Ben began laughing a little. “I think I’m okay. Nothing broken, I think.” He touched the back of his head. “Although my head is a little tender.”
I covered my face with my hands, completely mortified. Mortified like I’d never been in my sixteen and a half years. “I am so sorry.”
Glancing around the room, I wondered how much more embarrassing this would be if I cried too. Because the tears were definitely threatening to spill over.
Why was it that tears did that in public, precisely when we needed very much NOT to cry?
He pulled me aside and stood so that he blocked me from most people’s view—and cameras.
Just about everyone got the hint and went back to what they’d been doing.
I swallowed and took a deep breath, blinking away the tears.
The teacher walked in then but obviously hadn’t noticed what had just gone down in his classroom because he carried a stack of freshly copied worksheets to his desk and began calling roll.
I chanced a glance at Ben, who looked like he was holding back a giant grin instead of tears. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’m just wondering if you’re okay.”
Maybe in a thousand years, long after I’d graduated from Jefferson. I nodded. “I think so.”
Ben chuckled a little. “So is there a reason you decided to tackle me? Or…” His voice trailed off.
Right, he had to be wondering what kind of crazy I was to do what I had just done.
Goodness, how to begin. I exhaled. “Um, I kind of didn’t realize you had a really bad peanut allergy, and…”
I nodded toward the cookies on the floor. “Those probably would’ve killed you.”
“Ah,” he replied, nodding in understanding. “I see. So you just saved my life, after almost killing me.”
A smile finally played on my face. “Well, when you put it that way…” It didn’t sound so bad.
Ben began laughing pretty hard then.
The sound of it made butterflies swarm my stomach and my smile reach my eyes.
Ben picked up the cookie and the bag and threw them in the trash. “It’s okay. I wasn’t looking forward to eating those at all,” he said with a quick wink.
Was it me or was the room tilting a little?
I blinked and regained my balance.
The bell rang, signaling the start of first period.
I had to go.
I took a step back. “I’ll have to make you some more, ones you can actually eat without risk of death.”
He grinned. “Looking forward to it.”
I turned around to leave, giving him a small wave.
“And Scarlett?” he called.
I faced him again. “Yeah?”
Now Mr. Chavez headed to the front of the room, giving me this look like he was quickly realizing I didn’t belong in his class.
“Thanks for not killing me,” he said, laughing again. “Really would’ve put a damper on the next game.”
10
Audrey, Nora, and Rachel wouldn’t let me hear the end of the cookie fiasco all week.
On Saturday night, after another victory for the football team, they came over to my house for a sleepover.
Rachel and Nora re-enacted me tackling Ben for the tenth time that evening. Rachel practically body slammed Nora onto my bed. Nora pretended to choke and cough something up. Audrey just about peed her pants laughing
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “If I would’ve known that this would just be five hours of you guys laughing at me, I never would’ve invited you all,” I teased.
The truth was that I loved their company. They made life at Jefferson, in this town, so much fun.
Rachel wiped actual tears off her face. “I just can’t believe you came this close to killing your crush and Jefferson’s star football player. I thought this kind of thing only happened in Netflix movies.”
“Ha, ha, ha,” I replied sarcastically. “Funny you say that because Netflix called this morning with a movie deal. I’m set to make big bucks, and I’m not sharing the money with any of you.”
Rachel feigned a hurt expression, Nora hit me with a pillow, and Audrey fake gasped.
As much as they loved poking fun at me, I wouldn’t trade these girls for anything.
Anna had been my best friend for years, and we still texted. I’d always love her.
But Audrey, Nora, and Rachel had become friends like no other in a matter of a couple of weeks.
We went back to doing each other’s make up while listening to Ariana Grande’s latest hits. Nora was an expert at smoky eyes while Rachel knew how to do the perfect beach waves in our hair.
We stood in the front my body-length mirror and posted pictures on Instagram.
“Wow,” Nora said. “We look like Bratz dolls.”
“I know,” Rachel said. “Don’t you love it?”
Nora snorted. “Yeah.”
For dinner, we ordered in from my favorite Chinese place. Mom came home from work and joined us for a movie. She insisted we doll her up too before yawning and heading to bed looking like she was ready for the runway.
“Your mom is so cool,” Audrey told me. “I wish my mom was more laid-back.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “I like what we have, for sure.”
After that, we made cookies and piled ice cream on top before heading back to my room.
Rachel spooned some dessert into her mouth along with the rest of us.
My eyes practically rolled to the back of my head at the taste of the still warm cookie and the cool chocolate ice cream.
“Okay, we need to do this like every week,” Nora commented.
I nodded my head.
Rachel scoffed. “Not if we want to fit into our cheer uniforms in a month.”
I giggled. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” I remembered what we’d said before. “Freshman fifteen.”
She laughed. “Freshman twenty-five at this rate.” But like me, she took another delicious bite.
After a little while, her gaze landed on the picture on my nightstand.
In it, I stood between my mom and dad. It had been my last birthday before he’d passed away. The three of us looked so happy in that moment, not realizing how few days we had before Dad left us forever.
I knew she would ask about him before she even opened her mouth.
Rachel’s voice came out low and soft. “What happened?”
I set down my bowl carefully on the floor beside me, trying to decide how I wanted to talk about this. “Um, that’s my dad. He, um, passed away a few years ago. Car accident.”
My voice broke a little toward the end so I stopped there. It was still hard to talk about him, both for me and Mom.
His death had crushed us, shaken us to the core.
Almost killed Mom, which in turn, had almost killed me.
Audrey put her arm around me. “I’m really sorry, Scarlett.”
Nora put down her ice cream too. “I can’t even imagine not having my dad.”
Rachel nodded. “He seemed like a really good dad. I can tell just from looking at this photo.”
I nodded and managed to say, “He was.”
Just like that, the tears came. A sob escaped from my chest before I got myself back under control.
All three girls wrapped their arms around me. I closed my eyes and let them.
After a minute, they pulled back.
Rachel looked at me with guilt in her eyes. “Sorry I brought it up. I bet it’s still really hard.”
I wiped the tears away. “It’s okay.”
I gave her another hug.
It was then that I knew Audrey, Rachel, and Nora really had become my friends.
I’d been vulnerable and raw with them, and they’d been there for me, a girl they’d just met a few weeks ago. “You guys are the best,” I said. “I’m really glad we moved here.”
Not just for the fresh start, but for the amazing friends I’d already found.
11
“You shoul
d totally go up and talk to him,” Audrey said at lunch. We sat at our usual table.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. I’d rather not risk humiliation seeing as how I just moved here.” I paused, pretending to think. “Oh, wait. I forgot. I’ve already humiliated myself at this school.” I half scoffed, half laughed.
And yet somehow, I’d survived.
Thank goodness.
“Exactly,” Nora chimed in. “What do you have to lose?”
Rachel quirked a brow at me like she knew Nora was right.
“Let’s see,” I said. “My dignity. Nothing much.”
Audrey laughed. “That’s the spirit.”
Ben sat a few seats away from everyone else at his table. He was busy doing some sort of assignment. Every once in a while, someone would say something to him and he’d respond or laugh. Join in the conversation for a minute and then go back to his homework.
I turned to the girls again. “Yeah, I have no reason, absolutely no reason, to go over there and talk to him. I’m just the girl who almost fed him killer cookies, remember?”
Nora sputtered out a little of the water she’d been drinking. She slid back in her seat and wiped her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said, laughing pretty hard.
You’d think the whole ordeal had just happened yesterday and not last week.
She went on laughing, making Rachel and Audrey laugh too. “I just… every time I picture you running…” She erupted in laughter again, so much that she couldn’t talk or hardly breathe. “And… crashing headfirst into him…” She laughed and fanned herself. “Oooh,” she said, taking deep breaths. “I’m okay. Continue.”
I just stared at her like, “Seriously?”
But I knew they were (mostly) laughing with me, not at me.
Rachel came in closer. “Is it true that you’re basically killer cookie girl to Ben now? I mean, previously, you were cute new girl, whatever…” She paused, turned mostly serious. “My point is… you are now seriously on his radar. And that’s what counts.”
She looked at me like she’d just said the most genius thing in the world.
I stared back at her much like Stanley would in The Office.
She nudged me. “Come on. Go up there and just say hi. Ask him if he liked the new batch of cookies you gave him!” She waited for me expectantly.
“I don’t know,” I said. Sure, Ben had been nice enough after the whole incident, even given me what could’ve almost passed as a smile in the hallway yesterday…
But just go up and talk to him?
That had never been my style.
Knowing me, I’d start sputtering half-words everywhere before bailing.
Audrey picked at her food. “You know what you can do is go up to him and ask him something about the homework that’s due later.”
I thought about that, actually considered it. “Hmm, the homework approach.”
That could work. Maybe.
Nora smiled. “Rachel and Audrey are right. You totally should go and talk to Ben.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “Really?” I asked, pretty convinced now.
“Oh yeah,” Nora went on. “Mostly because I want to see what happens, but yeah.”
We began laughing, and I shook my head. “You are terrible.”
She smiled proudly.
I looked at Ben one more time. “Maybe I can ask him about the cookies, maybe mention the game on Friday,” I said, trying to sound confident.
Rachel patted my shoulder. “There you go. Now go up there and talk to him.”
She urged me on, and I stood up. Took a deep breath.
I got this, I told myself.
Just a quick hello, maybe ask about the homework and then mention the game, then I’d be off.
Completely cool and casual.
I began walking over there. And I walked like I never had before.
Shoulders back, head held high, ready to smile, maybe toss the hair back.
Ben hadn’t noticed me yet—he was busy scribbling away in his notebook—but he would in a few seconds.
Then, just when I thought he was looking up to find me, his gaze slid to someone else.
Another girl cut me off—ACTUALLY CUT ME OFF—and walked right up to him.
She took a seat next to him and tossed her hair so hard that I almost puked a little.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Ben!” she said. “I just wanted to ask you about the math study guide. I’m having such a hard time with this one problem, and I know math is like your best subject.” There it was. The million dollar smile and batting of the lashes.
I stood there, frozen in place, wishing I could make my limbs move.
But it was like my brain had decided this was too unbelievable to be real. I had to watch.
Ben flicked his eyes between the assignment in front of him on the table, this girl, and the rest of the cafeteria. “Oh, hey…”
“Hannah,” she replied, leaning her head to the side a little.
“I actually don’t have the math study guide with me,” Ben said, shuffling a few papers as he talked.
Was it me or had he just hidden the math study guide underneath his science homework?
He went on. “But if you talk to Justin, I think he has it done already.” He stood up.
“Oh,” Hannah said, the disappointment clear on her face. “Okay. Thanks.”
She slinked off, and Ben walked off with his binder and books.
Finally, I spun around and scampered back to my table like I had just escaped another major humiliation.
Because, apparently, I had.
As soon as I sat down, the girls and I crowded around each other and began laughing.
“Oh my gosh!” Audrey cried out.
“Did you see that?” Rachel told Nora.
I covered my mouth with my hands. “Yeah, not doing that ever again!”
That had been a close one.
Ben was cute, but I didn’t want to be another Hannah to him.
That had not been the right approach.
Maybe there was no right approach.
All I knew was that I didn’t want to be the one to find out all the wrong ones.
I’d faced enough humiliation at Jefferson already.
12
Several days later, the final bell rang, dismissing everyone.
Half the class left for home in a blur while I finished writing down the homework assignment in my student planner.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Just take a picture of it like a normal person,” she teased.
I kept on writing. “I like writing things down and crossing them out when they’re done,” I replied, knowing how dorky that made me sound.
And being completely okay with that.
Rachel stood up and put on her backpack. “Okay, geek. See you at practice. I’ve gotta go talk to the math teacher about the quiz tomorrow.”
“Talk to ya later,” I called after her.
I finished writing down the history assignment and stood up to put my books in my bag.
With my back to the door, I didn’t even notice Ben come in until he was already at Ms. Wilson’s desk a few feet away.
Several students remained in the classroom, just hanging out and getting ready to leave.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering what Ben was doing there.
We only had one class together, and it was English.
And thank goodness because it was hard enough to focus as it was without him in the same room.
Ms. Wilson’s voice reached me where I stood, pretending to look for something in my bag. “…your grade on the latest paper. It counted for fifteen percent of your grade, and because you got a D, it’s brought your grade in the class just below passing. I’m afraid you can’t play on the football team until your grade in this class is up to par.”
I didn’t need to turn around and look at Ben to know how disappointed he had to be.
I hardly knew him, but even so, I could se
e how much he loved football.
Ben asked Ms. Wilson something about re-doing the paper and turning it in before the next game.
Ms. Wilson paused. “I don’t normally do this kind of thing, Ben, but you’ve always been a good student and I know how much you have on your plate. If you can re-do this paper and get at least a B, that should get you passing again. But the next game is only three days away. Are you sure that’s enough time? I don’t want you getting another failing grade because you didn’t have enough time to produce the work needed for a B.”
“I can do it,” Ben replied quickly. “Thank you, Ms. Wilson.”
With that, he left again, taking his paper. I watched him exit the classroom.
I glanced at Ms. Wilson, who’d gone back to grading, thinking about what I’d just seen.
A crazy idea popped into my head, and before I could second guess myself too much, I grabbed my book bag and ran to catch up to Ben.
His long legs and long strides meant I was practically out of breath by the time I reached him down the hall.
“Ben!” I called.
He stopped and turned around. I could still see the worry and disappointment on his face, but it quickly morphed into that serious neutral expression he wore most of the time. “Oh, hey,” he replied.
“Hey,” I replied, breathing kinda hard.
Ben looked around for a couple of seconds like he wasn’t sure what else to say.
Oh, right. I needed to tell him something.
Which all of a sudden, I wasn’t so sure about, but it was too late now. “So, uh, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop back there,” I began. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how nosy I sounded.
“But you did,” he finished for me.
He seemed a little mad but mostly embarrassed. I could tell from the way he wouldn’t make eye contact. Somehow, this felt worse than tackling him to the ground.
Hopefully, what I was going to say next would save me instead of making this situation completely mortifying for the both of us.
“Um, the reason I say all of this is because I thought maybe I could help you re-write your paper so you can get your grade back to passing and play in the next game.”
Ben furrowed his brow, like he was trying to understand what I’d just said.
Falling for Ben & Other Impossible Things (Garcia Brothers Book 1) Page 6
