Read Online Point Pleasant by Jen Archer Wood - Free Book Online Page A

Calloway.
    Ben often wondered what a date with Nicholas would be like; he sometimes imagined that their ventures to the Marquee for black-and-white horror were dates. Ben would sit next to Nicholas in the red velor seats of the movie theater and pretend that they were together as more than friends. He reveled in the ease of their interactions and the comfort of Nicholas’ shoulder as it brushed against his own.
    And so their friendship continued with Nicholas going on occasional dates, and Ben sometimes going on a few of his own when the issue came up at family dinners. What happened to that Sarah girl? She was pretty. Are you taking Karen to the dance? She’s so lovely. Ben would call up the girls named whenever his mother or father enquired. He arranged for brief dates that he never put much thought into so as to keep his parents off his back while he tried to figure out the best way to woo his best friend. He would figure out how to break the news of his apparent homosexuality to his parents after he crossed that first bridge and actually had something to tell them.
    Ben never figured out the best way because Nicholas had never shown him the same kind of interest that he showed to the girls he took on dates. Nicholas had pined over Julie after she left him for Josh. He would complain about how none of the girls wanted to be with him. Always girls .
    Ben played the supportive best friend; he would skip planned dates on Saturdays and go to the movies with Nicholas instead. Ben had even dodged senior prom in favor of a Hitchcock marathon at Nicholas’ house when neither one of them had bothered to score dates for the tedious high school event. Nicholas told Ben he was a good friend for doing it, and Ben had shrugged as if it was not a big deal. He was glad Nicholas knew that even if there was never a girl for him, Ben would always be there.
    And Ben was, even though he never found the courage—or the right moment—to tell Nicholas how he felt.
    Time passed, and Lily appeared. She and her family had moved to Point Pleasant in January; her father worked at County General with Andrew. “The Conrads, they’re good people,” Andrew told his family over dinner one night. “You should show Lily around, Benji. She’s eighteen. Maybe take her out to the pictures.”
    Ben was happy to oblige, but he was not happy for it to end up as an awkward date, so he asked Nicholas to come along. Ben felt like a third wheel the entire evening; Lily and Nicholas had clicked.
    Lily was pretty, but in an ordinary way. Her cropped, mousy brown hair offset her pale skin, which was dotted with freckles. She was quiet and sweet enough, but she had a propensity for giggling. Ben had found her irritating, but the next day, Nicholas revealed that Lily had agreed to go on a date with him . Just him . No Ben allowed .
    Soon, Nicholas and Lily were a content couple that the people of the town ‘ Ooo’d ’ and ‘ Aww’d ’ over when they walked hand-in-hand around the square. Between Nicholas’ college course load and Lily, Ben barely saw his best friend anymore.
    He did not show up at The Point that night. After work, he went home, showered, and dressed for the occasion, but he could not bring himself to leave the house.
    It felt familiar; it was how Ben behaved three months prior, after his mother died. He had not been able to leave the house for a week after the funeral. He holed up in his room and helped his father clean and clear away smoke damage when it was asked of him, but he did not venture outside of his comfort zone after the burial, not for a while. Kate’s presence had been like a soothing balm, but she had returned to Boston two days after the service; she was apologetic but burdened by the responsibility of her course load and the looming presence of her final finals week.
    Ben occupied the same puddle of self-pity and grief just three months later, and he did not feel like celebrating his friend’s news. Not at all.
    He