Piece of Work

That night, I couldn't help but wonder a little bit about Ben's reaction. Sure, what I did was kind of rude, but the anger on his face was a little too much for just answering a phone call from Dan.

But maybe I was reading too much into it. After an hour and a half of wondering, I finally decided that I was being stupid and turned over to go to sleep.

Right before I hit unconsciousness, I realized that this was the first time in a while that I'd actually no desire to go out and party. And that was really weird.

***

"Thanks for the homework last night," Dan started in relief in class the next day. "I can't believe I forgot it. I never do that."

"Oh, no problem." I smiled, but my mind was other places, totally preoccupied.

"You okay?" he asked. Wow...so I was so obviously worried that even Dan could notice. Not good.

"Sure," I answered before standing up from the desk next to Dan's and walking to my seat.

After class, I had lunch. My stomach was clamped as I walked down the long hallway.

"Someone looks rough," Olivia greeted as I sat down at our table. I didn't understand it, but she always got to the cafeteria before me, even when she was on the third floor, and I was on the first. It didn't make any sense...maybe she was magical or something.

"Thanks so much for that," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"No problem." Her voice was nonchalant as she opened her lunch bag and started to eat.

We talked a little while longer while I kept looking around the cafeteria. I was so worried that Ben was going to start yelling at me for some strange reason, but at the same time...I was worried that I wouldn't see him at all. How did that make any sense at all? It didn't, and yet it was happening...ugh.

"Hey." It was Ben. He kissed the side of my head and whispered, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I was just in a weird mood."

"It's okay," I smiled. "I get that, trust me." I widened my eyes to emphasize my point before turning back to Olivia, who was giving me a questioning look.

"So I was thinking..." He had a small half-smile on his face, a dimple on the side of his mouth, "maybe you'd want to hang out after school? I could make it up to you."

I liked the sound of that. "Sure," I responded, not completely able to suppress my smile.

He grinned before kissing me again and getting up to go sit with his friends, who were hooting and hollering for him. I watched Ben walk off with a goofy smile.

"You like him so much..." Olivia trailed off knowingly with a smug look. She'd known me long enough to know when I liked someone, so even if I tried to cover and said that I didn't, she'd catch me in the lie. That was kind of a downside of having a best friend.

"Yeah..." I bit my lip for a second before turning back to the table. "Oh...I have to go buy food."

"Go, chica, go!" Olivia ordered, laughing. I darted to the lunch line and smiled briefly at Ben on my way by. The end of school could not come fast enough.

But it came eventually, though I thought I'd die if it didn't. Surprisingly, Ben was at my car before I was. He must have remembered where the parking spot was. Good memory.

"Hi," I smiled before unlocking and opening the door.

"Actually, can I drive?" There was a slightly mischievous look on his face, and I couldn't resist. God, I really did like this guy...I hadn't even realized it until that day.

"Sure," I nodded, pulling the keys out of my bag and putting them in his hand. Then, I walked around the car to get in the passenger's side.

Ben was quiet, so I finally started the conversation. "So...where are we going?"

"You'll see," he smirked, pushing on the gas pedal a little harder.

"Don't crash my car," I joked. "My mom'll kill me if the insurance skyrockets."

He scoffed. "I haven't gotten into an accident, and I don't plan to start now."

"That's a good thing." It was silent again, so I just watched the trees outside pass by at faster and faster rates as time accumulated.

Finally, we stopped. I didn't recognize where we were, but it was kind of deserted... Something about it set off an internal alarm almost immediately.

"What are we doing...?" I turned to Ben with furrowed eyebrows.

But he was not the same. His face was stone cold. "Do you remember what you did yesterday?"

"Are you talking about answering my phone? 'Cause I'm sorry..." What...the hell...? "I just don't think it was as big of a deal as you're making it."

He stepped forward for a second, looking down to stare at me. "How can you say that?!" Then, almost faster than my mind could comprehend, he reached forward and slapped me, his nails scraping against the tender skin.

I gasped in pain and looked down at the ground in shock. Never in a million years would I have thought that his stone cold glare was the sign that he was starting to lose his temper... I thought maybe he was bipolar, but nothing like this.

"You're such a fucking slut," he hissed. "You don't ever talk to another boy. You have a boyfriend now. You can't go off flirting with other guys."

"It was just Dan," I choked out, still holding my cheek where he's slapped me. "We've been friends for a while."

"Well, you're not friends anymore," he ordered. Ben reached forward and grabbed my arm harshly. "Now get in the car. We're going back to my house, and then you're going to drive home. And don't tell anyone about this, or you'll really see me angry."

I nodded quietly, tears starting to gather in my eyes. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

When I looked back up at Ben, his bright blue eyes had emotion in them again. He pulled me tightly against him and mumbled into my hair, "I'm sorry, but you have to learn how to behave. I don't want to do this. Don't make me do it again, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered, clinging to him. I had heard about boyfriends who hit their girlfriends. I knew what to do.

But was I going to walk away from him? ...I couldn't.