It Was You

Chapter 14

"Holy wow," Ben chuckled as we walked up the big house with the pumping music. "This is going to be epic!" I laughed, but more in nervousness than anything. I hate parties. I hate big groups, that's why I only hang out with a select few. I get so exhausted being around people, I'm going to need a few days to recoup after this.

We walked into the house that was playing some god awful techno version of 'Monster Mash'. This house was beyond huge, but there were so many people that it felt crowded. There were people making out on the stairs, playing beer pong in the living room, taking shots in the kitchen, having sex upstairs, dancing in the backyard, and overflowing the swimming pool.

I don't think I've ever felt more out of place in my entire life.

"Come on, let's get a drink," Ben said into my ear. He never let go of my hand as we pushed our way to the drink station that was set up. There wasn't any water, no juice, not even mixers. It was all alcohol. There was a punch bowl, but I wasn't about to test that out.

Ben surprised me when he took the almost empty bottle of whiskey and poured it into a red solo cup. He took a sip and didn't seem phased at all by it. "The drinking age in London is sixteen of you're accompanied by an adult. My dad and I would go to pubs all the time."

I let out a soft "oh", but was more concerned about who was going to drive us home now. There's no way I'm going to let him drive if he keeps drinking and I don't even have a license! Before I could think more of it, Hallie Brooks came up to us—well, to Ben—and said, "Ben! You made it!"

She brought him into a bit too friendly hug. I never thought of myself of the jealous type until right now. Hallie then looked at me, then said, "Oh...you came, too." Ben put his hand on my back and told her, "Well, I am her boyfriend and when you invite me, you invite her." He didn't say that in a harsh way, but more informing.

It was so sweet.

Still, Hallie didn't look very pleased. "Well, what's done is done," she sighed, "come on, I'll introduce you around." Ben had quite a few friends in the school, but this was a completely different crowd. You didn't find them in the cafeteria or hanging around the halls. They had their own places to hand, like the senior circle or on top of the expensive cars their parents got them.

He was introduced to the people I hate most in this school. They think their better, cooler, smarter. In reality, they're the worst. They're the dumbest kids in school, but because they're parents give generous donations, they pass every class. It's unfair, really.

"Benny," Hallie said, running her hand down Ben's arm (I wanted to cut off her hand), "this is Laurie, Janice, Amy, Jared, Tom, Logan, and Steven. Everyone, this is Ben." Ben shook hands with all of them, but I kept to myself. "Your the British guy," the one I knew as Jared said, "yeah, I've heard about you. Didn't you play football or something in England?"

Ben stood up a little straighter (odd), then told them, "Rugby, actually, though I hear it's not much different from American Football here." While the boys explained the concept of football to him, Hallie grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her and the girls.

"Cassie," Hallie said with a wide and fake smile, "since Ben is getting along so well with the guys, we would like to invite you into our little group, as well. Seeing as he can't leave you to be alone to care for yourself." I gave her a sharp glare for that little jab.

"No thank you," I told her with an even faker smile than her's. "I'll stick to my two real friends." Speaking of whom, where are they?" I'm practically drowning without them! When I turned to get Ben because I started feeling a bit uncomfortable...he was gone. He left me alone!

I then heard a series of chants coming from the kitchen, so I rushed in there. My eyes practically rolled to the back of my eyes from what I was seeing. Jared and Logan were holding Ben upside down while he chugged from a beer keg. "You have got to be kidding me," I angrily muttered.

When they set him down, he wobbled a little bit, but then high fived all of the guys. When he saw me, he came over and said with a small slur, "Come'ave a drink with me." I scoffed, "Seriously? I can't drink, Ben, remember?" I pointed to my oxygen tank, then my lungs. He looked like he had just remembered I was made of cancer.

"Oh, shit," he mumbled, "sorry!" I just shook my head. "Ben, we haven't been here ten minutes and you've already been sucked in by the Sith Lord and her Lord Vaders. I wouldn't be as mad if you weren't the one who's supposed to be driving." He shook his head and told me, "I'll be fine, just give me a couple hours."

A couple of hours? No, this was not the deal! "Ben," I sighed, but he stopped me from talking by putting his finger on my lips. "Baby, it will all be fine. Look, I'm going to get to know the guys more and I think you should get to know the girls."

I had tears flooding my eyes because I was getting so angry. "I've known them, Ben," I angrily told him. "I know Jared and Tom and Logan and Laurie, Amy, Hallie; I've known them way longer than you! We used to all be friends, but then they hurt me! Just because I had cancer, they treated me like a disease when we got to High School. Now, they treat everyone like that. If you want to hang out with those kinds of people, fine...but don't expect me to tag along."

I started to storm outside with tears running down my cheeks. When I get angry or anxious, I start crying. This entire night was full of anger and angst. As I walked out of the house, I could see Aaron and Lee walking up the driveway. I had never felt more relief!

"Lee! Aaron!" I started running towards them. Aaron was the first to see me and ran up to meet me halfway. He brought me into a hug and just cried into his shirt. "What happened?" He asked. I shook my head, then cried, "I want to go home."

Next thing I knew, I was at home and crying in my dad's arms. Aaron and Lee had taken me home and dad was the only one there. He tried to gently shush me as I just kept crying. I couldn't even explained what happened.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked. I didn't want to answer that because yes, he did. Then again, he didn't. It was hard to explain and I couldn't do it at the moment. "I'll murder him if he did, you know that." That got me to laugh and helped ease my crying.

When I brought my head up, he wiped my tears with his large hands and asked, "Ready to talk?"