Chapter One
The next week Bennett’s mind still buzzed with not so subtle hints from his friends. Once his change in behavior became too obvious to ignore, the girls finally decided to try and pull Beatriz into the mix. While the boys had a scrimmage after school, Heaven gathered up Meagan and even invited Andrew’s friend Sola since it seemed as though she was having a difficult time adjusting to college. She sounded ecstatic over phone and was happy to oblige, even after hearing Heaven’s plan.
“I didn’t take you for a schemer,” Sola said as she joined them in the bleachers facing the field.
“I’m not scheming,” Heaven said in her defense. “I’m helping two people – who I know are in love – find romance.”
“Is that how Clark worded it?” Sola asked.
“Please,” Meagan said, “as if Clark could be so eloquent.”
“Some men aren’t good with words,” Heaven said. “The point is we’re doing this to help our friends.”
“You make it sound so Shakespearean,” Meagan said, grinning happily. She could tell that Bennett and Clark disapproved of her friendship with Heaven, but they were on the field and she on the sidelines, so there wasn’t much that could be done about it. “So what is my part in this romantic experiment?”
“Bea’s inside studying in the library—” Heaven began.
“As always,” Meagan chipped in, trying to be funny but the other two girls frowned at her.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to educate yourself,” Sola said. “Trust me, at college the most important thing you need to have is self-control and Beatriz is already amazing with that.”
Meagan rolled her eyes. “Just tell me the plan,” she said.
“Run inside and let Bea know that Sola and I are gossiping about her,” Heaven said.
“Would she even believe me?” Meagan asked.
“I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t,” Sola said.
“Do you want to go?” Heaven asked Sola. “Maybe it would make more sense if you were the one who went in to tell her. Meagan is more likely to gossip than you are.”
“Hey!” Meagan squealed but then lowered her head. “All right, so maybe that would be a bit more believable.”
“Yes!” Heaven yelled, standing up on the bleacher and pumping her fist into the air.
“What’re you doing?” Meagan asked.
“Didn’t you see my Clark?” Heaven said. “That was amazing!”
“What was amazing?” Sola asked.
“Oh…never mind,” Heaven said, taking her seat. “But yes, now that I think about it, Sola, you could head into the library and talk to Bea. Tell her Meagan’s gossiping and you don’t like it when people talk about others when they’re not around to defend themselves.”
“She’ll believe it,” Meagan said.
“Unless…” Sola said, trailing off with a smile, looking out from the corner of her eye. “Unless I’m mistaken, is that Bea sneaking out from school?”
“To watch the game?” Meagan asked.
“Don’t look,” Heaven hissed as she tried to keep the girls focused. “She must still be confused with the way Bennett’s been acting towards her lately. I bet she’s here to watch him play.”
“How lucky are we?” Meagan hissed. “Should we start?”
“Hecks yes,” Heaven said, smiling as she watched Beatriz walk up behind the grandstand and position herself under the bleachers nearby in a spot where she could watch the field while remaining hidden.
“Bennett’s already weird around Bea,” Sola whispered to Heaven so that even Beatriz could not hear. “We only have to bait Beatriz and then maybe they’ll be dating before Halloween.”
“I agree,” Heaven whispered back. “Let’s not waste time.” Raising her voice a bit, she turned to Sola with a scornful look. “I can’t believe that Bennett’s making such a fool of himself in front of her. Bea can be so harsh sometimes. She’s mean to him, laughing behind his back I’m sure.”
“Does he really even care about her?” Sola asked. “The vibe I got at the diner was that they couldn’t stand each other.”
“Bennett plays along with Beatriz’s silliness,” Heaven said, “but trust me when I say he cares about her. Clark told me.”
“Did you tell her about it?” Sola asked.
“They wanted me to say something but I talked them out of it. If Clark and Donnie really care as much for their friend as I think they do, they’ll keep quiet about the whole thing.”
“Why would you tell them to keep it a secret?” Sola asked, pretending to become upset as she saw movement below them out of the corner of her eye.
“Bennett’s used to brooding,” Heaven said. “He’ll be able to keep this information to himself.”
“That isn’t fair,” Sola said. “Don’t you think Bennett shouldn’t have to be brooding all the time? I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of sexy, but if there’s someone out there who can actually make him smile, then who are we to stop him? Bea seems nice, despite her mouth.”
“I know Bennett deserves to be happy,” Heaven said. “Do you think we enjoy seeing him with that dark cloud following him around? Bea would never accept his love, nor should she. She still hasn’t forgiven him for what he did two years ago—”
“What happened?”
“Please, Sola,” Heaven said, looking pained, “I don’t want to talk about it again even though Bea isn’t here. She was destroyed…the point is that Bea’s still bitter about it and refuses to believe that Bennett can change. Bennett knows that she can’t take him back because she actually likes arguing more than being happy. He says she’s full of herself and he’s fine with that. He’s fine to oblige her with occasional arguments because he knows that no one else can match her in wit. She probably doesn’t even understand what love is at this point.”
“That’s so sad,” Sola said in a soft voice. “Could you imagine what Bea would do to that poor boy in love?”
“Make fun of him, I suppose,” Heaven said. “She’d take his words and turn them back against him, living in the past as she always does.”
“I couldn’t imagine Bennett being able to take the full brunt of her words,” Meagan said, shuddering at how the woman could spit words like fire and ice for effect.
“If anyone can, it’s him,” Sola said.
“I’ve tried to set her up with other guys on the team but she couldn’t be less interested! If he’s tall, she complains; if he’s short, she complains. If he’s athletic she says he reminds her of Bennett, but if he doesn’t care for sports she becomes upset because he’s nothing like Bennett. She doesn’t want a dark-skinned man because he looks like Bennett and a fair-skinned man makes her forget about him. Ugh! She drives me crazy. She doesn’t want him to be shy, but she doesn’t want him talking all the time. So here we have it girls, a woman who won’t show interest in anyone because they either remind her too much or not enough of Bennett.”
“I hate girls like that,” Meagan said. “So finicky.”
“We have girls in college like that,” Sola said. “They pick apart a guy until he’s nothing but a list of terms.”
“Maybe one of you could tell her that she’s being finicky?” Heaven asked. “If I told her, she’d rip me apart because I know deep down she thinks she’s smarter than me.” Heaven tried to keep her voice steady, worried that this might have been taking the joke too far, but she wanted to keep Bea’s attention. “She might listen to you, Sola.”
“Oh no! I’m not going to tell her that!” Sola exclaimed. “Though I agree that Bea should at least know about how Bennett truly feels. It seems unfair to the both of them. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad?”
“I think it’d be worse,” Meagan chided.
“I have to agree with Meagan,” Heaven said, sighing dramatically. “Oh! Go Clark!” she screamed as he dribbled down the field. “Go, baby, go!”
“Who cares about this
stupid game?” Beatriz grumbled to herself from under the bleachers. “What are you guys going to do about Bennett?” She stole a look at Bennett on defense, looking handsome as always, though she would rather die than say so aloud. “Am I really that finicky?” she whispered, remembering her friend’s words.
“But no,” Heaven said loudly after Clark had the ball stolen from him. “I think you’re right, Meagan, though I hate to admit it. I’ll talk to Bennett and let him know to hide his feelings because she’ll never return them. Maybe I’ll just tell him that Bea has found another man a few years older than him…that will kill him.”
“You shouldn’t do that,” Sola said. “I’m sure that Bea would be willing to give Bennett another chance despite what he did to her in the past. They were both a lot younger. People make mistakes. As smart as Bea is, I would hate to think she wouldn’t even consider giving Bennett a second chance. He seems like he’s good for her.”
“No other man would suit her as well,” Heaven agreed. “But he still doesn’t have anything on Clark.”
Sola looked at the field, glancing at Clark and then at Bennett, clearing her throat. “I hope you don’t think I’m rude for saying this Heaven, because I’m not interested in either of them, but Bennett is much more my style than Clark.”
“How?” Heaven asked.
“His looks—”
“Clark looks great!”
“Clark’s a fine looking boy,” Sola corrected, eliciting a smile from Meagan. She must have agreed. “While Clark’s certainly grown up over the summer, he still looks like another pretty boy to me. He’s still too pretty to be taken seriously as a man. I’d worry about breaking him.”
“Sola!” Meagan blurted out, enjoying where the conversation was headed. “Finally we’re speaking the same language. A boy like Clark may not know what to do with a woman—”
“He knows,” Heaven said defensively. “I can’t help it if you guys can’t see it. I like him just the way he is.”
“Bennett’s also damn smart,” Sola went on. “I heard that he’s applying to an Ivy League school and he could graduate earlier—”
“Is going to an Ivy League really a true measure of intelligence?” Heaven asked, wondering if he could really afford college. Like Bea’s family, Bennett’s family was just getting by, and Ivy League might be a little out of his grasp.
“Plus he’s an amazing soccer player,” Meagan said, looking at Bennett’s thighs as he blasted a free kick off the crossbar. “I wonder what’s under those shorts—”
“He does have a nice body…” Heaven said.
“Well he earned that body from what I’ve heard,” Sola said. “From what I know, he worked out like crazy all summer making sure he was in shape for the season—”
“He only did that so he wouldn’t have to give up smoking,” Meagan said.
“I still wish he’d quit,” Bea whispered from under the bleachers.
“We’re talking too much about Bennett,” Heaven said. “We’re talking about him as though he were a piece of meat.”
“And what a tender cut of meat he is,” Meagan said hungrily.
“A prime rib if I ever saw one.”
“Enough,” Heaven said as a whistle sounded loudly. “Halftime,” she said, smiling as she stood up and caught a glimpse of Beatriz trying to hide her whereabouts. “Let’s get something to drink. I could go for a pop.”
As they walked down the bleachers and toward the concession stand, Sola and Heaven looked pleased.
“I think we got to her,” Sola said. “And it even worked with me talking and Meagan remaining silent.”
“For once,” Heaven said.
“It worked though – Meagan’s silence ensured that she was listening,” Sola said. “I’m sure she fell for it.”
Heaven smiled. “Maybe Cupid not only carries a bag of arrows, but snares as well.”
The girls giggled, turning to look back at the bleachers only to see Bea slowly walking back toward the school and back to her studies.
Crossing her arms, Beatriz shook her head as she entered the school and leaned her back up against the door. “I can’t believe that’s how my friends see me,” she said. “I’ve always been nice to Heaven and I never once said I was smarter than her. I…I can’t believe that Bennett would be willing to get back together with me.”
Her eyes widened with realization.
“So that’s why he was acting so creepy last week. So it’s true. He wants me to take him back. God, I hope Heaven and Sola don’t talk about me like that to Bennett, and Meagan better keep her damn mouth shut. I guess I could try to be nicer to Bennett so he’ll tell me how he feels.” She smiled. “I just may take you back, Bennett,” she said, walking back to the library. “And not only because of what I just heard.”