It Was You

Chapter 32

"You had a date with our teacher!" Ben shouted at me. We both had about an hour before our next class and this is how he wanted to spend it, apparently. "What does it matter to you?" I asked him. "Besides, how do you know it was a date?" He averted his eyes and looked down at his feet.

That's when it hit me. "You followed me," I told him. "I can't believe you!" He grunted and threw his hands into his hair. I continued, "Why, Ben? Why can't you just let me...let me go!" He scoffed, "Oh, yeah, because it's so easy to just do that! Baby, I'm still in love with you."

He took my hands and I didn't even try to pull away. As much as I hate to admit it, I miss him. I miss him so much. "Ben," I begged, "please stop." He shook his head and moved more towards me. "Darling, I know what I did and it was stupid. I'm stupid. Give me one more chance."

I sighed and shook my head. "Ben, no," I told him as I took my hands away. "I gave you one more chance and you blew it. I told you I would be fine being friends..." He threw his arms up in frustration and said, "And I told you that I wasn't sure if I could do that!"

I folded my arms and gave him a fiery glare. He was really getting on my nerves. "If you want me to even consider giving you another chance, you have to do this. If you want it that badly, then you start with that." He started huffing in anger, but was clearly thinking it over.

After a few moments, he let out a deep breath, then said, "Fine. I want to be around you, I want to know what's going on with you...I just love you so damn much, I know my feelings are going to get in the way." I sighed and looked around. I really wasn't sure how to handle this!

"Just...don't get your hopes up," I told him. "You also have to promise me that you're going to let me do my own thing, just like I'll let you do your's. Okay?" He took a deep breath through his nose and nodded. "Okay," he quietly told me. "And...listen, I'm sorry I followed you. I just watched you flirt with an older man and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

He gently put his hands on my hips and gave them a squeeze. "I'm fine," I told him as I put one hand on his cheek. He turned his head and kissed my palm, then gently took ahold of my wrist. "I am always going to be here for you," he told me. "If you ever need to talk, or..."

I put my finger on his lips to make him stop talking. "I know, Ben," I told him. "The same goes for you. I love you, Ben." He put his lips to my cheek and gave it a soft kiss. "I love you, too, kid." I pulled away from him and gave him a soft smile. "I should get to class," I said. "I'll see you later."

He nodded at me and I left him to go to my class. I had a creative writing class next. I'm only taking it because I'm exploring my options on what I want to major in. Seeing as I never thought I'd get here, I never thought about what I actually wanted to do.

It was the most boring class ever. All we spoke about for four hours was poems. It made me immediately want to drop out, but I decided to give it one more try. My last class was Chemistry, which I had with Lee. First, we had to be in a lecture hall for four hours, then in an actual lab for two.

Who knew college would feel like running an Iron Man Marathon?

When I finally got back to my dorm, I started on homework. It didn't take me too long, as it was only the first day, but that didn't make it any less daunting. Lee was having a harder time than me because she was in a couple of advanced classes.

"I'm going to grab some food," I told her. "Want anything?" She kept her head buried in her book as she said, "Yeah, sure." When I asked her what she wanted, she didn't give me an answer. Luckily, I know what she likes.

Before heading out, I knocked on Aaron's door and opened it. He was working at his desk while Ben was on his bed. "I'm grabbing some food. Do you want some?" Aaron let out an exaggerated groan as he told me, "Yes, please! You are my savior!"