Once he was dressed, he stomped downstairs for some cereal. Ben was scowling at the selection when he heard the jangle of car keys. He turned to see his mother with her purse over her shoulder.

“Wanna go with me to the store?” she asked in pleasant tones as if nothing had happened.

“No, thanks,” Ben answered carefully. Maybe she realized how she had overreacted and would unground him.

“You sure?” she prompted. “It’s your only chance to get out of the house today.”

He turned his back to her, anger swelling up inside of him.

“Well,” his mother sighed, “your sister and father will be back any minute.”

Ben maintained his bitter silence until he heard the garage door raise and lower again. He counted to twenty before he dared move to the front windows to check that her car was gone.

“Dad? Karen?” he yelled, just to be sure that he was alone.

Only Wilford responded to his calls, panting happily as he trotted up to him.

“You look like you need to go potty,” Ben suggested. “Don’t you, boy? Don’t you?”

Wilford barked and leapt in anticipation.

Ben smiled at his little victory. There was no choice but to take the poor dog out for a walk. Clearly it was an emergency. He threw on his shoes and gave himself a once-over in the mirror before leashing Wilford and escaping from the house. He ran the first block, just in case either of his parents was on the verge of returning. Once that obstacle was out of the way, he was home free.

He felt a wild sense of liberation as he approached Tim’s house. So what if he got into trouble? They could ground him all they wanted. Right now he was somewhere his parents didn’t know about, somewhere safe. He would have his weekend with Tim and they couldn’t do anything about it.

Ben entered the house without ringing the doorbell. He realized he might catch Tim in a compromising situation by doing so, but the idea of finding him jerking off only encouraged him to make his way stealthily down the hall. It was a good thing that he did, too, otherwise he might not have heard the girlish giggle before he entered the den.

A seductive murmur responded to the giggle as Ben tiptoed the last few steps to peek around the doorway, Wilford padding along behind him. Tim was on the couch with his leg up on the coffee table. A girl was bent over the cast, writing something on it with a pen. Her back was to him, but Ben didn’t need her to turn around to know that it was Krista Norman. Tim wiggled his foot, and she chastised him and giggled again. He grinned back at her in satisfaction.

Ben decided to make a silent retreat, but before he could do so, Wilford opened his mouth and starting panting loudly. Tim spotted Ben. Krista began turning to see what the noise was but Ben retreated down the hall before she could see him.

“Wait here,” he heard Tim say to her.

“Is someone here?” Krista’s voice sounded panicked, as if she was already being menaced by a gang of burglars.

“It’s just my neighbor,” Tim reassured her. “He promised to bring something by. Wait here.”

Tim appeared in the hallway and brushed by Ben, barely using his crutches as he hurried away, gesturing for Ben to follow. They retreated all the way to the front door before Tim turned to speak with him.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were grounded?”

“I snuck out,” Ben said.

“Jesus, man! You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry. I wanted to surprise you.”

“That you did.” Tim squatted down to pet Wilford. “Who’s this?”

Ben introduced him.

“You know, he looks oddly familiar,” Tim commented.

Well, yeah, I walked him past your house a million times before we met, Ben thought. “He looks like Wilford Brimley,” Ben explained. “You know, the old guy in the oatmeal commercials?”

“Oh yeah,” Tim laughed. “He totally does.”

“That’s why we named him that. He just needs a pair of glasses and the look is complete.”

Tim chuckled and Ben joined him. For a moment it felt like everything was going to be okay. Tim would send Krista away, since she wasn’t important to him, and they would have their day after all. All these hopes were blown away when Krista’s voice called from the den.

“Look, you can’t stay,” Tim whispered. “I’m trying to get laid. I’m playing up the injury thing like crazy, and she’s eating it up.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Ben mumbled awkwardly. “I, uh, yeah. Good luck, man.”

“You, too!” Tim gave him an amiable punch to the arm. “I hope you sneak back in without getting caught.”

“Yeah. Well, see ya.”

“Yeah. Wait!”

Ben turned around, that last desperate spark of hope igniting.

“I need my car keys back.”

“Oh yeah. Of course.”

Ben handed them over and then hurried to leave. His face burned bright with embarrassment the whole way home. He felt humiliated and silly. How else did he think this little game of his would end? Tim was feeling better and his parents were coming home. He didn’t need Ben anymore. He would be back in school soon with his ditzy girlfriend and asshole friends, and Ben would be nothing more than an amusing memory, if he was even remembered.

He didn’t bother to sneak back in the house. Who cared if he was grounded now? Allison was forbidden to see him and Tim had better things to do. There was no longer a reason to leave.

Neither of his parents was home, so Ben had his bowl of cereal and numbed his mind with television. He barely noticed when they did arrive, ignoring his mother’s request for help unloading the car. When their attempts at communicating with him became too annoying, he turned off the TV and went upstairs to his room.

The phone rang before Ben could sit down on his bed. He picked it up irritably. It would only be one of Karen’s annoying friends, but at least he could have the satisfaction of hanging up on them.

“What?” he snarled into the receiver.

“Benjamin?” came the startled response.

“Tim?” he asked, not believing his ears.

“Man, I’m glad I didn’t get one of your parents. Are they still gone?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ben insisted. “What’s up? Are you calling to brag or something? Tell me you aren’t screwing her right now!” he joked, feeling elated that Tim would call him for any reason.

“No, almost,” Tim said, his voice laced with frustration. “Came close, but she got freaked out by the European standard.”

“Okay,” Ben replied, not understand what was being said or why.

“Anyway, we got into an argument and she’s gone.”

“Sorry?” Ben offered.

“So you want to come over?”

Well, of course he did, but he had missed his chance. Sure, he could still sneak out and face the same consequences that he had been willing to face an hour ago, but he didn’t like the idea of playing second fiddle to Krista, of all people.

Tim picked up on his hesitation. “Maybe you and I can pick up where she left off,” he said.

Ben’s mouth dropped open in shock. His brain buzzed, analyzing what he had just heard and trying to find any other interpretation of the words except what he thought they meant. “I’ll be right there,” he said, slamming down the phone.

Ben ran. He didn’t know where his parents were, and he didn’t check. He was down the stairs and out the front door in two seconds. Another twenty seconds and he was in the safety of the park. Anywhere away from the road was safe from his parents. Had they ever gone for a walk or ridden a bike in their lives? His mind rejected thoughts of them and instead turned to his destination.

Was Tim really inviting him over to mess around? Jesus! Maybe there was a god! Something had scared Krista away. Maybe it was just too big for her to deal with. What was it he had said? The European standard? Did Tim measure it in metric or something? Well, whatever. He’d soon find out!

He found the door unlocked and let himself in, heart thudding in his chest as he walked to the den. Tim was waiting for him on the couch, fully dressed and looking subdued and uncertain. Was he having second thoughts? Ben hesitated in the doorway.