Chapter 71 – Proposals
"If you agree with it, I would like to post a picture of you at the header of the blog. I think it will help me write if I can see you at the same time."
"Hmm, and what sort of picture of me do you want?"
"If possible, you smiling your best smile."
She didn't seem to be interested in an indecent picture of him, which was quite rare for a girl in this world. Well, she would probably jump on the offer if he proposed it but he obviously would never do that. Just a picture of him smiling on a personal blog wasn't a big deal and he decided to accept her request.
"Alright, that's fine. How should we do this?"
"I can take it right now with my phone if that's fine with you. I will try my best to take a good picture."
"Good, let's do it."
He gave her back her phone and she took some distance from him, turning around him to find the best position. When she was satisfied and readied her phone, Benjamin beamed, giving his most brilliant smile. She looked mesmerized for a second but quickly adjusted her phone angle and took the picture. Checking the result, she seemed satisfied and grinned at him.
"Thank you, Benjamin! If I can do anything for you in exchange, just tell me."
"Don't worry about it. As long as you enjoy yourself."
"Yes!"
For some reason, she was happy with his answer, not in the way that she liked what he answered but more like his answer met some sort of weird expectation of hers. They went back to their classroom, Sarai being instantly surrounded by a few other girls and after some whispering, they all shared a cheer. Benjamin wondered if this extremely recent blog could somehow already have some readers and fans. The girls' antics didn't escape the rest of the class and the news propagated soon enough. It didn't take long before some girls faked indignation and came to him, envy in their eyes.
"Ben, you can't do that! You're favoring Sarai too much! What about us?"
"I am not favoring anyone. I just accepted her request because it was something so small."
"Then us too!"
"Well, what do you want?"
"Hm, hm, oh, I know! We have a basketball match scheduled against another class during lunch today. We will definitely win if you come and cheer on us!"
Another girl laughed, ridiculing the one who made the proposal.
"What do you mean, cheering on you? You are missing a player, you won't even be able to play. Ben, you should come to cheer on us instead. We have a soccer match after school. There is no way we will lose if you come!"
"You girls are also missing a player! You are no better than us!"
"Ugh. That's because you didn't want to lend us someone from the basketball team!"
"Because you also didn't lend us someone from your soccer team!"
The two girls glared at each other angrily, their teammates behind them, and the tension was escalating quickly. Benjamin thought about the problem and easily found a solution to it all. He put himself between the two groups and conveyed.
"Don't fight, everybody. There is an easy solution to all of this. I will fill in the for the missing player in both matches and that will solve both issues, including the fact that you wanted me to do something for you."
Everyone stopped and watched him, surprised by his idea. A few seconds later, the first girl asked, uncertain.
"Err, do you know how to play basketball, Ben?"
"I sure do. Soccer too."
"Huh... And are you okay playing while being surrounded by sweaty girls?"
"No problem. Who doesn't sweat while playing sports? I will too."
Somehow, his remark made all the girls in the class gulp, their gaze focusing on any exposed skin of his. The second girl continued.
"Well, there is no rule saying that boys can't participate. We would be grateful if you were to fill in the void in our team. You don't even need to be good. But, we don't want you to get hurt."
"Just consider me the same as any other team member. And don't worry, I won't drag you down."
The girls considered it a little more before accepting it, still somehow unsure about the concept but otherwise happy about his participation. The girls from the basketball team told him the match would be at the school gymnasium and everyone returned to their seats. It was fortunate that the teacher for the next class was a bit late, allowing them all to talk for so long. On the next break between lessons, Julian and Nathan tried to persuade him not to go play with the girls, worried about him. He reassured them, putting forward how he was often running and playing sports and how he would be like a fish in water. They didn't seem completely convinced but stopped trying to convince him anyway.
At lunchtime, Benjamin quickly headed to the gymnasium together with the girls of the basketball team. When they were there, he was given a male team jersey which they had in stock for some reason and went to change his clothes in the male changing room, using his PE attire for everything except the team jersey. Since it was basketball oriented, it was a sleeveless top with high skin exposure while he used sports shorts for the bottom. He checked himself in the mirror of the changing room and could already imagine the girls' reactions to his current appearance. That couldn't be helped, he was the sinner here for being so handsome. Of course, as always, this opinion was only shared by himself and horny girls having lost all critical judgment.
He exited the changing room and as soon as he was out, he was met with a large cheer. Looking around the gymnasium, he noticed that there were suddenly a lot more students in the audience, all around and in the bleachers, than when they had arrived, consisting mostly of girls with a few boys here and there, including Julian and Nathan. He always marveled about how quickly information traveled in this school. It was as if the students here were plugged into some sort of continuous information feed or something.
...It couldn't be, right?