You Can Find Me In The Space Between

Chapter Seventeen

Do I feel bad that before I would update multiple times a day, and now it's like, weeks? Yup. So here's a longer chapter.

Julie had been feeling nervous. Between trying to focus on school, figure out what she and Pete were, and searching for Alex, there was a lot on her shoulders. Julie would have been very very happy to stay home and not go to school, but somehow she didn't think her dad would go for that idea. Honestly though, she might as well, seeing as when she was in class, she was thinking about Pete or Alex. Now she felt a little guilty for not thinking of Benji as much, but he was a happy butterfly most of the time, so she didn't worry about him quite the same way.

However, all of that anxiety was nothing compared to how nervous she was for dinner that night. She spent forty minutes trying to make sure her eyeliner wings were symmetrical and she was tempted to wear her fuzzy slippers from the first night she met the boys, but Carrie quickly shut that idea down. Plus, they were going to be dining at the freaking Beverly Wilshire! Pete and Julie thought they should go for somewhere cool and independent, but Carrie and Flynn (who apparently had a say in this choice) thought fancy was better. Meaning it ultimately came down to Benji, who Carrie quickly convinced with a box of treats from the hotel's restaurant. And once the hotel heard that BBites was going to be eating at the hotel, they gave very generous room discounts – and with Benji having... well a lot of money, everything was taken care of.

"Mija! It's time to go!" Julie's dad called from the front door.

"I was as much a part of this plan as everyone else! I should get to go too! Papppppppi!" Carlos whined. Julie rolled her eyes as she walked down the stairs, resisting the urge to remind Carlos if he hadn't run away in the first place, none of this would be necessary as they wouldn't have met Michael.

"Nice try, Carlos. You're going to Simon's house. You need to do some studying." Ray reminded Carlos. "Don't think I've forgotten your last report card. I'd rather not have to get a phone call again telling me that you need to be better prepared." Carlos huffed and walked back to his room, mumbling whatever under his breath. Ray shook his head, but had a small smile on his lips.

Julie climbed into the car, where Pete and Benji were happily chatting in the back. Their excitement was infectious, and Julie soon joined in with her own guesses of who Alex might be of the drummers they invited. Ray watched as the three chatted and laughed. He was so happy to see them so excited; though he couldn't help but wonder what this might do to them if Alex was never found. Julie, he knew, had a big heart and would be upset. But he was concerned more about how Benji and Pete would react. Alex had been their brother, that much was obvious in the short amount of time that Ray got to know them. And Alex... he was such a compassionate kid who just needed someone to accept him. Ray hoped that wherever Alex was, he had someone with him who supported and cared for him.

***

Benji was captivated. The open-air verandah thingy was beautiful. There were lights twinkling above, and though the stars weren't visible, the moon was shining brightly. Soft music played gently in the background – not what he would typically listen to, but Classical music was a nice variation. And the food. It was amazing! When he had booked the dinner, he didn't want it to be fancy, but rather classy. He had to explain many to Pete, but it essentially meant classy little hamburgers, classy fries, classy pizzas, really just classy versions of good comfort food. Benji hadn't realized that classy meant small. He had to eat like six of the little sliders to be the size of a regular hamburger, but they were delicious so he didn't mind. And thankfully, no poisoned fancy hot dogs. Pete thought it was in bad taste to have hot dogs, 'cause you know, death, but Benji thought it would be a good way to judge reactions; just another way to try to find Alex.