They were still talking about their favorite band as they walked back into the den and sat on the couch. Rook was telling Gwen and Kevin about some of the females that Ben had hooked up with the past few months. They were dying laughing from the stories. Sara was pretty disgusted that he jumped from girl to girl like that, and Ben was completely mortified that she heard what Rook was saying. He tried to redeem himself by saying, "Bad decisions were made." It was too late in Sara's mind.
Somehow the conversation changed over to college. Kevin told Ben that Sara had been a good influence on Gwen.
"What do you mean?" asked Ben.
"Well, she goes out, drinks more than one drink, and even has a fake ID!" Kevin explained.
"When you say it like that, it sounds like I'm a bad influence! I think what you don't know is that Gwen was really the bad influence on me," Sara said. "She hazed the shit out of me when I was pledging her sorority." Gwen had found some loop-hole that let Sara rush in the fall instead of waiting till the spring because of her college-credits from high school.
"Gwen haze? Yeah right...what'd she make you do? Read a book?" Ben asked.
The way he implied Gwen being a geek really rubbed Sara wrong. "I wish that's what she made me do. She made me chug beer, take shots, sing karaoke in front of people I actually knew, kiss ugly boys, AND she made me try pot for the first time!"
Gwen was giggling, "Girl, don't be such a drama queen. It's not like I made you do any of it by yourself! Well, except kiss that ugly boy."
Sara laughed and agreed, "Yeah you did everything, too."
Ben was really surprised to hear this. "You smoked pot?"
"What is pot?" Rook asked innocently.
"Weed," Kevin replied. Rook still looked confused. "Marijuana."
"Oh...Gwen, that kind of behavior is very unlike you."
Gwen replied, "We were super drunk, and tried it that one time. Neither of us got high though."
"Gwen called Kevin on our way home that night, and he made us promise to never do it again," Sara explained.
"Dude, were you mad?" Ben asked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Maybe Sara was a bad influence on his cousin.
"Naw, I didn't care. They were pretty hilarious on the phone. I only made them promise cause I don't want them turning into potheads on me."
"Gwen...I can't believe you did that. You're always the level-headed one, staying out of trouble, doing what you're supposed to do, studying..." Ben said.
"What? Like a geek?" Sara asked.
"Yea...I mean... No, no!" Ben stammered.
"Did you really just call me a geek?" Gwen asked. "What are we, ten?"
"I just meant that you've always been the goodie-goodie..." Ben tried to explain. He knew he was digging a hole he couldn't get out of.
"Have you ever smoked weed, Ben?" Sara asked.
"No..." That was a random question, he thought as he answered.
"Sounds like maybe you're the goodie-goodie."
"I am far from a goodie-goodie, woman" Ben retorted.
"Oh really? Why? Because you sleep with random girls? I think that's the only thing I didn't hear you brag about today to your family."
"Well excuse me, I'm out busting my ass everyday fighting bad guys and saving the universe, and it's no ones business how I spend my downtime!"
"I think all your other friends here have helped you save the world countless times, and they are a little more humble than you are."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked.
"It means that you're the cockiest son-of-a-bitch I have ever met! You are the most horrible person I know!" Sara knew she was overreacting, but she refused to back down.
"You are such a fucking bitch!" Ben screamed at her.
"You piece of shit," Sara murmured. As she was about to lunge at him, Gwen jumped in between them, and Kevin grabbed Sara off the couch. She had never been so angry in her life.
"Enough!" Gwen yelled. She looked at Ben and said, "Ben, you deserved most of that for calling me a geek. And you," she said to Sara, "need to calm down, girl. Ben is my cousin, and I love him no matter how cocky and annoying he is." Turning back to Ben she said, "Sara is my best friend, and she's like family to me. She's going to be around just as much as I am. If you don't have something nice to say to each other, don't say anything at all."
"That escalated rather quickly," Rook observed.
At that exact moment, Ben's parents strolled through the door. They all sat down quickly. "What are you all up to?" Ben's dad asked suspiciously since there were four people sitting on the couch.
"Just hanging out Uncle Carl," Gwen said.
"Wonderful!" Sandra said. "I think we're headed to bed. It's been a long day." She turned to Sara and said, "Sara, it was so nice to meet you. We were just talking about how sweet you are, and how you're invited to spend any holiday with us from now on."
"That's very kind, Mrs. Tennyson. Thank you," Sara replied.
As soon as they walked to their room, Sara and Ben said at the same time, "I need a beer!" Sara got up first. She actually got Ben a beer, too, which she proceeded to throw at him when she got bs k in the den. He caught it, much to her disappointment.
"Be nice, Sara," Kevin said. She rolled her eyes at him.