Double Nickels on Your Dime

Day 9

Ben shuffled around the kitchen making a fruit smoothie for breakfast. He shoveled vast amounts of every type of frozen and fresh fruit into the blender for the ultimate taste sensation. After two days, he would already rather be offered up to Leese’s ravenous hipster friends than slurp another protein shake.

With the blender filled to the brim, he had a tiny amount of fruit juice, and then slapped the lid on.

A single poke and the machine roared to life. He leaned his butt against the counter and crossed his arms over his bare chest waiting for his salvation. His mother yelled something from the back of the house. He waited for about two minutes before he turned the little beast off.

Leese shrieked, “NO! I refuse mother!”

Ben poured his smoothie into a thermos, a plastic cup, and an empty Gatorade bottle. He grabbed yellow straw out of the industrial family pack of rainbow straws that his mother had rushed out and bought on Monday.

He pushed the straw into the back of his mouth and slipped it between his gums. Finally, a plethora of sweet and sour tastes assaulted his taste buds. He realized he’d closed his eyes and was making a long and drawn out ‘mmmmmmmm’ noise. He opened his peepers and found Leese looking at him in horror.

“What is your problem?”

He smiled big around his straw and she rolled her eyes at him. “Mom! I cannot ride with him to school! He looks like a freak!” She grabbed a pop-tart and stomped out of the kitchen into her cave of a room.

His mother walked into the kitchen pinching a folder under one arm, while trying to do her hair at the same time. She let out a puff of air and let her hair drop. His dad soon came meandering down the hallway dressed in his work clothes, but looking beat.

“Good morning, Ben. Was that you using the blender?” He raised his glass as an affirmative.

“Clean up when you’re done, please. Mike, can you read through this draft for me?”

Ben stored his two extra smoothies in the refrigerator and went upstairs to get ready for school.

As he was taking care of his teeth, Leese poked her head around the corner of the bathroom.

“As much as it pains me, I need a ride. And we have to pick up Anna.”

Truthfully, he’d forgotten she was even in high school now.

“I have to pick up Nick first.”

“Fine. What time do we need to leave?”

Ben shrugged. “Soon.”

Nick walked out the front door and around to the side of his house where Ben was idling. He saw Ben’s sister in the back seat.

He took the front seat, “Hey, Ben, Leese. You could’ve had the front, Leese.”

She looked at him sizing him up, “We’re picking up my friend, too. I didn’t want it to be awkward.”

“Oh, well, thanks.”

She ignored him.

They left their neighborhood to pick up Anna from a wealthier suburb in town. Anna, even among the hipsters, is a strange breed. Bright red hair, glasses, graced with the coordination of a newborn, three legged giraffe, and not a single piece of clothing that seemed to match.

She skipped to the car and trilled a hello to everybody. For the rest of the trip in town, she analyzed both Nick and Ben’s looks. In a stage whisper.

Nick casually looked at Ben and saw him fighting a smile. Anna was stuttering away in the back seat to Leese, who was trying desperately to change the subject.

“I-I think th-that a green shirt would b-better b-bring out, bring out Bens eyes” she finished a little breathlessly.

It wasn’t because she was nervous; she always stuttered.

What felt like eight centuries later, they pulled into the parking lot of the school. Leese was out of the car before it stopped moving. Ben got out in time to catch her shooting a glare of daggers his way. She linked her arm through weird Anna’s and they were off to the freshman tower.

Nick and Ben departed for first period. They had second and third together. First was British Literature. He had been assigned a seat directly next to his teacher’s desk, so he wasn’t able to text Heather. Mr. Beck has already started lecturing to the class about the Canterbury tales, but was being led off topic by his obsession with Spiderman. Cody Flaroy, one of Ben’s teammates, was trying to compare the antagonist to one of the tales to Spiderman, which was nearly impossible. Luckily, this prompted Mr. Beck to go in depth about Spiderman, leaving the Canterbury tales in the dust.

Fifty minutes and a complete retelling of Spiderman one and two later, they were back in the hallways.

He caught up with Nick outside his next class. They found seats next to each other on the far side of the room.

Math sucked. Statistics just wasn’t something that clicked with Ben. The first day that they were actually attempting to learn; and he was already lost.

After they were back in the safety of the hallways, Ben let out a grunt of frustration and cursed math. His next class was AP Biology. He was much better at biology. Their teacher was a middle aged lady named Mrs. Brunelle. She finished going over the syllabus and overviewed their science fair requirements.

After Biology, Ben and Nick parted ways. Ben noticed that he was still getting funny looks from people. Only now and then did someone actually ask him how the injuries had happened. The side of his face had yellowed a little, but around his eye his skin remained dark. He headed into his history class.

At lunch, when Ben finally got to see Heather, she seemed to have shaken off whatever had been bothering her yesterday and greeted him with a kiss.

“Hi!” she said with a broad smile.

He lifted the corners of his mouth and slipped his plaster encased wrist around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She seemed to fit perfectly into his side. They sat at their normal table. Heather pulled a brown paper bag out of her purse. After a while, Jane sat across from Heather. She dropped her tray onto the table and dropped into the heavy duty plastic chair.

“It seems Nickolas has found some new friends.” She jerked her head towards the front of the lunchroom. They saw Nick sitting between Libby Birche and Jessica Salter. Cody Flaroy was acting something out making the other three laugh. Heather ‘hmmm-ed’ briefly.

Jane turned her gaze onto Heather expectantly, ‘You know them?”

Heather shrugged, “Of them. We don’t really talk.”

Jane rolled her eyes, “Are they slutty?”

Ben snorted into his smoothie. “Way to be blunt.”

Jane waved her hand dismissively, “I don’t like wasting time. Do they have the reputation of sluts?”

Heather bobbed her head in confirmation.

Ben mumbled a reply.

“What?” Jane spooned fruit salad into her mouth.

“That is Kathrine’s sister, Libby.” Jane wasn’t sure if Ben knew that Heather had filled her in on his last relationship. He eyes flickered to Heathers. She turned her head only slightly.

“Katherine?”

Ben continued to sip at his smoothie. “She was two years older than us.”

“Oh, okay. Was she slutty, too?” Heather cast a sharp glance at her.

Ben was picking at his cast. Barely audible, he muttered, ‘yeah.’

At the end of lunch, Nick turned up at their table.

“Well, hello Nickolas.” Jane said frostily.

Nick frowned at his sister, “Hi Jane?”

He turned his attention to Ben, “Are we on to run again today?”

“Yep, if you are.”

“Good.” He grabbed Jane’s water bottle.

Heather looked a little alarmed, “Are you supposed to be running so soon after surgery?”

Ben shrugged, “I have to stay in shape.”

“But how can you even breathe?”
He laughed, “I have a nose too, you know.”

She looked at Nick. He held his hands palms forward on either side of his head.

“Don’t look at me- he out ran me yesterday.”

Ben and Nick met in front of Nick’s house. After Ben set his watch, they began to run. They took a route around the neighborhood, running for half an hour. For Nick, it was nearly a sprint the entire time.

At the thirty minute mark, they began to walk. They walked in silence for a while as they got their breathing under control. Nick found himself watching Ben out of the corner of his eye again. He seemed to be the epitome of what an athlete should look like. He realized he was close to being jealous of the taller boy’s appearance.

Nick was surprised when it was Ben who broke the silence.

“So, Jessica and Libby?”

Nick glanced at him. “Cody invited me to lunch. We have fourth together.”

Ben’s elbow bumped into his upper arm.

“Sorry.”

Nick thought it was weird how Ben had brought up the two girls. He mimicked Ben’s first statement.

“So, Jessica and Libby?”

Ben caught this and smirked briefly.

“Well, just Libby, really.”

“She asked about you.”

Ben looked almost startled. “What about?”

“Wanted to know how you were doing? Said she hadn’t seen you around in a while.”

“Yeah. She hasn’t.” He didn’t elaborate.

“Did you and her have a thing?”

Ben shook his head vehemently. “Fuck no. I dated her sister.”

Oh. So the ‘high and mighty bitch’ had a sister. Named Libby.