Gwen's Kitchen

September 9, 2000

2:10 PM

"What should we do now? I think I've pretty well clobbered you enough on games for today. Got any ideas?" Ben said as he finished mopping up the last of the spilled lemonade.

Gwen snorted. "What?! Were we even on the same planet for the last hour and a half? I distinctly remember someone getting his butt handed to him on the last game!" she cried in feigned outrage.

"You can't be serious! One game out of, how many? Three? Four? And you only won that one because you used cheat codes!" He threw some soggy paper towels in the trash, then turned to glare at her.

Well, he tried to glare, anyway, but it had less intensity than an angry hamster. "Snnrrkkk!" Gwen couldn't hold back her laugh, even with both hands over her mouth. "Not my fault I found them before you did. It's your rule, Doofus! Don't be mad at me for being better at it." She got up from her chair and took the half dozen steps to stand in front of him, taking a quick look towards the hall to where her Dad was reading in the living room. He was absorbed in his book and her Mom was out running errands, so the coast was clear.

Gwen closed the last two feet separating them as she grinned back at his fading scowl, rested her palms on his chest and said softly "I'm a gracious winner, though. How about a consolation prize?" before giving him a short kiss. When she pulled her head back she smiled. "And a thank you for doing something sweet" she murmured.

Ben had his hands at her waist, also aware that they could bend their no-PDAs-in-the-house rule this time. He gave his best shot at keeping the fake outrage for a second, then admitted defeat, returning her smile. "No fair! I hate it when you play dirty like that." he replied, matching her volume.

"Suuure you do." she dragged out her reply. Her smile turned back into a smirk as she stepped back and looked out the kitchen window. It was another Chamber of Commerce day with a cloudless light blue sky, and just on the low end temperature-wise to be comfortable without needing a jacket.

"I think we should do something we're both lousy at. Just to even things up." she said, back to public volume.

"Such aaas..." Ben drawled, letting his arms fall to his sides.

"Mini-golf! ... Don't roll those eyes at me!" Gwen said as he cocked his head and did exactly that before scanning the ceiling for a different idea. "I don't want to be a couch potato all day! It's perfect outside, and with school really kicking in this will be the last weekend until Christmas without much homework." She fixed Ben with an earnest look as she made her case, and saw she wasn't convincing him. Time to amp up her persuasion.

"Come on, Doofus. It'll be fun!" she said, turning on her puppy dog look, as she dropped her chin and did her best to look up into his emerald eyes. Then she lowered her voice. "Besides, we can get away from the watchers for a while. Please?"

Ben's stony look dissolved into the goofy grin that it seemed only she could make happen. He shook his head in mock sadness and snorted softly. "Talk about playing dirty! I used to face down the worst bad guys in the galaxy, and you make me knuckle under in ten seconds with just a pitiful look!" He shrugged, consigned to his fate. "Ooh Kaay."

"Yay!" Gwen let out a short, happy squeal and grabbed his left hand, pulling him towards the doorway to the living room. They both let go before the last step took them where her Dad could see them; it hadn't been all that unusual for Gwen to take his hand before summer started, but him actually holding hers would definitely raise some eyebrows.

"Daddy, we're going to play mini-golf" she announced as they rounded the corner. "OK?"

Frank looked up from his book at two expectant faces and blinked, considering her statement. Her last word sounded like she was asking permission, but they all knew better. "Mini-golf? Where?"

"The one at the arcade, Uncle Frank" Ben answered.

"You don't need to drive us, we'll ride our bikes. And we'll be back by 6:30." Gwen added.

"You're caught up with homework?"

"Uh huh" "We finished a couple hours ago" both kids answered at the same time.

Frank was silent for fifteen or twenty seconds. Not that he was actually considering saying no to his daughter's demand. It was just fun to see them squirm a little in the silence. "Make it 6, and don't be late or you'll hear about it from your mother. Both of you." Frank smiled briefly as his nephew visibly shuddered. How his loving wife could so completely intimidate the otherwise cocky, overbearing boy without even being in the house was a constant source of entertainment.

"Thanks Daddy!" "Thanks Uncle Frank!" "You're the best!" came simultaneous voices again.

The smiles on their faces were worth whatever annoyance Lili may hit him with. "Yeah, yeah, until the next time I say no. Have fun, and be good."

— X —

"Paul!" He didn't often hear his name in stereo, and when he did it was usually during karate class. Even though that wasn't happening any more - and even as he had that thought, he was pretty sure it wasn't a permanent situation - he recognized the two voices. He took a couple steps backwards to his left to face them as a grin spread on his face.

"Hey Gwen! Shorty!" he called to the two approaching him. "The people you meet on a Saturday afternoon. What are you guys doing here?"

His friends closed the last ten feet and stopped, shoulders brushing against each other. For a second as he turned around he could have sworn their hands were together, too, but he must have been projecting as another glance showed Ben's were in his pockets.

"Um, we're gonna play mini golf, then hang around the arcade for a while. Same as you?" Ben said uncertainly. His eyes flickered from the two dinged up putters on the counter to Paul's right hand, up an arm connected to the smaller left hand he was holding, then over the rest of the strawberry blond girl it was attached to standing next to him, and finally back to Paul.

The older boy let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I guess that must be pretty obvious, huh?" He turned to look at the girl to his right, "Oh, sorry. Sheila, this is Gwen and Ben."

She turned from Paul to the shorter boy and girl with a noncommittal smile. "Nice to meet you." None of them said anything for a few seconds before she added "Um, where do you all know each other from? I don't remember seeing you at school?"

Paul was surprised by Gwen's reaction - her face had a distinct pink flush as she answered with an uncharacteristic timidity. "No, you wouldn't. We go to different schools."

"We're all in the same karate class at the dojo. You know, the one I pointed out on the way here?" Paul cleared that up. "Or we were, until Ben abandoned us to be the star goalkeeper on his soccer team, amazingly enough. Turns out size isn't the only thing for being good at that position. Huh, Squirt?" he said with a grin.

Gwen's confidence surfaced as she got protective. "He didn't abandon us, Paul. He just ..." she tried to finish through a semi-scowl before Ben interrupted.

"Yeah, Coach says I have spring-loaded ankles. I just had to spread around my awesomeness. You guys were doing ok, but the team was seriously messed up until I got there." he smirked.

Gwen turned on him with a shocked and annoyed look, then pushed his shoulder, hard enough to make him take a couple steps to recover. "Oh, for pete's sake! Real nice, Doofus! I'm trying to stick up for you and you're stepping all over me with delusions!" She glared at her cousin while he shrugged his shoulders and the smirk turned into a sheepish grin. Paul shook his head with an indulgent smile at their familiar antics - the Gwen he was used to was still there.

Sheila watched them all with a bemused look. "You two are something else! ... Hey, since we're all just getting started, why don't you play along with us?" She turned to Paul. "OK with you, Paulie?"

"Hey, yeah! That's a great idea! What do you say" he asked them.

Gwen got that flushed look again and said "Really? I, um, I don't know..." as she looked at Ben - who was suddenly equally flustered - silently asking what they should do.

"Yeeaahh, we don't want to, uh, get in your way..." he stammered.

"Psshht! Don't worry about that. Come on! It'll be fun." Paul insisted.

"Well, if you're sure" Ben said as he and Gwen finished their non-verbal conversation, ending it with Gwen mouthing 'Paulie' with a questioning look. Ben shrugged his shoulders at her, equally confused.

"Great!" Paul said. "Get your stuff, we'll wait."

Gwen and Ben paid for their game and each grabbed a putter and ball. As the foursome walked to the start, Ben started the trash talk - big surprise! "So ... Paulie?", his voice rising at the end of the name.

Paul laughed "Figured you'd pick up on that. Sheila's family is Italian. Very Italian."

The older girl laughed as well. "I have an uncle on my mother's side from New York City with a heavy accent. That's what he calls Paul."

They got to the start of the first hole when Paul said "Girls first. Gwen, want to show us how?" and motioned for Gwen to start.

She bent over to put her purple ball on the worn astroturf and studied the first hole - a narrow ten foot stretch of level 'fairway' blocked by a barrier of stones with wide and narrow openings leading onto a wide 'green' area with a noticeable left to right downgrade. The cup was at the bottom of the green to the right of the fairway openings. Studying the geometry of the hole, Gwen figured the narrow opening would be the best one to use, but much harder to get through with one stroke. Gauging the distance to the openings, she bent at the waist to line up her putter behind the ball, feeling the fine gold chain at her neck creep out from the neckline of her t shirt. She hit the ball firmly, trying to get it close to the openings so she could hit a second shot through the smaller one, hopefully leaving the ball near the cup for a hole-in-three. Maybe four. She stepped up to her ball and hit it the way she planned, straightening up with a pleased look.

And of course, the dork had to rag on it. "Over thinking and playing it safe, brainiac? What a surprise!" Ben said with a smirk.

Gwen just smirked back. "OK, Tiger, let's see what you can do." she said. The guy's name was constantly in the news and the only pro golfer she could think of. She knew the sarcasm would probably be lost on her Doofus since he knew nothing about golf - he was more likely to take it as a compliment, the goofball, but Paul and his date would get it.

And he proved her right. Skipping the order Paul just laid out, Ben said "You're on! Watch and learn!" as he put his green ball on the 'tee' mat, took a quick look at the openings, and smacked his ball at the smaller one. It hit the stone barrier a foot to the left of it and rebounded back into the fairway, about two feet behind Gwen's ball. "Aw, man," he complained as he backed away from the tee, shooting daggers at Gwen, who didn't even tryto hold in her giggle before teasing "Try using the grip end like a cue stick next time, freakazoid! Might have better aim."

Sheila at least muffled her snort behind her left hand, then said "Go ahead, Paulie, I want to go last." Paul grinned at the blond girl, saying "Yeah, I thought you might, after that." He dropped a blue ball and waited for it to settle down, stepped around to hit it and looked at the openings, and hit the ball firmly at the wider one. It went about two feet into the green before arcing to the right from the slope, picking up speed and running past the cup to the flat area behind it. It stopped about a yard away, a very makeable second putt. "Did I learn the right lesson, Squirt? That looks closer to the hole than yours, but what do I know?"

Paul smirked as Gwen giggled again. "I really hate you both, you know that?" Ben glowered as they both laughed.

Sheila had been watching all of them, but if she felt like the outsider she didn't show it, laughing right along and earning a toxic sideways look from Ben for it. She walked a few feet past the tee mat, looking at the path her ball would have to take to get to the hole. As she headed back to the tee, she looked at Ben and told him "You had the right idea, but you didn't need to hammer the ball quite so hard." She put her ball down, placed her putter behind it and looked from the cup along the path back to the tee, then hit the yellow ball with a firm, smooth motion. It went straight at Ben's, then started arcing to the right as it approached the small opening. After just clearing it, the ball almost stopped, then started rolling directly at the cup, following the slope of the astroturf. Paul called out "Oh, she's gonna get it, ... get in the hole!" just as it went past it, missing by a couple inches but stopping less than a foot away.

"Ah, bugger!" he said, then grinned at his date. "Still, that's pretty much a gimme."

"Yep, that's a two I think." she smiled back as she walked past Ben to Paul, who fell in step with her and slipped his arm around her waist. They stopped near Ben's ball, and Paul said "Oh, guess I should have told you guys. Sheila plays on our school's varsity golf team.", smirking as Gwen and Ben caught up. "Almost a scratch player - she's got like a 13 handicap!"

"Paul, stop! That's nowhere near scratch." She said, then gave a short laugh at the blank look Ben and Gwen shared. "Besides, these two have no idea what that means." She gave them a good natured grin. "It just means that I usually play well in tournaments."

"Oh great! In other words, she's a ringer!" Ben complained as he and Gwen got to their balls.

"Only if we were playing a real game. Getting a good score at mini-golf is more luck than anything else." Sheila replied.

As if to make that point, Gwen lined up her putter again, shrugging her shoulders to keep the chain from slipping any more before tapping her ball towards the small opening. It barely went through, then started rolling slowly at the cup. As it got closer, Ben mimicked his friend. "Come on, keep going, keep going... " he said in a dramatic, low voice. The ball hit the flagpole sticking up from the cup, then dropped in. "It's in the hole!" he shouted as Gwen made a happy squeal, looking up at him with a small grin. Her attempt to hide her necklace had instead made the Keystone slip out from its usual spot behind her t shirt, so she reached to put it back as she straightened up.

"Looks like we know who the lucky girl is in this group" Paul said as Ben grinned at his cousin, then broke into a full smile as he saw her holding the polished red stone and bumped her shoulder with his. "Darn right!" he murmured to her as he stepped to his ball. She grinned back at him, and let her hand fall away from her neck, leaving the pendant on display. She had a pinkish color to her cheeks, Paul noticed, as Shiela nudged his arm with an odd smile. What's all that about, he wondered to himself.

After Ben hit his ball through the same opening - way too hard, making it zoom to the far side of the green, stopping a good six feet from the hole - Sheila walked next to Gwen, admiring the Keystone. "That's a pretty necklace, Gwen." she said. "It looks really good on you. It's a great color!"

"Thanks," the younger girl replied as her blush deepened at the compliment. "My D-, er, Ben gave it to me."

Shiela smiled. "He has good a good eye" she said as she got to her ball while Paul took the flag out, and tapped it in the cup.

The game continued the same way, as each of them had their share of lucky shots, as well as comically bad ones - intentional and otherwise - and they all enjoyed the time. Through it all Paul and Shiela would do things a couple on a date would do - hold hands, quick hugs, private conversations, even a few kisses to celebrate a hole in one or 'console' a particularly bad shot. Gwen found herself feeling a little jealous, wanting almost desperately to do things like that with her boyfriend - still a weird word to use for her Doofus - and wondered if he felt it, too. The pressure of keeping it between themselves was getting almost too hard to keep bottled up. Every once in a while Sheila would catch her eye, and give her an odd but friendly smile that made her feel.. better, somehow.

They almost blew their cover on the seventh hole. Gwen had smacked her ball off the tee too hard, and it bounced off an obstacle into some leafless bushes - Fall does affect Northern California, after all - stopping deep underneath shrubs with bare, pointy branches. When she got close to them, she groaned "Of course! They even have thorns! And the ball is too far back for the putter to reach." Gwen turned to the group following her. "I'll just leave it and you three can keep playing."

Before anyone else could speak, Ben took a quick look, then dropped to his stomach and started wiggling under the bush. "You don't need to do that, Dweeb, I've got it." He crawled three feet into the sharp branches, reaching his right arm with his putter to hook her ball. "Ouch!" he muttered as the sharp, prickly things dug into his arm. Gwen grimaced at the sound. "Be careful, Doofus".

Crawling backwards, the hem of his dark t shirt got caught on the branches, riding up his back leaving bare skin from his waist to his shoulders exposed to scratches from the needle sharp ends and thorns. When he was almost out, he tried to get up too quickly, dragging the branches roughly across his bare back. Gwen gasped at the bright red welts they left, including a couple gouges oozing drops of blood. He swore quietly as he yanked his shirt down and turned to face her, but he couldn't hide some deep scratches on his arms.

Gwen plucked some stray twigs from his hair as Sheila and Paul asked if he was OK. "Yeah, I'm fine" he grumbled, waving away their concern while patiently letting Gwen finish, flinching when she started to pull one out from underneath the neckline of his shirt. She ducked her head and used her other hand to pull the shirt away from his neck, saying "Ooh, sorry!" as she gingerly extracted the three inch bristly stem.

Ben held out her ball when she finished, then after she took it he put his left hand over some heavy scratches on his right arm. "Here you go, slugger! Try to remember were playing golf, not baseball, 'K?" he said with a grin.

Gwen raised her hand to swat him out of habit, then stopped when she got a good look at his arm, her eyes wide. Ben saw the beginning of a pink glow around it and quickly murmured "Can't do that here, Dweeb."

She doused the magic with a start, then said "Thanks, Ben! You didn't have to crawl back that far. We would have figured something out." and let her hand stop on his shoulder.

He shrugged. "Eh. One of the benefits of being a shrimp, I can fit in tight places" he said, grinning at Paul. "Can't argue with that, Runt" the blond boy said, grinning back.

"Don't say that!" Gwen scolded. "You're not a shrimp!" Then she leaned in to whisper in his ear "I'll make it feel better when we finish, Doofus." She was about to kiss his cheek before remembering where they were and who was watching, then pulled back with her cheeks matching the color of her hair.

Ben gave her a surprised look, then said "I think you're supposed to play your shot from here. And don't forget to add a penalty!" he smirked. Gwen rolled her eyes before glancing at Sheila, who was watching them with that odd smile again.

At the end of the game they stopped after returning the putters. Sheila smiled at them and said "Thanks for playing with us, you was fun! You two are a hoot!"

Ben and Gwen both returned her smile. "Yeah, thanks for asking us to" Gwen replied, as Ben chipped in "See you again sometime."

"See you next week", Paul said as he shared a solid high five with Ben before he and Shiela turned towards the parking lot. As Gwen and Ben walked to the arcade, they heard his date talking to Paul. "I thought you said they weren't dating!"

"Far as I know, they aren't. They've hung out together for as long as I've known Ben, but that's all."

"Tch! How is it guys never see the obvious? ..." The rest of their conversation faded as they got further away.

Gwen groaned as she covered her face with her hands. "Oh crap! How could she have caught on to us! We didn't even do anything!"

"It sounded like Paul didn't believe her. Maybe he'll just let it go." Ben said, looking at her while they walked. "Besides, would it be so bad if he didn't? Michelle knows, and the world just keeps on spinning."

Gwen sighed and let her hands drop, letting the brown haired boy take one in his. "I guess. It's not like he talks to our parents very often, so he's not likely to slip up with them. ... So you'd be OK if he knows?" It had been important to her for her friend to know about them; it was only fair for Ben to want the same thing.

Ben grinned back at her. "You bet! I want someone besides Army Girl to know you're more than just my best friend!"

"Well, maybe we... Wait. What?!" Gwen stopped abruptly at the edge of the path and grabbed his arm, pulling him to face her.

"That's the first time you've said that in English. You must really mean it." she said in a low, pleased voice, looking directly into his amazingly green eyes. Eyes that made her feel safe, even when they were arguing. Eyes that made her feel special. She hoped he saw the same when he looked into hers.

"Yeah. I do." Ben said, still grinning and matching her tone. And not looking away or trying to backtrack.

"And I'm... more ... than your best friend?" Gwen ducked her head, then felt her heart skip when Ben didn't answer right away.

He put his right hand to his neck, like he often did when he was uncertain about something, and the grin turned into a shy look. "Well, duh" he said softly. "I knew you were my best friend last October. But when I thought you were ... gone again ... I ..." He swallowed hard. "Even best friends go away sometimes. I never want to leave you." He stared at some distant place over her right shoulder, cheeks turning crimson, not exactly sure what he just admitted to, but having no doubts about what he said.

Gwen felt her eyes well up as she put her right hand to his cheek and gently made him look at her again. "Oh, Doofus..." she whispered. Then she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly with her head against his, feeling his arms surround her. "Me too" she murmured in his ear.

She wanted to say the words, the ones she heard her parents say to each other; she almost did. But she couldn't bring herself to do it, and if she had to force it, it couldn't be right. Could it?

Ben held her close, neither one in a hurry to let go, until a group of four or five people passed by. He cleared his throat and pulled back from the hug with an embarrassed smile. "Come on, Dweeb, we're blocking traffic." he said softly as he blinked hard a few times.

"We've still got time before we have to ride home." He said with a firmer tone. "Let's see what's new in the arcade. Jamie told me about this skiing game where two players race on a downhill course. You stand in the machine and control your avatar with your whole body! He said it was a blast." He took a deliberate breath and grinned. "We can play a video game and not be couch potatoes at the same time!"

Gwen leaned in and kissed his cheek, then stepped back with a sniffle, and took his hand. "Sounds like fun! Let's go find it." she said, pulling him towards the arcade entrance.

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