Lost in Translation

Chapter 34: Boom

———Ben———

Wednesday, July 3rd, 2019

"Hey, Ben," Val said as she entered the back door of my room without knocking, Sherry's take-out bag in hand.

"You could knock," I said as I held out my hand. Val handed me a side of onion rings as she rolled her eyes.

"I could, but when have I ever?" She said as she dropped onto the couch.

"I mean, what if Anthony was here? We could be, you know... occupied," I said as I plopped down next to her. Val wiggled her eyebrows in response as she shoved an entire onion ring into her mouth.

"I'm serious!" I said, laughing as I lightly punched her arm.

"Speaking of Anthony, is he coming with us to the fireworks tomorrow?" Val asked.

"Um, actually, he asked me on a date, so it'll just be me and him," I admitted. Due to Val's tense situation with her parents, she usually went with my family to the big fireworks show down at the lake. Anthony had only asked me about it this morning, so I hadn't had a chance to update Val until now. It wasn't like it was our first date or anything, but my stomach fluttered thinking about it.

"Oh ho, really? You're going to ditch me with the rest of the Rivers family? That's cold, Ben," Val teased. "That's good, though. I'll have to see if Caroline will team up with me to make Danny miserable."

When I told Val what happened last week, it took everything in my power to prevent her from marching over that instant to chew Danny out... or worse. As it was, the situation between me and him hadn't improved much, and there was an icy stalemate in the house. Neither he nor I had spent hardly any time outside our rooms aside from the very awkward family dinner Mom had forced yesterday.

"Um, hey, Val..." I started awkwardly once we were about halfway through the food. I had been working up my nerve to talk to her about this all week, but I kept chickening out. "How do you know that... you know, that you are in love with someone, not just that you like them or love them like you love cupcakes, or... whatever."

Val chewed thoughtfully for a moment before answering. "Ben, I don't know if I can really answer that. I don't think I've ever been like... "in love" in love with someone before. You think you might, like... be in love with Anthony?"

"I don't know..." I said with a frown. "I've never felt any of this before, so I don't know what to call it."

"Well, what is 'it'? Start there," Val prompted.

"I mean, gods Val, I don't know..." I trailed off, wishing I hadn't brought this up. Val raised an eyebrow at me and gestured at me to continue. "When he touches me, I can practically feel the bond, even though there isn't anything physically to it. When he's here, I'm a mess, but I miss him the moment that he's gone. I can't hardly think straight half the time. It's to the point where it's damn near embarrassing. "

"Are you sure you aren't sure? Cause that sounds a lot like love to me, Ben." Val crunched down on a fry with a pointed look

"If I were sure, I wouldn't have asked," I protested. "Is it... would it be too soon? Saying something like that?"

"For normal mates, no way," Val replied, waving a hand dismissively. "For Anthony, though, I don't know." I must have looked upset at that because Val added, "Bennie, if you are in love with him, that's fine. It's obvious he cares about you. I just meant that he's, you know... a little skittish."

"Yeah, I know," I said with a sigh.

"Don't worry about it too much, Ben. He'll get there," Val said reassuringly. I scoffed and ate another onion ring. Sherry's Diner was the best comfort food around. It couldn't fix my problems, but it might make me feel a bit better.