Pomegranate

Seth - 7

Seth woke up at four am that night and couldn't fall back asleep. He missed Persephone's presence, sleeping under his bed, and he kept replaying the night over and over in his mind. Dancing with Meredith, laughing when they screamed the lyrics, combing her hair out of her face with his fingers. Leaning into Benji next to the tree, nearly touching his cheek as he whispered his secret, and holding his hand.

Was that cheating? He wasn't sure. It wasn't cheating cheating, but it also didn't feel like not not cheating.

What would Meredith think? Benji was her closest friend.

Seth thought about the way Benji looked at him in the first two classes of the semester, the intensity in his gaze. And, when Seth finally looked back at him and smiled, Benji turned away, avoiding his gaze and presence completely until they were assigned to the same group. He thought of Benji holding his shoulder after Meredith took Persephone away, of the proximity between them last night. He also thought of Benji hugging Meredith, his fingers splayed wide on her back and arms tightening around her waist, and how he seemed to only breathe after she let go. He thought of the look on Benji's face as Meredith walked down the stairway when they sat in the Midnight Cafe.

And he thought of a conversation he had with Corey, weeks ago.

"She'll be back soon," Corey had told him. He was supposed to meet with Meredith after dinner, but she wasn't back in the room yet. "She's probably still out with Benji."

"Okay, that's fine." He sat down on Meredith's bed, sinking into her cushions, scrolling through his phone.

"They're pretty close, you know," Corey said, after a few moments.

Seth had blinked, remembering how it took him a minute to understand what Corey was talking about. "Meredith and Benji? I know."

"Does it bother you?" They asked, not too casual.

"No?" He was confused "Why would it?"

They shrugged. "I don't know. I thought you might be jealous."

"I'm not."

He wasn't. He wasn't then, and he wasn't now. Was that normal? Did that make sense? Even if Benji liked Meredith romantically?

But he wondered what Corey meant. Did they know something? Seth never considered if anything ever happened between Meredith and Benji. He felt certain that nothing did, but there was something else there. Something he couldn't quite see.

He called Max at 5am. It was 2am in California, and he knew she slept late. She picked up, not even sounding tired.

"What's up?"

"I want to tell you something, but I think you might judge me for it."

"Oh yes, some 2 am tea. Hit me."

"I'm serious, Max. I think I fucked up."

"I'll be the judge of that. Tell meeee."

"I think...Okay, well, it's more of a question. You can like... like two people at the same time, right? That's a thing, right?"

Max was silent. Eventually, she said, "Yeah, damn, you fucked up."

Seth moaned on the other side of the line.

"Please," Max continued "just please tell me you didn't cheat on your adorable girlfriend. I already gave her my stamp of approval! Plus, I just added her on four different social media handles, so you can see I was really cheering for this relationship."

"No. Of course I didn't cheat on her." Seth sighed. "I want to be with her. I do. But there is also this person and—"

"I'm going to stop you right there. Seth. Don't fuck up your happiness. This is a light crush. It will go away."

"Right. Right." He nodded to himself, trying to make himself believe Max's words as much as she did. "It will go away."