Lisa laughed harder than Ben thought she should, but he couldn’t say anything because he meant for her to laugh when he told her about fighting Gene over who got to do the dishes, so… yeah.
The two of them sat on his bed together. He liked that because sometimes he could hold her hand. Sometimes he couldn’t because she’d start waving hers around. Not like she didn’t want him to touch her or anything, because as soon as she was done talking, she’d grab his hand again.
“And you actually wore the apron?!”
“Yes.”
“Oh. My. Gawd!” She put her hands up on her chest and started laughing again.
“It isn’t that funny,” Ben muttered. He manfully made himself stop looking at her hands, and what was right under them. He didn’t want to get too excited or anything. “Besides, I had to do the dishes. I need every point I can get.”
“Point? Don’t you mean dollar?”
“No. Mom’s got us on this point system. She said she didn’t trust us to spend the money before we had enough to get our things – you know, my computer and his guitar.” Ben shrugged.
“I don’t get it.”
“I don’t either. Anyway, she says we can cash the points out at fifty cents a point if we change our minds about getting our things, or at a dollar a point if we switch to something else, but if we stick with it all the way we can have two dollars a point. Mrs. Audrey says Mom is subsidizing me. So I’ve been looking at advertisements in the newspaper for Best Buy and stuff, trying to figure out what I should get.”
“Wow. That is so cool that you can get yourself a computer this way. I’ve been begging my mother for one, but she says they are too expensive. So I’ve been saving up my allowance, but it’s going to take years at this rate. Hey, what did Mrs. Audrey say about your writing.”
“Nothing,” Ben said real quiet. He didn’t really want to talk about it. He’d only talked to Mrs. Audrey for a minute or two in front of Woodman’s grocery store. He told her all about how he couldn’t write because of what happened to his flash drive. All she said was to come see her in a couple of weeks, but the way she looked at him made him uncomfortable.
“What did you show her?” Lisa’s eyes got all bright.
“Nothing. It wasn’t like that.”
“Well, what are you going to show her?”
“Would you leave me alone?!” Ben flung himself from his bed. Did she have to keep picking at a sore spot? Except she wouldn’t know it was a sore spot, right. So, maybe he should be a little nicer. “I’m sorry.”
“What’s wrong?” Lisa came over, put her hand on his shoulder. She looked all concerned.
“I’m not writing. OK? I can’t because I don’t have my computer yet. I have to hurry up and get the points, so that’s what I’ve been doing instead.”
“Wait. Why can’t you write in your notebooks like you used to?”
“I… That’s because… Uh… You just don’t understand.” Ben wasn’t too clear on it himself, but he was absolutely sure it was true. After all, hadn’t he already tried?
“If you ask me, it’s just and excuse.” She gave him a look like he was nothing but a bug – an ant on the sidewalk just begging to be stomped. He could feel his face get red, but she wasn’t even looking at him anymore. She just walked out.
Well, he’d show her! He grabbed a notebook off his desk and sat down to write.
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