Chapter 2

We went to our favorite ice cream place called Creamy. I got the same thing as always Mint Chocolate Chip, Benny got Cookies and Cream. Marco got the ice cream that they only sold there it was called Lunch Service, it was pizza flavored. It was her favorite kind of ice cream, and here I thought I was crazy. We all sat down in the red and white booth way back in the corner, of the room. Marco went in first then Benny on the one side. On the other was where I sat, it was fun to be there with friends. As Marco finished her ice cream, a smile grew on her face. Then out of nowhere, Marco said to me. "Ethan I will give you a kiss only if you get Benny to talk to me. And since he hasn't spoken at all to me, I'll give you to the end of the week."

I looked up in surprise, I didn't even need Benny to tell me that my cheeks were red. I looked over at Benny, he was just as surprised as I was.

"And what makes you think he can do it?" Signed Benny, as he made a confused face at her. But all she did was smile and got up from the table, Marco looked down at us.

"Thanks for paying boys." she said, "Hope that you have a good night." Then she walked out the door, by this time in the day it was getting really dark. So we watched as she walked from the white and red checkered ice cream place to the dark black streets of California.

That night Benny and I walked home in silence. She had made the most exciting day so awkward, and I guess that she had found that funny. "Hey, so would you do it?" I asked breaking the awkward silence between us.

"No, mate sorry. I wouldn't speak to her, you should know as well as anyone. I only speak to people I trust." He answered, actually talking. His voice was dry from not talking, but still the sweetest sound ever. I tried to convince him to speak to her.

"You speak only in important matters, and my first kiss is one of them," I said joking, but never expected the next part that he was going to say.

"I will not speak in front of her! You know ever since the crash I don't talk to people. I just can't anymore with them, blaming Carson for the crash. It wasn't his fault, I can get through life without people!" I noticed tears in his eyes, they were just forming.

"Listen, I don't blame my brother for crashing the car. I blame the other driver who wasn't paying attention." I said trying to calm him down when Benny turned toward me and said "When your brother died, I could never be the same. You don't understand, I loved him!" This startled me a bit, I didn't know how to respond. I have never known his feelings for Carson and this was big to me.

I walked silently beside Benny, trying to think of some else to say. Nothing came to my mind, it was too real. I then realized that we had gotten to my house, Benny was sleeping over tonight. I looked up in the dark, the house was brown and hard to see in the dark. It had a red roof, which was getting older by the minute and looking very rusty. The paint was chipping all over the outside of the house, which made it seem creepy. We entered and my mom was on the blue couch waiting for us to come home.

"It's about time, I can finally go to bed now." Mom said as she got up, turned off the TV and went to bed. I looked over at Benny who picked a side of the room to stare at like he usually did when he wasn't going to talk.

I slept on my comfy, nerd-themed bed, Benny slept on the second bed in my room. Which had dark blue sheets, his bed was much comfier than mine. This was the most awkward situation we had been in since he told me that he was bisexual.

"Listen I'm sorry man if I was pushy, I mean who wouldn't be with a girl like Marco?" I asked, trying to push it off as a joke. I looked at him from the head of my bed, where his bed was placed we could see each other's faces. Only if we were facing each other, Benny turned over and faced me. "No, I'm sorry man. I mean I was a little defensive about it." he answered, "Sometimes I just forget that he was your family, and I just think about how bad it was."

I couldn't believe his answer, it made me angry. How could he not remember that my mother had three kids? Carson, Athena and I, this made me turn away from him and say goodnight as quick as possible. As I turned he answered me with an "I just mean I miss him too." he paused waiting for a reaction, "Goodnight then." After that sentence I had shed a tear, this project that we are doing is tearing through our emotions. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry over him. No, it's not the right thing to do, I'm supposed to only remember the good parts of our life together. If he was here, Carson would call me a big baby, then we would both laugh. I have to keep our relationship out of this, but it's going to be hard. Since it was Sarah Spears who had died, she was in Carson's grade and two years older than us.