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Ben watched almost in slow motion as Devi fell backwards into the pool with a splash. He felt so bad for her. He almost wishes he had just kept his mouth shut about the punch, but he guesses the situation was bound to erupt anyways. He really wants to go help her, but he doesn’t think she wants him around after he just made things super awkward.
He sees Paxton rush towards her. Had he just been standing there waiting in case something happened? Did he expect something to happen?
He couldn’t let Paxton have all the glory again though, so he slid Shira’s arm off and ignored her protests about leaving her. He made his way over to them as Devi was getting out of the pool.
“Uhh...Patty left some fresh towels in the linen closet next to the guest bathroom. It’s down the hall from the theater....why don’t I just grab one and meet you guys inside?” He could see Devi’s face scrunch when he mentioned the theater and didn’t want to make things more awkward for her.
“That’d be great dude.” Paxton replied instead.
He can’t believe he had tried that twice when she was being the only nice person on his birthday. He quickly got the towel and returned to find Devi hanging out against the kitchen island. He handed her the towel trying to make sure they didn’t touch. She thanked him while beginning to ring out her hair. He glanced around and was surprised not to see Paxton.
“He went to get me some spare clothes he has from practice.” That made sense. Ben should’ve thought of grabbing a sweatshirt at least for her as well. There was an awkward silence as Ben looked around at the other people still hanging around. Some people were glancing over wondering if something else would happen.
Paxton meanwhile returned with a bag of clothes and Devi headed to the bathroom to change. Which left them both standing around the kitchen island. Half of Ben’s cake face had been defaced. He still the back of his head though. He wanted to dig his hands into that remainder and mess it up further like that would erase what he had tried to do in his own mind.
“I was wondering what was up with that cake. It could’ve sworn it was staring at me,” Paxton said.
“Yeah it was a bit creepy. My mom didn’t know what else to do for my birthday.” Ben shrugged slightly.
“It’s your birthday? Happy Birthday.”
“Thanks.” He certainly didn’t expect this to be his birthday this morning when Devi wanted to invite them both over.
When she rushed back over freaked out about the time, Paxton straightened up and offered her a ride back home. He heard her thanking him for rescuing her again as they headed out.
Ben made his way back to the pool area to find Shira. He’d apologize to Devi again tomorrow morning.