The Perfect Promise

Chapter 8: Just go with it:

~Song Chapter: Troublemaker~

The next morning, I was stopped by Ben before even getting in the school. His black hair was falling in his eyes, and he looked like he only slept two hours.

"Hey, what's up? You didn't text us yesterday.". I was still mad at him for not telling us anything about the second date.

He looked nervous, more nervous than usual, but in some way, he also looked happy.

"Winter.", he spoke so quietly I barely heard him.

"What happened? What's wrong? Is everyone okay? Did someone die?" I was a realist, everything was either black or white, good, or bad, right, or wrong there was no middle, no grey. And taking into account his tone something bad had happened.

"No, but you should really start seeing the world more positive."

"Thanks for the tip. Yes, I am aware. Now tell me what happened."

"Yesterday-", he said and took a big pause. God, those melodramatic silences would be the end of me. "-Mark kissed me."

"Tell. Me. Everything.", I said, jumping up and down.

All that negative energy went wasted on nothing.

"That's not all. He also asked me to be his boyfriend... and I said yes."

"Why the fuck didn't you text me about it yesterday?" I punched him in the shoulder. 

Seems I changed moods faster than he did outfits.

I couldn't hide my emotions; they were clearly shown in my expressions. Which wasn't all so horrible because I was never sure what I was feeling (or why). Let the person I talked to figure it out, at least.

I focused back on Ben, who completely ignored my question and continued, "It was the best date of my life. Not that I have that much experience.", in that statement, I rolled my eyes. Yeah, Ben didn't have many actual relationships just many first dates. Never seconds though. He had a problem with commitment. Afraid to put anyone in his life permanently, because he thought he didn't have the time to be a good boyfriend, with the swimming, the competitions and all that.

"But it was amazing. Not the usual awkward dates, we just... clicked."

"That's incredible Ben, but I still don't understand why you look like you are having a panic attack. You should be happy. You have a boyfriend.". He was way too stressed for someone who just got into a new relationship.

"I don't know. This is my first actual boyfriend. Something that can someday evolve to love. What do I do when I see him today? What am I supposed to say?"

"And you are asking me?" I asked not trying to hide my surprise, "The closest thing I have had to a relationship is the one I have with the peanut butter ice cream in my freezer."

Unlike Christine and Ben's tries, might I add.

He snorted and his face relaxed a bit. Jokes and self-sarcasm helped Ben in times of pressure. Which also meant that I was a great person to have around at moments of pure stress.

"He is coming. Help me. Please.", he fixed his hair and put a smile on his face that seemed extremely fake.

"What? I don't...", I still didn't understand what was happening, but Ben gave me a signal to shut up while Mark was coming closer. He was wearing a blue sweater and a white shirt underneath. In other words, he was the exact opposite of Ben. Clean and organised, with the courage to speak his mind, but opposites attracted, didn't they? And the two of them were for sure opposites.