I Love You, Benjamin Stone

Annaleigh

Courtney was driving me home from school, the sound of the beetle’s engine rumbling happily from beneath the hood as we cruised back toward my place. We were both singing loudly and out of key to Kings of Leon and wondering when exactly we were going to receive that call that would send me into cardiac arrest and Courtney into blissful happiness.

“Sex on Fire” was blaring through the speakers and I hummed along, tired and still waiting for the effects of the morphine to wear out of my system. My wrist was hurting badly now and my parents were the ones who picked up the pain meds that were going to keep me from dying tonight while I tried to rest. There was some reassurance in this since I knew that there was a possibility I would be able to sleep as long as I didn’t turn onto my left side or anything. This was going to be a challenge since I loved sleeping on my left, only because it made my back against the wall and I had this weird little paranoia that something would attack me if I slept on my right.

“So my phone was ringing in the middle of Physics class, well not really ringing since it was on vibrate but still… It was loud enough that the whole class turned and was staring at me. I threw my purse onto the floor and the bloody thing finally quieted down but the funny thing is that Mr. Rocco didn’t even hear it even though he was right near my desk. Isn’t that awesome!?” Courtney took her eyes off of the road for a mere 4 seconds to beam me a smile and in that four seconds she managed to drive on a curb.

I gripped the door tightly as she swerved back onto the smoothness of the road, laughing to herself at her mistake. If I had my own license, there would be no way in Jerusalem that I would ever let her drive me anywhere again. The girl was a driving disaster.

“Really? That’s interesting that he didn’t notice. Normally he’s on cell phones like a hawk.” I replied and loosened my grip on the door. The roads were incredibly busy tonight since Billy Talent was playing at the Credit center making it difficult to get anywhere you wanted to in a hurry. Maybe this was actually a good thing since it prevented Courtney from going well over the speed limit like she so often does. The last thing I needed was another broken bone and driving with her was almost a guarantee to getting one.

“I know but what’s even better was that the phone call wasn’t even for me, but rather for a girl named ’Tequila Sunrise’.” Courtney’s grin glittered in the dark and I nearly passed out in my seat. “You’re booked for this weekend, it’s some sort of work party or something like that. I told him that Tequila would most definitely make an appearance.”

I think my heart just stopped beating.

The air suddenly seemed in a limited abundance and my lungs couldn’t get enough, was I possibly dying? No, actually it was just a simple case of hyperventilation. This idea was ludicrous and there was no way that I’d be able to dress like a five cent hooker and leave my house to go out with some old guy who couldn’t get a woman his own age that looked like Jessica Simpson or something. I’d have to be at Courtney’s house Saturday night in order to even think about wearing the outfits that she purchased for me. I couldn’t do this, there was no way I’d be able to go through with it.

“I-I can’t do this!” I screamed and Courtney swerved on the road in surprise. Okay, so I didn’t exactly need to scream but really, how else could I show my reluctance to do this incredibly stupid thing? “There’s… There’s no way I’d be able to pull this off!”

“Fuck! I almost hit the car next to me!” Courtney exclaimed and swerved back into her lane. She ran a hand through her tousled hair and sighed in relief. “You’re lucky we aren’t dead right now!”

“It doesn’t matter! I’m going to be dead this weekend because of your stupid idea!” I screeched and nearly hit my arm against Courtney’s head. She ducked out of the way, her fingers tightening around the wheel of the Beetle noticeably. She let out a shaky breath and turned to face me, her expression now stern and controlling. I shrunk back slightly in fear.

“You’re not going to be dead Annaleigh Barker, as a matter of fact; this whole experience might actually help you to learn how to socialize with people other than your friends.”

“Friend.” I corrected her and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I seem to be lacking in that department if you haven’t noticed.”

Courtney rolled her eyes dramatically at me but then pulled into a Wendy’s drive through. She slammed on the brake behind a large truck and many other vehicles, leave it to Courtney to pick the busiest restaurant in all of Saskatoon besides McDonald’s at five in the evening.

“Look, you have me and Rex. That’s more than enough in the friend department, if you want to get Benjamin wrapped around your little finger you’re going to have to gain a little bit of experience which is what you should be worried about lacking.” I blushed and rested my head on my right hand, digging the palm into my cheek to make sure that this whole scenario was actually real and not just some little hallucination that my morphine-controlled brain was inducing.

“Rex is a jerk.” I muttered and scowled. “He always mocks me and everything, he even made fun of me when I hurt my wrist which was actually his fault. I don’t get what you see in him anyway, especially compared to Benjamin.”

Courtney shrugged, a dreamy smile placed on her face. I had to ask the question that was going to send her into a long rant about how amazing Rex is even though she just met him today. Leave it to Courtney, she could become obsessed with an alien cucumber if her mind allowed her to be.

“How could I not see anything in him? He’s funny, sweet and has the most amazing looks out of every guy in the entire school. He’s absolutely perfect and here you are, stuck on Benjamin Stone. Did you ever notice that his thumbs look like caveman clubs?” I snorted and glared at her. She simply smiled her ‘you-know-I’m-right’ classic grin.

“Caveman clubs. Really, Court, they just look like any other person’s thumbs. There’s nothing wrong with them and there’s nothing wrong with Benjamin, obviously.” Courtney moved her car forward. There were two in front of us before we could place any orders, none of which I wanted at the moment.

“Well he’s a total player, that’s something that’s wrong with him.” She pointed out and I frowned significantly. So she definitely had a point.

Through the four years of high school, grades nine to twelve, Benjamin had only been with five girls on a serious level. One relationship managed to cross the one year mark and the rest ranged from two weeks to three months. The other hundreds of girls that flocked him like obedient sheep were nothing more than one night stands from his so-called ‘drunken sex sprees’. I couldn’t ever bring myself to believe it.

Benjamin

Wonderful, sex-crazed, busty blonds. I love every minute I spend with them, even though I feel like shit for every second I lie to them. That’s weird, since I’m kind of drunk right now.

Annaleigh

“Why do you have this… This apparent hate-on for him?” I questioned as we pulled up to the drive-in menu board. Courtney began scrolling through the different menu choices, avoiding my question completely. She was now muttering about whether or not she wanted a chicken burger or a beef burger. I sighed in defeat and stared out the window, wishing I’d just get to go home already .

“Do you want anything?” Courtney asked me. I shook my head and she let out an annoyed snort. “A bacon cheeseburger with a large sprite combo meal too please.”

“I said I didn’t want anything!” I protested and Courtney shrugged at me. Secretly my stomach had been grumbling for food the past two hours, even after I had eaten lunch. My stomach cramped over and over, like it was trying to devour itself since I had been so careless not to put anything into it. What a good person I was for taking such good care of my body.

“You always say that. Besides, I’m paying and your stomach has been rioting since last block.” I blushed and crossed my arms over my abdomen. We then both sat in silence, the only sound was the cars rushing past and the hum of the car engine.

“About Benjamin… It’s not like I have an actual hate for him or anything. I just don’t want to see you end up hurt or miss out on great opportunities because of him.” Courtney murmured and I lifted my head give her a curious stare. She was avoiding my gaze and fixed her eyes on the steering wheel.

“I won’t but if I don’t take this chance then I’ll never know if I can ever do it.” I replied honestly and placed my hand lightly on the cast strapped around my arm. “This is my chance to finally go after what I want. Even though your idea is insane and incredibly stupid, I have to do this. The weekend is already coming up fast as well as Friday.”

“Friday will be such a gong show.” Courtney said with a loud laugh, most likely imagining me trying to act as Ophelia. Right, now I must be reminded of the undeniable torture I’ll be facing when I have to hear those sexually tinted words while I have my head on his lap. I’ll be sure to have a bucket of aspirin and a cell phone with 911 on speed dial for when I have my heart attack.

We pulled up the first window and Courtney handed the cashier her card, he accepting it and gave Courtney a flirty smile. She smiled back but seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was now eyeing her chest, which was covered beneath her large green sweater and lavender scarf.

“Thanks,” Courtney said as she got her card back. The guy gave a slightly disappointed look when she shoved the car back into drive toward the next window to pick up the bag of greasy food. She passed it to me and I began sorting through it, grabbing my fries and bacon cheeseburger. I was so hungry that I probably would have eaten the bag as well as Courtney’s food along with it.

We munched all the way back to my house, plenty of road swerving and swearing accompanied.

Courtney

It was probably a good thing that I took Annaleigh out for supper rather than have her eat whatever her mother made tonight. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if her mother had made anything considering the shadows in the windows and loud voices coming from inside hinted toward a fight in the Barker house. The moment Annaleigh opened the front door of the old Western style home was the minute I knew that my suspicions were right. Her mouth formed a hard line and her eyebrows lowered, it was enough proof for me.

Although the Barker family generally never fights, not even about bigger things like grandma’s birthday or Shea’s lack of ambition in school lately, when they do happen to get into a bit of a spat it’s usually a big one that leads everyone to ignore each other for a week or so. Shea and Anna usually just stick to the sidelines, making themselves into shadows on the walls without any words.

I wanted to let her know that she could stay at my place tonight if she wanted to, but as I was about to holler out my window she had already entered the house and began to slip off her coat. The cast on her arm was probably a good reason she should stay home, since she’d be more likely to be grumpy in the morning because she’d be in pain at another house but her own. Then again, Annie was always a bit grumpy in the mornings.

I put the car into reverse and it began to back up slowly, I slid my arm over the headrest and checked behind, just to be sure I wouldn’t be hitting someone’s dog like the last time. Good thing I did because I didn’t see the shadowed figure of Rex walking past earlier. He had headphones jammed into his ears and was not paying attention to his surroundings whatsoever. That kid is so fucking cool.

I managed to back out of the driveway and drive up to him, catching his eyes dart upward to meet mine as I rolled down the window. He gave me a wave and removed a headphone, that was a good thing. Maybe I do stand a chance at being with him after all.

“It’s cold out tonight!” I called out to him with a smile and he nodded. He began flipping through his ipod for another song, finally finding one and clicking the center button. His white blond hair was floating back in the wind and his eyes came back to rest on my face.

“I could have sworn it was like Florida out here tonight.” He joked and ran a hand through the choppy layers, putting them back into place. I laughed and stopped the car. He stopped as well, jamming his hands into the pockets of his black windbreaker.

“If you want, I could give you a ride home. You’re always walking in this area which means you either live around here or are stalking my best friend.” Rex chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s definitely not the last option. I just live a couple of blocks away from her, even though she pretty much thinks I’m stalking her. I swear girls nowadays don’t believe in male friendships.” I laughed in understanding and motioned for him to come into the car. He hesitated a moment and then made his way toward the passenger seat.

He shivered once he got into the car, not bothering to put on a seatbelt or turn up the heat. Rex mumbled a small ‘thank you’ and sat back while I drove, waiting for him to tell me when to turn. He finally did once the third left turn appeared onto Sunshine Avenue.

“It’s a large grey-blue house. Well, it sounds like a horrible color but I don’t know how else to describe it. Red door and white trim with black tiles on the roof, that should be easy to spot.” He explained and I began searching for the red door, it being the most dominantly noticeable characteristics.

The house appeared and Rex pointed at it. I slowed and pulled up to the curve, wishing that the house was a bit further so I’d get a few more moments with him. He gave me a smile and said a quick goodbye before getting out of the car.

“Rex!” I shouted out the window and he turned around to glance at me. I bit my lip and then closed my eyes for a second. “We… We ought to go to a movie or something sometime. No strings attached.”

He contemplated for a moment and then raised an eyebrow, glancing back to his house before looking back at me.

“We’ll see.” Rex called back then turned around toward the house, long legs and wispy blond hair.

He then disappeared behind the red door, not giving me a second glance.

It didn’t matter though, because ‘We’ll see’ was a way better answer than ‘no’ could ever be.

Curtis

I ended up back at Parker’s place later on that night, the chilly winds of the cold rustling through my bones. Parker had needed someone here tonight since both of his parents had left for Mexico and his sister was currently living with her 25 year old boyfriend; just to be sure that he didn’t do anything else that was more stupid than bringing home that dumb girl from Papa’s he had picked up while wasted out of his fucking mind.

I didn’t bother bringing anyone with me. All the girls there tonight couldn’t begin to match up to Courtney. Call me crazy, I know; but ever since I had realized that I developed feelings for her, I haven’t been able to bring myself to look at any other girl the same again.

Courtney isn’t exactly a Heidi Klum or anything, but she’s got this charisma about her that draws you in like moths to a light. It might be her infectious smile (even with the braces), the crazy untameable hair, the interesting style or just the way she mouths me off when I piss her off. She keeps me grounded, lets me know that I can’t always get what I want. I can’t seem to find any other girl who does that certain thing to me.

The worst part of the whole thing is that I could never tell her how I feel. It’s not that I don’t really want to, it’s more like Benjamin and Parker would never let me live down the fact that I’m pretty much in love with Courtney Jane Reitman, best friend of … whatever the fuck that girl’s name is and one of the biggest nerds in the school. When Benjamin or Parker date her best friend is when I’ll ask Courtney out to dinner with me. She’d probably say no, but I’d annoy her into coming eventually.

Parker passed out on the couch, his curly hair pushed into an afro because of the girl. She had left just ten minutes ago, still adjusting the shirt she had taken off and buttoning the skirt that ended up on the floor of Parker’s room. Parker on the other hand was practically naked except for the boxers that were hanging off of his hips and the girl’s bra that was wrapped around his ankle like some sort of ball and chain method.

I sighed in annoyance and plunked down onto the couch on the opposite side of the one he was on. I should have went straight home, it would have saved me from this horrible boredom that was cutting through my brain like a surgical knife. As a matter of fact, having my brain cut open would be a hundred times more fun than looking after my drunken best friend. Normally Ben was the one who stayed at Parker’s place after a long night of drinking but instead he decided to take the blond girl to his place, since his parents went on the trip to Mexico with Parker’s.

Was I the only loser?
I bit down on my lip and toyed with my cell phone.

The one good thing that happened tonight was that Rex kid hadn’t showed up. Even though Parker, one of the most well known guys in James West High School, invited him. I’m pretty sure that Rex didn’t know that just yet or else he had other plans. If any of those plans including Courtney, I was going to shoot a dinosaur. That joke was definitely an accident.

I didn’t even know why Parker had invited him. In all the years of Parker, Benny and me hanging out, there had never been one other person invited to come along who wasn’t a girl. Sure he had invited the girl who’s-name-I-can’t-seem-to-remember but he knew that she’d turn it down. Yet he still invited her.

Could it be that Parker likes her the way I like Courtney?

Rex

So yeah, I was kind of a doucher for not showing up to that little get together down at the pizza place. With the way that Curtis kid was burning holes into my flesh with his eyes, it’s probably a good thing I didn’t go. The last thing I needed was another mark on my face from another stupid fight with some idiot that I barely know. I could probably beat Curtis effortlessly but what would be the point? It’d just be another reason for me to be notorious for.

I can’t even understand what the guy has to hate me for. I didn’t sleep with his sister, hit on his mom, try to beat up his dad or anything that could potentially make me a total enemy to the kid. I was just keeping my own boundaries in the school, like fuck all I did was talk to MP and brace face anyway.

Shit, I had to bring up Courtney.

There was no way I would ever be caught dead going out with a girl like her. I’m not being shallow or anything, I mean I’ve dated a girl who weighed triple what I did, it’s just that she’s the type I usually tend to avoid. So desperate that they end up staring at you through your window while you sleep. I didn’t even want the ride home, cause now she knows where to find me and she’ll be throwing rocks at my window so we could go for romantic walks under the night skies.

Dammit.

The only thing I could really do was ignore her the best I could until I figured out what the hell to do about it. Yeah, I got it that she likes me but I’m not exactly looking for anyone right now. I need to get my priorities straightened out, rather than bother with some idiot girl who’s got some psycho crush on me.

“Rexian!” I sighed in irritation. I hated when my father called me by my full name. You see, I was named after one of my great great grandfather’s who was named by his father. The guy who named my great great grandfather was best friends with the guy who had discovered the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Since they were practically married (I’m just joking, but they were extremely close), my great great grandfather’s dad decided to name his son in honour of his best friend while his best friend named his own son Grayson, after our family’s last name. The tradition got passed along until finally I ended up with the stupid name. Who the hell would name their kid after a dinosaur?

I stomped down the stair case and glanced over the railing, trying to catch a glimpse of my father. It was rare for him to talk to me whenever he was home, normally he’d just leave notes or just do his own thing. I was so used to it by now that I couldn’t even be bothered to care. We both lived our own lives, just living like roommates in this house. I was okay with it, only it would be nice to have a parent to confide in about girl problems and whatnot. Whatever, a father is just a guy who provides money anyway. I don’t need a friend.

“What?” I questioned and made my way into the kitchen to steal a burrito out of the freezer. My father was sitting at the table, the newspaper placed in front of him from yesterday. He thumbed through it quickly.

My father and I looked almost identical. We both had the same dark hair (even though I dyed mine, since blond seemed to suit me better), the same high cheekbones and straight nose, the towering and thin body types, and even the same eye color. Throughout my whole life I was always told how I’d be just like my father, successful and a total asshole.

“Oh so you are home.” My father muttered and closed the paper. He motioned for me to sit down in the chair. The frozen burrito in my hand was beginning to make my fingers go numb.

“You sound disappointed.” I snapped and lowered my eyes. My father sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead in irritation. This is how our conversations usually work, me being a total jerk and my father not putting up a fight. If it were my mom… Never mind. It doesn’t matter what she would have done if she was here.

“Rexian-”

“Rex.” I cut him off.

“Rex, I know that lately I haven’t been around much and when I have that I haven’t exactly been acting like a father to you but tonight I have something important to discuss with you so I’d rather you keep your smart ass remarks to yourself until I’m finished.” I folded my arms over my chest. I’ll bet that Stone kid doesn’t ever have to deal with his father acting like an asshole. Life for those kids was always perfect.

“Fine, I’ll listen. But once my hand become immovable from this burrito, I’m getting up and going to the microwave.” My father snatched the frozen food out of my hand and stuck it into the microwave, turning back to me. He ran a hand through his thinning dark hair.

“Rex, tomorrow night I’m having a woman over here for dinner. I know that you still aren’t over your mother’s death and you probably aren’t ready for this but I happen to like her a lot. Your mother would have wanted me to be happy and I’d really like if you’d join us and not make a spectacle of yourself.”

I froze in my seat and didn’t answer for a few minutes. The microwave make a sound and I got up to reach for the steaming food.

I then turned around and glared at my father, the best look of hate I could manage.

“Right, she wants you happy. She also didn’t want to end up dead.”