Friends With Benefits

After Will’s birthday, all of our teachers seem to realize the holiday season was upon us and we had less than a month before school let out for winter break. The amount of homework we had coupled with all of the extra practices Will had for the regional football championships put me more and more in weird situations with Fletch. Fortunately, we were both working on projects, studying, and trying to pass midterms that nothing really physical happened between us. Occasionally, Will, Sara and Eric, or even Chuck would join us for study sessions, definitely lessening the tension between the two of us.

During the holidays themselves, we were busy as well. Matt came home, taking up a lot of everyone’s time. It seemed like every day either I was visiting one set of grandparents or Will was visiting his. Fletch had it doubly rough because his mother’s parents had divorced, so he had three sets of grandparents to visit as well as an aunt and uncle who came into town at the last moment to be entertained. By the time New Years rolled around and school was back in session, I felt like I hadn’t seen any of my friends in months. As if it wasn’t enough that I had to reacquaint myself with all of my teachers and all of the material I had forgotten over the break, Will came up to me in the hallway for help on a particular subject I wasn’t very interested in.

“So, Ailee,” Will began.

“So, Will,” I shot back with a smirk.

“I was wondering if you could help me with something…” Will began.

“Anything,” I smiled, before realizing how desperate I sounded.

“You aren’t going to like it,” Will said.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I shrugged.

“Fletch’s birthday,” Will said.

“Yes?” I snorted.

“It’s three weeks from today,” Will continued. “And… well, I don’t know if you’d noticed… but he’s been kind of depressed lately…”

“Fletch is always morose,” I snorted. “He gets moody when he feels like people aren’t paying enough attention to him…”

“Yeah, well I was talking with Fletch’s mom…” Will began.

“When did you have a chance to talk with Fletch’s mom?” I grimaced.

“Fletch, his dad, my dad and me all went bowling last while you were visiting your aunt,” Will explained. I frowned, thinking of my oblivious Aunt Nikki and her two sons: Darryn the troublemaker and Lyle the creeper. “Anyway, Fletch’s mom noticed he’s been a little down and out recently and she thought it might do him some good if his friends did something nice for him. So, I was thinking we could throw him a surprise party.”

“Isn’t there someone else…?” I began.

“Come on, Ailee,” Will pouted. “You and I have been best friends with Fletch since fifth grade…”

“You’ve been best friends with Fletch since fifth grade,” I pointed out. “I’ve been merely putting up with Fletch since fifth grade…”

“Would it kill you to be the bigger person for once?” Will asked with his eyebrows raised. I sighed.

“Okay, what do we have to do for this shin-dig for Fletch?” I grumbled.

“Come over to my place tonight,” Will said. “If Fletch asks, we’ll just tell him you were helping me proofread an essay for English or something. We’ll plan it all out and then get the word out just before it… Sara’s super sneaky, right? I think she can help…”

“Alright,” I sighed.

Planning a party for Fletch was a lot harder than I had expected, and not just because I was distracted by Will’s perfectly chiseled chin or his delicately wavy hair during our afternoon planning sessions. By our third afternoon of trying to lay things out, Fletch was starting to grow suspicious of our “working on an essay” excuse. We decided to take a break Thursday afternoon, just to make rest and try to think up some good ideas independently. Will had SAT prep classes that afternoon and, since his hours had been cut back at the grocery store, Fletch was able to take me home. Normally, Fletch seemed to make up excuses for why I needed to ride with him, but this particular afternoon, he seemed far less than ready and willing to take me. In fact, Will had to spend five whole minutes bribing him to do so.

When I got into Fletch’s car, things weren’t the normal sexually tense awkward but the more sort of a I’m-mad-at-you-for-a-reason-you-don’t-know-but-I’m-not-going-to-tell-you-so-you-have-to-figure-it-our-yourself kind of awkward. I found myself trying to figure out what I had done to upset Fletch the entire way to his house, where he had agreed to help me study for an upcoming math test. Usually, it didn’t bother me if Fletch was incensed over something I had done, even if I didn’t exactly know what it was I had done to upset him. This time, however, I was wracking my brain, trying to remember exactly what I had done to piss him off. I figured that maybe Fletch was having one of his male PMS flare-ups or something and was just mad at me or perhaps the world in general for no particular reason.

“You’re awful moody today,” I commented at last.

“I’m not moody,” Fletch grumbled, basically proving my point.

“If you aren’t moody, then what are you?” I snorted.

“Pensive,” Fletch offered.

“It seems like you’re giving me the silent treatment,” I pointed out.

“I’m not one of those people who think out loud,” Fletch shrugged.

“Well, do you want to share whatever it is that’s on your mind?” I offered. Fletch was quiet for a moment, as if weighing the pros and cons.

“You and Will have been spending an awful lot of time together recently…” Fletch offered finally.

“Yeah,” I shrugged.

“So, did you finally convince him to hook up with you or something?” Fletch asked curiously. I blushed beat red, wondering why, of all the things Fletch could think we were doing that was the one at the forefront of his mind.

“No,” I grimaced. “I told you, I’m just helping him out with an English project…”

“Will has got to be the worst English student of all time, then,” Fletch snorted.

“I’ve also been helping him do a little SAT prep,” I said. “You wouldn’t believe it, but he’s actually freaking out about it really bad.”

“Okay,” Fletch nodded, though he didn’t seem to really believe me.

“Would you be upset if I were?” I asked.

“If you were what?” Fletch replied.

“Hooking up with him,” I said.

“Well, it’s what you’ve always wanted,” Fletch shrugged.

“That didn’t exactly answer my question,” I pointed out.

“Lenny, you’re free to do whatever you want, regardless of me,” Fletch replied. “It works both ways. I mean, if I were to go out and hook up with some other chick, you wouldn’t be pissed about it, would you?”

“I guess not,” I shrugged. “Especially if it were Ivy. I mean, I would totally understand if you ditched me for her or something.”

“Would you be happy about it?” Fletch asked curiously.

“I’d be glad that you got what you wanted,” I admitted, “though I’d probably be sad for myself. I mean, if you got a girlfriend, it would be like me and Chuck Fink are the only two people on the planet without a romantic relationship. And you know I wouldn’t go out with Chuck if he were the last male creature on earth…”

“Poor Chuck,” Fletch said sarcastically. “Wouldn’t even have a chance if he was the last guy on earth…”

After laughing about Chuck, we were more easily able to move the conversation into lighter topics and actually had fun chatting back and forth the rest of the way to his house. Fletch was much easier to manage when he was in a good mood and so I tried to keep him laughing and entertained while we worked on our homework so things would be more bearable. By the time dinner rolled around, Fletch was working on convincing me to stay and eat with him and his family. I was almost ready to give in when I heard the distinctive noise of Will’s car honking and went out to greet him.

“I got a great idea for Fletch’s party,” Will said after we had backed out of his driveway.

“What’s that?” I asked curiously.

“The roller rink,” Will replied.

“The roller rink?” I said, scrunching up my nose. “That’s for middle-schoolers.”

“Exactly,” Will rolled his eyes. “Come on, Ailee, you don’t remember how we first met Fletch, do you?”

“He was getting beat up by Jason Birchman and Luke Garretson outside the boys bathroom and we walked by, trying to be inconspicuous but feeling sorry for him?” I frowned.

“No, that’s the first time we saw him after he moved in the middle of fifth grade,” Will rolled his eyes. “Remember? The school PTA used to put on that skating party every month and the Friday after Fletch moved, his parents made him go so he would make friends. We were there and you felt sorry for him and suggested we go over and try to be nice since he’d gotten a less than warm welcome to the school…”

“Yeah and I instantly regretted it when he turned out to be a jerk,” I snorted.

“How was he a jerk?” Will frowned.

“When I tried to show him I had the high score on Mortal Kombat at the skating rink arcade, he wouldn’t believe me because, and I quote: ‘Girls can’t play video games.’ It as all downhill from there,” I snorted. “After that, he kept trying to trip me while I skated and then I did whatever it took to tease me. I guess I only put up with him because you seemed to get along with him so well. Actually, I felt jealous that you were going to ditch me for your new guy friend.”

“Come on, Ailee,” Will said. “You know we’re best friends forever. We even pinky swore and did that blood oath with my dad’s penknife when we were eight…”

“Yeah, well, it was still a concern,” I shrugged.

“Look, I happen to know for a fact Fletch wasn’t trying to be mean to you,” Will pointed out.

“Let me guess, being rude and abrasive is all part of his natural charm?” I snorted.

“No, Fletch just doesn’t know how to handle girls,” Will said. “So, instead of being shy, he freaks out and acts mean. If you’ve notice, he’s never really nice to anyone who’s a girl. He just doesn’t know how to act around them.”

“Well, why does he have to be the most insensitive to me?” I snorted.

“It’s… complicated,” Will shrugged.

“Break it down for me,” I snorted.

“Look, just suffice to say, Fletch doesn’t hate you as much as you think he does,” Will said. “He just has a weird way of showing his friendship…”

“I guess,” I snorted. There was a pause for a moment. “So, skating rink surprise party?”

“I’m sure Fletch’s parents would be more than willing to foot the bill to rent the place,” Will nodded. “We’d just have to decorate it, invite people, and somehow get him there without finding out about the whole thing.”

“We probably shouldn’t tell Chuck until the last minute since he’s bad at secrets,” I suggested.

“It can surprise him too then,” Will nodded.

“I can draw up an invitation list… close friends, none of your popular clique, though,” I suggested. “Maybe some of the people from school Fletch can stand better than others…”

“I can look into bringing the cake and making sure there are pizzas and food and stuff like that at the roller rink,” Will offered.

“Presents should take care of themselves…” I nodded.

“What about actually getting Fletch there?” Will frowned. “How are we going to get him there without tipping him off?”

“Beats me,” I shrugged.

“I bet you could do it, Ailee,” Will suggested.

“Me?” I snorted. “How would I be able to convince Fletch to come with me to some place he has no business going to?”

“You can be very persuasive, Ailee,” Will replied. “Besides, Fletch only has a certain amount of trust for you anyway, so it’s not like the feeling you were up to something would be anything new…”

“You have a point,” I frowned.

“Great,” Will smiled. “It’s all set!”

“Great,” I grimaced, not looking forward to the days ahead.