“80s trivia. And what does MTV have to do with music?”
I almost bite my tongue to stop from laughing in his face. When he asked me not to tease him, he really seemed to mean it.
“My mother.” I say, my chest tightening. What would she think of me planning to throw someone as kind as Benunder the bus to get noticed by pro coaches? “She liked all that stuff.”
Ben nods, his eyes on the road. Somehow he’s letting me know he’s listening. Like he’s purposefully not looking at me so I don’t feel self-conscious.
When I don’t say anything else, he just keeps driving, commenting on each song as it starts to play. “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”elicits a smile.
“Okay, this is a sad song.”
We laugh.
The motorway splits off into dense residential areas full of lush greenery.
“Where are we now?” I ask.
“This is Westchester County.”
“It sounds like something from a book.”
Ben huffs a laugh through his nose. “Like you don’t live in a country with a Black Forest—they named a dessert after it, for Pete’s sake. Talk about fairytales.”
“Oh, so you know about the Black Forest, but you’ve never heard of The Smiths?”
Ben shrugs, those cute, pink blotches appearing on his cheeks. “I like geography, or maps more specifically.”
“What kind of maps?”
“Old ones, mostly.”
“Of the US, or…?”
“The world. It’s nice to see how the world looked before people started splicing it up.”
“You’d have to go way back to pre-Roman days to see that.”
He side-eyes me like he’s impressed. “Exactly. I like being reminded of the impermanence of things. How drastically things can change. It reminds me not to take anything for granted. That you have to stand up for what’sright or the powerful people will just take over everything.”
Wow. I don’t know what to say.“Do you have a favorite map?”
He rubs the back of his neck, his hands leaving a sweaty handprint on the steering wheel. Am I making him nervous? Or is he nervous about taking me home to meet his parents?
“I have a few old pre-World War One maps of Europe that I like. Things changed most drastically—after the decline of the Roman Empire—following the First World War.”
“Now we’re getting into dangerous territory.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, well, the treaty of Versailles has a lot to answer for.”
“A history buff, too?”
“Not really. Just the maps. It’s nice to have context.”
“Any other secret enthusiasms I should know about?”
“No. Except the LEGO thing.”
“LEGO thing?”
