Ben Segal and Rodrick Heffley grew up practically joined at the hip. Rodrick spent his adolescence dreaming about the perfect romance with the perfect girl, while Ben longed to spend the rest of his life with his childhood best friend. Yet, every cl...
Rodrick scoffed. "Depends on what you mean by 'hurting.' "
Dana appeared worried. "Oh, well, let me know if you need anything. The guest room's always open if you need it. How long are you planning on staying? I can only let you stay until after Fourth of July weekend, because we're actually planning to go to Boston to meet some prospective siblings we're looking to adopt." Her face softened, having been looking forward to starting a family since she was young. "Unless you're willing to stay here on your own, of course."
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Rodrick smiled. "A week should be enough." He lugged his duffle bag into the first floor guest room. However, Ben was already waiting for him.
"I've been texting Julie about you," Ben began, nervously. "And, er, she told me that you were at the country club on Wednesday, and we didn't see you again until the record shop earlier today. Do—" he stutterer. "Do you need to talk about it?"
"Nah, it was nothing," Rodrick grimaced, reassuringly. "Frank was being Frank, and he got pissed off and kicked me out again. Susan'll probably call Dana like she did last time, but I really didn't wanna see Frank's stupid, ugly face, so I took one of his credit cards. I mean, I withdrew enough money for gas and a motel room before he deactivated it, and then I ran off to Slacksville for a little while. I didn't want Frank to be able to find me for a long time. But now, I'm fresh outta cash, so I decided to see if I could crash here. The van was almost outta gas, so I took my chances on a bench last night so that I could afford to drive back here," he laughed.
Ben wasn't sure if he was joking.
"Oh..." Ben trailed off. "I don't know what to say—"
"Then don't say shit," Rodrick clambered onto Ben's guest bed, flopping down on the mattress like he hasn't felt a soft surface in weeks. And before Ben knew it, Rodrick's arms were wrapped around him, gentle sobs radiating from the boy's wiry frame.
"You're so soft," Rodrick muttered, breaking the silence that seemed to go on forever. "You're like a big, emo teddy bear."
"I fucking hate you," Ben ruffled his hair, to which Rodrick shoved him, Ben almost falling off the bed and onto the floor.
Their banter was interrupted, however, by Dana's sickly-sweet suburban mother love.
"Oh, hello Mrs. Heffley!" the two boys overheard her voice penetrate through the Segal home's paper thin walls, with silence only being heard when Dana paused to listen to Susan's replies. "Yeah, yeah, it's great to hear from you again! Long time no see! Oh, no worries, Rodrick's here, he's safe. I'll take him over as soon as you're all ready for him. I really do hope you and Frank are both well."
