Benji
I head to my date with Natalie, which I'm less than excited about. I dislike Natalie even more after the way she spoke to Brandy. That whole evening made me so uncomfortable in general, but I especially hated the way she talked to her.
We are meeting at a fancy restaurant for dinner, of course. Each date is specifically planned by Mother, who, for some reason thinks she knows anything about dating in this century. I know that if I was out with Brandy, we'd find something fun to do. I wouldn't have to dress up in a suit just to sit down and eat with her.
"Hi!" Natalie greets me as she leans in for a hug. She kisses my cheek and I wipe her kiss off when turns away.
"Let's order," I sigh, my eyes scanning the ridiculously small menu.
Her eyes look up from her menu and stares at me. "You're mad," she notices.
"No, I'm not," I say, not looking up at her. "Let's just order and then I'll take you home."
"Benji... if you don't want to be here, you should leave," she says. "I don't want to be with anyone who doesn't want to be with me. I just thought—. I just thought you liked me too."
I finally look up. "Why do you like me?" I ask earnestly.
She shrugs with a smile on her face. "You're sweet," she tells me. "And hot." She laughs. "You have this potential in you that I don't think people quite see."
"Potential?" I laugh. "Yeah, the potential to fuck up."
"No," she laughs along. "You have the potential to be anyone you want. You know what you want, and you know how to get it. I think that's admirable."
I smile. "You don't even know me, Natalie. We've been out... all but five times?"
She turns away shyly like she's keeping quiet about something.
"What?" I ask confused.
"This is embarrassing," she chuckles. "I... I kind of stalked you in high school."
What?
"What do you mean you stalked me? Like you followed me around?" I ask, suspicious of her.
"Well, no. I'm not creepy, I swear. I had friends who went to your high school and I asked them to keep an eye out on you. They would tell me everything about you--from your romances to your parties. Though it's weird, I know a lot more about you than you think."
"My romances?" I clarify. "I didn't have any romances."
"Okay, well, your hookups."
"So when we met... you just pretended you've never seen or talked about me before?" This is getting stranger and stranger.
She tries to speak but just ends up laughing. "Don't hate me. I just really, really liked you. You're the Benji Cruz. I didn't want to mess anything up."
I chuckle. "I guess that's sort of sweet in a really weird way," I tell her. "I never knew I had fans."
"Trust me..." she says. "You have more than you think."
"Yeah?" I laugh. "Like who?"
She chuckles. "Like your roommate? What's her name? Brandy?"
"Oh," I sigh. "I wouldn't say she's my fan. She's my friend—my best friend, really."
"Yeah, about that... I'm still not comfortable with you living with her. I seriously think you should consider moving out. You know, before she makes a move on you."
I smile to myself, remembering how little Natalie knows. "She won't," I lie.
She laughs. "You can't be so oblivious, can you?" She scoffs lightly. "She's clearly like, in love with you. You did see the way she picked a fight with me last night, right? She's jealous. I don't blame her... you're gorgeous." She flirts.
I turn away, feeling awkward.
At the end of the night, I drop her off at her door and she stands before it, not opening it. "Can I kiss you?" She asks randomly.
My heart drops. What the hell do I say? "Like, on the cheek?"
She laughs. "No," she says sternly. "Your lips."
"Oh..." I say quietly. "Maybe we should wait," I suggest.
"For what?"
"For a... better time?" Fuck, this is a horrible conversation. If I were her, I'd dump my ass.
"If that's what you want, Benji. But I know what I want." She smirks.
Feeling awkward, I let out a laugh. "I'll talk to you later, Natalie." I end the night before we continue talking about kissing.
Oh, God, what will I say next time she tries to kiss me? I truly didn't think any of this through.
***
At the apartment, I hear giggling through the door and smile. I'm sure Brandy is having a good time with Hellen. I like hearing her laugh—her happiness is contagious.
"Benji!" She smiles at me.
"Hey, B." I smile back. "Hey, Hellen."
"Hey, Benji," she says nicely, which surprises me. My last encounter with Hellen wasn't so smooth. But to be fair, the night has only just started.
"How was your night?" I ask them, walking toward her bed.
"Great," Brandy tells me. "Yours?"
I shrug. "I can think of a hundred other things I'd rather do than hang out with Natalie."
Brandy turns red and I wonder if I said something wrong.
"Who's Natalie?" Hellen asks suspiciously.
"You—you didn't tell her...?" I ask Brandy.
"No," she says quietly. "I didn't."
"Tell me what?" Hellen wonders.
We all wait for Brandy to speak but she doesn't.
"Brandy?" Hellen taps her. "What's going on?"
"Uh... Natalie. Natalie is Benji's... scapegoat? Is that a good word?" She chuckles. "He's pretending to date her so his parents won't cut him off."
I have a strong feeling I am going to be yelled at again by Hellen. I knew I shouldn't have jinxed this evening. Hellen is always mad at me.
"Why would your parents cut you off if you don't date Natalie? She turns to me. "And, uh, who is Natalie? I'm fucking lost."
"That's a good question." I laugh. "You should ask my parents, Hellen. I have no idea why they're threatening me, I'm just being forced to go along with it."
"That's..." she chuckles. "Seriously fucked up."
"Right?" I'm surprised to have her on my side, even if it is an obvious choice of siding.
"Of you," she says. I spoke too soon.
"Hellen," Brandy says sternly. "It's not his fault."
"I think it is," she disagrees. "Yeah, so what if his parents are assholes? He's still got a choice, you know? And in the meantime, I know he's hurting you, Baby. There's no way you're cool with this."
Brandy grabs her arm insecurely. Is Hellen right? I'd like to think that if Brandy had a problem with me and Natalie she would say something. Then again, Brandy isn't the confronting kind of girl.
"Benji and I aren't exclusive," Brandy jumps into my defence, but somehow I wish she didn't.
She doesn't think we're exclusive? Damn.
"He can do whatever he wants," she adds. "And if there's a problem, Benji and I will talk about it. Not Benji, me and you."
Hellen scoffs. "B, I really thought you were over this. I thought you'd finally open up your eyes. I—I just don't want him to break your heart again. I care about you so much, B." She confesses.
She stays silent until the tension could be cut with a knife.
"All right," Hellen says as she stands up. "Call me when you stop being so naive."
She slams the door behind her and it's just Brandy and I awkwardly in her bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Benji. I don't know why Hellen said those things. Anyways, I'm so sorry." She apologizes, grabbing my hands.
"What about what you said?" I bring up. "We're not exclusive?"
She lets go of my hands. "How could we be? You like me but you're dating that Yale... whore."
"Don't say that, B. I don't like her much either, but don't call her names. You're better than that."
She crosses her arms. "Maybe I'm not." She shrugs. "Maybe I hate her for liking you."
I chuckle, grabbing her again. "No, you don't have a hateful bone in your body. That's why I love you, B."
I've never said that to a girl before. Love. I've had sex with a lot of girls, I've lied to a lot of girls, but I've never told a girl I loved them.
"You what?" She smiles. "You... you love me?"
"Sorry," I quickly apologize. "This is really shitty timing... but yeah. I do love you, B. I love you so fucking much."
She laughs happily before she tears up. "Do you mean that?"
I kiss her passionately. I let go after a moment, our faces still only an inch or so apart. "I mean it."
"And... that's why we're going on our first official date. Tomorrow." I surprise her.
"Tomorrow?" She hugs me. "Really?"
"Tomorrow," I say again.
"What—what are we going to do?" She asks excitedly.
"It's a surprise," I say mysteriously like I have something elaborate planned. I don't. I just thought of the date idea a minute ago. But I will plan something. I'll plan the best damn date she'll ever be on.
"I don't like surprises, Benji. You know that."
"Okay, here's what I'll tell you without completely spoiling it." I laugh. "It will be fun, but not too much fun... if you know what I mean."
She playfully slaps me and we laugh.
"It will be fun and romantic as hell. You'll cry until you laugh and laugh until you cry. It will be memorable and interesting—it will be hard to forget every single moment. And most importantly, it will be one of those nights you think about on replay for months before you sleep." I promise.
"You're putting a lot of pressure on this date, you know?" She jokes.
"Does that sound okay?" I get back into focus.
She laughs. "Yes! It sounds amazing."
"And B?" I ask.
"Yes?"
"Do you love me too?" I say half-jokingly.
She kisses me deeply and as she lets go, she whispers, "I love you."
—
A/N:
Period. I was smiling the whole time while writing this chapter, especially the last part.
Ahh I'm so excited to write the next chapter because it is going to be their first date!! Eeeek!
I'm so lame for getting this excited about fictional characters, but are you really a Wattpad user if you don't get invested in fictional characters?
Once again, thank YOU for reading my story. I love you! Make me smile :) and vote on this chapter. No pressure tho, sometimes I forget to vote too.
Xoxo, Beth.