“Yeah it is. You said you weren’t interested, but then I told you to live a little and screw him.” He heaves a sigh. “Should’ve known better.”
“Nobody knows the future. If we could, we’d all be millionaires.”
“Still…”
I raise an eyebrow. This is a little too strong of a reaction to my old romance gone wrong.
Bennie’s phone rings. He scowls at it but doesn’t pick up.
“Who is it?”
His lips purse. “Drew.”
“Soo…why aren’t you answering?”
Bennie and Drew are inseparable. Or were, anyway, until I left for Thailand. Then I recall how oddly Bennie behaved when we were on the phone earlier.
“It’s complicated.”
“Maybe I can make it less complicated.” I rest an elbow on the back of the couch and cup my chin in my hand. “Come on, talk to me. Is Drew upset that you’re going back to the States?”
“Like he has any reason to be mad. He’s going back to England.”
“What…? When was this decided?”
“Right after you left. Apparently, Mum wants him back home. He asked me to go with him, but I don’t know. Flying to Europe is expensive, and it seems ridiculous to go all the way there just to…” He shrugs.
“You might like it,” I say carefully.
“I heard it rains a lot. And the food isn’t that great. After having sushi and sashimi in this country, I don’t know about fish and chips.”
“Pretty sure that’s not all they eat. Besides, think about the good points. For one, they speak English.”
Bennie is terrible with languages. He still bemoans the fact that the locals in Osaka can’t speak English because he sure as heck isn’t learning Japanese. A few simple greetings are about all he can manage. It’s pretty incredible, given how social he is, and I’m sure it’s one of the reasons why he isn’t entirely happy here.
“That’s a plus…” He nods, but I suspect he’s merely trying to placate me. “I’m just not feeling confident about the whole thing.”
What the heck is this about? Bennie loves to go to new places. He’s the one who said we should get jobs in Japan.
“Are you sure?”
“I haven’t really decided yet. Drew thinks if I’m not going to be working at the school, I should go with him, but why should I? I’m not some boy toy he can just haul around.”
I don’t know what to say…and I don’t understand why Bennie’s acting like this. He adores Drew.
Bennie continues, “I’m just restless, that’s all. I may change my mind about going home anyway. I don’t have to tell my school until after New Year’s. Plenty of time to think things through.”
He closes his mouth and returns to the movie, but his eyes aren’t focused anymore. I finish my onigiri. He isn’t telling me everything, and it obviously has something to do with Drew. But what can it be? I’ve never once gotten an odd vibe from him, ever. In fact, he’s so nice that if he weren’t taken—and played for my team—I might’ve dated him myself.
I wash down my snack with the sports drink. “We still going out tonight?”
“Of course.” Bennie finally smiles. “There’s a new bar about fifteen minutes from here. We should check it out. Everyone says it’s pretty cool.”
“Great. You want to use the bathroom first, or should I?”
“Go ahead. I want to finish this movie.”
I get up, squeezing his shoulder to let him know I’m one hundred percent behind him. It’s the least I can do for my best