Starboy

Chapter 20: One, Two, Three

Brandy:

Dad always knows how to make me feel better. It sounds cheesy, but he's my best friend. Especially after Mom died, I realized how important parents are. I may only have one parent left, but at least he cares about me. I'd much rather have one parent who loves and supports me than two parents who don't really care about me -- like Benji's parents.  

Dad microwaves the popcorn as I flip through the channels on the TV, not being able to find anything good.

"You can't go wrong with baseball, Brand," he says from across the room.

"Yes, you can," I laugh. "Tonight I feel like watching... I don't know. A romantic comedy?" I suggest.

"You don't like romantic comedies," he chuckles. "Is everything okay?"

I don't know how to answer that. 

He walks over to the couch with the bowl of popcorn in his hand and places it in between the two of us.

"I don't know, Dad," I answer honestly.

"Why are you here, Brand? Don't get me wrong, I love having you here. But why are you here?"

I sigh. "I promised I'd come over." 

"True enough," he says. "Let me take a wild guess. It's about Benji."

My silence answers his question. 

"Oh no," he says lowly. "What'd he do this time?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Did he hurt you? I swore that if he hurt you—"

"He didn't," I interrupt him. "It's complicated."

"I knew it would be. Two teenagers moving in together? I knew it would be complicated."

Halfway through the movie, I hear a knock at the door. Dad and I look at each other, wondering if the other invited someone over.

Who would be here this late?

I walk to the door and unlock it. It's Benji. Of course.

"Benji?" I say, surprised.

"Hey," he says. "I know you're with your dad tonight, but is there any chance we can talk?"

I take a deep breath. "Uhh," I turn around to see my dad still watching TV. "Come in."

Dad sees him and looks even more shocked than I am. "Benji? What are you doing here?"

"Sorry for the interruption, Mr. Bright... I, uh, just came over to see Brandy." He apologizes and explains.

"I guess that's my queue," Dad says as he stands up. "I'll leave you two to talk."

"No, Dad. We'll go outside." I tell him.

Benji and I sit on the bench on my little porch and I realize that this conversation might be a really difficult one. I didn't even have time to prepare myself for it. I'm not very good at these talks.

"I don't know what to say, Benji," I admit.

"Then let me talk," he says. "You're my best friend in the whole world, B. And I'm so fucking sorry if I pressured you into moving in with me — and for anything else I've done. Fuck, I know I'm not perfect, alright? In fact, I'm an idiot. And I'm unreliable and I make questionable choices, I know. I can't promise you much. But I can promise you this: I will never, ever, ever cheat on you. I'll do a lot of fucked up shit but I will never hurt you." He promises, leaving me in tears.