My City

Seattle swallowed nervously, gripping her pink backpack as her pigtails began getting damp from the downpour. Her mother pushed her towards the bus door as the driver smiled encouragingly. She was shaking, more from terror then the biting September rain as she looked at the children on the bus, all waiting for her to get on. Finally she took the first step, her Mary Janes splashing as she made her way to the steps. She quickly made her way up, looking back at her parents as the door shut, locking her inside.

The bus began moving as she looked at the other kids. Girls were all whispering to other girls and boys to other boys. All the seats were taken except one. She forced herself forward towards the strawberry blonde bowl cut. The boy sitting there was looking down, his blue raincoat matching his boots perfectly. She stood there, looking at him nervously. “Um, can I sit here?” She asked. He looked up, those blue eyes meeting hers, and it felt like something had just smacked Seattle across the face.

She couldn’t breathe as he looked at her and her heart felt like it was racing a million miles a second. Her palms started sweating when the bus stopped, sending her flying backwards. The boy grabbed her hand, keeping her from falling as she found her footing again. She blushed as he pulled her into the seat next to him, grinning widely. “You okay?” She nodded and his smile only seemed to grow larger. “I’m Ben.” He said, extending his hand to her. She smiled softly, shaking it.

“I’m Seattle.” She said. His blue eyes grew wide.

“Like the city?” She nodded. “Man that’s so cool! My name’s boring.” He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I like it.” She promised. “Ben is my uncle’s name, and my uncle is super cool.” He chuckled, looking back at her.

“Is he like a super spy or something?” She shook her head.

“He’s a policeman. He catches bad guys and keeps people safe.”

“That is cool.” Ben said, grinning. “My uncle…” He stopped, pressing his lips together. He then smiled again, looking back at her. “I like your pigtails.” She giggled as he poked one, watching it swing back and forth.

“You can have them too with your hair!” She said, reaching over and pulling his long hair into pigtails. “See?” The two started laughing and just like that all Seattle’s fears were gone. The two kept laughing and talking and by the time they reached the school Seattle knew all about Ben and he knew everything there was to know about the small brunette.

He knew that she only like jelly sandwiches because she hated how peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth. He knew that she was an only child, but she had always wanted a big brother to protect her. He knew koalas were her favorite animals and that she wasn’t afraid of spiders, only spiders sneaking up on her. As they walked into the school he turned to her.

“Who’s your teacher?” He asked, looking at her.

“Mrs. Brown.” She whispered.

“Me too!” He said, grinning broadly. He grabbed her hand again, pulling her down the halls to the farthest hallway where the kindergarten classes were. Even in his youth, Ben didn’t fail to notice how perfectly her little hand fit in his as they walked into Mrs. Brown’s room.

Ben led her over to two seats, ignoring the snickers from his classmates as he kept his hand with hers. He looked back to see that her face was bright red, her eyes wider than a deer in the headlights as he sat down, letting go of her hand to tap the spot next to him. She sat down, her pigtails swishing with her movements like the big, floppy ears on basset hounds. He simply ignored his classmates’ laughter as Mrs. Brown smiled at them.

“Good morning class!” She said, smiling warmly. Her blonde bob moving with her movements as she looked each of the kids over with her warm green eyes. She quickly moved through attendance and told the students that she’d like them to turn to the person beside them and get to know them, because then they had to introduce that student to the rest of the class. While most of the other students were terrified, Ben simply turned to Seattle, grinning.

“So, um…” She said, blushing again. He couldn’t help but think she looked really pretty when she blushed, and that with the white dress she had on under her coat, she looked like one of the angels on Christmas cards. He felt his own cheeks begin to get a little warmer as he quickly took off his jacket, exposing his little Mariner’s jersey. She smiled, seeing what he was wearing. “You like the Mariner’s too?” She asked.

“Um duh!” He cheered, smiling. “You like them?” She nodded eagerly. “But you’re a girl!”

“So?” She said, looking at him.

“So girls don’t like baseball.” He said simply. She giggled, looking at him.

“I bet I could kick your butt as baseball!” She said, smiling at him. His face scrunched up and she started laughing.

“You’re on!” He said, looking at her with his adorable expression. “I’m going to kick your butt!”

“So what do I get if I win?” She asked, looking at him. He pressed his lips together before looking at her.

“You can have my Ken Griffey Jr. card.” He said. Her brown eyes flew open as she racked her brain for something to wager worth equal value. “So what do I get if I win?” He asked. Finally she looked at him, smiling.

“I’ll be your best friend for the rest of your life.” She said. “No matter how many times we fight, or yell at each other, I’ll always be your friend.” He sighed, looking at her. His small heart was beating just a little quicker at the thought of getting to have someone as cool and pretty as Seattle be his friend forever. But he couldn’t actually tell her that, she would think he was weird.

“Will I get cooties?” He asked. She giggled and he couldn’t help but grin, loving the way she laughed.

“No, I don’t have cooties, I promise.” She held up one of her hands, looking at him somberly. “I swear on Ken Griffey Jr.”

“Okay then.” He said, smiling at her with those perfect blue grey eyes. No sooner had he said that when Mrs. Brown was bringing them back together, smiling again.

“Do we have any volunteers to go first?” She asked, lacing her fingers together in front of her. Dozens of little hands shot up, but by the way Ben looked like he might fall out of his seat she chuckled. “Okay Ben.”

“This is Seattle.” He said, pointing to her. “You know, like the city. She likes Baseball and Koalas and she doesn’t have cooties.” Mrs. Brown chuckled, sitting on the edge of her desk as Ben looked at Seattle. “And if I beat her in a baseball game at recess, she’s going to be my best friend forever.”

“You mean your girlfriend!” One little boy shouted. The class busted out laughing as Ben’s face turned scarlet. Mrs. Brown quickly shushed them, all eyes turning to Seattle. She started mumbling so quietly that even Ben couldn’t hear her. He reached over under their desk and took her hand. Smiling, he gave her hand a small squeeze and she beamed.

“This is Ben.” She said, starting over and looking at him the entire time. “He thinks his name is boring, but I think it’s really cool. He likes the Mariners too, and he also doesn’t have cooties. And if I beat him at a game of baseball at recess then I get his Ken Griffey Jr. card!” As Mrs. Brown greeted the two of them, making the class greet them with her and turned to the next pair of students, Seattle took Ben’s hand.

His cheeks turned pink again as he looked at her, seeing her perfect dimples as she smiled. “Thank you.” She whispered. He smiled back, squeezing her hand before they both let go, listening to the other students until the recess bell rang.

As Seattle stepped onto the cold, wet dirt she took in a deep breath. Ben quickly took her hand and ran her over to the baseball mound and smiled. “So.” He said. “Just hit…um… this,” he grabbed a forgotten tennis ball probably left sitting there from the summer. He then grabbed a stick, handing both to her. “And hit it with this.”

“So how do you win?” She asked.

“Well, I’ll hit first. If you touch me with it before I get to all the bases or catch it before it hits the ground, I’m out. Then you hit, and if you get a home run we either tie or you win. Got it?” She nodded.

“Got it.” She said, smiling. Ben grabbed the stick and tennis ball, walking over to home base as she ran out to center field. He took a deep breath, bouncing the ball on the base and taking a hard swing only to clip the corner. The ball flew right towards Seattle and landed perfectly in her hands. He grumbled, throwing the stick to the ground. She simply smiled, walking over and picking up the stick as he ran out to the field.

A group of maybe six or seven kids from their class gathered around, the girls cheering for Seattle as the boys cheered for Ben. She bounced the ball, swinging and missing the ball completely.

“STRIKE ONE!” Ben hollered. She bounced the ball again, missing it once more. “STRIKE TWO!” She took a deep breath before bouncing the ball, taking a wide swing and crushing the ball right in the sweet spot. It flew over Ben’s head almost hitting the jungle gym as she stood there for a second.

“SEATTLE RUN!” One of the girls screamed. She snapped to her senses, breaking out in a sprint towards the first base as Ben ran after the ball. She was nearing second as he finally got a hold on it. He ran towards her as fast as his small legs would allow, needing to catch her.

He didn’t care about winning, he didn’t care if a girl beat him. All he knew was that he wanted Seattle to be his best friend forever. He wanted her to tell him about her cool, policeman uncle. He wanted to talk to her about spiders and Koalas, he wanted to play baseball with her in the summer. He wanted to know that when they were old he could still call her and ask her to tell him about cool things she did. He wanted to be the big brother she didn’t have and protect her. All these wished pushing even further as she hit third base, home plate in her sight.

Time seemed to slow down as he started closing in, seeing her pigtails swishing back and forth in the wind. She looked back and saw how close he was, her brown eyes becoming massive as she tried to run even faster. She then leapt for home plate and he jumped right behind. As they hit the ground they sent up a tidal wave of mud, hitting some of the observers as they skidded, hitting rocks and twigs. Ben could feel blood on his knees as he reached the ball out, hitting her thigh softly.

As the mud cleared they were both sprawled out in the dirt, cut up and bleeding. Ben hand the ball touching the side of her leg, and Seattle’s hand was in the center of home base. The field was silent for a moment before one of the students stood up, hollering.

“SAFE!” He screamed. This was met with cheers from the girls and groans from the boys before a playground monitor came over, breaking them up. She helped Seattle and Ben up, leading them to the nurse’s office as the other monitor took over.

As they limped along Seattle looked over to Ben, smiling. “Hey.” She said quietly. He looked up as she smiled. “How about we become best friends anyway?” He beamed, looking at her before nodding.

“Sounds good.” He said.

“But I still want that Ken Griffey Jr. card.” They both started laughing as they made their way into the nurse’s office, and Ben knew that he would never stop being Seattle’s friend, no matter what.