Chapter 126 – Board games

Benjamin hurriedly stopped her.

"Wait! I'm sorry, I misspoke. Please tell me what you want from me."

Waverly timidly turned around again and looked at him. Seeing him looking apological, she seemed to relax a little and finally resumed talking.

"You don't need to be sorry. You only said the truth. I lost a game with my friends and I was sent here as a penalty. I should be the one to apologize. I'm sorry."

"I see. Don't worry about it, this is nothing. So, what were you supposed to ask me?"

"Well, my friends and I are quite passionate about board games and we often play them after school. They were quite mean because they gave me the impossible mission of inviting you to join us today."

The only feeling Benjamin had about board games was the ones he played with his family when he was young. Except for that, he didn't know much about them.

"Board games? Is that something that people our age can still enjoy?"

Instead of being offended, Waverly smiled with understanding and started to explain.

"That's a good question. Most people only remember the games they played as children but board games are much more than this. Many have complicated rules and setups and are aimed at adults. There are even board games tournaments for the really passionate people."

The girl was now much more relaxed when talking with him. As usual, letting people talk about what they liked was the way to make them comfortable. He had no idea about the world of board games, so he could only trust her. When he heard that a lot of the games were aimed at adults, his first thought was that this could become something he could play together with his family. He could join these girls and see if there was a game that his family members could enjoy. Also, it was always good to learn about something new. He smiled and declared.

"Sounds interesting. I'm in."

"...What?"

"Let me join you girls today for your board games session."

There was a long delay where the girl looked at him as if she didn't understand what he said. In the end, she only repeated her previous question.

"What?"

"Let me join you girls today for your board games session."

There was another silence before she questioned again.

"...Are you serious?"

"Of course."

"No, but, that's... a really bad idea, you know?"

"Didn't you just invite me?"

"Because we never expected you to say yes! It was just a punishment for losing a game!"

He faked being hurt and answered.

"So you were playing with my feelings?"

"No! I mean, I guess we did? Sorry!"

"Ahah, no, I am just kidding. You would need a lot more than this to hurt me."

She looked at him, half-relieved and half-annoyed.

"Ugh. I forgot you were like that. Anyway, do you really want to join us, or was that a joke too?"

She talked as if the whole class was aware of his personality, which was probably the case in retrospect. At the very least, they had all been exposed to his scene with Sarai and most likely a few others.

"I am serious. It seems interesting and I want to join since you invited me."

"But, that's not good for you, a boy alone with three girls."

"Just the fact that you are reluctant about it and warning me beforehand increases my trust in you by a lot."

"But still, we, well, we're nothing like the girls that are usually around you. We're just plain girls and we're not interesting at all."

This has become an interesting situation where the one who had invited him tried to persuade him not to come.

"What does that have to do with playing board games? I don't judge people by appearance or personality traits anyway."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Of course. Why would I judge people by something they have no control over? Is it someone's fault if they are the way they are from birth? As for personality traits, it's great that people are all different. If everyone was the same, the world would be a very boring place."

"Then, how do you judge people?"

"Who I am to judge others anyway? What do I know about them to judge them? But, if I had to give one criterion, it would be whether they are kind at heart or not."

"You're... weird. Ah sorry. What I mean is, well, I understand why all the girls are crazy about you now."

"I will take it as a compliment. We've gone off-topic for too long, we don't have much time before the next class. Can I join you or not?"

"You... can. Aren't you worried about being in an enclosed space with three girls you don't know much about?"

"I can take care of myself. But if you're that bothered about it, what about we do it somewhere we won't be alone? What about someplace like, um, a café?"

"A café? I never thought about this. That might be a good idea. Okay, let's do that. Let's meet after school, okay? If you don't change your mind until then."

"I won't. See you later."

The chime rang and the two hurried back to their classroom. Everyone was looking at them weirdly for talking together for so long, including their respective friends. One hour later, school ended and Benjamin said goodbye to Julian and Nathan before going toward the three girls. He didn't invite his friends this time since he didn't want to trouble the girls too much, thinking that he alone would already be hard enough for them to accept. Waverly was whispering to her friends when he reached them, probably recounting their talk from before and he could see the other two looking at him incredulously. They had to stop murmuring when he was right next to them and a different girl looked at him before conveying her feelings.

"For real?"