Crybaby's focus is pulled away from the fire by the sound of car tires rumbling against the gravel parking lot. She glances over as the car pulls to a stop, and Ben steps out.
She smiles brightly at him, watching him wave, before making his way towards her.
"Hi." He says, taking a seat. "Where's everyone else?"
"In the woods." Crybaby says vaguely, pointing towards the direction Angelita and Celeste wandered off in. "They wanted to find wood for the fire."
Ben laughs softly, eyes flicking towards the fire, before looking back at Crybaby. "The fire seems fine."
"For now." Crybaby smirks.
Their chatter slows to a stop as the two sit silently, staring into the fire.
After a moment, Crybaby reaches a hand towards Ben, accidentally hitting his chest with a thud. He flinches slightly at the impact.
"Ow." He looks surprised. "What was that for?"
"Sorry, I-" Crybaby interrupts herself with a laugh. "Sorry." She places her hand gently against Ben's chest, where she had slapped. "I wanted to ask why you were called down to the office at school earlier".
"Oh." Ben says. "Leo got in trouble, and the school staff were asking me for a second opinion, since we're roommates."
"What did he do?" Crybaby asks, dropping her hand back into her lap.
"Sneak out." Ben shrugs. "I didn't tell on him, though."
"We're back!" Angelita suddenly announces, emerging from the woods. She's carrying a pile of sticks neatly in her arms.
Celeste trails along, slightly behind. She's carrying a second pile of sticks, much more sloppily.
"That seems excessive." Ben laughs as the girls reach the fire, dropping their sticks beside one of the surrounding benches.
"Says the boy who didn't contribute." Celeste teases, taking a seat.
"I wasn't asked to." Ben defends himself playfully.
"Chivalry is dead!" Celeste declares dramatically. She rips open a bag of marshmallows as Angelita sits down beside her.
Crybaby laughs, catching Ben's eye, and a slight grin on his face.
"Is chivalry dead?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at Crybaby.
"Don't ask her!" Angelita jokes. "She's biased towards you!"
Crybaby laughs, nodding at Ben.
"See, she agrees!" Angelita says, gesturing her handful of marshmallows towards Crybaby. "She is biased towards you."
"No, she was saying I am chivalrous!" Ben says. A wide smiles grows across his face as he defends himself.
"Nah, she's biased." Celeste says, constructing a s'mores without warming the marshmallow first.
"Hey, you're doing that wrong." Angelita says, leaning over Celeste's shoulder. "Fire first, then s'more."
"The fire's already lit." Celeste smirks, jokingly, before taking a bite of her unmelted s'more.
Crybaby and Ben laugh, as Angelita fains a horrified look.
"That's like..." Angelita pauses, quickly searching for words to make a joke. "Bonfire blasphemy." She says finally.
Celeste laughs so hard, she chokes a bit on her mouthful of s'mores.
"Don't kill her!" Ben yells, jokingly.
YOU ARE READING
Night Mime | K-12 AU
FanfictionCrybaby has Situational Mutism and cannot speak at her boarding school, K-12 Sleep Away. Throughout this story, Crybaby gets into her first romantic relationship, has several conflicts with some of her friends, and sneaks out with everyone else to h...
