball for hours. There was no other place I would rather be at that moment.

As I was getting close to finishing the drawing, a thought popped into my mind.

"What did Phillips whisper to you when you guys were saying goodbyes in the dugout?" I furrowed my eyebrows and lifted my head off his shoulder to look at him.

"He told me to stop being a pussy and make a move on you." He laughed. "What he say to you?" He said looking back at me.

"He made me promise I would do something about my feelings for you." I smiled.

"Damn." He said, "who knew Phillips would be the one to get us together."

We both laughed then went back to the way we were sitting.

It was kinda funny if you thought about it. Phillips, the guy Benny and I both hated in the beginning, was the one to make us realize we both had the same feelings. Wow.

"We're gonna have to tell the boys about us now right?" Benny said leaning his head on top of mine.

I blushed scarlet when he said "us".

"That shouldn't be too bad." I smiled.

"Yeah, but then they're gonna be all immature about it." He laughed.

I squinted my eyes, "and we're not?"

"You know what I mean." He laughed.

I sighed. "Yeah. I know."

"That looks amazing by the way," he said as he admired the drawing.

I smiled and looked down at the sketch on my lap.

"You should be an artist when you grow up." he smiled.

I looked back up at him.

"You really think so?"

"Duh, I can't even draw a butterfly." he laughed.

"I bet you could."

"No I'm serious, I really can't."

I squinted my eyes with a smile and turned to a page where I only did small doodles, then lifted my head off his shoulder.

"Draw one," I said pointing to an empty spot on the paper.

"Alright, " he sighed, "but it's just gonna make the rest of your doodles look bad."

I scoffed then handed him the book and a pencil.

He barely poked his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on the drawing. It was adorable.

I watched in awe as he tried his best to draw the butterfly. He had the same look across his face as when he was getting ready to bad. The one that gave me the good kind of chills down my spine. I know we just made us official, but I never felt this way when I was with Jake.

"And, " he said adding the final touches, "done."

He held the book up and pointed to the butterfly with a proud look on his face.

"You were right, " I said sarcastically, "it does make the rest of my doodles look bad."

We both laughed as he handed me the sketchbook and pencil.

"It really isn't that bad," I said still laughing even though I was serious. "It's a little rough, but I like it."

"You should get it tattooed when you're old enough." he joked.

I stopped laughing then looked at him.

"That's a great idea." I smiled.

"Wait, I was kidding." his face went serious.

"I'm not, " I shrugged my shoulders. "I like it. It will remind me of you when I'm not here."

"But you're gonna wait till you're old enough right?" he said with wide eyes.

"Teenagers can get tattoos if their parents sign a permission slip thing," I said looking down at the butterfly and smiling.

"Your dad would really let you do that?" he said confused.

"No, " I said with a mischievous smile as I looked back up at him, "but Gran would."

"Oh my gosh." he laughed.

"You can't talk me out of it." I said stubbornly, "I've already decided I'm getting it behind my ear."

He put a questioning look on his face.

"Behind your ear?" he said still laughing.

"Yeah, " I said seriously, "they're cute."

"You're cute." He said with a smile as he admired me.

"What?" I said shocked.

"I said you're cute." He shrugged his shoulders with a smirk.

I blushed to the point where I probably looked like a tomato. Those words coming out of his mouth in his smooth and calming voice gave me major butterflies.

I didn't know what to say, so I just kissed him. He put his hands around my waist and pulled me in closer to him. Both my hands were on the sides of his face as our lips moved together in perfect harmony. It was perfect. He was perfect.