Besties With Benefits (bwwm)

chapter eleven: explaining

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The second the baseball tryouts were officially over, Spencer rushed over to his truck and threw his stuff into the truck bed. He got into the lifted monster, gripping his steering wheel impatiently while he waited for Jake.

When Spencer finally saw him in his rearview mirror, he rolled his eyes, turning his engine on. He revved the engine, shaking his head as Jake took his time to load his stuff into the back.

Spencer barely gave Jake the chance to close the door before he peeled out of the parking lot.

"Whoa, dude! What's the rush?"

"Took you long enough."

Jake grimaced and rolled his eyes as he put his seatbelt on, ignoring Spencer and his crap attitude.

"I stayed back to talk to Coach for a second. I had a couple questions, sue me."

The twenty-minute drive from South Valley High School to Spencer's house seemed to take longer than normal for Spencer, whose mind had been racing since lunchtime.

All he wanted was to get rid of Jake and go talk to Frankie, try to explain what was going on with Courtney and what she had seen in the hallway.

His truck finally screeched to a halt, but Spencer didn't stop to put it in 'park'. He just looked over at Jake with an impatiently annoyed look on his face.

"You've got your keys, right dude?"

"Uhh... yeah."

"Cool."

Spencer smiled politely, nodding as he waited for Jake to finally take the hint. When he didn't, Spencer huffed and widened his eyes a bit, staring at him.

"So, you gonna get out or...?"

"Oh, my bad, dude. Got somewhere to be?"

Spencer's eyes bugged in annoyance as he faced forward, ready to drive away the second Jake was out of his car.

"Just going to see Frankie."

"Oh, yeah?"

Spencer's head whipped back and he glared, not liking the way Jake's face lit up or the smile on his face.

"Mind if I come with? I just wanna thank her for making me feel so welcomed on my first day, ya know?"

Spencer internally fumed but then smirked a second later, shrugging as he held back a huge grin.

"No, can do. Her dads don't let boys over on school nights."

Jake's eyebrows knit together and he shook his head in confusion.

"Well, then, why are you--"

"I'm special."

Jake eyed Spencer for a second, highly doubting his excuse, but got out of the truck anyway.

He didn't feel like fighting.

Spencer let out a relieved sigh, driving away as soon as Jake shut the door.

He made it to Frankie's in record time, parking on the left side of the driveway, behind the spot where she parks in the garage.

Knowing that Jeffery wouldn't be home for another few hours and Dustin was working late downtown with his own father, Spencer helped himself inside the Roberts residence, like he had thousands of times before.

Spencer walked the familiar trek to Frankie's room, stopping for a moment once he got to her cracked-open door.

He took a deep breath before pushing it open, peeking his head inside, watching as Frankie highlighted something in one of her textbooks.

She was sitting at her desk, her back facing the door, one of her legs tucked beneath her.

He watched her through the mirror as she concentrated, sticking her tongue out as she grabbed her notebook and scribbled a few words in it before she turned her body a little to type something on her laptop.

"Already nerding on the first day back?"

She stopped working when she heard him. As she spotted him in the mirror, she shook her head and let out an annoyed scoff.

"Just trying to get a leg up on this Antony and Cleopatra thing... what's up?"

"Beans..."

"Hmm?"

Frankie raised her eyebrows, still keeping her concentration on her work as Spencer approached her.

He spun around her obnoxiously furry purple chair, forcing her to face him.

"Look, about what happened in the hallway—"

Frankie was on her feet a second later, stepping around Spencer, hoping to avoid this conversation. She moved over to her bed, where she had dumped her school bag the moment she was home.

"It's none of my business, Spencer, really."

She rummaged through her bag until she finally found the book she needed, then crossed the room to take her seat back at her desk.

"But, Baby..."

"No, Spencer..."

It hurt Spencer when Frankie pulled away from him, physically avoiding him as she sat back down.

"Look, whatever's going on with you and Courtney...? I don't wanna get involved again. The last time I did, you told me to fuck off and we didn't speak for weeks, so I'm just gonna keep my thoughts to myself."

Frankie open the book she just grabbed and tried her best to ignore Spencer's towering figure behind her.

"She was in rehab! It's not like she just went on vacation after that night—"

"You mean the night she cheated on you with two of her brother's friends? The same night she proceeded to OD and had to get rushed to the hospital?!"

"She said she's changed!"

Spencer's voice raised a little, just as Frankie's heart began to drop. She bit her lip, hiding her nerves as asked a question she dreaded the answer to.

"And you believe her?"

Spencer let out a deep huff as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but I do know that everybody deserves a second chance... even her."

"So, what? You guys are getting back together?"

"No! I just... I'm trying to forgive her, move past it, ya know? I hate what she did, but I could never hate her."

The clench on Frankie's heart seemed to loosen a bit, but the feeling in her gut was telling her this thing she and Spencer had might really be over.

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