Training Wheels ♥︎ Book 1

Chapter 5

"Indian shikakai powder hair gel." Ben read the label off a jar of hair gel Rey had gotten him. He looked at Rey, who was standing outside the bathroom.

"Makes your hair all nice and shiny so you look cute when you see Mr. Hux at the party," Rey giggled, then checked her phone. "In exactly 30 minutes."

Ben looked at himself in the mirror. Just Ben, nothing had changed. He was going to put a little bit of hair gel in but that was going to be it: same clothes, same personality, same everything. Ben wasn't going to change himself for Hux because he hoped Hux would like him for who he already was.

"And Benny," Rey started, walking up to him. "I have a friend coming over, I promised him I'd get him ready for the party. That's cool, right? Maybe the 2 of you could meet."

Ben looked at Rey, shrugging. "I don't know why you couldn't have told me about them." He said, not really caring either way. "What's his name?" He asked.

"Finn."

"I know a guy named Finn."

"Is he black?"

"Yeah."

"I think we're talking about the same guy."

"I didn't know you guys were friends."

"Are you friends with him too?"

Ben shrugged again. "You could say that."

"Oh. That's cool, actually." Rey said, looking down at the ground, digging her toe in the carpet. The doorbell rang. Rey looked up at Ben. "That must be him." Rey started towards the door, but Ben stopped her.

"Rey, do you like him?" He asked, whispering.

Rey looked surprised. She shook her head no, saying, "I used to for like, a day. It was stupid. But he is my like, best and only friend here now, so I gotta make an impression."

She started towards the door again, this time opening it. Ben could hear Finn's voice and he and Rey were talking. Ben went back to his hair, but he heard Finn say jokingly, "Stop being a narcissist."

Ben turned to him, smiling. "Hey, Finn." He thought for a bit, then asked, "So how do you know Rey?"

"History class. Why?"

"Well, I didn't know you guys were like, friends. I don't know." Ben said, feeling awkward. All these weird conversation he'd been having were probably because he was nervous to see Hux.

"Okayyy." Finn left. Ben shook his head.

Soon, Ben could hear Rey's voice saying, "Yeah, I'll come to the party with you! Can you come back on like an hour or so? Like 45 minutes-ish?"

"Yeah, why?" Ben heard Finn ask.

"That's how long it'll take me to get ready."

Ben listened, and heard Finn's footsteps retreating. Rey walked into the bathroom. "Finn just asked me to go to the party with him!" She said excitedly.

Ben thought. So Finn liked Poe, he didn't like Rey. The only 2 possible explanations for why he'd want to go to the party with her were a) they were just going as friends (but Finn had Ben, so that didn't seem very realistic) or b) he actually started to like Rey (Ben prayed it wasn't that one, if his best friend dates his cousin that would make him a 3rd wheel 24/7) or c) Finn was using Rey to make Poe jealous or something like that. Ben didn't really know how that worked. He told Rey that that was cute and he followed Finn.

When he caught sight of Finn, he said, "Finn, wait up!" And he turned around.

"Wait, so if you like Poe-"

Finn shushed Ben, looking around frantically. He looked up at Ben. "I don't want anyone else knowing that!" He whispered. "I haven't even told Rey!"

"Were you planning on telling her?"

"I was going to tell her at the party tonight."

"Anyway, why'd you ask her out to the party if you got me already?"

"I don't know." Finn looked away from Ben. After a couple seconds, he said, "Alright I'll tell you the truth. I was going to pretend she was my date whenever Poe was around to make him jealous."

Ben knew it. He shook his head. "My cousin is very smart." He said. "She's gonna find out you're doing that to her sooner or later, probably sooner, and she's either gonna be really sad or really pissed."

"I know, it was a stupid idea, I feel bad now."

"Here Finn, promise me this: you won't use Rey to get Poe to like you, how about you just go to the party as friends like you are with me?"

"Yeah I was gonna do that, but how do I talk to Poe and stuff."

"Make small talk. That's how I got my girlfriend." Ben said, half-lying. "But using Rey isn't going to get Poe to like you back, Finn. Be yourself around him, he seems like a nice guy already. Remember what I told you yesterday."

"Well, OK. I think I'm fine. Sorry for bothering you so much about this, Ben."

"It's cool. So how are you going to take her?

"Well, she said she's not gonna be done getting ready until after the party's started so she said she'd text me when she's done and I'll get her. Before then, I'll walk you over to the party since you don't know where it is and then I'll mingle for a little bit then go back to your dorm for Rey."

"Cool. Solid plan. I like that." Ben said, slapping Finn in the back. Finn didn't even flinch.

"Yeah. Let's go." Finn said, walking ahead of Ben. He opened the door for them and they walked outside.

"How's creative writing?"

"Good, I guess." Finn shrugged. "There's a possibility that I might switch majors."

"Oh, why?"

"I don't know. I don't really like the teacher in the first place, plus, it's not really my thing anymore."

"What would you change it to?"

"Probably biology."

Ben and Finn talked for a little while more until they got to the house, and Ben thought to himself. 'It's going to be fun being a college student.'

He appreciated the fact that Finn had so much trust in him and he wanted to trust Finn too, but he was afraid to do it too soon.

Author's note: Sorry this one was kinda short, this was kind of a filler chapter so don't attack me guys. I promise this is going to be the worst chapter in this fic, I'll try my best from now on to make the others great and to make the reading interesting and exciting for you guys :) - staygoldstiles