Like Wildfire

Chapter 4

"Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were
but little happy, if I could say how much."

                                                          -Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Ben

He hated to let her go, but the song was over and Amber was back. As he turned back to his table, he noticed Cam storming out of the gym. Now what? He was torn between two things he didn't want: returning to his date or following Cam. He chose the latter and ducked into a side hallway that would lead him to the back of the school. "Cam! Hey, wait up!" He jogged to catch up to his friend. "What's going on?"

Cam stopped and jerked his mask off, throwing it into a trash can beside him. "Leave me alone."

Ben sighed. He wished he could walk away and not become embroiled in whatever was bugging the younger boy, but he wasn't made that way. Crap. "Tell me." He took the opportunity to remove his own ridiculous mask and sat on a nearby bench. The air was a cool relief against his flushed and sweaty face; finally, he could breathe.

Cam stood, tense and rigid, for a moment before apparently deciding to spill his guts. "Did you know about Peter meeting Hope here at the dance?"

"Yeah, I was there, remember?"

"Did you know he was supposed to be talking to her about me? That he was supposed to be trying to find out if she'd go out with me?"

"Yeah, I knew. You should have just asked her out, Cam. All this drama is unnecessary."

"Yeah, no kidding! He lied! He wanted her for himself!" Cam's face was discernibly flushed, even in the dark.

"Whoa, calm down!" Peter and Hope? Nah! Ben would know, wouldn't he? "What makes you think he wants her?"

"I just know! I can tell, okay? He's been in there flirting and laughing with her all night! Well, fine! He's welcome to her!" Cam turned and trotted away, leaving Ben sputtering.

He supposed he should return to the dance and his date, so he reluctantly donned his mask again—he couldn't chance Trissa seeing him without it—and rejoined his friends. He made a point of closely observing how Peter acted with Hope for the rest of the evening, but didn't notice any sign that Peter was trying to steal her away from Cam. Then again, he hadn't noticed any problems in his and Trissa's relationship before she dumped him, so they could be carrying on a torrid affair right under his nose and he'd probably never be the wiser.

When he returned to the table, Amber was absent. When he asked Hope, she gave him a dirty look and pointed to the dance floor, where Amber was dancing with some guy he didn't recognize. He was taken aback, but not the least bit jealous. In fact, he quickly realized what he felt was mostly relief. Amber was smiling at the guy, looking happy for the first time since pretty early on in their date, and Ben knew he'd behaved badly toward this sweet girl.

She returned to the table, alone, about fifteen minutes later. She appeared nervous, perhaps guilty? Ben decided not to make this any more difficult for her.

"What's his name?" He reached over and lightly touched the back of her hand, trying to show her he wasn't jealous.

"Jeremy. Are you mad?"

"Not at all. Jeremy Stamford?" At her nod, he continued. "He's on the JV team. I don't know him very well, but he seems like a pretty cool guy." In their small Texas town, football was everything, including the way most of the boys were identified. Maybe he could patch up some of the mess he'd made. "Listen, I'm sorry I've ignored you so much this evening. I've been acting like a jerk."