The One That Got Away || Benny Weir

14

"I kept watching and there they were." Benny begins to explain to Reagan and Ethan about the interaction between Kurt and Sarah. "Talking, laughing, very, very, close. Intimate, even. In fact, one might even say they were canoodling."

Reagan rolls her eyes as she and Ethan stare at the pictures that Benny drew. "I can barely tell what I'm looking at," Ethan says.

"You're a pretty crummy artist," Reagan tells him.

"Videos won't work with vampires, so I did my best," Benny says. 

Ethan crumples up the drawings in his hands and makes a face. "That's it. I'm gonna teach that pretty boy a lesson. I'll be a wrestling machine!"

Reagan snorts at Ethan's confidence. "Okay, well, good luck with that. Pretty boy is named Kurt 'The Hurt' for a reason."

Benny looks over at the girl. "Well, he may be strong, but he isn't very smart. Why would a girl like him?"

"Well, you did just say he is strong. And he's not that bad in the eyes to a few girls." Reagan chuckles, not realizing the look on Benny's face.

Benny couldn't help but feel in a pinch of hurt and jealously. The way Reagan was describing Kurt made his confidence go down. Maybe a guy like Kurt was who her type was.

He believed he didn't have a chance.

*

"In the spirit of non-competition, I pledge to be a non-partisan referee for tonight's match" Mr. G announces over the microphone. Benny and Reagan were sitting on the bench, waiting. 

Reagan could tell something was wrong with Benny by the way he kept a distance from the girl. But she decided not to say anything until the match was over.

"So, uh... well, may every man win, or, uh... at least survive. Representing Conway Collegiate, we have Kurt 'The Hurt' Lochner." Yells and cheers came from the bleachers as the students applauded for Kurt.

"And representing Whitechapel High, we--" Mr. G was cut off as Benny gets off the bench and runs over, taking the microphone away from the teacher.

"From a land of fear and nightmares comes a warrior born to destroy. He speaks only violence. He knows only hatred. His headlock is a crime against humanity! Behold... the Ethanator!" Benny announces as Ethan and Rory runs into the gym. Rory was holding sparklers as they ran in.

Reagan clapped among the other students who were booing at Ethan. Benny and Rory sat between the Sullivan girls as Ethan shook hands with Kurt.

"Do your catchphrase! Do it!" Rory shouts.

"Prepare to be Ethanized!" Reagan facepalms at the sad excuse of a threat.

Kurt holds up an apple in his hands before crushing it. "You're not gonna like these apples." He glares at Ethan. Kurt throws the apple.

Ethan turns to his friends who were on the bench. "Even his catchphrase is better!"

Reagan and Benny give their friend a reassuring thumbs-up while Rory looks terrified. 

Once the whistle blew, Kurt immediately threw Ethan around. He drops him onto the ground, slinging him around his shoulders.

"This won't end well..." Rory mutters, and Reagan shakes her head.

When the first half was over, Kurt drops Ethan in front of his friends. He looks at the two boys. "There's your friend, nerds." He looks and Reagan, giving her a wink before walking away.

Reagan rolls her eyes and Benny looks over at her. He may have been upset at the fact Reagan could've possibly liked Kurt, he still scooted closer to her, which didn't go unknown to Reagan. She turns her head to him and smiles.