Chapter 10 - Jackal and Hyde:
Despite the incident at the waterpark and Ben more or less blocking me out when I asked him about the scar, come a short while later he was fine again. Better than fine; we were talking. There wasn’t that same uncomfortable silence between us, we would talk and laugh just like we used to, back before he left. My head told me not to get used to it, I had already seen how he could change at the push of a button, by my heart wanted to believe that I had my best friend back for good.
That evening, in a shocking turn of events, Ben even sat down and played board games with us. Finally a challenger to come after my crown!
“Everything okay honey?” Mrs Fletcher asked her son eventually allowing curiosity to get the better of her once that stupid smile hadn’t faded from his face nearly an hour later. I had to admit I was kind of enjoying seeing him physically gleaming like this, it was different, it was nice.
“Great, thanks” came his enthusiastic reply, his voice full of happiness. First the happiness and now the good manners, this certainly was interesting, why was he being like this? Surely it can’t have been the waterpark? It has to be whoever he was on the phone with last night, that has to be it, I reason with myself, silently hoping I was wrong.
“Maybe you should go to Aqua Dream more often, if that is how happy it makes you!” His mother remarked, “I don’t remember when I last seen you this happy.”
“Mom” He cried, embarrassed by her statement, as we all chuckled at his expense. It was nice to finally all be able to get on and have a great time together, Ben finally looked like he wanted to be there.
A question nagged at me about his mother’s statement though, why hadn’t Ben been happy in such a long time?
“Samantha, did you enjoy the water park today?” My dad asked, looking up from the dice he had just rolled, “You survived I see, Ben must have taken good care of you.”
For both Bens and my own sake, we decided not to tell them about the little bump on the head earlier that day, we didn’t want to worry them, or well get in trouble. Truth is I should never have even been near the slide let alone on it so it would not be a good idea to tell them I blacked out because of it. Plus the swelling and sore head had slowly eased so it seemed pointless to get into trouble over nothing anyway; especially with how my mother tended to overreact.
“It was great, thanks you guys” I lied, pretending that nothing had happened. Lying to my parents felt like murder, it felt wrong on so many levels, but if I wanted to keep my ‘friendship’ with Ben and indeed my life then it was necessary for survival.
“Good, it’s nice to see the two of you getting on so well again” My mother finally remarked at the end of the conversation. Her words seemed sincere but the slight twitch for just a split second in her eyes made me think otherwise, didn’t she want Ben and I to get alone?
Following yet another all-out trashing of everyone by myself at the board games (hey what can I say, I have a calling in life), Ben took me by surprise when he suddenly spoke up, his voice full of warmth and excitement.
“I’m going to head down to the beech for a walk before bed” he said before pushing up off his seat with those huge muscular arms, why is he so perfect? I mean… “Do want to come Sam…Samantha?” Wait, Ben Fletcher was inviting me to go with him to the beech for a walk? This was the same guy who had blocked me out for weeks and hadn’t spoken a word to me, now wanting to hang out with me? Maybe I really had drown in that pool and this was all some twisted afterlife.
“Of course she will!” My dad answered all too enthusiastically on my behalf, eying the bottle of red wine sitting in the middle of the table. Well, at least he had his priorities right; sell out your daughter so you can sit and drink some wine, I will remember that when I’m picking your retirement home.
“Okay, I will go” I reluctantly agree, although Ben was being different and actually more like the guy I knew now, I didn’t want to push my luck and have him block me out again like he had that time at the swimming pool. I wanted to have a friendship with him as weird or as stupid as that seemed, I knew he was a good guy underneath it all.
Maybe this stroll on the beach was what we needed, a little time alone to talk about everything that had gone on this past four years, then again it could end up being the worst idea I’ve ever had, I mean the sea seems like a pretty good place to hide a body to me.
***
At the time I reasoned with myself that a stroll along the beach, despite the possible worst case scenarios, was for the best and would allow us some time alone to catch up; boy was I wrong. Having completed one tantalisingly quiet lap of the seashore, the silence was more fitting to a funeral than a sunny evening stroll.
I was annoyed, I was upset and mostly I was confused. Why would that jerk even bother to invite me to come along with him if he was just going to retract and become that self-centred jackass all over again? He could have achieved the same goal without me there, it was like he enjoyed having this whole Jackal and Hyde persona and enjoyed even more trying it out on me. I’d had enough.
I wasn’t going to take this anymore, I wasn’t some plaything that he could just pick up when he felt like it, he had to be consistent; the same for even just this weekend. I mean, I realise that the only reason he is being nice to me is because no one else is around but still.
Finally my patients snap, “Why did you even bother asking me to come down here with you?” I ask, glaring at him as he slowly comes to a halt.
“What do you mean?” Came his reply, angering me even more, what did I mean? Was he completely stupid or just acting it, because it was pretty clear from where I was standing what I meant.
“”You haven’t spoken a word to me since we came down here, why invite me if you wanted to be left in peace?” I nearly growl, oh if only my mother could see me now, she would be having a fit about how ‘unladylike’ I was being, like I cared. This boy was sending me mad.
“I just did” was the blunt response that I received, he just did? Just did what?
“I just spoke to you” he said with a smug grin on his face, apparently I had said that last bit out loud, great.
“That does not count as a conversation and was certainly not sufficient reason for making me come the whole way down here with you to some boring beach when I could be back there watching Vampire Diaries. Despite being ‘dead’ at least those guys have a little heart” I let out, unable to hold back. This seemed to be a common theme where Ben was involved, letting out a string of emotions all at once. He infuriated me, just when I think he might be becoming his old self and being nice to me, he goes and blocks me out, he was impossible.
“Nobody forced you to come”
“Well nobody forced you to be with me”
“Actually…” he began, but I didn’t stay to hear the end of his sentence, because I had cut him off with a reply of my own.
“Actually, I think you’ll find that I’m the one trying here and getting nowhere, like I told you before, if you want to be a jerk be a jerk, but don’t involve me in it. I really thought you had changed, just a little part of me wanted to believe it, that my best friend was still in there, but I can see now that that’s not even a possibility. It’s pointless even trying to be friends with you anymore.”
Before he could say anything I had turned on my heels and was strutting off across the beach, kicking sand up in my wake as I struggled to make it seem dramatic enough. What was he going to say? That actually he would rather be spending his time with someone else, whoever he was constantly texting than spend it with me? Feeling was mutual, hell I’d rather spend time with the devil himself than that cocky dick.
“Wait Sam…” an audible pause came from his direction as I continued my, if I do say so myself, very elegant walk away from him, “…Please!”
Please, Ben just said please to me? That was at least the second time today that he had said it to me, as much as it pained me to say it, it sounded convincing, like he almost wanted me to stay. What was it with calling me Sam? Sure he had been the only one ever called me that, but that was years ago, he couldn’t call me that now, we weren’t close, not like we used to be.
“It’s Samantha…” I remind him as I turn around and slowly start to make my way back towards him, not because I want to but because, you know, I don’t want to strain my voice or something.
“Well, Samantha, I’m sorry…” A sorry? That was a please and a sorry within just a few seconds of each other? He must have a fever or something, I don’t want to get too close. “I’m sorry I’ve been a been ignoring you down here it’s just because I…”
“It’s just because you what?” I question him, thinking of multiple different and quite inventive words that would fill in that blank quite well if you ask me. Noticing the look of, well almost fear on his face, I decide to prod him a bit more for an answer, “Well?”
“look, I really want to talk to you, I really do but…” he stopped midsentence. The look in his eyes told me that, for once, he was actually being genuine; he seemed to really want to talk to me, but what was stopping him? “But I don’t know what to say to you.”
His confession was almost heart melting; here he was in this moment telling me that he actually wanted to talk to me and to maybe even get to know me again! It was great news, but I was cautious. He had seemed like he was going to talk to me and be like the old Ben earlier at the waterpark but changed his mind, what if he done that again?
Either way, right now he wanted to talk to me and that was good enough for me, sure I knew it was only for the weekend and that it was only because no one else was around to see him hanging out with the ‘loser’, but it was a start that I was willing to take.
“Ben, you can say anything, anything at all. You know I won’t mind” I reassure him, smiling now by what he said moments before hand.
“But…” he began, “How do I make up for nearly four years’ worth of lost time?”
His words shocked me, he really seemed to have missed me as much as I’d missed him, did he really?
“You can start by not missing anymore” I tell him with a smile as I embrace him in a hug, my arms barely reaching around his muscular frame as he wrapped his arms around me.
“So you will stay?” He asks, as though he actually needs an answer at this point. I mean, of course I will stay, I have a chance at spending some time with my best friend of course I will, well ex-best friend but still.
Don’t judge, what girl wouldn’t want to stay and hang out on a beach with a guy who used to be her best friend? My decision totally had nothing to do with the fact that his bulging arm muscles, bright blue eyes and boyish good looks were drawing me to him; nothing at all.
“Yes, of course” I tell him with a smile as delight lights up his face, he seems even more happy than he had at dinner, he seems like Ben again.
***
Authors Note: Thanks as always for your suppoort guys! I really hope that you enjoyed Chapter 10! :D Be sure to look out for the next update coming Thursday (if it is before then be sure to check the update schedule on my main profile for info on updates!) Anywas, be sure to comment, vote and follow and let me know what you thought of this chapter because your feedback means a lot to me and keeps me going! :)
As always, I am Jdot (twitter - @thejdot95 )