Ben… (1)

I woke up feeling so tired! It was like I hadn't slept in months! I rolled over ready to fall back to sleep when my alarm clock sounded. That's when I remembered school… and Ben.
Beth just smiled at me as I looked across the playing field for Ben. No matter how hard I looked I couldn't see him. It wasn't like him to be late… When the bell rang Beth and me rushed to registration. Ben didn't arrive and the teacher marked him as absent.
I missed having "something interesting" to look at when maths got boring. Beth said I was overreacting but by the time our last period was finished I had decided to go and see him.
When I finally got to his house I raced upstairs to see Ben. He was lying in bed watching TV. He looked really unwell, all the colour was gone from his face and he was coughing and spluttering.
"Hi," I said knocking on the door. Ben smiled when he saw me.
"Hey, Alice!"
"I was going to ask how are you but it's pretty obvious." He laughed.
The two of us sat in an awkward silence watching Match of the Day, or something like that. I fidgeted around trying to get comfy on his chair. The whole time I was aware that he kept glancing in my direction. I started imagining what it would be like to be married to Ben and caring for him… I quickly stopped realising how stupid I was being.
I left not long after that.

A couple of days later and he was back at school. By this time I had realised that I had a full-on crush on my best friend. We chatted and hung out as usual but all the time I was aware of every time he looked in my direction. I'd never noticed before but I now loved the way he said my name. As if it were the best thing in the world! But something wasn't right. Each time we hung out it seemed to get a bit more awkward until we stopped speaking for a good couple of days. It wasn't like we had fallen out, we just didn't have anything to say. And then…

I was cleaning my teeth ready for bed. It was a Friday and I was looking forward to the weekend. All of a sudden the phone began to ring. Mum answered it and I didn't think anything of it. After all we get calls most days. But then mum called me. I washed my face and rushed to go and see Mum. She was holding the phone out to me. "It's Ben!" She mouthed to me. Curiously I took the phone off her.
"Alice?" Came the familiar voice as I put the receiver up to my ear.
"Um, yeah?"
"I, er, need to speak to you."
"Shoot."
"In person...."
"Well I can't come just now I'm getting ready for bed!"
"Can you meet me tomorrow? Come to the park!"
"What time?"
"Come at about twelve!" And with that he ended the call. Something was up with him and I wanted to find out what. So the next day I put on my favourite jeans and a cute t-shirt. Ben was waiting at the park when I arrived there. He was sitting on the bench all alone. I walked over to join him.
"Hey…" He smiled at me.
"Hi." I was nervous and curious. Something was up and I really needed to know what.
"Alice, what I wanted to tell you, this will sound really cheesy but: I really like you. I mean like like." I was speechless. " I mean, I-I know we're young but what's the harm in it. Heaps of people have been dating. Some still are. And I know they aren't serious relationships but who says this has to be?"
I stared at him. Was this a joke? No, he wouldn't do that! And that explains why he has been so weird around me.
"Ben?" He looked up at me.
"Yeah?"
"I feel the same, you know! I get what you mean and I doubt we are going to go on for, like, ten years. But if it makes us happy then who cares?" He laughed.
"What do we do now?"
"We get some lunch!"
Ben and I have hung out in town heaps before. But this time it felt different. And it was! We didn't hold hands or anything, that would have been too awkward. However, Ben did hold the door open for me. Not in a posh way more of in a joking way. We went into a fish and chip shop and had an extremely "romantic" meal before going to get some Haribos™.
When I got to school on Monday I told Beth the big news. She screamed and jumped about with me until the warning bell went. When we slipped into regi I saw Ben turn to smile at me. That's what it was like the whole day. I don't sit next to him much so the only time we got speak was at lunch when he came and sat with me.

A couple of days after our one month anniversary we had our first serious arguement. We usually called each other over the weekend so when I didn't get a call I knew we weren't ok. I tried to call him but he was out playing football with his friends. I called Beth and she said we could go to the park and see him. I didn't want to crowd him and so I told her it was ok.
But then things just got worse. Whenever we had to do anything together we would fight and scream at each other. And then along came Wednesday. That's when Ben decided to call it off. He told me that he was sorry and blah blah blah. After that we didn't speak at all. And then Beth grabbed me one day.
" Why are you always so miserable? Is this about Ben? Don't say it, I know it is! Look, what did you say when you two first got together? That you knew it wouldn't last forever! And that as long as it made you happy!"
"So?"
"So start being happy, again! He's just a boy!"
"No he's not! He is special, you know that! Anyway what do you expect me to do?"
"Well, what would make you happy?"
"Being with him!"
"Give it time!"
I thought about what Beth said. She was right, we did what we did to be happy! So I was going to be happy! The next day I went and spoke to Ben. I asked if we could stop fighting and just be friends. He just shrugged and said yeah. Three weeks later and we started dating, again.

That's what it was like for ages. We were on and off. But in-between we stayed as friends. That was until I reached the age of seventeen. That was when Ben proposed. I said no but we still dated. We were so happy that it felt like we would be together forever…