Page 67 of Friends with Benefits

Theo is woken by the assault of cold air on his bare chest, the song “Wake Up” by Hilary Duff blasting through his Bluetooth speakers. He groans, palming the mattress for the duvet to cover his skin, to cover hisears. Unable to locate the warmth, his eyes open and—shit. Evelyn is standing over him, his duvet in her hand. It’s going to smell like lavender vanilla now. Like her. She’s dressed in jeans and a gray sweater. She looks so cozy. Half-asleep Theo wants to pull her toward him, wants to splay his ice fingers across her torso, nestle into her, and fall back to sleep. Instead, his palms sink into the mattress as he sits up and blinks the sleep out of his eyes, considering which offense is the worst.

The cold.

Evelyn’s face.

Hilary Duff.

“Evelyn.” Theo reaches for the pullover crumpled in a ball next to his bed. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“We’re late,” she says.

Fuuuuuck.

Did Theo really, for one second, believe she forgot that in exchange for participating in a pickleball tournament, he promised to join her for breakfast with his dad? No. But after two breakfast-less Sundays passed… he definitely hoped. Evelyn slept in until noon the morning after the Pickleball Incident. Theo woke up to a text from Jacob.Evelyn ok?It splintered his heart, the concern in that question. He leapt out of bed to check on her but didn’t dare enter her room unannounced, just pressed his ear to the door, her soft snoring enough to crack his heart fully in half. Jacob canceled breakfast the following week. He had, quote,A Thing. No, Evelyn didn’t elaborate. No, Theo didn’t ask.

“Theodore.”

Glasses on, Evelyn’s features sharpen into focus.

Her brow, furrowed.

Her lips, a devastating pout.

Her finger, jamming into the volume button on her phone.

“I’m up.” Theo covers his ears. “Fuck. I’m up!”

Silence.

“Ten minutes,” she says, then pivots. “I’ll be in the car.”

Bossy.

Theo groans. Relishes the silence, then runs a frustrated hand through his pillow-matted curls, exhausted because he was up until 3:00 a.m. finishing midyear report cards. His students are a blast, but the endless paperwork and admin and parent complaints are soul draining. And the short holiday week has been aweek.

Monday, Ms. Connors pushed back their meeting about the planetariumagain.

Tuesday, Annabelle vomited infrontof the trash.

Wednesday, Jeremiah’s mother expressed concern over graphic novels being included on the winter independentreading list. He owes her an email but needs to simmer first, because how he wants to respond will probably (definitely) get him fired. Jeremiah, a reluctant reader, loves graphic novels. Why is that a problem? Theo wants his students to engage with stories, to fall in love with stories, in whatever medium is most accessible to them.

Thursday, he spent Thanksgiving in Disneyland, swallowing his irrational fear of Mickey Mouse. Is it irrational? Or is a five-foot-tall anthropomorphic mouse not, objectively, terrifying?

Yesterday was Lori’s birthday.

So.

He really just wants to sleep in.

Instead, Theo stands and pulls on the nearest pair of jeans, which are wrinkled from being crumpled on the floor because his laundry situation is borderline desperate. He promised breakfast. He did not promise to put effort into said breakfast. It’s pointless, to try for Jacob Cohen.

To care.

Ten minutes later—as he’s brushing his teeth—his speakers become a torture device once more, this time the clip with the disastrous run ofla la las fromRaise Your Voice. Evelyn exploited her pickleball-related injury with a Hilary Duff marathon and subjected Theo to that marathon. He’s still paying the price. Ever since the tournament, she’s been a specific combination of distant and hostile. It came up in therapy this week. Brian wondered if Theo asked Evelyn about this energy. Theo doesn’t need to ask. He knows. There’s a distinct before and after. Pickleball. Before and after Theo put her in a position that almost reinjured her. For what?

“Was that necessary?” Theo asks, sliding into the passenger seat.

“You’re here. So.”

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