I SLID INTO the booth. “You wanted to talk to me?”
Benji nodded. “Yeah.” But he just left it at that. He fiddled with his straw, not quite meeting my eyes. He looked at the table as if searching for words to say.
I wondered if we were going to let this silence stretch on, like if I just started counting in my head from one, I would count to infinity without us saying a word to each other.
One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four—
“Okay—”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Benji looked up.
“I’m so sorry I made you do this,” I burst out. “I never thought I was making you do something you didn’t want to. I just—” My words caught in my throat. “I just . . . wasn’t thinking. Or listening. I feel awful about this.”
Benji didn’t say anything for a second. Then: “I wanted to.”
That stopped me. “You did?”
“I was tired of not knowing who he was,” he said. He glanced up. “You’re right, you know. I was always too scared to do what I wanted. Like standing up for you to Drew. I should’ve said something after that science class.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“Still does. Friends stand up for each other. And I was an awful friend.” He folded a packet of salt and then unfolded it. He straightened up. “And I just finally wanted to do something. I was tired of being scared. I wanted to see my dad.” He picked up his milkshake and shrugged. “I mean, it was kind of a disaster. I’d always imagined this whole thing where he’d spot me from far away and then I’d run to him and everything would be perfect.” He shook his head. “But instead I made a fool of myself. Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. I almost got into a fight with a security guard. And my dad . . . just looked confused.” He paused and put his head in his hands. He mumbled, “And he’s married to someone else.”
I slumped back in my seat. “Oh.”
“I’m glad it happened, though.” Benji looked around the diner. “In a weird way. I’m glad I came all the way down to see him, even if he was kind of a jerk about it. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if I’d met him.”
He went quiet for a moment. “Plus,” he said. “It really could have been worse.”
I looked at him. “How?”
“At least I got to meet my dad.” A corner of his mouth curled up in a small grin. “Our plan worked.”
I grabbed a couple of fries. “I guess that’s true. At least you got here in one piece.”
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it back, though,” Benji said. “I lost the map I had.” He paused. “Oh, we might make the news tomorrow. For, you know, crashing a movie premiere.”
“Benji!”
He laughed. “I’m sorry I got you all in this mess.”
I shook my head. “This is all my fault.”
Benji looked at me. “Hey, you’re not taking all the blame for this.”
“Okay, maybe ninety percent.”
“Sixty.”
“Eighty-five.”
“Fine. Let’s call it an even fifty-fifty.”
I glanced up at him and smiled. “Deal.”
He leaned back. “Hey,” he said after a second. “Have you ever tried dipping fries in a milkshake?”
“A fry dipped in what?”
“I’ve heard it’s actually pretty good.” He glanced up at me. “Wanna try?”
I shook my head.
“Come on,” he said. “You never turn down a science experiment.”
I gave in. We each dipped a fry into his vanilla milkshake. “This actually isn’t bad.”
“See?” Benji took another fry. “Now let’s try your strawberry shake.”
“No way,” I said, but curiosity got the better of me. I tried it. “Ugh!”
When I looked up, Benji was laughing. “You forgot that I’m willing to eat anything and everything.” He turned the fry box to me. “Last one?”
I shook my head and smiled, and took the fry. I glanced up, meeting his laughing eyes, and knew that everything was somehow okay.
Benji shook his head, smiling. “I can’t believe I actually came to Los Angeles.” His eyes widened. “I mean, yesterday I was still sitting in that awful detention with Drew, you know? There was no way I was gonna come in a million years.” He sighed. “Thanks for helping me find my dad. I know I was kinda difficult about it—”
“Believe it or not, I understand,” I said. “I did tell you to run away across half of California.”
“Yeah, but it ended up being worth it,” he said. He grinned a little. “I’m glad we made that deal of ours. And I know I wasn’t the most helpful on the rocket, but—”
His expression froze.
“What?”
“What . . . date is it?”
“Friday.”
“No, date.”
“March sixteenth.”
Something dawned on him. “Science fair is on the seventeenth, isn’t it?”
I paused. And then I nodded at the table, exhaling slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.” I looked up at him. “It’s okay. I knew we’re probably going to miss it, anyway. I mean, I gave up on it back when Drew ruined our poster board.”
“You knew? You . . . were going to miss your science fair? For me?”
“I mean, of course I would. You’re my best friend. I had to find you.”
He stood up. “Wait, no. We’re going. We have to get there.”
“Science fair starts in less than twelve hours, Benji. It took us six and a half hours to get here. We’re not going to make it.”
“We have to,” Benji said, putting his hands on the table. “We made a deal.”
“Benji.” I was going to tell him that it was okay. That it was okay giving up science fair because I’d found him, and that’s what I wanted most. “The deal doesn’t matter anymore. The board is ruined—”
“So we’ll remake it.” Benji didn’t back down.
“We’re . . . going to remake it? Are you for real?”
“A hundred percent serious,” Benji said. “You helped me find my dad. I’m not letting you give up on your dream. Come on.”
I paused for half a second before I said, “Okay.”
We ran over to the table where Mr. Voltz, Benji’s dad, and my mom were sitting.
“We have to leave now,” Benji said. “Science fair starts tomorrow at ten o’clock.”
My mom’s eyes bugged out. Benji’s dad checked his watch. “You’re crazy, kid. It’s eleven o’clock, and you’re all the way in Los Angeles. You might as well get a hotel here and head up in the morning.”
“We can’t miss it.” Benji turned toward my mom. “We have to drive up tonight. Please.”
If someone had asked me at the beginning of the year what the odds were of Benji practically begging to go to the science fair, I would have laughed and said zero without a moment’s hesitation.
“Mom,” I said. “The science fair really matters to us.”
“You’re going to make Mr. Voltz drive in the middle of the night?” Mom crossed her arms. I saw a hint of fear in her eyes, how her lips were pressed tightly together. “No way.”
We all turned toward him.
Mr. Voltz gave Benji and me a hard look. His bushy eyebrows knitted together. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “This clearly means a lot to them. I’ll do it. I’ll drive.”
“No,” Mom said.
My heart sank.
She looked right at Benji. “First, I’m calling your mom and telling her we’re heading back. And then we’ll drive. In shifts.” She grabbed her bag. “Come on. Let’s go.”