Page 39 of A Stealthy Situation

Other than last week, he always has studying to do, and if we hadn’t been up all night texting, I’d worry he’s cooled on me already. Clearly, he’s trying to protect himself or maybe even trying to prove to me that he respects my straightness or whatever, so I suppose I have to play along. The longer we’re friends, the easier it’ll be for him to realize I don’t run scared from a little flirting. Fuck. Some of the shit we both said last night should have proved that by now.

Five minutes before the end of class, Benny sighs and slumps back in his chair.

“Do you ever get the feeling you’re too dumb for school?” he asks.

I chuckle. “You’re a junior. You’ve made it through fifteen years of schooling already. You have less than two to go. I’d say you’re good.”

He doesn’t look happy about that response, and it hits me a second too late that he’s serious. Serious. He’s taking college-level statistics, understanding it all, and he thinks he’s dumb?

“Benny, look at me.”

He’s reluctant, but he does. There’s none of the usual warmth. None of the teasing. None of the feeling that he’s seeing too much of me. “Yeah?”

Shit, what was I going to say? “You’re not dumb. I can’t believe we’re even having this talk when you’re one of the most confident people I know.”

“I am?” He looks at me like I’m confused, and I give it right back. Benny is never lacking in anything.

“It’s one of the things I like most about you. I mean, fuck, I’m auditing this class. I might have passed the first time, but it was by the skin of my teeth, and this time, I want to really wrap my head around it. Understand it. You’re way better at that than me, so if you’re dumb, I’m dumb, and I don’t think of myself as dumb at all.”

He processes that for a moment. “Thanks, Bowser.”

I smile, glad we could at least clear that up. I’m hoping he’ll hang out for a minute after class anyway, but as soon as Brooks wraps everything up, Benny stuffs his laptop into his bag, cuffs me on the shoulder goodbye, and then is out of there like his ass is on fire, hood pulled up firmly over his head again.

I have no idea what that was about.

Instead of heading to one of the study carrels like I’d hoped, I head to the science buildings and take the stairs to the top.

There’s a class happening in the greenhouse that I bypass as I head down the back to check on my babies. Rich looks like he has a case of rust, but thankfully, I’ve caught it early and cleared the two leaves it had started to grow on away. I’m heavily monitoring him after his baking soda spray bath, so he should be okay, but if the rust keeps coming back or spreads deeper, it will be bye-bye, Rich. I haven’t had the heart to tell him that.

All of my other babies are growing perfectly, and I can’t help feeling a little guilty that I’ve exposed Rich to something.

Would Benny like him? Or Stacy. Or any of them. He was interested in the microorganism fact, and I have a lot of other plantoids I could share with him. I pull out my phone and send him a photo of Stacy.

Me:

Did you know the fire lily is poisonous enough to kill a human, but has been used for ages in treating everything from acne to cancer?

Benny:

Did you know … you’re a nerd?

Me:

Sure did.

Benny:

If it’s so poisonous, who the fuck was like, “Yeah, I reckon this will fix all the problems I have?”

Me:

That’s how people had to do it before Google.

Benny:

Cool fact, grandpa. Makes me not miss having one.

I grin and send him back a slew of middle finger emojis, relieved that at least through text he acts like he always does. Then I close up my plants, sneak past the class in session, and head out onto the rooftop. Before I leave, I get a random idea.

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