SECRET LIFE SECRETS REVEALED

MY GREATEST MISTAKES

In this section of the story Amy will tell Adrian and Grace about how she slept with Ben.  It started when they were in New York, and Amy found it difficult to make friends at Hudson. Even though she made it to New York two months ahead of Ben who went to Europe she didn't blossom like she had hoped.  Her only companion when she first got to New York were Omar and Adrian.  When Ben finally arrived she didn't make one friend.  Even the girls she knew from the program were too busy with college, their kids, jobs, and their own relationships.  Many of them were very judgmental of Amy for leaving John with Ricky.  They thought she was lucky to have a boyfriend who wanted to marry her, and was a good father.  This made Amy feel bad, and guilty for leaving her family in California. 

 Ben on the other hand was a social butterfly, because he was friendly, easily approachable, and humbled about meeting people.  People liked that even though Ben was rich he didn't let that affect how he treated them.  Amy on the other hand was different, she tried to make friends but it wasn't easy.  She couldn't really relate to any of the students at Hudson.  There were a few who she spoke with, but she really couldn't connect with any of them.  Adrian was not able to attend college for the first semester, and tried to make it easier on Amy by taking her every out dancing or shopping any chance she got.  But she also had a hard time making friends, and her relationship with Omar was hard on her because she was in a new place with Omar being gone, and little power in their relationship.  Also she was a 3 hour train ride from where Amy lived. 

Ben tried to be friendly with Amy at first, but with advice from Adrian he decided to let Amy come to him.  In the end he went to her anyway when after returning from a late dinner with friends and family he found Amy crying outside because she was missing John, Ricky, and her family.  He decided to start showing her around New York, and introducing her to a few people he had met.  He avoided his own family of course, who for some reason had a dis-like toward Amy.  Soon he and Amy were the IT friends at Hudson, and many thought they would make a great couple.  Amy convinced Ben not to tell anyone at home about how close they were because she worried that everyone thought it would cause problems. She also didn't want to irritate the very fragile relationship she had created with Ricky.  So when they went back for holidays they kept a large distance.  However every time Amy returned home she couldn't fight the chemistry or attraction she had toward Ricky, or how at ease she felt at home, something she didn't feel in New York without Ben.

When they got back to New York Ben and she resumed their friendship, and everything went back to normal as if nothing happened.  After finals they went out with friends, to a party.  Both were very happy that night especially Amy who was able to pass a very difficult class with Ben's help, when he gave her some study techniques.  She often wondered why Ben studied when he had a photographic memory.  Ben let her know the same secret he told Adrian, he could remember names, dates, and certain things, but memorizing is easy, learning is something different.  He had to learn everything just like everyone else.  The difference, his memory allowed him to repeat the knowledge the teacher taught him in class.  But it was up to him to learn how to apply that knowledge.

  With Ben's technique of applied memory, or in her case applied lesson she got the work easily.  Adrian also benefited from this technique.  When asked how Ben learned how to do this, he let them know his mom taught it to both he and his friends.  She also had a memory like his, it was a genetic trait inherited from his grandmother who was an accountant.  The only person who never could get this technique was Henry, who found it too difficult to keep so much information.   After she learned she was getting a B in her Economics class she was thrilled,  since it was her most difficult class. 

That night after the party Ben drove them home, and walked her to her door.  As he was about to leave he turned and kissed her.  In that kiss Amy felt a longing for Ben that she never knew was still there, and as they kissed it grew deeper, and before she knew it Ben pulled away.  He apologized for kissing her and was about to leave, when she grabbed him and pulled him into her apartment and began to kiss him all the way too her bedroom.  That night they spent the entire weekend in her apartment and his in bed.