Chapter 8 - Raoul (Posted 9 September 2011)

Ethan pursed his lips and watched as his best friend ran away from him. He walked outside to Sarah feeling disappointed in himself, though he wasn't sure why.

"Where's Benny?" She asked when he got to her.

"He went home." Ethan was confused. Why would he just leave? After something literally life-changing like that, how could he just... leave him?

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. He looked fine. But... I don't know he just... he just left. I just saved his life. Sort of. And it was like he didn't want to be around me."

"He probably felt bad about kissing you."

"Oh yeah." Ethan suddenly remembered something. He looked into Sarah's eyes. "I have to tell you something. A few things actually."

She nodded like she understood. "I have something to tell you too."

"Benny and I agreed that we should tell you this... I just don't know if I should do it now or wait until he's here to tell you with me..."

"Well I can only listen to one person talk at a time so you might as well just tell me." Sarah shrugged.

Ethan thought about it. She was right, really. Even if they were together, only one of them could do the talking. And he had left him there all on his own. If he'd wanted to to tell her together, he shouldn't have left. "You're right. I guess I should just tell you. Benny... Benny is in love with me."

She just stared at him. And then she laughed. "Okay, seriously, not the best prank you could have come up with, but still pretty funny."

"It's not a prank." Ethan said, offended. How dare she insult Benny's feelings that way! "He's in love with me."

"Come on, Ethan." she put a hand on her hip like she still didn't believe him.

"I'm telling you the truth! This is serious!" Ethan insisted. "Benny is in love with me and he just kissed me and I..." his voice got smaller, "I totally acted like it was no big deal. Oh my God, that's why he left. He finally kissed me and I acted like it meant nothing to me!"

"Didn't it?"

"What?"

"The kiss. Did it mean anything to you?"

"...No? I don't know. Shouldn't it? I mean, he's my best friend. He's been in love with me since sixth grade and he's been holding back all this time, trying to protect me and give me anything I want and then he finally kisses me and I can't even give him that one thing..."

"You don't owe him that." Sarah said. "If you don't feel the same way, I'm sure he didn't expect you to kiss him back."

"Well yeah, but... but I still... he's always been there for me and I've been trying to think of a way to show him how much I appreciate it and then that happens and I don't realize I could be making him really happy until he pushes me away."

"Because he doesn't want you to do something you don't want." Sarah offered, trying to sound comforting.

Ethan took a breath. He knew Sarah was only trying to help, but she wasn't really doing a good job. "I guess."

"So what else do you have to tell me?"

"Huh? Oh, right..." he shook his head in an attempt to organize his thoughts. Though separating the Benny-related ones from the non-Benny-related ones was proving to be a very difficult task since they were so closely interwoven. "I like you."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I know."

"You do?"

"Yep. It's pretty obvious."

"Oh..."

"But I'm glad." she stepped a little closer to him. "Because I like you too."

Ethan's jaw dropped. Benny was right. "Really?" He asked like a telemarketer just told him he could get a great deal on a new computer even if he had no credit.

"Uh-huh."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. I've liked you a lot for a while. And I knew you liked me right away, and that made me really happy. But I was afraid to tell you because I didn't know if... if I could be cured. And I didn't want to date a human until I was one again. And then when I became a full vampire, I thought I'd lost my chance forever. But then you got bitten. And I'm not saying that I'm happy you have to have this curse, but I am kind of happy because... now we can be together. If you want."

Wow. This was too much. He'd just almost killed his friend. Brought him back to life. Had his first kiss. With that best friend. And now his crush was telling him she liked him and wanted to be with him. How did they expect him to process this all at the same time? "Wow."

"Yeah." She nodded shyly, still not sure if Ethan still wanted her or not. "So, what do you say?"

"Say?"

"About us being a couple."

"Oh." Ethan blinked. "Okay."

"Yay!" she did a little happy jump and closed the distance between them, laying a light, brushing kiss on his lips.

Ethan didn't know what was different, but this kiss didn't really have much effect on him. It was just lips on lips. It didn't startle him or confuse him or make him light-headed or make him feel guilty like Benny's did. But it didn't really give him butterflies in his stomach or make him dizzy with emotion either. It was nice, but if this was what all kisses were supposed to be like, his imagination had severely overestimated their appeal. "Yay." He repeated her exclamation rather unexcitedly.

"Do you want to... fly together back to your house?"

"Sure. I guess." Ethan said, wondering why he wasn't exactly hyped about finally, finally getting Sarah to be his girlfriend.

Sarah smiled happily and grabbed his hand as they jumped into the sky.

X

The next morning Ethan was back at school. His parents had been brought out of his trance with no recollection of being in one. They didn't seem too concerned with the lost time, attributing it to simply zoning out.

As usual, Ethan had been waiting for Benny to show up at his house so they could walk the rest of the way to school, but it eventually it became so late that he had to leave without him.

So now he was waiting by his locker, keping his eyes peeled for stripes and a messenger bag. When he felt someone tap him on the shoulder from behind. He turned around and, before he could see who it was, he felt a pair of lips press against his. He instantly knew it was Sarah, because he was feeling that same feeling of a banal connection he'd felt the night before.

"Finally!" A too-familiar voice came from behind them.

Ethan disconnected from Sarah immediately and spun around, feeling like the worst friend ever when he saw Benny standing there, a smile sitting naturally on his face. "Benny..."

"Dudes, you guys are totally perfect for each other." Benny stated with a happy grin. "This is awesome! I'm glad you guys finally did it. Well not it, but got together I mean."

Ethan blushed at Benny's words. Though they didn't really seem to bother Sarah.

"Thanks, Benny." Sarah said sincerely. "I'm glad the best friend approves."

Benny nodded. Of course he approved. He was happy for Ethan. And Sarah. But that didn't mean it wasn't hard to see.

"Benny..." Ethan repeated.

"Why do you look stressed out, E?" Benny asked. "A beautiful girl who you just happen to be in love with just kissed you."

Ethan looked over at Sarah, who seemed like she was waiting for something. Was he supposed to do something? Say something? He didn't really know. "Benny, just-"

"Oh," Benny interrupted him, "I just remembered, I have to go to the main office. We're getting an exchange student from France and they want me to be his guide while he's here."

"Cool." Ethan said. "I'll go with you."

Benny furrowed his brow. "But... Sarah..." he pointed to her.

"Oh, it's fine." She said happily. "We'll have plenty of time to talk later."

"Thanks." Ethan smiled at her. "Let's go." He began walking toward the office.

Benny caught up to him and walked by his side. "You don't have to come with me."

"I want to." Ethan nodded. "I didn't know you were doing this."

"That's because I didn't tell you."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay. It's not like we tell each other everything or anything like that."

"I just found out about it last night. Gramma told me the school called. The girl they were going to have do it said she didn't want to anymore. So they asked me."

"Oh. Sorry." Ethan said, angry with himself for jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"It's okay." Benny said, not sounding angry at all.

There was a short awkward silence. So Ethan decided to fill it with awkward conversation. "So... about this whole thing with Sarah..."

To his surprise, Benny smiled a little. "I'm happy for you two."

Ethan looked at him, seeing his lips curved in an easy smile. "You really are." He sounded confused. Because he was.

"Of course I am. I told you I've been rooting for you."

"But isn't it... doesn't it hurt... at all?"

"Sure it does." Benny gave a little nod, avoiding Ethan's eyes. "Weren't you listening to me at all? She makes you happy. That's been my goal, but if someone else can make you happier than I can, I have to let them."

Ethan felt goosebumps brush along his arms and back at Benny's words. "You do make me happy, Benny. You always have..."

Benny shook his head. "Not like she will."

"But... we haven't even been going out for twenty four hours yet! How can you be so sure she'll make me happier than you can?"

"Because I've seen the way you look at her. I know that look, Ethan. She makes you happy. And if things work out, which I think they will, she's only going to keep making you happier and happier. You're a couple now. You're going to get to know everything about each other. You're gonna be really close to her. Probably closer than you are to me."

"What?" Ethan asked suddenly, stopping in his tracks. "What did you say?"

"I said," Benny stopped and looked into his eyes, "that one day you're going to be closer to her than you are to me."

Ethan's blood was boiling. He didn't want that. No one could take Benny's place. And no one could be put ahead of him. Not even Sarah. "And you're just going to stand back and let that happen?" he asked angrily.

"Let it happen?" Benny asked. "I want it to happen."

"What? Why?" I thought you loved me.

"Because that's what happens when someone's in love with you and you love them back. You become almost like one person because you get so close. I mean, you don't lose your friends, I'm not saying we're not going to be like this." Benny laughed. "I'd like to see her try and stop us from hanging out. But your true love is like... your ultimate best friend. There's a special spot in your heart reserved just for them."

Ethan stared at him. "Where do you get this stuff?" he asked softly.

Benny shrugged. "I don't know."

"Romance novels?" Ethan asked. No answer. "Fanfiction? Movies? Telenovellas?"

The other boy simply shrugged again.

"Did you just come up with it on your own?"

Another shrug. "Maybe. It really doesn't matter."

"You're amazing. Why would you waste that kind of romantic stuff on me when you could be using it to get anyone you want?"

Benny blinked. "Because I don't want anyone."

Ethan swallowed. "Well, when you do find someone... don't forget all that."

A solemn smirk crept its way across Benny's face. "I wouldn't."

"Good..." Ethan said, looking away. Then he started walking silently again towards the office. They were there within a couple of steps.

Benny pushed the door open. He saw a shortish figure facing away from him, leaning over the front desk pointing to something on a piece of paper. A secretary was explaining something to him in a hushed tone. He had short, curly hair, a sandy color that looked almost coarse to the touch even though it was obviously silky smooth. His thin frame was accented by a long green shirt with a few gold stripes and a pair of blue jeans.

"There he is now." the secretary said when she caught sight of Benny.

The figure turned around, locking eyes with Benny, who was staring right back at him. "Hello," the boy said in a slight French accent, "I'm Raoul, the exchange student from France." He stuck his hand out to Benny.

Without even thinking about it, and without removing his eyes from Raoul's, he reached out and shook his hand. "Yeah. Hi. I'm... um..."

"Benny." Ethan said, giving him a confused look

"Right!" Benny said, pointing a finger to nowhere in particular. "I'm Benny, and I'll be showing you around and helping you out while you're here."

Raoul smiled, their hands still connected and moving up and down together. "Great. Well here is my schedule." He let go of Benny's hand, retrieved the paper from the secretary's hand, and handed it over to Benny. "Could you show me to my classes?"

"Sure." Benny said, reading over the schedule. "We have the first one together, so we can go there now if you want."

"That sounds good. Thank you."

"No problem. It's this way." Benny pulled the door open once again, holding it open as Raoul walked through it into the hallway. "You coming, Ethan?" He turned his head to look at his best friend. "Woah, are you okay?"

Ethan's face was completely white, and his eyes were wide, like someone had just run over his puppy. "I'm fine." he insisted, slapping his face softly a few times to bring the blood back. "You just... go on without me. I'll be there soon."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Ethan's voice broke.

"Kay..." Benny looked worried, but left the office anyway and walked Raoul to their first class of the day.

Ethan stood there, bewildered and horrorstruck as he watched Benny walk away from him, talking happily with the exchange student. With a familiar twinkle in his eye.