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“Ben, have you seen the new girl,” Klaus asked while sliding in his seat next to him.
Ben moved his bag off the lunch bench to make room, “No I haven’t. Why?”
“That new senior is so hot!” some dumb freshman shouted to his friend.
Ben hummed then opened his lunchbox. Seven identical lunches for seven adopted children with seven same birthdays. Mom is a fucking saint. Ben was so glad that she got custody and half of Dad’s massive fortune in the divorce.
Lunch consisted of a tangerine, a sandwich of choice (Ben’s was usually PB&J), a snack bag of whatever chips (this week Mom chose pringles), an extra water, and a Capri Sun. It was cool when they were in seventh grade, but as seniors it was weird. Whatever, Mom was amazing for putting these together. Ben decided to eat his sandwich first.
“Trade you the Capri Sun for your tangerine,” Allison tried. She was on a health kick. Something about not eating unnecessary sugar? Ben wasn’t paying attention when she was explaining it.
“Only if you give me your answers for the AP Lit homework,” Ben knew Allison had all her AP Lit stuff done, “It’s due Friday and I have a band thing.”
“Oh shit I forgot about that. Allie I’ll give you my tangerine for AP Lit answers,” Vanya always forgot pit orchestra rehearsals. The band director, Mr. C, gave her crap about it constantly.
“We have pit Friday night? Shit, there goes my plans with Dolores,” Five sipped his Capri Sun morosely.
“Yeah, yeah, pit, whatever, I’m not giving you my answers,” Allison then stole Ben’s tangerine, which, rude.
“Rude. At least give me your Capri Sun!” Ben attempted to steal it from her, but her long nails kept swatting him away.
“How are musical auditions going anyway?” Luther asked. He was in the crew, lucky bastard. They wouldn’t have to start doing actual work until the show was closer.
“Great! We pretty much picked our Billy Flynn already, and obviously I’m going to be Velma, but we still need a Roxie,” Allison gushed. She was leader of the drama club and could therefore make decisions like that. The drama teacher let her because not letting Allison have her way was like saying the name of the Scottish play in the theatre during tech week. Bad luck. Don’t do it.
“Who’s your pick for the silver tongued prince of the courtroom anyway? Is it Dylan? Scott? Don’t tell me it’s Diego ,” Klaus wanted to be Amos Hart, otherwise he would have suggested himself.
“I’m in the pit this year, dipshit,” Diego flicked a piece of cheese from his sandwich across the table at Klaus.
Klaus, catching the cheese in his mouth replied, “Mrs. Gally is still pissed at you for that. In third period Mr. C lords it over her.”
“What? That Diego decided bass was more important?” Vanya asked.
“Yeah, she really hates you for that. Mr. C could have hired a bass player for pit this year! Anyway, you know Dave Katz?” Allison pulled out her math notes as she said this. Ben, who was in her math class next period, copied her. They had a test next period that he did not study for. Playing Animal Crossing was far more important than Ms. Belline’s test anyway.
“Dave Katz! My ex-boyfriend!” Klaus exclaimed, almost knocking over a lunch tray behind him.
“You dated for two weeks in sixth grade,” Five countered. He also had notes in front of him, but Ben didn’t really understand the symbols. It could be AP Chemistry or AP Physics and Ben wouldn’t know. Ben was taking AP Biology, so that was ruled out.
“You dated Dolores in sixth grade. What are you studying anyway? Time travel?” Klaus teased. When they were thirteen, Five was determined to be the first time traveler.
“Yes actually!” Five perked up, “They discovered a way to send a particle…” Ben tuned out the science rant. Five was interesting, but so was getting a passing grade in Advanced Math.
“Wait, isn’t Dave Katz on the football team?” Vanya asked.
“Yeah! We were so surprised he auditioned, but he ended up being perfect for the role. And since the only other senior drama kid didn’t audition- thanks Diego- then it ended up working out!” Allison said, math notes abandoned.
“I didn’t know the lead had to go to a senior,” Luther teased. He played the lead their freshman year, but then fell in love with stage crew in the process.
“You don’t, but…” Allison let her sentence trail off. Ben rolled his eyes. Allison would always be biased towards her own grade. She had the most school spirit out of all the Hargreeves siblings. An amazing feat considering two of them (Luther and Diego) were on the baseball team, three of them were in the pep band (Ben, Five, and Vanya), and Klaus was literally in the student council (they still weren’t sure what Klaus did in student council).
Then the lunch bell rang. They packed their lunch bags back up again and grabbed their backpacks.
“Ready to fail?” Ben asked Allison as they walked into Ms. Belline’s classroom.
“No chance in hell, Ben,” Allison responded. She was always optimistic about her grade for someone that failed every other quiz.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Thirty minutes later, Ben was scrolling through instagram after turning in his obnoxiously easy test. Ms. Belline gave the worst homework and terrible quizzes, and then her tests were simpler than two plus two.
“Ben, can you take attendance down to the office?” Ms. Belline gave him the attendance sheet that marked that all eight kids in not AP senior math were present.
“Sure,” Ben took the sheet, took the hall pass, and walked out of the math and science hallway.
“Hey, Ben!” Five shouted from the AP Chem room.
Ben could hear Mr. Cone reply, “No shouting in the lab, Five. Points off.” This was said with the usual laugh, but Five would actually lose points from his lab report for saying hi.
“Hi, Five,” Ben shouted back so Five would feel better about himself.
He was so focused on Five’s feelings that he didn’t notice when he crashed into a tall, leanly muscular boy.
“Sorry! Are you okay?” The boy asked. He had curly blond hair and a sunny smile. Ben thought he died right then and there.
“I’m good. Thanks for asking. Dave, right?” Ben asked while picking up the attendance sheet from the floor.
“Yeah. Nice to see you again, Ben. How’s Klaus?” Dave chuckled.
“Klaus is alright. He was just talking about you at lunch,” Damn his mouth.
“All good things?” Dave continued to walk with him.
“Yeah. Where are you headed?”
“I’m dropping off attendance for Mr. Abrams,” Dave held up an attendance sheet.
“Oh, same,” Ben replied. They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence. Dave was much cuter now than he was in sixth grade. The awkward braces were replaced by a straight smile and he was quite fit. Ben shook his head. Being attracted to a nice boy because he walked with you to the main office was peak stupidity.
“Hey, Mrs. Roberts. Ben and I have attendance for Mr. Abrams and-”
“Ms. Belline,” Ben finished, placing his attendance sheet on top of Dave’s.
“Thank you,” Mrs. Roberts said blandly. She was a woman of many glares and few words. Then a very, very pretty girl walked in.
“You wanted to see me?” She asked in a beautiful French accent. Everything about her was beautiful. Her silvery blonde hair and the way she stood made her look like a supermodel.
“Yes, Fleur. Your father dropped this off for you,” Mrs. Roberts handed over a pair of sneakers.
“Oh! My gym shoes,” she gave a nervous laugh. Even that was beautiful. “Thank you, Mrs. Roberts.”
“No problem. Get back to class you three,” She said. She then picked up a nail file.
“Hello, I’m Dave Katz. You must be new here,” Dave offered his hand for some reason. What a dorky move. How did he manage to make that endearing too?
“Nice to meet you. My name is Fleur Delacour,” She transferred her sneakers to one hand and shook Dave’s hand with the other.
“How are you liking it here so far? My name’s Ben by the way. Ben Hargreeves,” He offered his hand as well. It felt very formal and awkward.
“It’s good so far. I’ve got an audition for the musical,” Fleur mentioned. They continued to loiter outside the main office.
“Oh! I auditioned too. Break a leg!” Dave offered.
“That’s good luck in English theatre speak, right?” Fleur looked unsure. She bit her lip and looked up at him and Dave.
“Yeah, it is. I’m playing drums for the show. I hope you get in!” Ben would make sure Allison put Fleur in the show. Under threat of painting her entire bedroom puke green.
“Thank you. Have a great day Ben, Dave,” She then sauntered off towards the Gym.
“You too!” Dave called back.
“Bye!” Ben added. He was so fucked.
&&&&&&&&&&&
“So I met new girl,” Ben opened with. It was a rare night where the Hargreeves siblings were all at home and tolerating each other.
“And?” Klaus asked.
“I think like her? It was a two minute conversation. Also, when did Dave Katz get attractive?” Ben was sitting upside down on the couch, staring at the ceiling. His bare feet kicked up into the air.
“Dave was always attractive,” Klaus then paused his fidgeting, “why do you ask mon frere?”
“I just ran into him when I was taking attendance down for Ms. Belline,” Ben flushed and tried to not think about how literal that was.
“And did you happen to run into new girl in the office,” Allison was giving him her full attention.
“Her name is Fleur Delacour. And yes, I did. She had to get something,” Ben swung his legs around and almost hit Diego in the face while swinging into a semi-normal sitting position. He tucked his legs underneath himself.
“Watch it, Ben,” Diego warned before going back to his book.
“Are you still marking pitches?” Ben asked.
“Look at these accidentals!” Diego shoved the sheet music in his face. Vanya laughed at him and then went back to her homework.
“You could have been in the cast…” Alison said in a sing-song voice. Diego threw a sharp pencil at her and then grabbed another one from Five’s obnoxiously well organized pencil case.
“Hey!” Five and Allison said in unison.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Flash forward two weeks and musical rehearsal was in full swing, pun intended. In a surprising turn of events, Fleur got the part of Roxie without any input from Ben to Allison. Her acting and singing were as incredible as she looked. The accent was still there, but it didn’t matter. She was just that good.
Ben, Five, Vanya, and Diego were cursing and groaning over the pit music, but they got more practice than most as Ben, Diego, and Five were in the rhythm section. Vanya usually joined their practice sessions on her violin and banjo. Five was often heard playing the swing rhythms sans pitches, screwing up, and then cursing Kander and Ebb. Poor Diego was trying to play the whole thing on upright bass since he couldn’t play tuba and had the ugliest blisters on his right index and middle fingers.
Meanwhile, Luther was already starting to build props and parts of the set for rehearsal. So far, it was just some tape marking where the pit would be on the stage and a few crude sketches.
Allison and Klaus were working with Mrs. Gally like crazy to coordinate the cast. Klaus was working like a madman as dance captain while learning his lines as Amos Heart. Ben was often the stand in for Billy Flynn and Roxie when Klaus was running lines.
“-so, I’m embarrassed. So sexy,” Ben read from the script.
“But- five thousand bucks!” Klaus as Amos exclaimed
“It’s my hour of need,” Ben monotoned.
“Alright Roxie, I’ll get it for you,” Klaus finally finished.
“Alright I’m done running lines,” Klaus said, flopping on the bed, “We’ve been going over the tap dance foreverrrr,” Klaus complained.
Ben then took a risk, “How is this scene with Fleur?”
“She’s a really good actress. She keeps asking about you,” Klaus winked, “So does Dave, now that I think about it.”
Ben flushed and looked away. He kept running into Fleur and her friends, who started giggling and flipping their hair whenever he was around. Then Dave would catch up with him after pit and offer to buy him coffee. Ben would accept and then Fleur would just happen to be there. He was so confused.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Until he wasn’t. Until it finally clicked into place. Until he was on Fleur’s bed with her and Dave trying desperately to keep quiet because her parents and little sister could come home any moment. Dave and Fleur wanted him! And he wanted them! It was just that simple.
It was now tech week. Teachers were crazy, pit was insane, and they were finally on stage with the cast. Watching Dave and Fleur sing and move in character did things to Ben’s stomach. It felt less like butterflies and more like an eldritch horror singing out to them.
Clearly the feeling was mutual. Ben had just finished practicing the whole show solo for the second time in a row because it was tech and he was paranoid, when he noticed Fleur was in the room.
“How long have you been standing there?” He asked fondly while walking over to give her a kiss in greeting.
“Long enough,” Fleur said, breathless.
“I’m all sweaty and gross,” Ben laughed.
“I’m beautiful enough for the both of us,” she snarked back. It was absolutely perfect. Then the door creaked open and Dave stepped in.
“Your siblings are attempting to stealthily eavesdrop,” Dave warned. He was wearing an orange sweater that made him look even more like a particularly muscular patch of sunshine.
“Hey,” Ben said softly. He perched on his toes to give Dave a kiss on the cheek and Fleur just so happened to have the same idea at the same time. Kissing Dave was a mutual hobby he and Fleur greatly enjoyed. Dave didn’t mind either. He giggled and gave them both chaste kisses.
“So what brings you two here? Not that you aren’t welcome, it’s just that I would have showered and not been a sweaty mess from practice if I had known you were going to come over,” Ben was also wearing ugly basketball shorts and a stained Hello Kitty t-shirt that once belonged to Vanya before he stole it.
“I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner. I’ve been saving to take you both out for something special,” Dave asked nervously.
“Of course. Why didn’t you text?” Ben asked. Then he noticed Fleur was wearing a particularly nice skirt and sweater combo.
“Would you like to go now?” Dave asked. Fleur put her dainty palm in his to stop him from wringing his hands so much.
“Sure, just let me shower. Enjoy the interrogation,” Ben laughed before running up the stairs and into his room to grab a shower.
He could have sworn he heard Dave mutter, “Like Allison and Klaus haven’t tried.”
Ben showered and dressed in a jeans, good t-shirt, blazer combo to match the semi-formal way Fleur and Dave were dressed. He even stole some of the cologne Five said Dolores really liked from Five’s room.
When he walked back down stairs, Fleur and Dave were indeed being interrogated. By Mom.
“Ben’s an amazing person and we’re lucky to know him ma’m,” Dave said. Ben had never felt this warm and fuzzy in his life.
“I am so honored to have met and to love your son,” Fleur said. It was the most sincere he had ever heard her. As much as he would have liked to drag them both to his bedroom, he knew that Dave made plans. Ben coughed to get their attention.
“Hello Ben, dear. Oh you three look so lovely together!” Mom said cheerily. Fleur’s strained smile suggested that Mom had been killing them with kindness. It was a common tactic of hers whenever they had been misbehaving.
“Ben, you look great,” Dave said.
“Tu es si belle ma chérie,” Fleur offered, which made him flush pink. She only used French like that when she was overwhelmed. Ben had been trying to learn, with minimal success.
“Aww, our little Benny’s going out to dinner,” Klaus stage-whispered from the other room.
“SHHH” was the loud cry of his other five siblings.
“We should get out of here,” Ben said, “See you soon Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too dear. Be home by curfew!”
&&&&&&&&&&&
Tech week was over. Show time. The curtain is about to rise-
“Ladies and gentlemen, what you’re about to see is a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery,” Dylan paused for emphasis, “All the things we hold near, and dear to our hearts. Thank you,”
Mr. C cued the first trumpet.
And then the show passed by in a blur. Dave and Fleur killed it as their respective characters.
In the All I Care About Is Love , Dave walked up to his platform and delivered his monologue to him. “And, physical love ain’t so bad either,” Dave winked. Ben almost forgot the bass drum hit he had after that line.
In the song Roxie, Fleur added a line. “Hi pit band! Oh do you see the drummer! Call me, mon ange” Even in a crappy red wig, she looked stunning. The way she called him her angel almost made him forget to count what beat he was on.
It wasn’t until much, much later Dave explained, “Fleur and I like each other, but there’s something about you that really ties us together. I don’t think we would have anything in common if it wasn’t for you.”
And Ben was fine with that. He felt happier than ever.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
On Friday, it was the day of the second to last show. As usual Ben was sitting with his siblings for lunch, sans boyfriend and girlfriend.
“How come you got to steal my boyfriend,” Klaus teased.
“You and Dave dated for two weeks in sixth grade,” Ben not-so-gently reminded him.
“Dolores and Five were dating in sixth grade,” Klaus pointed out.
“And we’re still together. What should I get her for our seventh anniversary by the way?” Five looked up.
“What Mr. Romance himself can’t figure it out?” Vanya poked Five in the ribs.
“You could take her to the place Fleur and Dave took me on Tuesday,” Ben suggested.
Five nodded while unpeeling his tangerine, “Thank you, Ben.”
“Opening night went really well! It was practically a packed house,” Allison said, trying to change the subject.
“Is the cast, crew, and pit doing Griddy’s tomorrow night?” Luther asked.
“Of course. It’s practically tradition,” Diego said, “Holy shit this is our last musical.”
Ben decided to simply lay back in his seat and watch the chaos unfold from that comment. Dave had already had that crisis with him while Fleur was at a family event. It was so nice to have a non-sibling support network.
Speaking of a non-sibling support network, Fleur and Dave had once again snuck up on him.
They always did and it was perfect.
The cafeteria continued to bustle, his siblings teased him non-stop, and Ben, Fleur, and Dave were happy.