what if → Benny Rodriguez

chapter 10 | Emerald Bay

June 27th 2019

I WOKE UP very early to birds chirping in the tree that held house we were in. before my eyes could flutter open i noticed that i was in the exact same position i fell asleep in, and so was Benny. we faced each other. he still held my hand, our fingers entwined. i guess we accidentally fell asleep like that.

the bright morning sun beaming through one of the holes in the walls of the treehouse i guess you could call a window, but without glass. i didn't want to move out of Benny's grasp, and maybe wake him up. so i carefully lifted my head up just enough to see that everyone else was still asleep. it was definitely early morning.

the thought crossed my mind that we would be going hiking later that day, but i pushed the thought aside. i knew that if i held it in my head too long that i would feel the urge to leave early so i could get prepared. but i didn't want to leave. i don't think my hand wanted to leave Benny's. i decided to just try and go back to sleep so maybe Benny could wake me up later. i definitely was not a morning person. i was honestly surprised that i was awake that early.

i shut my eyes, hoping that tiredness would wash over me and i'd be able to go back to sleep, but instead i opened them again to look at Benny. i couldn't help it. i studied his near perfection facial features. this boy doesn't have a single flaw. his lips slightly parted enough for soft, warm breaths to escape. he looked so peaceful. and somehow, i couldn't stop looking at him. i tried but i couldn't manage to tear my eyes away.

only when i woke up to the floorboards creaking, did i realize i had drifted off again. i look up to see Squints trying his best to quietly make his way out of the treehouse. i look around again to see that the only people left were me, Yeah-yeah, Timmy, and Benny. Benny, still holding my hand in his, starts to stir.

i knew that when he woke up he would think it was weird if i was already awake and had still been holding onto his hand. because he clearly loved me just as a best friend. so when i realized what was happening i quickly pretended to be asleep again. i felt his hand pull away from mine. part of me wanted to reach out and grab it again, but that's just one of those things you can't do. so i laid there, pretending to be sleep.

he grabbed my shoulder and started gently shaking me "awake." even though i already was, i pretended to just be waking up.

"hey." my eyes opened to see Benny smiling at me, "hey we have to get ready and go soon. it's quite a long drive and we want to have a lot of time there." Benny states.

"which state park are we going to anyways?" i sit up now, wide awake.

"oh yeah i forgot to tell you." he chuckles, "Emerald Bay state park."

"oh i've actually been there before!" i perked up, with excitement, "my family and i would go every summer when we were younger. that one was our favorite."

"yeah, and do you remember when our families went together?" He asks.

"yes! when Jordyn and Owen used to avoid each other because our parents would always tease them that they liked each other?" we both laughed at that. Jordyn and Owen were only 10 year olds back then. kind of that awkward phase. it's like they were scared to be friends because they would get made fun of or something. Benny and i grew up together from day one, though. only born a week apart. and our parents became friends a few moths before we were born when we first moved into the neighborhood. so technically, we actually have been best friends our whole lives. but we moved away before Benny and i ever got to that awkward stage of being 10, and made fun of for being friends with the opposite gender. not like it would've affected us anyways.

"Well it seems like they're becoming friends now don't you think?" Benny strokes his fingers through his jet black hair.

"yea, i guess." i shrugged.