Trophy Child (On Hold)

Chapter 10

"You need to fix things with Phil. This is all getting out of hand."

"Leave me alone. I need a nap, and Phil definitely doesn't want to talk to me anyway."

I hadn't slept the night before for a lot of reasons. Mostly though, it had been because the thought of everything that I hadn't done that week, every assignment I'd skipped, had come crashing down on me.

I knew that with the way I'd been treating my schoolwork lately, I'd been digging my own grave, but I couldn't build up the motivation to actually do anything about it. That and I think the stress of it all freaked me out so badly that I couldn't do anything even if I thought that I should. If that made sense. Everything was a jumbled up mess, and I wasn't sure even I knew what I was thinking. 

All I knew was that I needed to sleep, and no one was letting me do it.

"I mean, no he doesn't, but... Oh, look, it's Benny," Eric said.

Something was slapped down onto the lunch table in front of me and I lifted my head up to look.

"What is that, and why are you interrupting me when I'm trying to sleep?"

"Read it," Benny urged as he took his seat. "I saw it in the library."

We both read over the colorful poster before looking back up at Benny. I was the first to speak up.

"Is this a joke?" 

"I think I've had enough humiliation for a lifetime," Eric said, and pushed the paper back toward Benny.

"Come on, guys. This could be it, right? And it's better than the school talent show. There's a cash prize and everything," Benny said, waving the band competition flyer around while he spoke. "There's still plenty of time to sign up and get ready."

"I think Benny just spoke an entire paragraph, Casey."

"Well, that's great and all, but we don't even have a full group without Phil. What kind of band only has two guys?" I asked.

"That and I'm not sure I want to get on stage again anytime soon after that last mess," Eric added.

"That too. Last time was a disaster."

"Don't need to remind me," Eric said, shaking his head.

"I'll do it," Benny said suddenly.

"What?" we both asked at once.

"I'll... I can take Phil's spot," he explained with hesitation filled eyes.

In theory, it was possible. I had my doubts about in practice. Benny was, and always had been, insanely talented. He was one of those prodigy kids that could play almost every instrument known to man, but his parents had pushed him into competitions early as a kid, and things hadn't gone so well. That was where most of his stage fright stemmed from.

"I don't know, man," Eric said.

"Sounds like a set up for failure, if you ask me," I muttered.

I wasn't exactly known for my positivity.

"I can do it," he repeated a little more firmly.

"No thanks," I said, and Eric mumbled something under his breath.

"Really?" Benny asked him.

"Yeah."

Then what I knew Eric must have said clicked in my mind. 

"You guys can't be serious," I said, looking between the two incredulously.

"Come on, Casey. One more try, and then you can mope all you want."