Time After Time~Ben Hardy

Chapter 4

September 7, 2008

Alli's POV

There's a big party happening tonight, and almost every senior is invited. I didn't want to go because of course there'll be alcohol, but my friends Heather and Claire are making me.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Claire exclaimed as she started pulling clothes out of my closet, looking for something for me to wear. I was sitting on my bed with shorts and a sweatshirt on. 

"Really guys, I don't want to go." I stared at my phone screen in an attempt to get them to leave.

"You never go to parties." Heather sat down beside me. She grabbed my phone from my hands.

"Hey!" I frantically grabbed for it, but she kept it away from me.

"What if I told you Ben is going to be there?" 

We sat in silence for a few seconds, and then I made up my mind.

"Fine, I'll go." I said with a grunt. I threw on the outfit Claire picked for me and soon we were on our way there.

The party was at Trevor's house. He was a pretty popular guy at school and he was friends with Ben. 

I always felt like there was a barrier between Ben and I because when middle school rolled around, he became popular because of sports. I've always been an outcast, but that's never changed my friendship with Ben.

We walked through the doors of the house and the smell of alcohol smacked me in the face.

I split from my friends so I could find Ben, but ended up bumping into Matt and his group of friends.

"Hey Matty Poo, your girl is here!" 

I saw Matt turn his head to look at me. He immediately smiled and came over to kiss me. However, I stopped him immediately because he reeked of some kind of drugs.

"What the hell, Alli?!" 

"You smell like weed. I'm not kissing you while you're high." I walked away.

I made my way to the kitchen and found Ben talking to Trevor. He cast his eyes over the crowd of people and his gaze landed on me. His face lit up and he motioned me toward him.

"Didn't expect you to be here." 

I sat down beside him and he put his hand on my thigh. I felt really uncomfortable, but I just went with it.

"Heather and Claire made me come."

"Oh, that's nice." He picked up a cup from beside him and drank from it.

"You're drinking?" 

"Yeah. Only a little though. Don't worry about me." He laughed a bit, but I kept a straight face.

We talked and laughed the rest of the night. Ben downed at least five beers while we conversed, so of course he was a mess by the time we left.

"Okay, I think I'm gonna head home now." I turned to leave the room.

"Wait, let me walk you home!" He jumped from his chair and stumbled a bit.

"No, I'm gonna walk YOU home. I don't trust you by yourself."

He agreed to let me take him home, so I walked out of the almost empty house with a drunken Ben clinging to my arm.

I listened to him mumble on about how stupid his friends are until we reached the door to his apartment building.

He turned to me and stared with bloodshot eyes.

"You look beautiful tonight." His words sent a shiver down my spine.

"Thank you." I said quietly. "I think you should get to bed now." 

I tried to usher him through the door but his lips crashed into mine. He kept kissing me, and weirdly I didn't want it to end. 

He pulled away and caught his breath.

"Why are you with him?" I didn't know what to say.

"Ben...I love Matt. I always have and I always will. But nothing is more important to me than our friendship. I promise you." 

He went inside and slammed the door. I walked home with one of the worst feelings.

I'd never forget that kiss. No matter how sloppy it was, it made me want Ben. More than I had ever wanted Matt.

I stormed up to my room and slammed the door as well. Tears formed in my eyes as I threw myself onto my bed and sobbed into my pillow.