I Only Know How To Love

14: Ben

It was the end of the day, and I couldn't wait to see Cashmere. She's been avoiding me all day, and I hope that everything's okay. I see her at her locker, and I head to her. "You've been avoiding me all day. Is everything all right?" I ask her. "No. Everything's not alright." She tells me. It looks like she was crying earlier, so I asked her, "What's wrong?" Going in to comfort her doing the best I can. "You remember the assault I mentioned that happened last Friday?" She asks. Jack better not have hurt her again, cause then I will hurt him.

"Yeah I remember. You acted like you didn't want to come to school today." I tell her, with a comforting voice. "There's something I need to tell you." She tells me, covering up her face with her hands. I hold her in and lower her hands with my own. "Did Jack hurt you again? Cause I will kill him." I tell her, trying not to raise my voice. "I had taken a test, to tell from a six day test, and it had come up positive." She tells me. This was now confusing me. What does a test have to do with this? "What kind of test are you talking about?" I ask, because I have no choice but to.

"Think about it." She tells me. So I did, but not for too long. She talks about a test of some sort to tell from a six-day period. She was assaulted last Friday. So that's how many days? Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and today's Monday. It's been four days. Pretty close to tell. She was assaulted. Wait, there's only one test that can tell something from that, and I had seen it in TV commercials. It finally came to me. "Wait, you're pregnant?" I ask her, realizing that I may be correct for once.

"It's Jack's." She tells me. I've heard of people who were raped getting abortions if they were ever pregnant, so I had to ask, "Are you thinking of getting an abortion?" She was now crying, and staining my shirt. I know that when I get home I'll just put it in the laundry bin. "I'm always pro-life." She tells me. This was going to be much easier if she was getting an abortion, but she's not. Cashmere is going to be suspecting if I support her or not about this, and I'm not quite sure where I am on that just yet. "Do your parents know?" I ask her, hoping that maybe her parents will support her, so she doesn't have to worry too much about me. "No, but there's not just that." She tried telling me, before finishing off the middle of her sentence. I hope everything will be okay in her world. Everything is just so messed up right now; nothing will be okay in her world. "What else is there?" I ask her; because I know her well enough that there is something going on that she is not telling me.

"You know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything." She tells me before trying to walk away. If she ever stutters or hesitates, I have to know, so that I know whether to take action on something. Grabbing her arm gently, I told her, "If you need someone to have with you when you tell your parents, I will be there." I go in to hug her. She had let out a muffled, "Thank you," before I headed off with her. Hopefully her parents will do something about this.

As we walk, we don't say anything until we get to her house. It gives me time to think. I think about the day I've had so far. First block, I fell asleep because the teacher couldn't be more boring. Second block, I did not know what was going on. Lunch, I don't see Cashmere. Third block, I was worried about Cashmere. That took me to the fourth block. I couldn't stop worrying about Cashmere and I couldn't focus at all. And finally when the end of the day came, I knew to find her and talk to her. I never knew that this would happen with her. Cashmere's pregnant. My girlfriend is pregnant with another man's child. I always wanted her to have my kids, not someone else's. Maybe that could be another reason for me wanting to get her an abortion. Am I being selfish? Okay, I admit it. Am I jealous? Probably. But I would never put her in harm's way. Never would I ever do that.

"Hey mom," Cashmere said once we got in the house. The only thing that Cashmere had told me on the way was her parents' names: Jasmine and James. "Hey Cashmere. How was your day?" Jasmine asks her. I knew this was going to be hard for her to answer. Or so I thought when she told her, "It was okay." I thought she was just going to get it over with and tell her right there. Then I could head home right away and my job would be done. "It's nice to meet you Ben. I'd shake your hand but I'm busy making dinner here," she tells me. "I won't be too long," I tell her, hoping that Cashmere would tell her parents right away. "Really? Why not join us for dinner?" Jasmine asks me. I wasn't expecting dinner to come along with the conversation, but if it's the only way, then I have no choice but to join. "I guess I could. I just have to call my parents and see if it's okay with them," I tell them. "The phone is right there on the counter." Jasmine tells me, pointing to where it is. Even though the home number is a good option, I figure it's best if the phone call is coming from my phone. So I tell them, "I'm going to call from my cell." "That works too," Jasmine comments. "Cashmere, can I call from your bedroom?" I ask her. "Sure. Go down this hall, turn right, go straight down, and it'll be the second door on your left." She tells me before I go in for a kiss. "Thank you," I tell her before I head down the hall as I pull out my phone. My text messages were already opened, so I stayed right there, unnoticed and with my phone out. I send a text to my mom asking if it's okay for me to stay with Cashmere, and I get a reply right away. She tells me I can, and I put my phone away right then, and stayed in that spot for another minute.

"So you're getting serious now, are you guys?" I hear Jasmine-asking Cashmere. "Yeah we are." She tells Jasmine. I can't help myself but blush hearing Cashmere saying that. "Does he know of the assault?" Jasmine asked her. "First off, you could've just said, "what happened last week" and yes he does". I hear Cashmere telling her. As I walk back into the kitchen, Cashmere asks me, "What did they say?" I tell them, "I can stay for dinner. They'll pick me up later." "Perfecto. Cause it's now done." Jasmine exclaimed as James walked up the stairs.

"I thought I heard another voice up here. Ben?" I hear him asking as he reaches out his hand to shake with me. "Yes hi, Mr. Oberon," I tell him as I reach out my hand and we shake. "Just be careful with her. There was an incident that happened last week." He tells me. James seems to be a reasonable man to get along with. He truly cares about his daughter and her safety. "I am aware of what happened. She told me," I told him. I hope that James and I can get along pretty well, so that one day if it ever comes to proposing to Cashmere he would give me permission. "I was surprised to hear that you were coming over." He tells me with a surprised tone.

"Well, Cashmere thought of inviting me over so I could meet you guys." I tell them, hoping that they don't realize that I'm lying. "Well let's sit. Food could get colder faster than eaten." Jasmine tells us while taking the food to the table. "That did not make any sense at all," I hear Cashmere say to Jasmine as we sit down. I sat beside her while Jasmine and James sat on the other side of the table. We had spaghetti for dinner, and I got to say, it was one of the best meals I have ever had. The perfect type of tomato sauce, and the correct cheese on top, it couldn't get any better. "This is amazing," I exclaim. "Why thank you Ben," Jasmine says back. "You should be a famous chef," I told her. "That's very sweet of you to say," Jasmine tells me.

Throughout dinner, I had told them about the date that Cashmere and I had. I could tell that Cashmere was freaking out on the inside, because she was blushing like crazy. James had made jokes about stuff that Cashmere had said when she was a young kid. "Oh, the memories!" She groaned out loud for everyone to hear. When dinner was done, and dishes were being put away, I had pulled Cashmere to her room to talk. "Are you really sure we should be doing this?" She asks. "I'm here, so we might as well," I tell her. There's no point in not saying anything if we're not doing anything about it.

"I never thought that this would happen," she says, sighing while leaning into my chest. "I know. It's hard, but I'm here as support. You got this." I tell her, holding her arms with mine. "Okay. Come with me though?" She asks. I would never leave her to do this alone, it's why I'm here. "Of course I would. I would never leave you to do this alone," I tell her before we head out to the living room where Jasmine and James are now sitting. They were sitting on the two chairs across from the sofa.

"Mom? Dad? There's something I need to tell you." Cashmere had started as we sat down on the sofa. "What is it?" Jasmine asked with a concerned tone. "It has to do with what happened last week." Cashmere tells them, and Jasmine and James share a look. "When Jack assaulted you?" James asks her. "Yes," Cashmere tells them, her voice starting to break. "What about it?" Jasmine asks, more concerned now. Cashmere was starting to cry a little. I held her in my arms, and asked her, "Cashmere, do you have it with you?" I am referring to the pregnancy stick that she showed me earlier.

"Yeah I do," she tells me. As she retrieved it from her back pocket, she was starting to cry a waterfall of tears, almost wetting her clothes. She hands it over to Jasmine, with the tears still going. They seemed to last forever, and wouldn't stop. "You're pregnant?" Jasmine asks, her voice starting to break. It seemed like she was going to cry too. I wonder how James deals with all of this crying. "Yes. It's the real reason why Ben is here. To help support me through telling you," Cashmere confesses.

My parents now pulled up in front of the house as James came over to Cashmere. "My parents are here. I got to go," I told her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Like I said, you be good to her," James tells me before I stand up. "I know. I would never hurt her," I tell him before I head out. I see my parents as I get in the car and we head home. Cashmere was now being taken care of by her parents. My job has now been finished.