New Girl on the Block

Chapter Nine: Helena

I'm jealous. Why am I jealous?! I quietly pull my purse strap over my shoulder and tuck my phone into my back pocket. "Where are you going?" Benjamin asks, and I stop moving for a second. "I've gotta go home. My uh...parents texted me. They need my help with...something," I lie, and I know Benjamin can tell everything but the first sentence is false.

I don't even care that Bethany...or whatever her name was showed up and ruined the first actually normal interaction I've had with Benjamin since I've been here. "What? Are you serious? You're not serious. Come on, stay! Please?" He practically begs as he stands up from his chair. "Sorry Benjamin, I've really got to go!" I tell him as I start walking to the door. He follows close behind me.

"First, please call me Ben. Benjamin sounds so weird. Second, at least let me take you home?" He says, causing me to pause. I was originally going to walk home and use the GPS on my phone, but as I see the sun starting to set, my mind starts to change. I spin around to face Ben and tell him, "Okay, sure. Thanks." He smiles and nods, trotting around me to hold the door open.

I mutter another, "Thanks," as I step out into the cold winter air. I take a deep breath in as I walk to Ben's truck. He opens the passenger door for me, and I climb inside. He quickly gets in on his side, and we begin to drive off quickly. Ben hands me his phone with his GPS on, and I type in the address.
The entire ride is an awkward silence. I stare out the window as the shops, houses, and apartments pass by. We're about a mile from my house, five minutes with rush-hour traffic when Ben finally breaks the silence. "Nothing is going on between me and Bethany!" He rushes out, and I turn to him with fake confusion.

"What?" I say, my lying tone growing more persuasive by the second. "Nothing is going on between me and Bethany," Ben repeats, this time his words actually comprehendible. I notice for the first time during the entire ride that one arm is flexing tightly on the steering wheel, the other tensed, but resting, on the center console.

"Why do I need to know that?" I ask, my heart sinking when the words come out. I don't know what's going on with me. I don't have feelings for Ben...right? No, I am right! We met less than a week ago, and I don't need a boyfriend right now anyway! My leg starts to bounce anxiously, so I replace it with my fingers fidgeting against each other. We come up to a stop light, and Ben looks over at me.

He notices my fidgeting, and I immediately stop. It's like a war on the inside of my body, fighting for the weird entanglement of emotions to calm down. I look away when Ben's gaze stays too long on me. He goes quiet again, and the environment is awkward again. The red light seems like it never wants to turn green, the sun seems to set slower, the cars seem to barely move around us, and time seems to slow down till milliseconds feel like hours.

"You wanna go out with me?" Ben blurts out, causing me to turn my head in absolute shock towards him. He's staring directly at me, and I have no clue what to say. "We just met..." I finally manage to get out. I'm not wrong. We did! I mean Ben is certainly attractive and he seems like the only other person besides Lyra that wants to interact with me and he actually has manners and everything seems perfect and sane whenever I'm around him, but that doesn't matter. Right? Oh no.

"I know, but you're so kind and beautiful, and smart. And you're willing to stand up to maybe the most powerful sixteen-year-old in this little town," Ben says, and my cheeks burn. I shake away the feeling and say, "You don't know me. I don't know you and–"

"Then let's get to know each other! Come on, you have to admit that hanging out together was nice, right?" Ben says, a feeling of worry in his voice. "Yes, it was nice, but you're probably only consciously doing what you think is right to make me forgive you for something that wasn't your fault. Maybe if you still feel the same in a week or–"