"you and ben are the only people i know now who barely have accents," tobias says, taking a sip of his drink. evas eyes widen at the mention of ben. she didn't notice he had an accent.
"really? where is he from?" she asks casually, glancing past tobias' head for a split second and looking down at the table at the man of current conversation. he's too engrossed in a conversation to notice her stare.
"australia," the man replies, gaining her attention back. eva nods takes another drink of water, the conversations dwindling around her as half a dozen workers walk into the area all carrying trays of food.
-
bens comment is cut short at the feeling of his phone buzzing in his pocket. he pulls it out and tries not to sigh as he reads the caller ID. "excuse me," he says politely to the group he was talking with. ben quickly exits the room and clicks answer on the second to last ring. "what, janelle?" he says, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.
"when are you coming home? and where the fuck are you really at?" she spits. ben squeezes his eyes shut for a second to calm himself down before answering.
"janelle, i told you three different times that i'd be home at eleven. it's only 9:45. and i'm at a dinner for joel—you wanna talk to him?" he says, enunciating every syllable. janelle sucks her teeth, not believing anything he's saying.
he's not even sure what to call him and janelle anymore. four months ago, he would've called her his girlfriend with ease, but lately it's just 'janelle', and everyone goes with it. it hasn't been the same since he spent the summer in LA.
"then why the fuck are there bitches there, ben? who the fuck is that girl sitting next to you?" she yells. his face contorts into confusion even though she cant see.
"what are you even talking about?"
"do you think i'm stupid?" she asks. and when ben doesn't answer she says, "answer me!"
rolling his eyes, he sighs his response. "no, janelle," she barks a bitter laugh, her anger evident through the phone.
"fuck you, ben. don't even bother coming home. go stay at that bitch's house," and then the line goes dead. ben sighs and hangs his head, running his hand over his face. for the past three months, this is how every conversation they've had has gone. janelle is stuck on the fact the fact that, four months ago in june, ben was spotted leaving a restaurant with another girl, never mind the fact that they actually left in a group but were the last two people getting into the car.
he's tried to explain to janelle that nothing happened, because nothing did, but she doesn't buy it. she's had trouble trusting him from the start, and he's never gave her any real reason to doubt him until that moment. now it's the constant calls in the middle of his outings and the over possessive and jealous attitudes.
"hey, are you alright?" he lifts his head at the voice, and when he sees who it belongs to, he straightens. eva stands in front of him, a concerned look on her beautiful face.
"yeah, i'm fine," he says, clearing his throat, and eva picks up on the fact that he does that when he's lying.
tilting her head ever so slightly to the right, in a way that makes ben register as familiar but he can't quite place, she asks, "are you sure?"
"promise."
"hmph. okay. but you're missing out on the party," she sends him a smile that makes his heart skip a beat, before disappearing back inside. his eyes follow her long, lean legs that pour out of tiny blue dress, and pushes himself off of the wall and walks his way back inside.
later that night, when ben creeps into janelles apartment earlier than he said he would be home, with evas smile on his mind, he prays that she's asleep.
creeping quietly into her room, he sees her figure laying still. he breathes a sigh of relief when he realizes that she's asleep and slips into the bathroom to get ready for bed. ben stares at his reflection and shakes his head—its not healthy for him to be with janelle, and he knows it. his mother know it, his sister knows it, and so do his friends. but he hates making her upset, and whenever he brings up separating, the look on her face makes his heart crumble.
sighing again, he quickly changes out of his clothes and tosses them in the hamper. he has his own place, but janelle hates sleeping alone and his house is father away from hers, so he stays with her most nights.
exiting the bathroom, he catches a glimpse of a magazine cover that makes him stop. he pauses in the doorway and turns around to pick up the magazine that lays on the stand in janelles bathroom.
bens heart nearly beats out of his chest as the smile from earlier stares up at him from the Vanity Fair cover. her brown skin gleams and her blindingly white teeth put him in a trance. something about her felt familiar all night, like he's seen her before but wasn't sure where. he gets it now.
getting her out of his head was going to be more challenging than he thought.
——
A/N: omg... hi y'all.
DONT BE MAD AT MEEEE ITS BEEN LIKE A YEAR SINCE I LAST WROTE A *GOOD* STORY. IM PRETTY SURE ABOUT THIS ONE.
i'm sorry it took so long. the first draft of this story was terrible and i've been writing it for months. i hate the idea. i came up with the current idea months ago, but thought it was corny.
i wrote this in literally 2 hours; it's so much better than the first idea i had.
i hope you enjoy it <3
question: do you think ben will be good or bad this story?😈😈
thank you for the constant and unconditional support.
excuse any mistakes.
