Illusion

I was having the most wonderful dream. I was lying in the middle of a sunny meadow surrounded by my favorite flowers: white daises. Unfortunately, I was rudely interrupted by an annoying buzzing sound in my ear. I groaned. Still half asleep, I rolled over trying to get away from the insect. It followed me.

“Really?” I mumbled into my pillow.

I swatted the air with my hand only to come in contact with something much larger than a bug.

“Ouch!”

I sat straight up in my bed expecting some sort of robber and let out a blood-curdling scream.

“Damn, Mary Beth! Shh! Be quiet! Your neighbors will think I’m raping you!”

“For the love of God, will you please stop trying to scare me?”

Benton continued rubbing his head, “I’m not doing it on purpose. It’s not my fault you’re such a wimp.”

I looked at Benton and analyzed the fact that he was in my bedroom.

“Umm…do my parents know you’re here?” I asked, glancing at my clock that read ten in the morning.

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Then…how did you get in my house?”

He sat on my bed, “I picked the lock. Oh, here. This was taped to your bathroom door.”

He handed me a note with my mother’s handwriting on it.

Beth, I’ll be home around three. Dad is working late and Nicoli has classes. Get some rest today. Love, Mom

I looked up from the note at Benton in confusion, “You picked our lock?”

He nodded.

“You delinquent.”

He smiled, “And proud of it.”

I rolled out of bed and headed downstairs with Benton following me. I had him let Oscar out while I filled his bowl with dog food.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?”

He shrugged, “Yeah, but I’m skipping.”

“I stand by my previous statement.”


“I’m bored!”

Benton had ensconced himself on my unmade bed while I worked on a research paper at my computer. He was so tall his legs dangled off the edge. I stopped typing and turned around to face him, pushing my bangs back out of my eyes.

“No one is forcing you to stay here, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, but honestly I have nothing better to do.”

“Um…you could’ve gone to school,” I offered.

“Like I said, I have nothing better to do.”

I nodded, “Fair enough. Your feet stink,” I said, gesturing to his dirty socks.

He shrugged, “Meh.”

My door suddenly suffered a loud, raucous beating from the other side as someone banged on the wood. With wide eyes I signaled for Benton to hide in my closet. Cliché, I know, but where else was he supposed to go? He wasn’t quite fast enough. He froze as my door swung open. Nicoli entered, not paying any attention to Benton at all.

“Hey,” She said.

My eyes darted to the boy across the room who looked as if he were in the middle of a game of freeze tag, “Uh…hi? I, um, thought you had classes.”

“I do,” she said, dully. “I’m just dropping in to make sure you’re still alive and haven’t tried to kill yourself with your sheets or something.”

I crossed my arms, “A) I never tried to kill myself and B) If I were going to commit suicide, I would probably use something a bit more effective than sheets.”

“Whatever. I’m staying the night with Ethan, so let mom and dad know.”

She closed the door with more force than necessary and we both remained motionless as we listened to her leave the property.

“That was weird,” Benton stated.

I laid down on my bed, pushing the pillows out of my way as I did so.

“Yeah, no kidding.”

Benton laid down next to me, “It’s like she didn’t even see me.”

“No, she saw you. She probably just doesn’t care. I mean, she spends the majority of her time sleeping with the juvenile poster child for douchebagery, so… Anyways, I should get back to my paper,” I said as I started to sit up.

He threw his arm out, “No,” he practically whined. “You’ve been working on that for at least two hours. I’ve counted your ceiling tiles a bazillion times.”

“Umm…I don’t have ceiling tiles,” I said, glancing up at my textured designs above my head.

“The point is, as host, you must entertain me.”

I scoffed, “I didn’t even invite you over! You broke in!”

He smirked, “Details.”

“Fine,” I said, settling back down on my Hello Kitty pillow. He turned his head slightly and ran his fingers over my hair.

“Your hair is really soft,” he mumbled.

“Thanks, I think.”

His hand traveled down the length of my strands once more before finding its way to my side.
I laughed involuntarily and squirmed as far a I could before I hit the wall my bed resided against. I squished myself against the wall as much as I could, laughing hysterically while my eyes began to water.

“There is no escape,” he said sinisterly as he continued to tickle me.

“Please…stop…can’t take it…pee…pants…stop!”

He rolled me over and the tickling ceased for a second. He grinned at me and raised his hands as if to say “Here it comes again,” but instead his hands held my face. He ran his fingers over my features softly as if he were exploring new land. The rolling hills of my cheeks, the tip of my nose, the oceans of my eyes, and finally, my lips. He lingered there.

“Do it, please. Kiss me,” I begged silently.

Finally, after what seemed to be eons, he did. His lips were as soft as a cloud, which was exactly were I felt I was when he captured mine. I didn’t need too much persuading to kiss back. I mean, he was gorgeous and sweet, even if he did almost kill me. He pulled back ever so slightly to evaluate my reaction. Good? No good? Definitely good, I thought.

“Kiss me,” I told him, echoing my thoughts from just minutes ago. His blue eyes sparkled in the light.

“No need to tell me twice.”


Benton left around two-fifty. He cut it a bit close and had to dash out the back door as mom pulled into the driveway.

"“I guess I’ll see you later?” He asked before leaving.

I nodded, pushing him out the door playfully.

“Yes, yes! I’ll see you later! Now get out of here before I mom finds you!”

“Hi, Sweetie,” mom cooed as she walked into the kitchen. Her hands were overflowing with grocery bags.

“Hey,” I said, taking a few of them to lighten the load.

“How was your day? Did you get a lot of sleep?”

I nodded, putting a gallon of milk in the refrigerator, “Yeah, I did. I also got some homework done.”

She smiled, “That’s good. I hope you didn’t push yourself too hard though. We want you healthy.”

“I’m feeling fine, really.”

“Well, all right. I’ve got these, why don’t you go relax, just to be safe. I’ll bring you a snack here soon.”

Up in my room I grabbed my phone. Someone was going to kill me if I didn’t inform her on recent updates.

“Hey, it’s Melody! I’m currently busy or ignoring your call, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you…or not.”

“Hey, Mel. It’s me. I have some news about Benton, so if you want to know the juicy details call me.”

My door swung open and my mom came inside carrying a plate of wheat crackers and sliced cheese.

“Who’s Benton? And why is he associated with juicy details?” She asked in that mom tone designed to inflame my cheeks.

“Uh, um..he’s no one. Just a guy I go to school with,” I lied.

She opened her mouth to investigate further, but I quickly interrupted.

“Oh, yum! Cheese and crackers, my favorite!” I exclaimed, reaching for the plate.

“Okay, I get it,” she said, handing me the food. “You want to gossip with your friend, not your ol’ mom. Although, it might interest you to know that I used to be quite popular with the fellows when I was your age.”

I picked up a couple crackers and made a little sandwich, “You mean you were a slut?”

She gave me a sly smile, “Well, not in so many words…”

“Gross, mom.”

She shrugged, “You brought it up. Didn’t you ever wonder why you’re so pretty? That, my dear, came from my side of the family.” She walked out of the room, but poked her head in for a split second to say, “You’re welcome.”
I laughed and grabbed the phone again, getting her voicemail for the second time.
I was restless. I felt amazing, and I wanted to share it with my best friend. Come on, Melody! As if she read my mind, my phone blared my favorite song. Play it cool, I thought to myself.

“You’ll never guess what happened!” Smooth, Mary Beth.

“What?” Mel asked just as eager as me.

“Benton kissed me!”

I heard her take a sharp intake of air, “No way! That’s awesome, Mary Beth! Is that where you were today? Ditching class to play doctor with Mr. Hunky?”

“Mr. Hunky? What are you, five? And no, that’s not why. Mom wanted me to rest for a day, and Benton stopped by.”

“Oh, so do your parents like him?”

I hesitated. How much should I tell her? I don’t want her thinking Benton is a bad person for breaking into our house. I mean, it’s not really breaking and entering if I’m okay with it, is it?

“Well, they didn’t meet him. No one was home. He…uh, came knocking around noon and he wanted to hang out,” I lied.

“Shouldn’t he have been in school?”

“He goes to a private school, and has…off campus lunch privileges.”

I can not believe you are lying to your best friend, Mary Beth. God will smite you for this.