The Boy Who Fell (COMPLETE)

FINALE: Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Ben's Getting Over Sam List

1. Don't think about Sam.

2. Get rid of Sam's photos from phone, locker, and study desk.

3. Stop listening to Drake and The Script. (Maybe tomorrow.)

4. Stuff face with Big Macs, upsized fries and root beer.

5. Focus on football. Focus on football. Focus on football.

6. Get rid of secret Sam photo in wallet.

7. Don't think about Sam.

• • • • •

"Are you sure you read her right, Ben?" Luke asked for the nth time. Our table was littered with Big Mac boxes, leftover fries and ketchup, and extra large plastic cups of soda that made it seem like half the football team ate there, and not just Luke and me.

"What's there to read?" I mumbled through burger-stuffed mouth. "She pushed me away. No other way to interpret it." I was about to take another bite when Luke grabbed my wrist to stop me.

"Man, stop it," he said, pulling my burger-laden hands away. "Stop eating your feelings. It's getting ugly."

"I am not eating my feelings!" I retorted hotly, pulling the burger back to my mouth. 

"Ugh, fourth Big Mac, Ben. Not to mention the fries and all that root beer." Luke gave me a disgusted look. As if I cared what he thought.

"Did you count how many times Coach made me run the field?" I reminded him. Thanks to my walk out a few days ago, Coach Ferguson was making me do extra after practice drills the whole week. Lucky me. 

"Uh, he has made us do much worse. You never binge like this." 

I glared at Luke. Not because he was poking his nose in my business, but because I knew he was right. "Look. I just need to get through this week. Another day or two, I'll be fine. I can deal."

"Avoiding her does not count as dealing."

"I am not avoiding her," I argued, my sentence punctuated by the sound of air coming up my drink's straw. I threw my now empty cup down in disgust, grabbing another that was still half-full.

"Showing up to school just before the bell rings. Disappearing during lunch. Hanging out in the men's locker room after class and after practice. You sure you're not avoiding her?"

"What are you? My stalker?" I frowned. "Careful about falling for me, man. I'm calling it quits with dating."

Luke just rolled his eyes, finally shutting up to let me enjoy my burger in peace. Or so, I thought.

"Dude, just talk to her," he said.

"What? So she can tell me to my face how much she hates me?"

"She wants to talk to you, Ben. She has been trying to catch you during our breaks, but you're pretty good at making yourself scarce."

"What, you're taking her side now?" Un. Believable. 

Luke had a dead serious look on his face. He looked troubled, as if weighing something in his mind. Finally, he sighed. "I've been talking to Trisha---"

"You're really taking her side?" 

"I'm not taking anybody's side," he snapped. "Stop acting like a hurt little spoiled brat and just listen, okay? I've been talking to Trisha and Sam's just as miserable as you are.  Sam hating you, it doesn't compute. So, before you jump to conclusions, let her say her piece. If you're right, you can say I told you so. If you're wrong, you can stop it with the pity party. And for Chrissakes, if I hear that freaking Drake song again, you're going to need to find your own way home because I am dumping you on the highway."