YOU BELONG WITH ME , Ben Plunkett

ben's unspoken rizz

I was laying in the backseat of Ben's car reading, as we waited for Mandy to get back from the garden grow.

Ben was putting his things in the trunk, when she returned.

"Hey!" she said, and I poked my head out of the window.

"How'd it go?" I asked her.

"Well, Graham Lansing is the narcissistic tool we thought he was," she said, holding up a selfie he had taken on her phone. Ben grimaced. "but I'm officially his tutor."

"Yes!" Ben and Mandy double tapped their hands, and laughed.

"What about you? You have fun with your new girlfriend?" Mandy asked him.

I turned back into the seat, and opened my book again, ignoring how Ben glanced at me.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and then he shook his head.

"LaToya Reynolds is not my girlfriend, okay?" he said, quietly.

"You definitely want her to be," I said, just to make myself seem less suspicious.

"Hey! You be quiet in there," he joked. "Besides, she barely even looked at me anyway, so..."

"So you noticed her not looking?" Mandy teased, further.

"No—I, just—well—shut up," he said,
slamming the trunk and getting into the driver's seat.

*

"Ben, will you come with me to buy my Prom ticket?" I asked my best friend as I met him at his locker. I leaned against it, and Ben looked over at me with furrowed eyebrows. "What?"

"You're still going to Prom? I thought you wanted out of this whole thing," he said.

I shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, I would love to just...stay at home and read, but Prom could be fun," I said. "I might actually regret not going, so I might as well."

"Okay," Ben sent me a soft smile. "I was going to buy mine, too. So yeah."

"And besides, you owe me a slow dance," I winked, with a light laugh. He rolled his eyes, grinning.

We walked to the table together, and waited in line. I looked over at him, and chuckled.

"What?" he asked.

"It's just...my mom always knew that we'd be going to Prom together," I laughed. "I mean—she just predicted you and I would end up together or something, which is crazy...but she was right about Prom. Even if it's just as friends,"

"I think it's crazy that your mom even assumed we'd be going to Prom. I mean, come on, us? Prom?" Ben said, and the two of us laughed.

This was nice. Being able to set my crush aside and talk to my friend. But my heart still hurt when I remembered LaToya Reynolds, and how much he had liked her.

"Oh, hey, its your turn," I said, and Ben moved up in line.

"Hello," he said to LaToya, who had been selling the tickets. He handed her money. "One ticket for Prom please," he said.

"Okay, one ticket for.."

"Ben Plunkett," Ben said as LaToya also said his name.

"I know your name Ben." she laughed.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I—I just did—did not think that you did," he laughed. I smiled at his cuteness.

"We've had classes together since middle school. We did a project together for AP bio last year," LaToya said, shocking him more.

"No. I know," Ben nodded.

"Wait..do you not know my name?" LaToya asked.

"I do. Obviously. I mean, you're—you're like—you're you," he chuckled.

"You don't know my name,"

"No! Of course I do. Of course I do. LaToya Reynolds. I just mean that..you're like...you're like—LaToya Reynolds. Does that make any sense?" Ben stammered.

"Not entirely," she smiled.

While this was happening, I had already gotten my Prom ticket, so I was just lingering at Ben's side, with a grin.

"Hey, Jasmine," LaToya greeted me, and I nodded.

"Hi LaToya," I gave her a tight-lipped smile.

She handed Ben his ticket. "Try to hang onto that. But if you lose it, we have your name at the door. Ben Plunkett," she said again.

"Thank you, LaToya Reynolds," he said. He waited, a blushing mess.

"There are people behind us, Ben," I chuckled.

"Right—yeah, okay." he said, as we walked away. "God, that was horrible," he sighed.

"No. That was cute," I told him, ignoring the look he gave me. "Trust me, Ben. Whatever that was, she liked it," I said, and he sighed.

"Did you like it?" Ben asked, suddenly, and I almost passed out.

"W-what?" I questioned.

"Did. You. Like. It." Ben smirked, making me nervous. I turned around to look at him, surprise on my face, mixed with hurt.

"Are you serious?" I asked him.

"I know that you meant what you said yesterday, Jasmine," he said. "And I'm flattered," his expression softened.

I blinked away the tears that were forming behind my eyes. "So you're making fun of me?" I questioned. Ben's eyes widened.

"What? No-no! I—I'm sorry, I was just trying to mess around, I—"

"Yeah. Well, you definitely got me there, Ben," my voice cracked. "Screw this. Screw you," I ripped up the Prom ticket I'd just purchased and tossed it into a nearby trash can, walking right out the doors of the school.

*

Angelina Speaks:

Poor baby. :(

This actually happened to me once 😭

The guy that I liked teased me in front of a bunch of people and I was like. 😃 What are you doing, bestie?

And then I blocked him like the girl boss I am. 👍🏼