If Not For You

Chapter 6

Paul told Ben to go ahead up to his room and grab some clothes and Ben obediently followed orders.  As he made it to the top of the stairs he noticed through the crack in the bathroom door Jenna’s full naked back.  He felt his cheeks blush red and his ears burn.  He turned around and silently went down the steps.  He then went back up the steps trying to make enough noise for Jenna to hear.  It was a moot point anyway because at that point she opened the door and came back out fully dressed.

She stopped in the landing and looked up at Ben.  They just stood there, awkwardly, until Paul yelled up to find out where they were.  They all three made it back into the den, with blankets and pillows sprawled everywhere.  Jenna drifted to sleep gently and looked so tiny underneath all the blankets.  Ben slowly let sleep take him away to a world where he spent his days kissing Jenna.

They all were shaken from their sleep, awakened by Paul's alarm that he had set.  Jenna sat up stretching the sleep out of her muscles and looked over at Ben.  He was yawning and trying to keep his eyes open.  Paul called the downstairs bathroom and Jenna called the upstairs.  Ben offered to make the coffee until there was a shower available for him.  Ben made his way up to Paul’s room again to get some clothes and he could hear the shower running.  He went into Paul’s drawers and pulled out the first pair of jeans he grabbed and the first shirt he pulled off the hanger.  Luckily for Ben not only were they the same size but because of Paul’s parents frequent last minute trips Ben also kept a couple pairs of boxers at Paul’s for his impromptu sleepovers.

Jenna and Ben were sitting in the kitchen waiting for the beauty queen to get ready.  “Let’s go Paul.  You wouldn’t know it but I am the girl here and I was ready 20 minutes ago.”  She turned to Ben and asked “you brought your own car right?”  Ben shook his head.  “Well then let’s go.  Paul, Ben and I are leaving you here.  See you at school.”  Paul yelled back that he would see them at school.

In the car Jenna touched everything.  She went through his c.d.s, his glove box, and his middle console.  “Find anything interesting?”  He asked her sarcastically.  He was feeling much more comfortable with her today than yesterday.

“No not really.  You seem very boy next door.  I’m not sure how I feel about that Benny.  I mean everybody has a vice.  I’m not really seeing yours.  I see a few lighters, yet I see nothing to light.   What makes you tick Benny?  You can’t be cool as a cucumber all the time.  That I know for sure.”  He looked across the car at her.  He looked into her eyes for a second or two.  He couldn’t figure out her angle. He turned his head back to the road.

“So what is boarding school like?’ he asked, changing the subject.

“You mean like describe the topless pillow fights and girl on girl make out lessons, because it’s all true. We wear lacy teddies around the dorms and love teasing the local married men.  We exchange sexual favors with businessmen for money.  People can’t make that stuff up.”  She looked at him to see if she got a reaction.  He just continued shifting the gears on the car.  “Is that what you wanted to hear?  Do you want details?  I can give you details.”

“If I wanted stories I’d open a book, which isn’t likely to happen.  I just wanted to know what it was like.  Being on your own.  Not having to listen to your parents.  Getting some peace and quiet.”  He had a smile on his face thinking of it.

“It really wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.  The girls are mostly stuck up.  They tear others down to replace the pain they feel because their parents didn’t want them.  And if you aren’t rich they don’t think you’re relevant.  Poor people just give up their kids.  Hand them over to the state.  Rich people, they can’t do that.  That isn’t respectable.  They drop their kids off at a boarding school.  Leave them there until they are adults and their parents can relate to them.”  She looked out the window and her smile faded.  That’s how Ben knew what she was saying was real.  “My parents aren’t rich but they like to think of themselves as respectable.  I wouldn’t be surprised if when I turn 18 I'll have a big fat school loan my parents took out in my name that I’ll have to start making payments on.”  That thought for some reason made her smile.