Because of Haven Beach

19 | loranthaceous

loranthaceous (adj.)

pertaining to kisses given under odd circumstances

* * *

AFTER being dropped off in the parking lot, I pushed open the creaky door to Mo's 50's Diner. I scanned the brightly lit room, looking for Ben at one of the red and white booths. He waved from the one in the corner next to the jukebox.

"Hey," I said, sliding into the opposite side of the booth. "Sorry I'm late."

"Chill, it's 2:01. You're a minute late," he laughed.

"Early is on time. On time is late, and late is unacceptable," I said automatically. "What'd you want to talk about?"

A few hours beforehand, he sent me a cryptic text asking me to meet him here. I was surprised but accepted nonetheless. My only plans for the day were sitting in my room—alone—and watching a new series on Netflix. I started it the other day and was already hooked. I decided it was probably best for me to get out and actually do something.

"I dunno," he shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "We haven't hung out one-on-one yet, so I thought why not?"

I gave him a pointed look.

"Don't look at me like that. Why are you acting like it's so bizarre that I want to hang out with you?"

I chuckled. "You always have an ulterior motive." Whether it was a ride to school or having an English paper written for him, Ben always wanted something. And somehow, he could always trick me into caving.

A waitress skated from behind the counter and came to take our orders. Like the children we were, we both ordered chicken fingers, fries, and vanilla milkshakes.

"I wanted to see what all the hype was about," he said after she had left.

"Ben, you wound me," I said, dramatically pressing my hand to my chest and pouting my lips.

He merely shrugged. "Don't blame me, blame Eli. He's the one hyping you up. His mom, too. I was at his place last week and all Maura could talk about was you and Eli."

My face involuntarily flushed upon hearing his name. "Then why are you here?"

"Eli was too much of a pussy to ask you to hang out, so I did to prove a point," he said smugly.

"And what exactly is this point?"

"That I'm less of a pussy, duh," he said as the waitress returned with our drinks.

"Thanks. It is the honor of my lifetime to be part of your experiment," I said dryly.

"Okay, I guess that wasn't very nice."

"S'all good. I'll just pretend that you wanted to get to know me better," I smirked, sipping my milkshake.

"Why didn't I think of that?" he muttered.

We both slurped our shakes. "So, why'd you move here? I mean, I know your parents are divorcing, but why move to Haven Beach with your mom?"

"Well, the sperm donor I have the absolute luxury of calling my father is a cheating piece of shit. My mom wanted to leave town and we had nowhere else to go," I said. Without sugarcoating things, I briefly explained the circumstances of my mom's pregnancy with me and my parents' relationship—more like lack thereof.

He listened attentively and asked questions at appropriate times, much to my surprise. Yesterday, if someone told me that Ben was a good listener, I would have laughed in their face.