Chapter 4
Ben quickened his pace as he spotted Felicity sitting on the stoop in front of the loft. "Hey. What are you doing here? Why didn't you wait upstairs?" he questioned as she stood up to meet him and he gave her a quick kiss.
"Hi. I figured you would be home soon and I thought maybe we could take a walk,"
"Sure. What's going on?" He took her hand and they began walking down the block.
"Nothing major. Uh, just something happened today and I, I uh, um, wanted to tell you about it. I mean you probably won't even care but uh..."
Ben stopped to look at her. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked again.
"It's nothing really just a little weird but I, I thought you should hear it from me." Ben waited for her to continue. "Remember when I told you that Noel was in one of my art classes and that things were really uncomfortable for both of us because he was still so mad at me?" Ben nodded his head as she continued. "Well it's going to be even more uncomfortable because we were assigned to work together on a major project."
"So, so you're going to be working with Noel?" Ben asked hesitantly.
"Yeah. It's a class in dynamic figure drawing and we are studying the human form. We have to work with a partner to do the assignments."
"What does Noel think about all this?"
"He was really upset but there was nothing he could do about it. We went to Professor Sherman and tried to get reassigned but she said no."
"So what does this mean? I mean, what do you guys have to do?"
"The first assignment is to draw a portrait of your partner without drawing their face. So I thought I'd draw his hands. I don't know what Noel plans to do."
Ben hesitated for several seconds before he smiled reassuringly at her. "Ya know, maybe this isn't such a bad thing. I know how upset you've been about the way things are between you and Noel and maybe this, this will help get you two talking again."
Felicity broke into a huge grin as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I am so happy to hear you say that because I was thinking the same thing," she giggled. "And I think Noel inviting me over to the apartment to work is going to be the first step."
"So uh, then you're going to be working at Noel's place?" Ben asked quietly as they continued walking slowly around the block.
Felicity glanced over at him and smiled. "Yeah, you're not jealous are you?"
"No, of course not," he answered quickly. "I was just wondering."
"Well you don't ever have to wonder about me," she assured him in a firm voice and then added softly, "I love you."
Ben put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. "I love you too," he whispered as they continued walking down the street wrapped in each other's arms.
Ben and Felicity entered the loft to find Sean, Julie and Nicole in the middle of a heated discussion. "No, no more parties," Sean stated emphatically.
"Aw come on, Sean. Just think of how much fun it would be," Julie pleaded.
"A party means 150 drunken college kids and a trashed apartment. No thank you." Sean noticed that Ben and Felicity were standing in the doorway. "Hey. Help me. They are ganging up on me," he called to Ben.
"Hey. What's going on?" Ben asked as he walked across the room and threw his backpack on the counter. Felicity stood frozen in the doorway not knowing what to do. What was Nicole doing here and what was she doing here with Julie? Her thoughts flashed back to the day that Ben told her about Nicole kissing him and then coming over to the loft and taking off her clothes. Ben had insisted he was not interested in Nicole when he told her about what happened but as Felicity stood there, a twinge of doubt crossed her mind.
"These two are trying to get me to let them have some big blow out at the loft," Sean explained. "But after the mess with the Halloween party last year I swore never again."
"But Sean, this time we would be charging everyone $5. Think of the money you could make. Plus now you have me and Nicole to help with any clean up," Julie interrupted.
Nicole broke into a huge smile when she spotted Ben. "Oh hi, Ben," she purred as she moved toward him. "I haven't seen you since last spring. How have you been?"
"Fine," Ben mumbled as he walked toward the cooler trying to avoid her. "You want something to drink?" he asked over his shoulder to Felicity who was still standing close to the door. Nicole continued to follow closely behind him.
"Yeah, just water," Felicity murmured as she walked toward the cooler.
Ignoring Felicity Nicole leaned over the counter and smiled at Ben. "What did you do this summer?"
"We drove across country," Felicity said taking the water from Ben.
"Yeah we took a road trip and then I went to Mexico." Nicole paid no attention to Felicity and continued to focus on Ben.
"I was in Mexico too. I went with a couple of friends to Acapulco and had a blast," Nicole said excitedly. "Were you in Acapulco?"
"I went camping in El Veladero National Park but we did make it to Acapulco right before we came back home."
"Where did you stay?"
"It, it was just a cheap place on the beach called Boca Chica."
"Oh my god!" Nicole squealed. "I know the place you're talking about. We hung out around there all the time. Wouldn't that have been something if we were there at the same time and didn't even know it? What did you do while you were there?"
"Nothing much. Just went snorkeling and hung out on the beach."
"Did you go to any clubs? I think we hit them all. It was so much fun," Nicole bubbled.
"We only went to one club the night before we left for home. A place called El Alebrije."
"We went there all the time. Didn't you just love the music? I'll bet you're a great dancer," Nicole purred.
"No I don't... I don't really like to dance," Ben said shyly.
"That's too bad. I would love to have seen you moving on the dance floor. Wouldn't it have been great if we could have hooked up? We could have had so much fun," Nicole smiled seductively.
"Yeah, I guess," Ben mumbled glancing at Felicity who was listening intently to this exchange. "You uh... You ready to go study?"
Before Felicity had a chance to answer Julie, followed by Sean, walked over to the counter smiling broadly. "Good news. Sean said we can have the party here."
"I thought you said no more parties at the loft," Ben questioned.
"She wore me down," Sean said with a sheepish grin. "Plus we settled on $10 a person and that could turn a nice little profit."
"I think a party sounds like fun," Felicity said excitedly.
"Sure it will give you an excuse to buy another sweater," Julie snickered.
"Oh my God, you're that funny girl that wears those awful baggy sweaters," Nicole screamed pointing at Felicity. "I didn't recognize you."
When she heard Nicole's outburst, Julie began to laugh causing her to choke spraying soda across the counter. Felicity sat in stunned silence unable to respond. Ben glanced over at Sean who began wiping the counter and shaking his head. After several awkward seconds, Ben grabbed his backpack off the counter and headed toward his room. "Come on," he said to Felicity putting his hand gently on her shoulder as he passed her, "let's go study."
Felicity gathered up her things and followed Ben into his room. As she closed the door she heard Julie giggle, "Maybe she could dig out that bride of Frankenstein costume again. Now that would be a definite improvement."
Ben threw his backpack on the bed and turned to find Felicity leaning against the closed door looking like she was ready to cry. He walked over and took her into his arms. "Don't let Nicole bother you," he whispered as he held her tightly.
Felicity sighed deeply. "It's not Nicole. It's just... I just hate how things are between Julie and me. I just want... I don't think she's ever going to forgive me."
Ben wanted to say something encouraging but at this point, he was not sure that things were going to be okay. He still could not believe that Julie would deliberately hurt Felicity like that. He felt bad about the way things ended with Julie. He knew he hurt her but he hated to see her take her anger out on Felicity. He was so deep in thought that he did not realize that Felicity had pulled back a little and was looking up at him until he heard her say. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as he kissed her on the forehead and walked over to the bed to get his books out of the backpack.
"You don't look alright. I know you're as upset about this thing with Julie as I am but you have to live here and I don't want you to make it worse."
Ben sat down on the bed and shook his head. "I don't want to make it worse but this has gotta stop. It's my place too and I don't want my girlfriend to be ambushed every time she comes to see me just because Sean has a thing for Julie."
"What! What did you say?" Felicity asked in surprise. "What are you talking about?" Ben just smiled sheepishly. "Ben, tell me. Does Sean really like Julie? Did he tell you that?"
"Listen, I shouldn't have said anything. Just forget it."
"Come on, you have to tell me. Please," Felicity pleaded.
Ben had been so angry with Julie and Nicole but he had to smile when he saw Felicity's whole demeanor change as she began to focus on Sean and his obsession with Julie. "Hey, let's forget about them. I thought we came here to study."
"Ben, you can't say something like that and then just drop it," Felicity said with a pretend pout. "Why won't you tell me?"
Ben knew that Felicity wasn't going to let this go. "No, he hasn't really said anything but he's had a thing for Julie since last year."
"Oh my God," Felicity said sitting down on the bed. "Does Julie know? Did he ever talk to her?"
"I don't think Julie has a clue. Anyway all she has on her mind is pissing me off," Ben grumbled throwing himself backward on the bed and covering his eyes with his arm.
As Felicity looked at him, she had to smile. Although she felt bad for the frustration he was feeling about the whole situation they found themselves in, she couldn't help feeling a shiver of happiness that she was here with him. She lie down beside him and put her head on his chest. His arm went instinctively around her pulling her closer. They lay quietly in each other's arms with eyes closed as a feeling of peace seemed to enter the room. As the minutes passed Felicity thought Ben had fallen asleep until she heard him whisper, "It's amazing that no matter what is going on around us as long as you're here I feel like everything is going to be okay." She smiled softly and snuggled deeper into his embrace shutting out the world.
Elena opened the door to find Felicity standing there with her arms full of art supplies. "Hey, you're early. Noel said you wouldn't be here 'til seven,"
"I know. I wanted to get here a little early so maybe we could talk. Is Noel here?"
"No, he went to help someone pick out a computer but he should be back soon. Want something to drink?" Elena asked over her shoulder as she walked to the fridge and retrieved a soda.
"No thanks." Felicity put her things on the coffee table and sat down on the couch.
Elena sat down on the sofa with her legs drawn up beneath her. "So what do you wanna talk about? You ready to give up this art nonsense and come back to pre-med where you belong?"
Felicity smiled and shook her head. "No actually I just needed someone to talk to about this thing with Julie."
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. I, I knew it was going to be hard because I really hurt Julie but I thought, I thought maybe by now we would at least be talking to each other. You know maybe start to work things out."
"How is it going with her living at the loft?"
Felicity gave a deep sigh, "I don't know. It's all right I guess. Ben says not to worry about it."
"Well if it was me I wouldn't want my boyfriend's ex living in the same place with him."
"No, I trust Ben. That's not the problem."
"Well then what is the problem?"
"I don't know. I just can't... Maybe it's nothing but Julie has been hanging out with Nicole and it just makes me uncomfortable."
"Nicole? You mean that girl that goes with Ben's swim buddy?"
"Yeah, that's the one but Linn broke up with her."
"So what's the problem with Julie and her hanging out together?"
"Well last year when she was still going with Linn she started hitting on Ben and when Linn found out about it, they broke up."
"What do you mean "hit on Ben"? What did she do?"
"Ben told me she kissed him and one day even came to the loft and took her clothes off."
"WOW! This girls got balls," Elena gasped.
"So you can see why I'm a little freaked."
"You don't think Ben's interested, do you?"
"No, but, but, I just don't know why Julie is hanging around with her now. I mean, right after Julie and Ben broke up she was sure that Nicole was the reason and now she's her best friend. Don't you think that's a little weird?"
"Sure it's weird but as long as Ben's not falling for it I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"I know you're right but the whole thing really bothers me. And you should have heard them today. Julie talked Sean into having a big party at the loft and when I said I thought it sounded like fun, Julie and Nicole started to make fun of me."
"Make fun of you? How?"
"They were saying things like a party would just give me an excuse to buy another sweater and then Julie said something like the Bride of Frankenstein costume would be an improvement." As Felicity whined her complaints, Elena tried unsuccessfully to hold back a giggle. "It's not funny" Felicity blurted out when she noticed her friends amusement at her situation, which caused Elena to break out with a loud laugh.
Elena took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. "I'm sorry but you gotta admit the whole thing is getting really childish."
"Well it might be childish to you but it isn't to me."
"I know and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed but you gotta admit the whole thing is pretty funny. I mean, Julie and Nicole ganging up and teasing you like kids in a school yard and you falling for it."
"I know you're right but it just... It just really gets to me." Felicity leaned her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes. "To be... To be totally honest I think the reason it bothers me so much is that sometimes I think that they are right."
"What are you talking about? What are they right about?"
"I don't know. I just look at Julie and Nicole and they seem like they have it more together." Elena started to interrupt but Felicity continued, "I guess it just feels like I'm back in high school with them as the cool kids and me as the geek. And to be honest, I want to be one of the cool kids."
"That's stupid. Look, both of them went after Ben but who has him?"
"Maybe that's part of the problem. I keep asking myself why is he with me. Is he going to look at me one day and realize that he can do better? I mean look at Julie and Nicole. They're beautiful and they wear the right clothes and then there's me. I'm known as the girl with the frizzy hair who wears sweaters."
"So this whole thing isn't about Julie and Nicole or even Ben. It's about your personal insecurities left over from high school?" Felicity glanced quickly at Elena and then focused her gaze on her hands. Elena shook her head and sighed deeply. "I have to admit I know how you feel. I felt that way all through high school."
Felicity grinned at her friend. "Thanks for understanding. I just needed someone to talk to about this. It really helps to get it out sometime."
"You know you don't deserve my help after the way you deserted me with all this lab work," Elena said with a smirk. Before Felicity could protest Elena continued. "But I guess us geeks have to stick together. Okay, I'm willing to help."
"I'm sorry about the whole lab thing."
"Yeah, yeah. Well I guess the thing we have to do is turn you into Cinderella so you can go to that ball in style."
"What do you mean?"
Before Elena could answer the door opened and Noel entered accompanied by a cute blond. They were giggling and talking over each other obviously enjoying the exchange. It took Felicity a few seconds to realize that the blond was one of her advisees. Noel finally glanced over at Felicity and Elena. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm late but it took longer than I thought."
"That's okay," Felicity said smiling. "Hi, Ruby. I didn't know you and Noel were friends."
"Actually we just met today. I was having trouble deciding on a new computer and Meghan suggested your friend Noel might help me. He has been the best," Ruby gushed while Noel stood there grinning.
"I can't believe Meghan finally had a good idea," Felicity said in surprise.
"He's been amazing," Ruby sighed.
Noel blushed profusely and stammered, "Uh, um, I didn't do that much." Then he turned to Felicity, "Hey, uh, I know we have to get this project finished but I was uh, I was wondering if maybe we could do it another night.?"
"Yeah, sure. I guess we can work on it tomorrow,"Felicity stammered.
"Great. I really wanted to get Ruby's computer set up and download a few programs that will help her get started with her classes." Before Felicity could answer Noel headed for the door. "Okay I'll see you tomorrow night," he said over his should as he and Ruby hurried out the door.
"Okay, what was that?" Elena asked in amazement.
"I don't know but I like it," Felicity giggled.
"Well, that could take care of one of your problems. Now we have to get busy and take care of the other half."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Let's just say when Cinderella walks into that party Julie and Nicole are going to feel like the ugly stepsisters."