Friends With Benefits

The first full month of school passed and nothing really changed. Will and Natalie seemed to be going as strong as ever and she had dragged him out to help her shop for her homecoming dress. I continued making out with Fletch on the sly, especially after any particularly sickening episode involving Will and Natalie. Sara continued to disapprove of my behavior, though she seemed to have given up on pressuring me to have “the talk” with Fletch about our current arrangements.

Rather than go to the homecoming dance, Sara, Fletch, Chuck and I were all gathering at Eric’s house for an anti-school dance movie marathon with junk food. We invited Will along and he seemed eager to go until Natalie informed him he had to take her to the homecoming dance after the game. She had gone alone as a freshman and now that she was a sophomore she wanted all of her friends to see her out with her upperclassmen boyfriend. I felt sorry for Will who, after sitting on the bench during the football game due to a sprained ankle, would then have to limp around the dance floor with the demanding Natalie. I knew I would be a better girlfriend than she was, only caring about herself and her appearance, but I didn’t say anything.

It was the Friday of Homecoming that Fletch crossed the line. Things were going simply enough. Rather than go to the pep rally, I had opted to stay with Sara in our first period classroom and talk. Halfway through, I needed to hit the bathroom and received the pass from Ms. Rafferty to go out. On my way back to class, I was suddenly pulled into a darkened room. After a moment, I almost shrieked, afraid I was being kidnapped or assaulted. My eyes adjusted just in time to see Fletch’s lips coming toward my own. Before I knew it, I realized that Fletch had me pinned up against a wall, next to where the janitors hung the mops and brooms. It was only after I realized that, in the middle of school, we were making out in a janitor’s closet that I finally mustered up the stamina to shove Fletch off of me.

“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed at him, hoping no one would come to investigate the moaning and now low conversation coming from the closet.

“What?” Fletch said, confused, his glasses titled in an odd position across his face.

“We’re at school!” I said to him angrily.

“So?” Fletch said. He leaned forward, ready to kiss me again, but I shoved him away from me. He was momentarily stunned and I took the moment to rush out of the closet and back to my classroom.

Sara knew something was up immediately after I walked into the room and took the seat next to hers. She looked at me curiously for a while and jabbered on about nothing while I tried to process what had just happened. Sure, we had made out in Fletch’s car, but never somewhere too risky like at school. It was always somewhere sort of private, like at one of our houses or hidden away from everyone else with doors locked so we wouldn’t be interrupted. If Fletch thought he was free to just drag me into closest and kiss me whenever he wanted, something was definitely wrong. If I let Fletch get away with this, it would only be a matter of time before he started taking other risks and pushing us further and further into trouble.

“What’s wrong?” Sara asked suddenly. “You look like something’s bothering you…”

“It’s nothing…” I lied.

“It’s something,” Sara snorted. I sighed, knowing she was really the only person I could talk to about it.

“On my way back from the bathroom, Fletch pulled me into a closet and…and kissed me,” I admitted. Sara looked at me skeptically.

“Seriously?” she said in disbelief.

“What? Do you think I snuck out to the bathroom to meet up with him or something?” I snorted.

“No, I believe you,” Sara said, “but I never thought Fletch would ever be that… forward…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I grimaced.

“He’s a shy guy,” Sara shrugged. I scoffed. Sara frowned, looking at me. “You realize things are getting out of hand, right? I mean, Eric and I are dating and all, but he’d never pull me into a closet for a make out session or anything.”

“Yeah, I know,” I sighed. “Fletch is an idiot.”

“You have to talk with him,” Sara prompted.

“I thought I asked you to drop that subject,” I grimaced.

“Lenny, how many lines are you going to let him cross before things get so out hand you can’t control them?” Sara sighed.

“It’s my life,” I pointed out.

“I still think you guys should go out,” Sara suggested. “One date. Just see how things go. Who knows? You might find he’s better for you than Will and that you like him even more.”

“Doubtful,” I snorted.

“You seriously should think about it, Lenny,” Sara said. “I’ll shut up now, okay?”

“Fine,” I grimaced.

When the pep rally was over, I headed to what was left of my math class, which I shared with Fletch. I knew I would have to confront him in class and, since we only had fifteen minutes of the period left when the class change came, I figured that would be enough time to set him straight. I walked into the room and plopped down in my seat, waiting only a matter of seconds before Fletch entered into the room and did the same. He looked completely pissed at me as he did so, not wanting to look at me or even acknowledge my existence.

“Fletch…” I began. “We have to talk about what happened?”

“What?” Fletch rolled his eyes, continuing to avoid my gaze.

“You can’t do stuff like that,” I said, “like what you did earlier…”

“Fine,” Fletch grimaced.

“Fine, you believe you shouldn’t have done it or fine you aren’t going to do it again?” I grimaced.

“You know, I finished that book,” Fletch said randomly. “The Sorrows of Young Werther? I know you said not to spoil the ending, but I’m going to tell you anyway. The girl Werther is in love with marries the rich guy rather than him. And afterward, Werther is so inconsolable he kills himself. It's actually pretty interesting because, right after the book was published, a lot of guys in the late 1700s who had read the book committed copycat suicide over their own unrequited loves.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I snorted. “Look, you better not pull any crap like that again, okay? I’ll murder you, Fletch. And that’s a promise.”

“Whatever,” Fletch snorted. Irritated, I threw a paper wad at him but Fletch had already curled up on his desk for a nap.

When the bell rang, I wanted nothing more than to be as far away from Fletch as I could possible get. It didn’t help that my next class was Chemistry, where I had the great fortune of having Will as my lab partner. Fletch and Eric had teamed up together after Will asked me to partner up with him. I was absolutely giddy that Will wanted to spend every chemistry period sharing beakers with me, knowing it had to be a sign of our deep spiritual connection. Fletch seemed a little disappointed that I didn’t want to partner with him, but I knew we’d be pouring acid all over each other within five minutes of working together. As it was, I knew Fletch and Eric stood a good chance of blowing up the school in their boredom.

Though I was doing my best to get away from Fletch, he seemed to be right behind me every step of the way to our chemistry class. He was like a stray dog you couldn’t shake, no matter how many times you yelled at him or kicked him. We headed outside and across the quad to class only for me to see Will’s back poking out of a small alcove outside. I rushed over, hoping Will would be able to get Fletch off my back, but as I got closer, I realized Will wasn’t alone. I grimaced, seeing that he was probably making out with Natalie in some hidden corner of the quad and didn’t want to subject myself to anymore pain.

Before I could turn away, though, Will turned slightly and I saw his hands finger through gloriously blonde hair. That caught me off guard. Natalie was a brunette. Fletch opened his mouth, most likely to say something stupid, and I pulled him behind one of the pillars that supported the overhang, protecting students from foul weather during class changes. Fletch’s eyes narrowed and then he came to the same realization I did.

“That’s not Natalie,” Fletch said.

“No shit,” I snorted. “Do you think he broke up with her and is rebounding?” Will and the girl pulled apart and I gasped, seeing he was making out with none other than his needy-ex and Blonde Bombshell Maddie Schemer.

“Holy crap,” Fletch gaped. “Will’s cheating on Natalie with Schemer?”

“Maybe he’s not cheating… maybe he did break up with Natalie and he’s just rebounding…”

“Lenny, he was in full liplock with Natalie this morning and now he’s doing a repeat performance with Maddie Schemer,” Fletch replied. “I know you aren’t great with math, but I think you can put this two and two together on your own.”

“It’s gotta be a mistake,” I grimaced.

“Most guys wouldn’t consider making out with two hot chicks in the same twenty-four hour period a mistake,” Fletch pointed out. I rolled my eyes at him and headed to chemistry, hoping to talk to Will when we worked on our experiment.

We went to our lab stations almost immediately to start our work. I couldn’t help but notice that Will had this completely dreamy, “I just made out with a hot chick” glaze over his eyes. He was so lost in his little world that I soon realized I was the only one doing any of the work. I nudged him, reminding him that it would look good if the teacher caught him not pulling his weight. Will smiled and started helping me with beakers and measurements.

“So, I guess you broke up with Natalie, huh?” I said offhand. Will looked at me confused.

“No,” Will said. “What gave you that impression?”

“The fact that you were tonguing Maddie Schemer pretty fiercely before class,” I replied coolly.

“That totally wasn’t what it looked like, Ailee,” Will shook his head. “You know how Maddie’s been. She never got over her break up and she’s always trying stupid stunts like that to prove to me we’re destined to be together or whatever.”

“So, she just cornered you?” I said.

“Yeah,” Will nodded.

“And when are you going to tell Natalie?” I asked him curiously.

“Natalie doesn’t need to know,” Will reasoned.

“You know Maddie is going to put it around the whole school and Natalie’s going to confront you about it,” I said. “It’d be smarter if you told her about it before the rumor mill gets to her first… or are you hoping this will give you a good reason to break up with Natalie?”

“Come on,” Will snorted. “Everyone knows how desperate Maddie can get for attention. No one will believe her. And the only other person who say anything was you…”

“And Fletch,” I replied.

“You and Fletch have been hanging out a lot,” Will noticed.

“Only because you keep ditching me and my only other option is to watch Sara make out with Eric, which is gross,” I snorted. “And don’t change the subject. If you don’t tell Natalie, she’ll find out and she’ll be pretty peeved. And by not telling her, you don’t make it look like Maddie just came up and assaulted you or whatever…”

“Maybe… maybe Maddie Schemer didn’t exactly assault me,” Will blushed.

“Oh, this is a new low for you Will Swain,” I snorted. “You can’t make out with other girls when you have a girlfriend. It’s not right. You’re always talking about sparing Natalie’s feelings, but how is cheating on her because you’re bored with the relationship sparing anyone’s feelings? Not to mention you’re leading Maddie since you broke up with her and said you would never get back together with her because, and I quote ‘Maddie Schemer is a crazy bitch.’ You’ve gotten yourself in a mess, Will.”

“I know, Ailee,” Will sighed. “You know, this is what all of Natalie’s stopping me from hanging out with my friends has gotten me. I’m making stupid choices because I don’t have you to set me straight. Seriously, Ailee, I don’t know how I manage with you.”

I smiled, feeling completely ecstatic at his words. Everything was falling into place. Will would never go back to crazy Maddie and he was one step closer to dumping Natalie. Which meant he was one step closer to realizing how perfect the two of us were and one step closer to the two of us finally being together in the way we were supposed to be. Will and I continued to laugh and joke around about our various teachers as class progressed until I looked up and caught sight of Fletch glaring at me. He was staring at me as if I, instead of Maddie Schemer, had gotten Will into a liplock with the intention of breaking him and Natalie up. I brushed Fletch’s glares off, knowing he was just in one of his asshole moods today.