"Ben, pass that ball!", a boy - maybe 12 years old - screamed over the whole field.
Summer was almost over and it tended to get darker earlier now but for Benjamin Barker it was the most beautiful time of the day. It wasn't too warm but also not too cold and he could enjoy the sunset while playing with his best friends. Those times would be over soon when school started again, so he was glad for every minute he could spend like this.
"I can't pass it if you're so far away!", he yelled and tripped over a stone the next moment because he was rather watching his friend screaming at him than the ground right before him. So he landed right there – on the ground. Slightly cursing, he got up again and cleaned the dirt off his jacket.
Oh, his mother wouldn't be happy about this. It was a new jacket and she told him every morning again to watch out to not let it get dirty.
As he tried to rub off the grass stains he noticed that he wasn't alone. Right in front of him sat a girl - leaning against a tree and reading a book. She didn't even look up. The little girl was so mesmerized by the story that she was reading that she neither noticed the boy who had been landing not even 5 metres next to her, nor his friends who were laughing out loud about it now.
He glared at them shortly but concentrated back on the girl then. Benjamin never understood what was so exciting about books that people could spend hours completely lost in them. He rather spent his time outside, running around, climbing trees…that's the way he loved to spend his time. But that girl kind of excited him. She was wearing a dress that reached her knees. It was coloured in a dark blue that looked even prettier in the evening sun. Her auburn hair hang down her shoulders in funny curls she obviously wasn't able to tame properly.
There was something about her that was different from other girls. She didn't mind to sit in the grass although this would cause stains on her dress. Also, she didn't sit up straight and with crossed legs like most the girls he had seen before. Benjamin always found it weird that parents taught their girls how to stand or sit properly but though, it was normal to him. So, it was even more surprising to him that this girl didn't seem to have suffered from those lectures. She almost seemed kind of….like a boy. Not because she wasn't pretty or didn't look girl- like but just the way she was sitting there told Ben that she was different.
And he didn't see it in a negative way…
He didn't even know how long he was standing there simply looking at this unique girl as one of his friends tapped him on the shoulder. He winced.
"Oooh, Ben likes this girl.", one of his friends shouted and the boys broke out in childish laughter. Ben shook his head.
"No, no. I'm not." He wasn't in the mood for one of these stupid games. He was simply looking at this girl. That wasn't something bad. His friends used to do this as well and he definitely didn't make fun about this. And why would he? There's nothing against looking at a girl. He never liked all this rumours that came up by just looking at a girl. He found this silly. Liking someone that wasn't a boy didn't always mean something romantic, right?
The laughter of the boys finally caused the girl to look up from her book, though. She rolled her eyes and wanted to lose herself in the story again as her gaze met Benjamin's. She hesitated a moment but sent him a warm smile then. He couldn't help it and simply smiled back. There was something in that girl's smile that automatically raised the corners of his mouth and gave him a comfortable feeling.
His friends seemed to notice because one of them started whistling and gained another wave of laughter from the other boys. The girl didn't mind, though.
The whole time her eyes would be concentrated on Benjamin's as if the world had stopped and nothing around them was happening.
He threw an angry glance at the other boys but they just went on laughing.
"Alright, we already leave you alone, Ben." And with those words they went back to the field and continued the match.
Ben looked back to the girl who didn't stop looking at him.
"Sorry for that. They always get … silly when girls are around.", he said with an apologetic smile.
"And you don't?", the auburn-haired girl asked curious.
Benjamin shook his head and just shrugged it off. "I wouldn't know why I should act different around you just because you're a girl…right?" He looked at her as if he was waiting for some kind of approval.
She sent him another one of her smiles and it already came natural to him to return the smile. There wasn't that weird feeling he normally got when he talked to strangers. He almost felt some kind of connection between them, he didn't quite understand at that time.
The girl stood up from her place. Benjamin already expected her to straighten her clothes and get rid of all the dirt that surely found its way on her dress but nothing happed. She just got up and stayed like this. Another surprise.
"I should go home.", she said with a light smile on her face, as if she herself wouldn't be too happy about that fact.
The boy just nodded. He knew how angry his parents got when he came home too late, so he understood that she surely didn't want to experience her parents angry either.
The girl just wanted to turn around and leave as he stopped her.
"Errr….I'm Benjamin." He held his hand out to her and felt a little stupid the next moment for this weird gesture.
The girl turned around again and chuckled as she saw his stretched arm right in front of her.
"I knew this already…".
Benjamin gave her a confused look. She saw it and fast added: "Your friends called you Ben just some minutes ago. Guess that is your nickname then."
He nodded, remembering that moment.
She chuckled once more and finally shook his hand, ending the weird moment.
"I'm Eleanor but please, call me Nellie."