11 – Play Ball
I feel like such an idiot. I should say something. He won't even look at me. What could I possibly say? Felicity hunched into her seat. Ben sat as far from her as possible, almost crammed against the driver door. If he wanted to get away from me so badly, why did he ask me to go with him? "Did you want to go play basketball?" she ventured, gesturing to the ball on the seat between them.
"Yeah, we could do that," he shot back, as if he'd been waiting all along for her to ask. "Cliff said the campus courts are usually open." He turned down another street, following the signs to the college campus.
For the entire drive, she could get no further conversation from him. They parked at the campus courts and went through the chain link gates in silence. Ben dribbled the basketball on the pavement, looking even more fidgety than he had earlier.
Felicity gave an inward grimace. Is he not going to talk to me all night? She thought for a minute, deciding on a safe conversation, then she smiled and held up her hands for the ball. Ben bounced it to her, and she sprinted toward the basket with it.
"Hey, that's traveling!" he barked, chasing after her.
Felicity grinned. At least that's something! Laughing, she jumped up and sank the ball in one swoop.
"That doesn't count, cheater," rumbled Ben, grabbing the ball as it dropped through the basket.
"It counts in Porter rules," she replied haughtily.
Ben's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, Porter rules. You can travel in Porter rules." He bounced the ball again.
"Yes, you can." She went toward him, still grinning. "You also get another shot when you make a basket."
Ben held the ball over his head, using his height to keep it out of her reach with an innocent look. "Really?"
She grabbed at the ball twice before crossing her arms and fixing him with a glare. "Yes."
Ben dodged around her, speeding toward the basket without dribbling the ball.
"Hey!" Felicity sprinted after him, but he leapt into a perfect layup before she got there and dropped the ball in. "Gimme that back!" she laughed.
"I made the shot. I get another one," he snarked, grabbing the ball again.
"Oh, you are so going to get it!"
Ben laughed and turned around, guarding the ball. Felicity darted under his arm and knocked it away, running across the court with it. She heard him coming after her and ran faster, giggling. Ben reached around her for the ball, and she raced away toward the basket.
By the time they grew tired, the birds had begun singing. Felicity looked up and noticed that the sky had lightened just enough to pick out the silhouettes of trees and buildings. "Wow. I haven't stayed out this late in forever."
Ben tucked the basketball under his arm and gestured to the track outside the basketball courts. "Let's go sit in the bleachers."
On the way there, Felicity asked, "So where did you go last night?"
"Just drove around the city for a while. Saw the Gateway Arch. I couldn't sleep."
The Gateway Arch. A monument that, for many, symbolized the passage into the Western United States. Felicity felt like their trip was half over before it had even begun.
They reached the bleachers and climbed to the top to sit down and catch their breath. The sky began to take on the muted greys of dawn. "I'm sorry about earlier," she ventured at last.
He set the basketball between his feet, not looking at her. "Don't worry about it. It's my fault. I should have knocked or something."
Feeling awkward now, Felicity shuffled her feet on the bench below. "I'll just take everything into the bathroom with me from now on."
The few clouds went from grey to champagne pink. She tapped her feet again and wondered suddenly if Noel was having a good time in Berlin. I wonder if he—
Ben's hand touched her face, turning it toward him. He kissed her gently, and all her thoughts vanished like dissipating smoke. His breath misted warm on her face in the cool air. His other hand came to rest against her cheek. She heard the basketball bounce away down the bleachers. His mouth felt soft against hers, almost questioning. She shivered.
Ben drew away, his hands still cupping her face. The sunrise cast a red-gold glow across his features. She saw the same question in his eyes that she'd felt in his kiss, and her shivers multiplied. He opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and got to his feet. "We should—We should probably get going."
"Yeah. I'll drive. You can catch some sleep in the car this morning." Before she could say anything further, Ben had started down the bleachers after his basketball. The outlines of his figure glowed in the rising sun. He reached the bottom row of bleachers and stepped off onto the track below. She stared at the way he moved and remembered how much she'd always liked seeing him run in high school. He's so much different than I ever thought he'd be. Even from what I thought he was this past year. When I was little I used to get expectations of something, and the real thing was never as good as I dreamed it would be. Ben… He's totally unlike what I expected... He's even better. She smiled to herself and jogged down the bleachers after him. "Wait up!"
- - - - -
With St. Louis and its arch several hours behind them, Felicity felt her stomach growl, reminding her that their breakfast of fast food had also been quite a while ago. She glanced at Ben, fast asleep in the passenger seat leaning against the door. "Hey," she murmured, nudging him.
He stirred and opened his eyes. "Hmm? Where are we?"
"We're almost to Lincoln. Are you hungry? I'm starving."
He stretched, rubbing a hand through his sleep-mussed hair. "Yeah. What do you want to eat?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. What's the travel book say about food around here?"
Ben yawned and picked it up, leafing through the pages she had marked as the next step of their journey. "A whole bunch of nothing," he determined finally. Flipping through a couple more pages, he asked, "Do you like baseball?"
"Baseball?"
"There's a baseball stadium in Lincoln, Haymarket Park. We could catch a game and have some bad hot dogs and stale popcorn." He flashed a grin at her.
"That sounds amazing," she beamed.
- - - - -
"You know," Felicity observed, munching on a bite of hot dog, "these aren't as bad as you made them sound."
"I'm still not sure I want to know what's in them," he parried. "At least the popcorn is stale."
She eyed him. "You're happy about that?"
"It's a tradition. Sugary drinks, stale popcorn, and baseball. Pass me the candy."
Felicity handed over the packet of chocolate covered peanuts and Ben took a handful. The announcer's voice blared over the loudspeaker. The batter hit a pop fly and one of the outfielders caught it to the disappointed booing of the crowd. Over that, she heard the barking of a vendor selling beer. The salty scent of popcorn tickled her nose. She grinned at Ben, sitting beside her with his eyes intent on the field. "I love this."
He turned a smile on her, and she was reminded of when he'd melted the pizza waitress with that smile back in Washington. It was no less effective on her, here in Nebraska. She gulped the rest of her hot dog and washed it down with a swallow of too-sweet cola. When he didn't speak, she offered the cup to him.
Ben accepted it and took a drink himself. His expression grew thoughtful. "If somebody told me I was going to be on a road trip this summer with a girl I never talked to in high school, I would have told them they were crazy." He leaned toward her, and the smile resurfaced. "It's still crazy, but I'm glad you came with me." He kissed her. Around them, the crowd cheered as a batter hit a home run.
- - - - -
Felicity popped the finished roll of film out of her camera as they walked to the car. "That was a good game."
"Yeah, it was. I'll drive," declared Ben.
As they got back into the car, Felicity picked up the travel book and paged through it to see what else was in Lincoln. She gave him a smile. "You got to pick one, so now it's my turn."
He looked sidelong at her as he started the engine and pulled out of the parking space, following the line of cars exiting the stadium. "What did you have in mind?"
Felicity's smile expanded into a grin. "You'll see."