The Haunted - Jessica Verday [20]
We drove down Main Street, and he pulled off to park at a meter outside of Tony’s Pizzer-ia. Once we were both out of the car, he fished a handful of change from his pocket, then fed the meter. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Tony himself called hello to us as we stepped in, and we headed for a table near the back.
The orange plastic tabletop had definitely seen better days, and the faux wooden bench creaked when we sat down.
“What do you want?” Ben asked. “A couple of slices, or a whole pie?”
“I’m pretty hungry. A whole pie sounds good to me.”
“Let me guess, you’re a pepperoni type of girl.”
I shook my head. “I like mine loaded.”
“Seriously?”
“Yup.”
He didn’t look like he believed me.
“You don’t think I can handle it?” I raised one eyebrow at him.
Ben laughed. “No, no. I like mine loaded too. That’s what we’ll get.” He moved to order, and I grabbed a soda from a nearby cooler, carefully reaching around the Coke for a root beer.
“What do you want to drink?” I asked him.
“The same.”
I scooped up another root beer, then popped the top of my soda and waited for Ben to return. He came to sit down a second later.
“Pizza’s in. One large, with the works.”
I nodded and took a sip. Now that we were here, I was losing my nerve again.
“So,” Ben said, opening his can, “what are your summer plans?”
“I don’t know. Since it took so long to get over my… mono, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do.” Okay, so that wasn’t technically true. I sort of knew one thing I was going to be doing, if Ben agreed to it.
“Gonna work at your uncle’s ice cream place again?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know. Haven’t talked to him about it yet.”
“Will that be… okay? Can anyone get sick if your mono isn’t all gone?” I almost snorted soda up my nose. “No, no,” I sputtered, reaching for a napkin. “The doctor, um, gave me the all-clear. I’m… better.”
“Oh, cool,” he said. “That’s good.”
“Hey, I didn’t see you at the bridge thing.” I changed the subject. Too much talk about mono and I might blow it.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I got called in to work. I tried to get out of it—” Tony came bearing our pizza and interrupted him, placing the round aluminum tray in front of us. “One large, with the works! Youse enjoy it now, ’kay?”
“Looks great, Tony,” Ben said. He slid a steaming slice onto a paper plate and handed it over to me, then did the same for himself.
My slice was way too hot to eat yet, but Ben didn’t seem to have a problem.
“So how did it go?” he asked, around a mouthful of cheese.
“It was okay. The mayor said something, I said something, and then we left.”
“I wish I could have been there,” he said softly. He poked the crust of his pizza and then ate the rest of it in two bites.
“I was just sad you weren’t there to hold up your cue card like you promised,” I teased.
“But, um… there is something else you can help me out with.” I glanced down and said the rest in a rush. “I might have to go to summer school, but I talked Mr. Knickerbocker out of it if you’ll agree to tutor me so I can pass a big test at the end of summer.” Ben reached for a second slice. “What? That was like a crazy rush of Abbeyspeak. You have to go to summer school?”
I nodded. “Because I basically failed chem.”
“But you talked Mr. Knickerbocker out of it?”
“He said that if you’ll agree to tutor me over the summer, I can just take another final exam instead.” I peeked up at him. “I know it’s asking a lot of you, Ben, since you’re going to have two summer jobs and all. But I really need the help.”
“Well, I am good at science,” he said slowly, and I grinned at him.
“Does that mean you’ll do it? Mr. Knickerbocker will give you notes and everything.” He paused like he had to think for a moment, then nodded. “Sure. I’ll do it.” I almost jumped up and hugged him right there. “Really? Really, really? Seriously, I have no idea how to repay you.”
His eyes glinted mischievously, and he had a wicked grin. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.” Going for my slice of pizza, I stopped mid-grab and gave a mock sigh. “I know.