Hidden Chapter Of Things Fall Apart: Chapter 11: Ben's First Day?

A/N: This chapter goes directly AFTER Chapter 10: Asteria's First Day! I decided to add a little explanation as to why Ben and Juno are moving so quickly. Hopefully this will answer your questions! Feel free to look back at Chapter 10 to refresh your memory. Remember: this chapter is going BACK IN TIME, it is NOT THE LOCK-IN! Just letting you know :) Enjoy!

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Ben

Asteria sits next to me at the lunch table, completely speechless. Girls are completely insane, I swear. Except Juno, of course.

All I’ve done is ask Asteria if Juno is coming to the Lock-In on Friday, and she seems... like, dead or something. I wave a hand in front of her face.

“Asteria?” She shakes her head at her salad, then composes herself. Okay, good, she’s moving. Phew!

“Yes, of course she’s coming to the Lock-In, Ben, why would you ask that?” she asks with a painted-on smile. Okay good, she’s fine, look, she’s smiling. That’s a good start.

“Well...” Suddenly the table goes silent and Asteria’s little minions are staring at us. “Uhm.”

“Guys, could you give us some privacy?” Asteria asks in a sickly sweet voice. She’s so nice to her friends. I smile. “Thank you,” she says as Henrietta and Lindsay lead the pack away from the table. She turns back to me with that smile.

“What were you saying?”

I clear my throat. My heart’s pounding like crazy. Just say the words, Ben, I think to myself. You’ve rehearsed this. You can do this.

I open my mouth to speak but before I can say anything, Asteria squeals like she’s just landed some great One Direction tickets. Man, those guys are talented. Wait, what?

“Yes, I’ll go out with you!” she squeaks. She jumps up and down in her seat. I’m confused.

“No, Asteria, I’m not asking you out,” I say over her excitement. She stops, her smile disappearing. It’s now or never.

“Look, Asteria,” I begin. “I’ve had a crush on Juno for, like, three years, like, since freshman year, and I need your help to, uhm, make the Lock-In special for her.”

I say it all in a rush, but I’ve never felt so sure about anything I’ve ever said. Asteria doesn't seem to understand, I guess, because her eyebrows are scrunched together the way they do when Henrietta says something stupid– which is often.

“Wha...” she cries. “What?”

“I’ve had a crush on Juno since freshman year,” I say simply. The words seem to come way easier once I start. “Every year for Valentine’s Day, she’s gotten an anonymous white carnation, right?”

At Meltdown, people give money to the Kind People’s Club to give carnations to people every Valentine’s Day. Red for love, white for secret admirer and pink for friendship. Sort of like those candy canes in Mean Girls (and if the football team ever asks, I’ve never seen that movie. Got it?)

“That was you?” she gasps. “I thought it was Oliver Garfield!”

“Oliver Garfield?” I say with a laugh. Oliver Garfield is a nerd from the robotics team that’s had a crush on Asteria since the fifth grade. But I wasn’t about to say that. “No, it was always me.”

Asteria is at a loss for words. I want to ask if she’ll help me but I think she needs some time to recuperate. I sink back into my thoughts while she finds her words.

Ninth grade, Juno started letting her hair grow out, and wearing it to the left side instead of down the middle. She started wearing makeup, which is nice and all I guess, but if I told her she didn’t need it, she’d never believe me. Ninth grade, she stopped growing, leaving her adorably shorter than me. Tenth grade, she got her braces taken off. On a Wednesday in May, she laughed at one of my jokes for the first time. I’d heard her laugh before, of course, but this laugh was directed at something I’d said and that was when I knew I wanted to make her laugh all the time– or, at least, as much as I could. I’m not very funny. In junior year, she came to prom in the most stunning sea-blue dress I’d ever seen, with a pretty, conservative neckline and thin spaghetti straps and a gorgeous slit up to just past her knee. I remember standing next to Asteria for pictures, being told to smile for the camera. All I did was smile at Juno, even though she couldn’t see me. I wish she had. God, I wish she had.

Asteria starts speaking.

“If you... If you want to impress Juno,” she says finally, in a dead voice far removed from the sweet voice she used with her friends, “set up a picnic. Juno loves picnics.”

“Will you help me?” I ask in a rush. I’m desperate at this point. I’m about as romantic as a tree stump.

“I’ll keep her from seeing or talking to you all week to give you time to set it up,” Asteria says. She looks a little upset but that’s probably just because she doesn’t want to keep Juno from me all week. She’s always thinking of other people.

“Thank you, Asteria,” I say. I start to put an arm around her shoulder. “Thank you so much, you’re such a good–”

“Don’t,” Asteria snaps suddenly. I take my arm back. Asteria decides something and then says, “Thank me. Don’t thank me, Ben. I’m all about helping my friends.” She smiles that smile again and I match it with my own.

“This is going to be awesome,” I say, my smile growing into a stupid grin. Asteria agrees quietly.