Babe.

14.

Benny.

As I had expected the next day at school shiny perfect Blanca was back on display, the Blanca i couldn't have been less fucking interested in. I had no doubt that the stressed and actually interesting version of her I'd met at the party was kept strongly locked away in a box that could only be opened with a bottle of very strong alcohol. 

I wondered if her friends got her real version or if they were actually just friends with the perfect image of her she'd made up. I doubted it, Nika and Tilly most likely wouldn't have fallen for that bullshit. So they must have been lucky enough to be friends with the Blanca I'd only recently discovered. 

She sat down next to me in the lab not looking in my direction, but what else was new? She usually did that until I said something to piss her off. "So back to boring are you?" I asked knowing it would get the biggest rise out of her. 

Blanca's head whipped to the side to face me her eyes narrowing, "excuse me?" 

"You heard me." I replied pointedly. 

"Yeah I did, it didn't make any sense that's why I asked you to repeat youself you genius." She snapped. 

"You know what I'm talking about." I pushed her. 

"No I don't." Blanca gritted out. "No wonder Denise is so wound up all the time, you probably drove her to insanity." 

I rolled my eyes, Blanca had actually had more to do with that than me. For some reason Denise's insecurities were mainly focused around her. The girl she had to be the least threatened by. "Denise is nothing compared to the mental patient you'll turn your future boyfriend into, if you ever get one." 

"Maybe I don't have one yet but at least I can say I didn't date someone who keyed somone's car for making conversation with her boyfriend." She shot back.

I cringed innerly, that had been embarassing as fuck. "That's such bullshit." I replied quickly. 

"I was there asshole, I saw her fuck up Hannah's car." Blanca replied shaking her head. "Nice choice." 

"At least I had someone to choose." I pointed out. 

"I have people to choose from too I just don't." Blanca repsonded heatedly. 

"Why because you're too good for them?" I mocked her. 

She glared at me, "no. It's because I don't want a boyfriend just for the sake of having a boyfriend. I don't want an acessorie I want something real. Can you say the same?" 

No. I couldn't and it pissed me off more than I cared to admit because now I looked like the fucking idiot. Whatever I'd had with Denise had been pretty superficial, I mean we'd both liked each other but it wasn't anything big. Like Blanca had put it, we were kind of each other's acessories. 

"What would you know about my relationship?" I snapped instead slamming my text book on the table. 

"Thankfully, nothing at all." She answered simply as Mr Tenesse walked in and started talking to all of us.

I shrugged her off not needing her annoying comments lingering in the back of my mind, not more than they usually did anywyas. 

Blanca. 

I was never getting drunk around Benny ever again. His little 'back to boring' had hit a little too close to home because thanks to my stupid decision to invite him to come sit with me at Ella's birthday he'd seen a side of me that I kept reserved for my closest circle of friends, Tilly and Nika, my siblings and Caspar. Surprisingly even Ty had made the list, but he was twelve and easy to talk to so there wasn't much to hide from him. 

But Benny? Never in a million years would I have expected him to get to know that version of me. And the worst part was I didn't want him to. Of all the people he was the one I wanted to know me the least, because he was an ass and I didn't need him smashing everything apart for the fun of it just like he'd tried to this morning. 

I liked the way i was, I liked that only my closest friends really knew me. Yes it could be extrememly exausthing putting on an act like that but once people were given perfection, they learned to expect it. And the version of me that he'd met two nights ago couldn't deliver that, but the other one could and now I was in too deep to let everyone down. 

It would have to wait until i got out of here, that was when I could discard that perfect, people pleaser side of me completely and just set expectations that I could actually live up to. Trying to be perfect was draining. 

Luckily I'd managed to switch the conversation to a topic I knew would eb uncomfortable for him and far away from the one that would be uncomfortable for me. The last thing I wanted was Benny breaking down the walls of a character I'd meticulously created to cater to everyone's needs. I had one more year of school left and then I was going to a good university far, far away from here. 

"Hey Chickie." I heard Tilly call from behind me, "how's it going?" 

"Shitty." I told her annoyed. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered. 

I shook my head, "later." 

Tilly grinned, "over ice cream and cookies when you finish your shift at the cafe after school?" 

I grinned back, "perfect." 

"If he's being a bitch BB I'll kickhis ass." Tilly told me jerking her head towards Benny as she mimed punches in the air. 

I snorted, "thanks Til. But if that opportunity arises I will so be taking it myself."

She jumped on my back making me stumble forwards a bit, "that's my girl."

I adjusted myself so I could hold her legs and keep her up, "I'm just glad he's finally started showing up to our after school meet ups." 

"Yeah, you whipped him into shape." She joked, "good for you." 

Count on her to look at the bright side of things. At least things were running a bit smoother now.