Summerfield (11 page)

"Wow, I haven't been here in so long." I practically had to yell for
Ben to hear me.
"You’ve been here?"
"When I was in middle school, yeah."
He nodded, squeezing my hand as we made our way to a table over by the
only quite part of the place. It was near the snack stand where you
could grab things to eat and drink and then sit down and talk or
whatever. It was basically a break from the loudness.
There was a large group of high school kids all gathered around a
table. There were about four boys and three girls. The guys were all
laughing as one of them told a story while the girls were either
talking amongst themselves or rolling their eyes at the boys.
Actually, that was only one girl.
I saw Ben's face light up a bit and I took it that this was his group
of friends. He gave me a reassuring smile before we were standing
right in front of the table.
"Hey guys." Ben greeted, scooting into the booth and brining me down
next to him. It was kind of crowded so I ended up pretty much just
sitting on his lap, but as he wrapped his arms around me securely I
had a feeling he didn't necessarily mind. "Everyone, this is Belle."
"Hey, kid.” Greeted one of his friends.
"That's Chad." Ben introduced. "Feel free to totally ignore him. I do.
And that's Amber, his girlfriend."
Amber was definitely a beauty. She was skinny, but not too skinny,
with long blonde hair with brown highlights throughout. She nodded,
smiling warmly. "Hey."
"Hi." I greeted, a bit more shyly than was natural for me.
"I apologize beforehand for anything stupid these boys may possibly
say or do." She laughed. "Especially Chad."
I giggled a bit. "Totally fine. I deal with this one every day." I
said, pointing to Ben with a teasing expression.
Chad chuckled. "Ben, man, I like this girl."
"Ha ha." Ben replied without humor. "Anyways, this is Drake and his
girlfriend Jess." He introduced, pointing to them each.
Drake looked like a classic bad boy. He wore a black shirt and ripped
jeans. His hair was a mess and he wore an 'I could care less' emotion
on his face. He held up two fingers in a miniature salute, barely
paying much attention to me. "Hey."
Jess was also quite pretty. She had long black hair and wore a red
tank top with a jean skirt. She kind of looked like a model.
I simply waved a bit, feeling self-conscious again.
Ben's arms wrapped tighter around me as he went on to introduce his
other friends Hayden, Marcus, and Staci.
Everyone began going into their own conversations. Amber and Chad were
having a little bickering match, which beforehand, Ben had warned me
they would do often. He had explained that it was simply their thing
and a show of love. He also explained that they were a very odd couple
too.
Jess and Staci were having their own conversation about something I
couldn't quite understand while the rest of the guys told jokes to
keep themselves entertained.
I felt so out of place and slightly like a failure. I knew I hadn't
come close to making any kind of good first impression. I felt myself
begin to relax a bit when I felt Ben kiss my shoulder.
I couldn't help but smile. I loved it when he would surprise me with
little kisses like that.
"You alright?" He whispered in my ear, his chin resting on the
shoulder he'd just kissed.
I nodded, flashing him an only slightly forced smile. "I'm good."
He placed his hand on my cheek, brining my face to his and kissing me.
I melted into it soon, placing my hand on the back of his neck.
"Whoa, baby! This is a public place, you guys." Chad joked loudly,
causing most of the table to laugh, including myself. "None of that
here people! I'm young and impressionable."
"Chad, you're ruining a moment." Amber scolded, slapping his chest.
"They're just saps." Chad muttered, crossing his arms and pouting.
"No, Chad, they're being romantic." Amber argued.
I found their arguing amusing.
Chad rolled his eyes. "They've only been dating a few weeks...wait
until they've gone on as long as we have."
Amber aimed for his head this time, smacking it quite forcefully. It
sounded like it hurt too.
"Ow, what's wrong with you woman?" Chad groaned, rubbing where he had
just been hit.
Ben laughed at their exchange. "Chad, buddy, I told you to wear a
helmet on dates."
I giggled to myself, Ben probably being the only one who had heard me.
He grinned at me before pressing his lips to my shoulder again,
sending shivered throughout my body. Only, unlike before, these were
good shivers.
Chad sighed. "I say poor Belle, over here." He said, catching mine and
Ben's attention. "She's stuck with Benny boy over here when there are
so many better looking men out there." Chad winked, popping the collar
to his shirt.
I laughed as Amber smacked him over the head.
"I saw that coming." Ben commented with amusement. "Want to know why I
didn't warn you? Because you're a loser."
"I didn't say I wanted to know." Chad cried desperately.
Ben shrugged, grinning. "Quite honestly, I wasn't giving you the chose."
"They could go on like this for centuries." Jayden spoke, leaning over
Ben towards me.
I was a bit surprised. I hadn't heard him talk at all. "I had a feeling."
Amber was trying her best to ignore their bickering, turning to
address her attention at me. "You want to go dance? They may be like
this for a while."
I glanced at Ben, who simply kissed my cheek as if giving his okay and
opening his arms so that I could move from his lap.
Staci, Amber, and I made our way onto the familiar dance floor and soon I was actually
having fun. The girls were actually a lot of fun and it was nice to
just hang out with someone without having to worry about theirs or
your own problems.
"Wow, it's so weird seeing you and Ben together." Staci commented as
we continued making up our own silly little dances.
I furrowed my eyebrows, a bit confused. "What do you mean?"
"I'm just so use to him not having a girlfriend," she explained
nonchalantly. "But I can tell he really cares about you. Whenever I
talk to him, you're all he can talk about."
"Really?" I question, a smile brightening my face.
"Yeah. Ben's like my brother, so I'm really glad to see him happy. And
he's definitely happier now than possibly ever. Must be that love bug,
huh?" She giggled, bumping my hip.
I just laughed, enjoying myself. "Guess so." I glanced back at our
table where Ben sat, watching me with a smile. I grinned, waving. He
mimicked my action, an even bigger grin lightning up his beautiful
face, making him shine.
By the end of the night I had gotten a few juicy stories about Ben
from Staci and Amber, as well as some bonding with them. They were
really cool girls, and very easy to feel comfortable with. Very easy
going. I had also gotten everyone's number (excluding Jess and Drake's
because they never came back in), and Chad had declared himself my new
best friend.
All in all, I had a surprisingly good time. I had even hit it off with
the quiet and slightly reserved Jayden. Turns out that he's an artist
and to my surprise, Marcus was his boyfriend. He had given me the name
of some cool bands to check out once I had told him my love for
anything rock that had actual meaning in lyrics.
By eleven Ben told everyone that it was about time to be heading home,
since my dad was probably waiting up for me, pacing the front porch,
muttering and worrying.
We said goodbye to everyone, our fingers entwined as we walked back to
his truck.
"I have to admit." I said as I climbed into the passenger side, Ben
holding the door open for me. "That was a lot of fun. Those guys are
great."
Ben nodded in agreement, smiling happily. "Yeah, they are. And I told
you they would love you."
I simply grinned, kissing his cheek.
He smirked. "Oh, come on. This is kind of our first official date,
don't I get more action that that?"
I rolled my eyes at his teasing, but leaned over to kiss him fully, my
arms wrapping around his neck as one of his arms went around my waist
and his free hand was placed on my cheek.
I loved the feeling of his kisses and his lips on mine. It was almost
enough to get me light headed and dizzy, but not in the same way that
made me faint that last two times. It was a nice, welcoming feeling
that had surges of energy going through me. This feeling was much
better than the feeling before fainting.
When breathe became necessary we pulled apart, Ben leaning his
forehead against mine for a moment before kissing it, causing my smile
to widen. "That, mister," I said as my breathing began to return to
its normal rate. "Is all the action you're getting tonight."
I laughed, kissing my lips again before turning on the truck. "That's
okay because I respect you, care about you, and I’m awesome.”
I couldn't help but smile proudly by how amazing he was.
"And plus, because I also know that if you're dad found out he would
have me killed."
"Aw, no he wouldn't." I disagreed, running my hand through his hair.
"He would kill you all by himself."
***
The car ride home was mostly silent except for the radio playing. My
mind had been reeling ever since we had left.
Without distractions I began to remember my earlier conversation with
Dr. Harvance. I knew I would have to go see him at some point because
I couldn't live everyday wondering if it might possibly be my very
last. I needed to know, I knew that. I didn't want to know, but I
needed to. No one wants to find out that they're sick or dying or my
case, possibly both.
I knew that if my test results had been negative he would have said so
over the phone. And he would have assured me I wasn't dying over the
phone after I began to nearly hyperventilate. He wouldn't make me so
worried like this unless there was something wrong.
But I refused to accept the word death until I had heard it from him
and gotten at least three other opinions.
We pulled into my driveway and I pushed all thoughts aside. I didn't
want to have to think about that until later.
"I think I better not come in. Knowing your dad he probably has his
riffle loaded and waiting." Ben commented, easing some of my nerves.
"Nah, he's more of a pistol man." I smirked. I looked up to my front
porch, making absolute sure my dad wasn't there before leaning over
and kissing Ben. The simple kiss seemed to make all my fears vanish.
He was smiling when we removed ourselves from each other's lips.
"Belle, I-" He paused, gulping quite loudly. "I need to tell you
something."
I blinked. I didn't know if I liked or hated the tone in his voice.
"What?" I whispered.
He was staring intently into my eyes as he caressing my cheek.
"Belle...I love you."
I could feel my eyes widened and my jaw dropping just a tiny bit. That
wasn't what I had expecting. Right now, you would think that I would
be so overjoyed with happiness, and a part of me was.
He loved me.
But then there was that part of myself saying that I wasn't being fair
to him. And the memories of how incredibly awful it had been for my
dad when he lost my mom came back reeling in my mind.
I couldn't do that to him.
Because I loved him, and I knew I would have to tell him the truth
about things eventually, but I was selfish and I needed him. So
incredibly much.
"Belle..." He whispered, brining me from my thoughts. He was still
staring at me with an anxious expression, waiting for my answer.
My breath hinged and I felt tears begin to tickle my eyes, so close
to falling. "I love you too."
He shook his head slightly, not believing me as it seems. "If you love
me, then why are you crying?"
"Because I love you too much." I admitted honestly, my eyes falling to
the seat of the truck.