Page 39 of Every Broken Thing

“It’s cool.” I shrugged, despite the fact he couldn’t see me. “You coming Saturday?”

The smile was apparent in his voice as he replied, “Yeah, I’ll be there. Should I bring flowers for everyone? Is that a thing?”

“I’m sure the girls will be tickled pink if you brought them flowers.”

“You don’t like flowers?”

“Isn’t that kind of a girl thing?”

Ben blew a raspberry. “That sounds like toxic masculinity.”

I winced. “Ew, you’re right. I just… I don’t know, I never really thought about it. You don’t have to get me flowers.”

He hummed. “I guess I could find something else to give you then, in celebration of a job well done.”

“You don’t need to get me anything, Adams,” I said, even as a smile threatened to split my face in half.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled around a yawn.

Another silence descended, and my eyes drooped as his even breathing deepened in my ear.

“You still there?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe I could come to one of your meets. Not tomorrow obviously, but I bet Kim and Caroline would wanna come. We can make signs and shit. Cheer you on.”

I bit my tongue to stop my word vomit, and Ben’s surprised satisfaction rang through the receiver. “Really? You want to watch me dive?”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re coming to the play, so it’s only fair that we come to your thing. Right?”

It seemed like something friends did for each other.

“I’d like that.”

I almost didn’t catch his admission, his voice quiet and almost bashful

“Cool. We’ll, uh, figure something out, then.”

“Thanks, Si.” Mumbling something nonsensical, I burrowed deeper into my pillow and yawned. “I should let you go. You sound tired.”

“I’m a little tired, I guess,” I confessed into the phone as I closed my eyes. “But I’m fine.”

He didn’t respond, and the line was still once more, neither of us breaking it this time. His breathing echoed through my phone, but, like in person, our silence wasn’t awkward. I mumbled a good night at some point, and I thought he reciprocated but couldn’t be sure as my mind floated away. I didn’t disconnect our call and neither did he. He was still breathing evenly in my ear as I fell asleep.

Opening night went reallywell, and I was pleased when the curtain closed after one last bow from the cast and Ms. Acker. My dad was in the crowd, standing to clap when the cast gestured to the sound booth to recognize me and the stage crew. Embarrassed at the attention, I ignored his cheers as I raised a simple hand in acknowledgment of the praise before sitting down to hide.

Ms. Acker showered me with approval when I arrived in the lobby, and Dad embraced me in a hug as he congratulated me on a job well done. I blushed furiously as they both doted on me with a humiliating amount of affection. It was stupid really since I didn’t do anything but push a couple of buttons on the sound board, but I smiled graciously. Unfortunately, my acceptance turned to horror the moment Ms. Acker flirted with my dad.

Not that my dad wasn’t handsome for a man in his late forties, but as Ms. Acker blushed pink and rested her hand on his arm, I wished I could gouge my eyes out with a sharp stick. Sure, Dad probably needed and liked—cue my shudder—companionship, but watching the possibility unfold right before my eyes was nauseating, especially since Ms. Acker was my teacher and at least ten years his junior.

Thankfully, Ms. Acker was whisked away by other congratulatory spectators, and my dad took his leave, his face slightly flushed from her obvious flirtation.

Saturday night’s performance went even better than the first, and I released a sigh of relief as I dimmed the stage lights for the last time. Almost three months of hard work paid off, and though it was worth the time and effort, I was glad it was over.

I maneuvered my way through the crowded lobby, waving at Kim, who stood next to her dad and his newest girlfriend, whowas barely older than Kim herself. She grimaced, and I fought my way through the sea of bodies until I stumbled into her.

“Come on. Acker wants to take pictures,” I lied, offering Kim’s dad an innocent smile. He frowned down at me but didn’t stop me from dragging his daughter away.

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