I wake up for the third time that day on the couch in the living room with everyone staring at me, including Benny's grandma.
"How're you feeling, sweetheart?" Benny's grandma asks.
My head was killing me and I was still exhausted.
"My head is killing me," I say, realizing that my arm wasn't hurting at all.
I look down at my arm. It wasn't swollen like it should've been after not seeking medical attention.
"My arm…I could've sworn that I broke it…" I trail off.
"While you were sleeping, Grandma fixed it for you," Benny explains. "She's done that spell on me before, and believe me, it is not a good feeling. If you didn't wake up from that, you must've been out cold."
I look up at Benny's grandma. "Thank you," I say to her.
"Not a problem, sweetie," Grandma replies. "If no one else needs me for the rest of the night, I'm going home." She walks towards the door and is gone in a matter of seconds.
"Thank you guys for coming to save my stupid butt tonight," I say. "I don't know why I did that…I guess it was Jesse's charm…"
"Don't feel bad. He has that effect on lots of girls," Sarah admits.
"Including you?" I ask her.
"Including me," she smiles.
I sigh. Glad all of it's over. For now.
"What do you think Jesse is going to do, now that his plan is ruined?" I ask.
"All I know," Ethan says. "Is that when Jesse wants revenge, he'll find a way to get it."
"Should I be worried that he'll come after me?" I ask, concerned.
"Probably," Benny says. "Ow!" Sarah punched him in the arm. "I mean, no, he probably won't?"
I couldn't help laughing at Benny. He was such a goof. And that's what I liked about him.
I sit up, still sore from being asleep so much.
"What time is it?" I ask, curious.
"A little after midnight," Sarah answers.
"I cannot believe I'm still tried," I yawn.
"Why don't you go on up to your room?" Ethan suggests. "You've had a long day."
"Yeah," I agree. "Goodnight everybody."
Sarah helps me up. When I'm standing on my own, I give her a hug. "Thank you," I whisper in her ear. She just smiles and nods her head. I move over to Ethan and hug him, and then hug Benny. "Thank you, so much," I say into his chest. He starts rubbing my back soothingly.
When I let go, I notice Ethan and Sarah giving each other looks like, what's going on with them? I ignore their questioning looks and slowly make my way up the stairs to my room. I collapse on the bed, not bothering to change in to my pajamas. I'm about to drift off to sleep when Benny comes into the room and quietly closes the door.
He sits on the bed, looking at me. Confusion in his eyes.
"Benny?" I ask. "Why are you in here?"
"I needed to ask you something," he whispers.
"Okay," I say. "What?"
"It seems like when you got here this summer, you hated my guts. And now you don't," Benny explains. "What happened? Do you like me now because of what happened with Jesse, or were you just playing hard to get?"
"Benny, I've always liked you," I confess. "Probably since you and Ethan started hanging out. And I was jealous of Erica because I knew you liked her and…and…I guess I thought acting like I hated you would make you like me more…"
"You were jealous of Erica?" he asks.
"Yeah, pretty petty, huh?"
"Have you even seen Erica in the last few days?"
"No," I admit. "But every time she's around, you go all googoo eyed and stare at her."
"I do not!" he defends.
"Okay, you don't," I confess. "But I know you like her."
"That may be true," he says. "But I'm going after a girl who I'll probably never get, and I'm crushing on a girl who doesn't live in town."
"Who's the girl you're crushing on?" I ask, teasing.
"Oh, just my best friend's cousin."
I smile at him in the darkness.
He leans over and kisses me. The kiss starts out shy and slow, but it begins to get deeper and deeper as time ticks on.
Ethan comes in, but I'm not paying attention to anyone but Benny until he speaks up. "Hey Benny, what're you…" he trails off. "Dude!" Ethan flicks on the light.
Me and Benny break apart, instantly embarrassed. I can't even look Ethan in the eye.
"Um…talking?" Benny says.
"It didn't look like talking." Sarah says, trying to hide her grin.
"Well, we were talking," I say. "But we decided to canoodle instead." I couldn't help smiling like an idiot.
"I think we'll just leave you two alone," Sarah says. "So you can finish your…talking… C'mon Ethan."
Ethan hadn't moved. He was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the two of us.
"Ethan?" Sarah said. "Come on."
"What? Oh, yeah," Ethan says, coming out of his reverie. "We'll talk later." Ethan looks at Benny seriously.
Sarah and Ethan leave, closing the door behind them.
Benny and I look at each other. Both of us smiling like idiots.
"I think you should go," I say. "Before they get too suspicious."
"Alright," Benny sighs. "Goodnight." he leans down and kisses my forehead before leaving my room and turning off the light.
I lay there a while, thinking about the day and all that had happened. Tomorrow I was going to make arrangements to go back home in the next few days.
I drift off into a deep sleep, happy that this time it wasn't forced upon me.
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