45 ~ Sweet as a Happy Ending-1

Chapter 45: Sweet as a Happy Ending Ben wouldn't tell me where he was taking me for our first date, but I expected as much. He wouldn't even meet up with me beforehand because he wanted to build the suspense, and something about not being able to keep a secret when I stared at him like he was a murderer. I didn't know what he meant by that, but then again Ben said a lot of things that took me a while to comprehend. I didn't really know what to do throughout the day, though. I was so used to hanging out with somebody, like Ben or Ginny or even Zach that being alone was the epitome of boring. I thumped my head against my bed for a minute before I realised that wasn't taking up as much time as I hoped. I picked up my phone and called Clark, because I was running out of options. "Hey, Charlie!" he greeted. "What's up?" "I'm bored and Benny won't hang out with me," I said. "Aw, is Benny being a real meaner?" he teased, and I heard a thump on the other end, followed by Clark's rather high-pitched cry. "Don't fucking call me Benny, jackass," Ben growled, his voice muffled through the phone. I smiled at the sound of his characteristic violence. One day, he'd try and beat up someone who'd turn out to be a black belt in karate and would then beat him up, and I wouldn't do anything but laugh. Maybe cry a little if he got hurt, but mostly laugh. "How come she can call you Benny and I can't?" Clark whined. I giggled, because he sounded rather out of breath, as if Ben was sitting on his poor chest. "She just can, okay?" Ben muttered. My smile widened at that, and I had to bury my face in my pillow to keep from squealing like a high school girl. To be fair, that had never stopped me before, but at this particular moment, I didn't want to embarrass Ben. "Sorry, Charlie-poo, but Benny-boy over here is threatening to eviscerate me, and I do rather like my nether region, so I gotta blast!" "Do. Not. Call. Me-" The call ended before I could hear the rest of Ben's fury-filled sentence, and I shook my head, laughing. But now what to do? I didn't know where Ginny was. As per usual. Maybe I could call Zach? I haven't heard from him in a while. I felt guilt crawl up my chest. Okay, maybe that was my fault for neglecting him. I rolled over onto my side and dialed his number, but it took a while for someone to pick up. "Hey, Zach," I said softly. "How are you?" "Er...sorry, who is this?" I blinked, perplexed to her this confused feminine voice on the other end. She sounded American, actually. That was cool. "Sorry," I apologised quickly. "Is Zach there?" "Yeah...but still. Who is this?" "Carie, who is that?" I heard Zach's familiar grumble and I sighed in relief. "I don't know. Some girl," Carie said. I bit my lip, trying to hold back my laughter. The line was blank for a minute before Zach said, "Hello?" "Zach, it's Charlie." "Oh! Hey, Charlie!" he exclaimed, surprised. "How are you?" "I'm okay, I just called to see what was up. Is Carie a new girlfriend?" He chortled. "I really shouldn't say anything here, when," and here his voice became a whisper, "when she's right here." "You're so weird," I said cheerily. "Why don't you date somebody you like, like Ginny?" "Ah, Charlie, how I missed your nosiness." "Come on, Zach!" "I'll text you, okay?" His voice lowered into a whisper again. "I can't talk about this in front of Carie." I burst out laughing, unable to take it anymore. "Zach and Carie!" I cried. "Zach-Carie, oh, it's perfect!" I couldn't stop laughing, because the perfection of the two names put together was doing me in. It was too good. Zachary. Zach-Carie. Amazing. "There's no way you can break up, now! You'll be missing an opportunity!" "Shut up, pest," he said, amused. "How's little ol' Grumps?" Of course I immediately knew who he was talking about. "Ben," I emphasised, even though I couldn't help but giggle at the nickname, "is doing great. We're going on a date tonight!" I said the last part almost as a shout, because I was just so excited! It was exciting! He made a weird sound at my screech, but returned the favour by screaming, "Wow!" right back. I jumped a little, my ear buzzing. "Oh, you be quiet," I said. "Sorry, Charlie, but seriously, that's awesome. He finally grew some balls." "He always had them," I defended Ben. He always was protecting me, and even though it sometimes bugged me that I couldn't usually do it myself without dying, I appreciated it. Zach laughed. "Yes, I know he does, I'm aware how biology works." My cheeks turned warm at his comment, and even though he wasn't actually here, I had to hide my face. "Anyways, it was good talking to you, pest, but I need to drop Carie off at work." "Okay," I said, sighing that the second person I tried to talk to had to leave so soon. "But I'll talk to you soon, okay? No forgetting me because of that hairy beast, right?" "Zach!"