AMOLI RICHARDS was not one for favors. She didn't do them and she never liked when people did them for her because that meant owing them. And she never wanted to be indebted to someone ever. But when her grades are dropping quicker than her bank acc...
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BEN DIDN'T IMAGINE THAT THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE WOULD LEAVE HIM ON THE NIGHT OF HIS SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY. HE ALSO DIDN'T IMAGINE HIS PARENTS WOULD TRULY LEAVE HIM TO CELEBRATE ALONE, SO BEN REALLY DIDN'T Know anything. He didn't mean to lean in when Devi made an attempt at friendship. He didn't mean to get so drunk that his world was dissolving into a technicolored fever dream. He never meant to kiss her. And even if he did, Ben never thought Amoli would see.
17 hours earlier
THERE WERE RARE OCCASIONS WERE CELINE AND PAXTON BOTH SHARED CUSTODY OF THEIR BEST FRIEND. THEIR IMPROMPTU TRIP TO THE MALL WAS One of them. Amoli had declared that they must go to the mall because she had money to burn. So they packed into Paxton's Jeep for a nice change of scenery and set out to shop.
Paxton steered Celine and Amoli from the stores that he wasn't able to tolerate. He didn't want to suffer from a headache due to being forced to smell every bath bomb in Lush or stare at the floor the entire time Amoli tried on the tiniest scraps of silk. Not only did it look suspicious for him to be in there, it also dragged his mind to the deepest depth of filth. Amoli didn't belong with such lurid thoughts.
As they made their way through the floors, Amoli clung onto Paxton's arm like a koala and allowed him drag her through the stores. Her head throbbed with the remnants of a hangover from a night of wallowing in her own pity as her parents screamed at each other down the hall. Ben had kissed her promptly on the mouth as she dropped him off, and struggled to reveal that he had too much homework that he had been putting off. Amoli nodded in despair, her heart crumbling and anxiety spiking with the idea of being alone. Paxton had a swim meet an hour away, and Celine was busy with her ice skating endeavors. So she stole from her father's wine cellar and smuggled it up into her room. The liquid gold didn't do much to lull the insipid thoughts from rotting in her mind, but they did allow for her to pass out in a drunken haze quite quickly.
earlier....
Ben's birthday was in T-minus one day. She had woken up with this realization and dragged her two best friends out to buy countless gifts. She bought him Swarovski crystal bears, actual bears from Build a Bear Workshop and she planned on showering him in countless more presents on the actual day of his birth. Birthdays always invoked grief and joy simultaneously. She enjoyed celebrating others with presents, cake, and cards, but she always was pained by the idea of her own birthday.
Her birthday was constantly shrouded in painful memories of being abandoned by her parents and given up. How was she supposed to celebrate being alive when her parents were so adamant on NOT wanting her that they gave her up. It all hurt too much. But that didn't mean she couldn't celebrate Ben's birthday with a large fanfare. He deserved as much. He deserved the world in Amoli's mind, and she wouldn't dare downplay one of the biggest events in a teens life. Especially a teen who might have endured just as much heartache as she.
So Amoli had spent the morning in her kitchen baking away her sorrows, and making a tower of cupcakes that spelled out HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN! A little before Amoli began cleaning up Paxton walked in with two hash browns from McDonald's and a slushee to knock her out of the mood she had been in. It only took mere seconds for Paxton to assess the situation and hand her the food, pull her into a bone crushing hug, and send her off to sit at the counter top while he cleaned up her mess.
Paxton attempted to ignore the ugly pang of jealousy that ricocheted through him at the sight of Ben's birthday cupcakes. Amoli used to make him birthday cupcakes. But where was Ben? Where was Ben when Amoli was reeling from her latest breakdown? Where was Ben when things got hard? Spoiler alert: Ben wasn't HERE. Paxton was, and he wouldn't leave until Amoli forcibly kicked him out.
Twenty minutes later, Amoli was wrapped in Paxton's arms on her couch. Her cupcakes were forgotten and she was struggling to forget the screaming and tension that constantly permeated her multi-million dollar mansion. She settled for a deep breath of Paxton's cologne that he's used since middle school, and ignored the desperate need to sob until there were no more tears. Amoli swirled her acrylic nail across the rough fabric of his Henley, ignoring the way his abdomen clenched at the light touch. She pushed her head into his neck to simultaneously tickle him and shield her eyes from the harsh Californian light.
Paxton savored this alone time with her though he desperately wished he could soak up Amoli's pain. So he ran his hands through her day old curls, and pressed a soothing hand to her back for maximum comfort. Amoli merely grumbled and shied away from his skin to skin contact with her "imperfections" and curves. Paxton willed away his desire to kiss away all her insecurities until she forgot why she even had them. But, alas, Paxton's job description did not include: MAKE ROMANTIC ADVANCES ON BEST FRIEND.
They stayed wrapped in each other's arms until Celine made her own entrance in a wave of Dior perfume. She brought her own bribery (read: Starbucks) and stomped her baby pink heel before grabbing at one of Ben's cupcakes. Celine hummed to herself until Paxton glared over at her for ruining his moment with Amoli. Celine shot him a pearly white smile while Amoli pulled herself up gently, and squealed at the sight of the drink. Amoli barely acknowledged the lost cupcake from the tower as Paxton effortlessly grabbed an extra to hide the stolen goods.
***
BY the time Amoli made it back to her house with her bags on the arms of Paxton, her chest felt lighter. It was easier to take a deep breath. Her chest didn't shake with every weary breath. Amoli was not on the brink of a second meltdown anymore. But she craved Ben's attention even more so now. She wanted his firm affection almost as equally as his kisses that felt like baby's breath on her temple. She wanted the attention of a boy who had far more for his future than her. She was just a simple stepping stone on his path for fame. That didn't matter though. Because now? She held the attention of a boy who would soon be far more important than she could ever be. She would be forgotten in a year's time. While she would be sitting around her pool, coming down from a breakdown, Ben would be acing his classes at Columbia.
TO BE CONTINUED: Next: Ben's Party yayyyyy
Authors note: I am so sorry for leaving y'all But I have inspiration again so yay :)) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COMMENT I LOVE READING THEM
