Riley gave Ben directions to his place, and after a short drive, Ben pulled into the convenience store's parking lot. He parked at the far end. Riley felt giddy. He hadn't had a sleepover in a while. He leaned forward, and looked up at the second-floor windows, to the apartment he shared with his mother. There was a light on in one of the windows, and he knew that his mother was home from work already. Good. They grabbed their backpacks out of the back seat, and started to walk up to the building.

"My mom's home," Riley said, pointing up at the light. "That's where I live. She must've just gotten off work."

Ben gave him a distracted look. "Yeah."

"You had fun tonight, right?" Riley asked, hurrying to catch up to him.

"Yeah. It was good." Ben smiled at him. "I'm glad that you convinced me to go."

"I gotta ask you something," Riley said, stopping in his tracks. He waited until Ben turned around, and faced him. "When I was talking to Donny earlier, he said that you rarely ever hang out with the other guys. They invite you to all kinds of different things. Like, fun things. Bowling, and stuff."

Ben didn't say anything at first. Then, he sighed. "Riley, I'm more comfortable on my own. I'm a pretty solitary guy."

Riley frowned. "Uh, okay."

He wondered why that was. Ben was obviously intelligent. He was handsome, and thoughtful. The other guys at the school were clearly interested in hanging out with Ben. Riley gave Ben a funny look, hefting his bag up higher on his shoulder. He wanted to ask more questions. Ben was kind of an enigma.

"Hey, you wanna grab some junk food?" Riley asked, turning around to walk backwards in front of Ben. "The store's open 24/7. They've got good cherry slushies. You like slushies, right?"

Ben smiled. "Yeah."

"Good." Riley beamed at him.

The little convenience store was a small brick building, with narrow aisles. They sold junk food, and lottery tickets, some grocery items, that sort of thing. It was run by a middle-aged man named Henry, and his daughter, Elise. She was in her early twenties, a college student.

Riley and his mother had lived there for about two years. He liked being above the store. During the day, it sometimes got kind of loud. But he was at school for most of that. The owners were nice enough, and whenever he got bored, Riley would come down to the store to buy some junk food, or hang out with Henry. The guy was nice, for an old dude. He always kept a crossword book behind the counter for Riley to fill out, and he liked to show Riley how things around the store worked. Riley got to sit behind the counter, which was nice. Sometimes, he liked to pretend that Henry was his father, even though he was like, fifty or something.

Riley and Ben went inside. The store was brightly lit. He glanced up at the front counter, and smiled at Elise. She nodded at him, then went back to her magazine. Riley headed for the slushie machines at the back of the store.

There were a half dozen flavours, but the one he always went for, was cherry. It was his favourite. Riley filled up a large cup, then grabbed a lid, and straw. Ben did the same, and they brought them to the till.

"I'll pay," Ben said, pulling out a ten-dollar bill. He handed it to Elise. When she gave him back his change, he frowned. "That doesn't seem right."

"Oh, I don't charge Riley. I only charged you for the one drink," Elise said. She smiled at them. "Have a good night, kids."

As they left the building, Ben stepped in front of Riley. "Hey, what was that all about?"

"The owners always give me a free slushie." Riley gave him a crooked smile. "She never charges me."

"Why?"

"Oh, it's payment, in exchange for me fixing their computer when I first moved here. Henry – Elise's dad – he hates electronics. Their computer went down, and the till, and everything stopped working. All their customers were super pissed, 'cause they could only pay with cash. I volunteered to take a look at it. I got it running that day. And I helped them install security cameras too, when their store got hit in a robbery last year."

Ben raised his eyebrows. "You fixed their computer?"

"Yeah." Riley shrugged. "I was bored, and they knew that I'm good at electronics."

"Okay, but why didn't they just pay you with money?" Ben asked. "With skills like that, you could make a killing."

"I didn't want their money." Riley shrugged. "Henry insisted that I had to get paid, so we struck a deal. One free cherry slushie every time I went to the store. It's cool; I like their slushies. Especially when I can't sleep late at night, I go down to the store to hang out with Henry."

"Ok, well," Ben said, "I guess if you're both cool with that arrangement."

"Yeah." Riley smiled, and took a sip of his free drink. "It works out well for everyone."

They went up the steep staircase, and Riley unlocked the apartment door. His mom, Andrea, was sitting at the kitchen table, a stack of letters in front of her. She glanced up when Riley entered, pushing the mail aside.

"Hey, honey. How was your party?" Andrea said. Her blue eyes widened in surprise when she saw Ben. "Oh, hello."

"Hello, Mrs. Poole," Ben said. "I'm Ben Gates. I go to Chancellor – "

"Oh, you're Ben!" Andrea said, her eyes lighting up. She grinned at him. "Of course. Riley talks about you all the time."

"Mom," Riley said, blushing deep red, as he knelt to untie his high tops. He stood up, then kicked them off into the front closet. "Ben's mom is out of town overnight. Can he stay overnight?"

"Sure, of course." Andrea smiled at them both. She watched as Riley slouched down in the seat opposite her. "How was the party? You two have a good time?"

Riley nodded. "It was good. We watched a bunch of horror movies, ate some junk food."

"I didn't make anything for dinner, but there's bologna in the fridge, and some fruit. I want you to eat something more substantial than just slushies, Ri."

"Thank you, ma'am," Ben said. "We'll make a sandwich before bed."

"Oh, no. Just call me Andrea," she told him. "Or Mrs. Poole, if you like. But not 'ma'am'. I'm hardly old. I'm only thirty-two."

Ben nodded. "Okay."

Andrea stood up, and kissed Riley on the top of the head. "It's late. I need to get some sleep. You guys can stay up as long as you want, just try not to make too much noise, alright?"

Riley grinned at her. "Thanks, Mom. You're the best."

Andrea smiled at Ben. "It was really nice meeting you, Ben. I'm glad my son is making friends at school."

"He's a good kid," Ben said. "Goodnight, Mrs. Poole."

After Andrea went to bed, Ben went to the fridge, and peered inside. Riley watched him, scooping up tiny amounts of slushie with the end of his straw. The fridge was nearly empty, as was the norm. There were a few condiment bottles, some bologna and fruit, and some vegetables in the drawer. Riley stayed quiet, slightly embarrassed at how empty it was.

Ben pulled out the mustard, and bologna, and started to make a sandwich. When he was done, he set it in front of Riley. Then, he proceeded to make one for himself as well.

Riley took a small bite, then reached for the stack of mail. It was all addressed to his mother. Bills, mostly. Some of them overdue. There was a letter from his father. Riley gave it a curious look, wondering what his dad was writing his mom about. He set it back in the pile, facedown. Maybe mom would let him read the letter later on. He hoped it was child support money. He'd have to sneak a peek later, once she'd opened it.

Riley cupped his chin in his hand, and watched Ben eat his sandwich. He tore off pieces of the crust, and popped them into his mouth. Ben was staring off into the distance, deep in thought.

"Hey, Ben?" Riley said.

Ben blinked, and made eye contact. "Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about right now?"

Ben's mouth twitched upward. "I was thinking about the Charlotte clue. Sorry, I kind of drifted off for a few minutes. It's always on my mind."

"You'll find that treasure," Riley said, with absolute certainty. "I know it."

Ben smiled. "I sure hope so."

"Hey, you wanna play a card game, or something?" Riley asked.

"Sure."

Riley pulled a deck of cards off the bookcase beside him, and started to shuffle the deck. "What do you want to play? Poker? Crazy Eights? Kings in the corner?"

Ben smiled. "Poker's a fun game."

"Strip Poker?" Riley asked, half-joking.

"Heh, no."

Riley took another bite of his sandwich, before moving his plate to the side. He grinned at Ben as he started to set up the game. It felt good to have someone to hang out with. His mom had such a busy work schedule, that he was often alone on the weekends. Sometimes, he wished his dad was still in the picture, just so he wouldn't be alone as much. But his parents were better apart. Andrea was finally free of him.

They played for about an hour, slowly eating their meal, before Ben called it quits. He had started yawning, which was setting off Riley yawning, too. It was late.

"It's bedtime," Riley said. "C'mon, I'll show you my room."

They grabbed their backpacks, and went down the hall to Riley's bedroom. They were careful to not make too much noise, as Andrea's bedroom light was off, and she was probably already asleep.

Riley's bedroom was a bit on the small side. It had a twin bed, a nice wooden desk for his computer. It was covered with electronics, and a bunch of Lego he'd been playing with. He had a few posters up on the wall, and a bookcase crammed full of books. The little window looked out onto the street.

Riley stood in his doorway, watching as Ben slowly walked around his bedroom. He had sucked in his breath, unsure what Ben's reaction would be. His room was a bit sparse, but it was enough for him. Had he known Ben was going to sleep over, he'd have cleaned up some. Oh, well. Ben sat down on the bed, and smiled at him. Riley closed the door, then went and sat down on the black swivel computer chair. He brought up his legs, then gave it a quick spin.

"I like your room," Ben said. "It's nice."

"Yeah?" Riley said. It was tiny compared to Ben's room. The whole apartment was the size of Ben's living room. "Thanks."

"How long have you lived here?" Ben asked.

Riley grabbed the desk, and forced himself to stop. "Two years. We moved here when my parents split. We used to have a house. Not like, big. But it had garden, and everything."

"Your parents are divorced too," Ben mused. "Yeah. It can really suck."

Riley shrugged. "We're both in the absent-father club, I guess," he joked, glancing up at Ben to gauge his reaction. "Where's your dad at?"

"Philly."

"Huh. Okay." Riley started to slowly spin around on the chair again. "My Dad's in Iowa."

"Is he into computers, too?" Ben asked.

Riley shook his head. "Nope. Mom says she doesn't know where I get it from. I'm more like her, though," he said, with a tinge of defensiveness. "We're both super smart. She had a full ride to University. Mom said that when she got pregnant with me, she had to drop out. She was only in her first year. She was devastated."

"Oh." Ben blinked. "Sorry. That must've been really hard on her."

"Yeah." Riley gave him a nervous smile. "I'm talking too much."

"No, It's okay."

"So, as you can see, my room's kind of small. I could get you some blankets, and you can sleep on the floor," Riley said, gesturing to the space between his bed, and the door. "Or we could share the bed. Either one is fine by me."

"I don't mind sharing," Ben said. He laid down, and stretched out his arm beside him. "Yeah, I think we'll both fit."

Riley got up, and pushed his computer chair in. He had his back to Ben for a few seconds, trying to compose himself, as he fidgeted with the little Lego figurines on his desk. Then, he went over and flopped down on the bed beside Ben. He turned his head so he could look at him. "You know how you said earlier, that you were solitary, and better off on your own?"

"Yeah."

"D'you really mean that?" Riley asked. He let his arm fall to his side, his fingers brushing against Ben's. He tried to make it look unintentional. Like he wasn't fully aware of Ben's pinky touching his, his skin warm. They were shoulder to shoulder, Ben's face so close to his. "You're really better off on your own?"

"I mean – yeah, I guess so," Ben nodded. "I'm not good at making friends. I'm not good at keeping them, either."

Riley knew the feeling. He had had problems at his last school. Kids could be cruel. It was hard to find a group of kids to hang out with consistently. A lot of them were uncomfortable around him. He'd gotten bullied daily.

"And what about us?" Riley asked, frowning. "We're friends. I don't want that to end."

Ben gave him a soft smile. "I don't want it to end, either."

Riley chewed on his lower lip, and stared up at his bedroom ceiling. His heart was beating hard, and he could feel a trickle of sweat go down his back, as he listened to Ben breathe beside him. Their hands were still touching, and Riley fought to keep himself as still as possible, so that Ben wouldn't pull his hand away.

"I like playing Ophelia," Riley finally said. "I was dead-set on being Laertes. He's my favourite. But I'm starting to like being Ophelia. She's not like, my favourite character or anything, but she's cool."

"You play her well." Ben was studying him. "Have you ever done a Shakespeare play before this?"

Riley shook his head. "Nope. I've done technical stuff in middle school. Lights, and stuff. But the actors on stage, they always look like they're having such a fun time. I thought, I wanted to be like them. Part of a group."

"Well, you're doing a great job."

"Thanks. It still kind of bothers me that the other guys keep calling me Ophelia, instead of my name." Riley frowned. "I figure most of don't even know my real name."

Ben was looking at him. His gaze was intense. "The ones who care enough about you, will learn your real name," he said. "Donny knows you're Riley. He's a nice guy. And I know who you are. Mr. Riley Poole, computer expert."

"Yeah." Riley brought his hand up to his ribcage, and rested it there, fingers splayed out. His breathing quickened a little. "That's me."

They lapsed into silence for minute. Ben was staring at his posters, studying Einstein, Steve Jobs, the big X-Files poster of Dana Scully and Fox Mulder hanging over his bed. Riley had a poster of 'The Mummy', with an adventurous Brendan Fraser standing tall, surrounded by pyramids, and cool stuff. He wanted to be like the people in the posters, heroic, and discovering cool artifacts in Egypt. Or like Scully and Mulder, looking for aliens, and everything.

"So, do you like anyone?" Riley asked. "You have a girlfriend, or boyfriend, or anything?"

Ben lifted his head off the pillow to look at him. "What?"

"You like anyone? I'm sure there's a nerd out there, who knows just as much about Abraham Lincoln, or like, arctic exploration as you do." Riley smiled. "You seeing anyone?"

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"Have you ever had one?" Riley asked, persistent.

"I dated a nerdy girl once," Ben said. "It was only for a few weeks. Her name was Sophia."

A girl. Riley tried not to show his disappointment. He squinted at Ben. "Was she into treasure-hunting, and history, and all that?" Riley asked.

Ben shrugged. "Sort of. I met her in the library."

"Of course," Riley said, nodding. He could just imagine the scene. Ben engrossed in a book, until a pretty girl came up to talk to him. "Was she cute?"

"Yeah." Ben smiled at him. "She had blonde hair, and she was really tall. Sophia was obsessed with Egypt. Mummies, and King Tut, and all that. I met her in the history section."

"Yeah?" Riley said, feeling a little bit envious. "And this was recent? Why'd you break up?"

"I was in the fifth grade." Ben stared at him. "It didn't last."

Riley broke out into a fit of giggles. "That doesn't count! I thought you meant like, someone you met this year, or something. You only dated in grade school? Ben-"

His eyes widened, when Ben clamped his hand over Riley's mouth. He leaned in close, his elbow pressing into the mattress beside Riley's shoulder. He was practically lying on top of him. Their heads were in close proximity, and Riley stared up into his friend's eyes. His eyes gleamed a little, and made zero effort to push his friend off.

"Your mom said we had to be quiet," Ben murmured. "We don't want to wake her."

No, we don't, Riley wanted to say. But Ben's hand was still over his mouth. He didn't mind, though. Riley squirmed a little, still giggling a little. Ben was so close to him, that Riley wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Instead, he darted his tongue out, and licked Ben's palm. Ben quickly released him, his eyes widening in surprise.

He watched as Ben wiped the saliva onto his jeans, then gave Riley a small smile. "I never said I only dated Sophia. She was just the first history nerd that I dated. I've dated a few people. Anyway, I think it's bedtime," he said. "It's late."

"Yeah," Riley said, slightly disappointed. He wanted to talk to Ben all night. He wanted to know more about the older teen. "Okay."

Riley left the room to brush his teeth, and change into his pyjamas. When he got back, Ben was lying on his stomach, the blanket pulled up to his chin. His eyes were closed, one arm pulling the pillow close against his cheek. Riley switched off the light, and slipped under the covers.

He wasn't used to sleeping with anyone else, and it took a bit of getting used to. Riley ended up on his side, facing Ben. He couldn't sleep, though. He tiredly fidgeted with the blanket.

"Ben?" Riley hissed. "Are you awake?"

After a few seconds, Ben shifted slightly. "I am now."

Riley smiled. "You ever kiss anyone?"

"Maybe. Go to sleep."

"Who'd you kiss?" Riley asked.

"It was a girl that I liked," Ben said. "And no, I don't mean Sophia."

"What was it like?" Riley asked, enviously. He imagined kissing someone. Holding someone with a soft grip, one hand gently holding their neck, thumb pressed into their cheek. Leaning forward, making eye contact as their lips pressed together. Kisses were always portrayed as magical things on movies. His stomach fluttered. "Umm, kissing - was it pretty great? I think it must've been."

"It was . . . nice." Ben tugged on the blanket, pulling it towards him. "You'll find out soon enough, when you start dating."

"D'you think we'll have to like, kiss onstage?" Riley asked, his cheeks burning. "I mean, seeing as how we're playing boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Riley- " Ben gave an exasperated sigh. "It's really late."

"Hear me out for a second. What if we go to kiss as Hamlet and Ophelia, and I fail miserably? Then the audience will start laughing, and the play will suck. And everyone will be pissed, because we couldn't make our characters believable."

"I don't think Mr. Foster plans on having us kiss in the play."

"But – what if he does, though? I've never done it before," Riley said. He paused for a few seconds. "I think we need to practise. Just once, maybe twice. Just until I get the hang of it. Then, if I have to kiss anyone during the play, then I won't mess it up. I'll be ready."

Ben reached out to him in the dark, and put one hand on Riley's chest. "Riley, I highly doubt that Mr. Foster's going to make us kiss during the play. And theoretically, if you had to kiss Hamlet, it'd likely be Donny. You should ask him."

Donny wasn't really his type. He was cute enough, but so were a lot of guys at the school. That didn't mean anything. "You're here. I don't want to ask Donny. He might laugh at me, or something. I bet he's kissed all sorts of girls. Besides, I think you're ten times handsomer than Donny."

As soon as he said it, Riley froze up, waiting for Ben's reaction. His friend's hand was still on his chest, and he realized Ben might feel his heart pounding through his chest. He was filled with a sickly feeling, like he might throw up from nerves. The words had just slipped out. It was supposed to be a private thought. Riley turned his head ever so slightly, looking at Ben. He could barely make him out in the dark, from the light seeping in past the curtain.

"You think so?" Ben asked.

"Y-Yeah."

Ben was quiet for a moment, his hand still on Riley's chest. He was staring distantly past Riley, deep in thought. Riley watched him, wondering what was running through Ben's head.

"Maybe you have a point. Let's suppose for a minute that we have to kiss onstage. Ben finally said, moving his hand up to Riley's cheek, cupping it. "For the sake of the production, I figure we want it to look uh, legitimate."

"Exactly." Riley nodded slowly, eyes wide. "I want to play Ophelia as best as I can."

Ben leaned forward, until they were just a few inches apart. His brow furrowed, he paused, maintaining eye contact with Riley. Then, he kissed him on the lips. It was a quick kiss, lasting just a second or two. Riley smiled. It had been nice. Not fireworks, and all that. But nice all the same.

"How's that?" Ben asked.

"Nice. But we need more than that. The kiss needs to say so much more," Riley said. He reached out, and grabbed the front of Ben's t-shirt, and pulled him back down. He kissed him hungrily, a bit too eagerly. Their mouths pressed together in the most natural way, Riley's tongue darting against Ben's briefly, his fist gripping Ben's shirt tightly, never wanting to let go. Finally, he released him. "Like that."

Ben pulled away from him, propping himself up. He gave his friend a slightly dazed look. "Riley."

"Too much?" Riley asked, wincing a little. "I think Hamlet should take the lead on the kiss. Ophelia seems, I don't know. A bit more submissive towards the Danish prince."

"Riley- "

Riley stared up at him, his blue eyes wide. "Ben."

"That was – uh," Ben paused. "A lot. It was a lot."

"Was it as nice as when you kissed that girl?" Riley asked, curious. "'Cause it was pretty nice, Ben."

"Yeah." Ben smiled at him. "That was nice."

Ben laid down beside him again. Riley watched him through half-lidded eyes. His first kiss. Holy Lord. That was better than nice. He felt tingly all over. Kissing Ben felt pretty damned good.