In the Wings

f o u r

"Chop chop, Bennett! I don't have all day," Casper yelled through the speaker.

This was the third time Casper had called Bennett in the past 20 minutes. Apparently he was already at the cafe even though it was only 10:15. They were supposed to meet at 10:30.

"Okay, I'm going to hang up now and when I get there in exactly 15 minutes, you better have calmed the hell down," Bennett said, promptly ending the call.

"'I don't have all day?' What is he, a 4th-grade teacher?" Judson was stretched out on the couch watching TV.

Imran, who was in the kitchen shoving down a bowl of cereal, choked on a mouthful of Cheerios. "No, he's the fucking principal."

The boys roared with laughter, Bennett included.

It was a pleasant break for him, to think about something other than his O-Chem exam the next day. And while he had gotten As on every exam this year, he was still nervous. He was always nervous. It wasn't just his own dreams on the line anymore. His whole family, even Holland who he once believed would never lose faith in him, doubted his capabilities. But meeting expectations had never been his expertise, and this time, he needed to surpass them.

"I'm heading out," Bennett finished rifling through papers and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Be careful around him. Don't want you to come back with a note I have to sign about your bad behavior during recess," Judson said, pointing his finger at Bennett.

Bennett left the apartment with the sound of Judson and Imran's snickering ringing in his ears. He made his way down two rickety flights of stairs, when he heard, "Bennett! Wait!"

He turned and spotted Mav jogging towards him. In the haste of the morning, it slipped his mind that Mav wanted to tag along. Last night, when he had asked to come with, he explained that he wanted a quiet placed to study for exams, but Bennett knew the real reason. Mav had recently learned that his long-time crush often visited Daisy's Den, the cafe Bennett was meeting Casper at.

"Hey. Almost forgot about you," Bennett stepped outside and made his way to his poorly parked hatchback. Parallel-parking would never be his strong suit.

"Yeah, no fucking kidding. Friend of the year right here."

"Well when I didn't see you all morning because you spent an extra ten fucking minutes in the bathroom, of course, I forgot."

"Hey! This shit takes work," Mav motioned to his face. He flashed a smile and Bennett noticed that his teeth looked whiter than usual against his milk chocolate skin, an obvious result of the whitening strips Bennett knew he used that morning.

"Just sit your ass in the car please or else Casper is literally going to whoop mine for being 5 seconds late."

Bennett pulled out of the parking space and the sound of Mav's hard rap filled the car like water in a pool. It reminded Bennett of another failed attempt he had made earlier in the year to go to a party. That particular night was an especially strange one. Despite heavy protests, Bennett had gotten roped into playing a game of spin-the-bottle where he had been forced to kiss four different girls before he made up a shitty lie and left. The next day, he received a text from Maude Johnson about meeting that night.

"Maude Johnson just texted me. How does she even know who I am?"

"Wow you must've been really drunk off your ass if you don't remember."

Bennett looked at Imran, clearly dumbfounded.

"You kissed her last night before you ran away. And then she asked me for your number and I gave it to her. If you ask me, I did you a favor," Imran threw Bennett a wink.