OVER THE course of a couple days, Devi had joined Model UN with Ben, Fabiola came out as gay to Eleanor and Kalani, Ben and Devi got along, then everything went to shit in the matter of days.

Devi even went off on her trio saying that her shit was bigger than theirs and to basically suck it up for the time being.

Ben was upset, he didn't get to take home that golden gavel he'd been talking about to Kalani for months. He thought he could mend his rivalry with Devi, but turns out, she wanted to nuke him. And to think, Ben almost felt comfortable (or almost too drunk) to tell Devi about him and Kalani because that's how well last night had gone for him.

But he was wrong. He felt stupid. He felt betrayed.

Even worse, he'd gone home to his mother leaving for yet another trip. Even though Ben praised his father, he wasn't really much of one and his mother could be told the same. Even though Ben had is loud, brash school persona, at home he was just another quiet, lonely kid.

But, after hours of being home alone... there was a knock on his door.

He could only assume it was pizza he ordered or the many packages he needed to sign for. Either way, he stood from the white couch with a sigh and opened the door.

"Okay," Kalani smiled, "don't sound too disappointed. Sorry I'm not Jessica Alba."

Kalani always brought Ben joy. The saying "opposites attract" always felt dumb to Ben. But he and Kalani had been two very different people.

Though both teens had been book-smart; it was their personalities that made them different from each other.

Kalani allowed herself inside and Ben soon followed behind. She sat down on the couch and he soon joined her side with two glasses in his hand.

"So, where's the golden gavel you've been raving about?" She asked, sipping her drink.

"Um, about that. I actually didn't get it."

Kalani furrowed her brows, "What happened? You've had pitches ready for everything that could've happened."

"I didn't have one for David."

"What did she do?"

He gave Kalani the entire rundown on everything that happened during and after Model UN. The somber look in Ben's face as he told the story didn't pass by Kalani.

Kalani sat her drink down and sat close to Ben's side. Her one arm resting on the back on the couch and her hand resting on Ben's leg.

"I'm really sorry about that Ben." Kalani said, "I know you worked hard on that."

And he had. She knew that he worked hard on Model UN. That was the one thing he'd been talking about for months and just like that, Devi had snatched it away.

BEN SPENT his days playing video games, going on Reddit, poorly playing basketball, and at times, had Kalani over, but that was rare. His parents seemed to be so absent that even if he did tell them that he was dating someone, it would go in one ear and out the other.

But, Ben did have some friends... they weren't good friends, but friends nonetheless.

"Hey, excited for the Clippers game?" Ben asked.

"I think I'm more of a Lakers girl, but yeah I am."

To Ben's dad Kalani was just another girl. A friend of his that was friends with him because his dad knew celebrities.

This could be considered a date for Ben Gross. He'd never really taken Kalani anywhere because everyone in school would see the two and people love to talk.

But instead of this legendary basketball game, Ben and Kalani sat in Ben's big ass white house and waited for Ben's father to show up to take them to the game.

Ben's phone chimed next to him, picking it up, a sadden expression hit his face. First off, his dad couldn't take them to the game because of Kanye. Second, his dad didn't know Kalani's name. Embarrassing as it is, he called her Katherine.

So, instead of going to the game, they would do something a little different.

Kalani knew that Ben had it rough, especially this week and she wanted to do something for him to at least to a smile on his face.

"Hey, Patty."

"Oh! My sweet prince!" Patty smiled, "Oh! I just ironed your socks for the big game. Nice and warm. You too, Ms. Lani."

Patty was the housekeeper/nanny/ motherly figure for Ben. She'd know about his relationship, hell, she knew a lot of things about Ben that not many others did.

"Actually, we just realized that we got a lot of homework to do, so I think we're gonna skip out on the game." Ben said, "Do you want the tickets?"

"Why don't we go together? I can bring a Ziploc bag with frozen grapes in it, huh?"

Just like Kalani, Patty would do pretty much anything for Ben. But he insisted that she'd go to the game with her sons.

So she did, she even got to meet Billy Crystal.

Kalani put on one of Ben's hoodies. She sat outside with him, their feet in the pool. She rested her head on Ben's shoulder as he scrolled through, what she assumed, Reddit.

"Hey, wanna grab something to eat?"

She glanced up, "I'm okay."

"Well... do you want to join me to meet a friend?"

She lifted her head and furrowed her brows, "A friend?"

"Yeah, from Reddit."

"And you think that's a good idea."

"Come on." Ben said standing, "It'll be fun."

Kalani didn't want to meet a person that she didn't know. She didn't even want to meet anyone from Reddit, but anything to get Ben out of his mood.

The two of them headed to North End Pizza and what Ben had expected wasn't there. In fact, it had been an older man waiting for him. Instead of turning away, which Kalani wanted, he joined the man at the table.

"Hey, man. Nice to meet ya. Oh, my name actually is Rick. Sit down. Get your slice on." Rick smiled, "And who might you be?"

"Um... Yeah, we're just gonna withhold our names for a moment." Ben chuckled and grabbed a chair for Kalani, "Really thought you were gonna be younger. Your username has a 69 in it."

"Oh, that's because I was born in 1969. But I'm young at heart, fam. I watch mad cartoons. Just like you. Oh, I wonder what else we have in common. Probably a lot."

"Sure." Kalani sighed, "This is the friend you wanted to meet?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"I gotta be honest, this setup feels sort of sketchy to me, so we're gonna go."

"Look, I get it. I'm a 50-year-old insurance adjuster from Tarzana. But I'm also a Rick and Morty fan, and I don't have anyone to talk to about it. I joked about getting a Mr. Meeseeks for the office, and my co-workers looked at me like I was a total Jerry."

Kalani held a tight lip, "That really is an insult."

Kalani was a people pleaser. She almost felt bad for Rick. I mean, Rick and Morty wasn't everyone's cup of joe, but she liked it enough to watch it with Ben. She almost understood where Rick was coming from.

She'd do pretty much anything to talk about her relationship to her friends, but Devi was a little too judgmental and she hated Ben even more now.

"It'd just be nice to talk to someone who gets me, but I understand if you want to go."

Kalani turned facing Ben. The look on his face said enough. He'd been strangely moved by Rick's tiny speech.

So, they sat back down, apologized, and joined Rick for pizza.

But Rick, was in fact, weird. He'd liked that Ben slowly blew on his pizza and without anymore hesitation, Kalani grabbed his hand and left the pizza place.

Nothing seemed to lift Ben from his spirits. He'd been down in his dumps and even cried in front of Devi's mother.

Ben Gross may seem like a total douchebag at school, but in reality he was just like everybody else. He had his days and today just so happened to be that day.

Later on, he knocked on the door of the Wang household and soon Meredith opened the door.

Not expecting her sister to answer, he began stumbling over his words before Kalani stepped forward and spoke to him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Were you busy? Was I interrupting anything?"

"No, we were just cleaning up from dinner. What's up?"

"Just had my own family dinner... with the Vishwakumar's."

"Oh. How was that?"

"Surprisingly well. I couldn't tell you the last time I had a family dinner, even if it wasn't with my own."

Kalani gave him a sad smile, "I'm really sorry about that Ben."

"No worries. I guess I'm use to it."

"You shouldn't be. Next time, just come over and eat dinner with us. Bring Patty. She might bring warm socks for me."

Ben nodded, "I think you should tell Devi about us."

Kalani held her mouth slightly agape; her conscious doing the same.

"He has one dinner with Devi and now he wants to blow up the town." Jodie said.

"Why?"

"I think Devi and I might actually be on the same page for once. I'm sure she'll be cool with us dating."

"Devi? Devi Vishwakumar? Cool with me dating someone she consider her nemesis? The same girl who was mad at Eleanor for keeping a secret relationship?"

"Yeah, her."

"He's totally lost his mind!" Jodie said, "Tell him you'll do anything for him, hell, anything with him if he takes back-"

"I'll try." Kalani softly smiled, "Tomorrow."

Jodie rolled her eyes, heading back inside the house.

Ben felt good. He didn't feel like some lonely loser. He felt pretty damn good about everything that was happening in his life.

- lucy has something to say !!

you guys hate ben gross? this episode was SAD !!!!

i'm lowkey surprised people like this story like 🤭 sorry paxton i'm a BEN GROSS SLUT

also i love ghost readers 🤭 you don't have to comment on my stuff unless i need a question answered immediately like help me out with that at least

bye :))))