Mal was mad; she didn't think Ben would be so illogical about how she was planning to make the renovations a reality. It wasn't like he would have to put his money into it; she could even find people to work on the projects, so he didn't need to be involved. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got; if he was going to act that way, she was moving out as soon as possible. Mal gave up on sleeping around five and got out of her room and went downstairs, wanting to go for a walk around the neighborhood.
Mal was putting on her shoes at the door when she heard steps coming down, and she didn't need to turn to know Ben was coming her way. Taking a deep breath, she went to open the door when the boy called her name, asking Mal to wait for him. She turned, crossing her arms over her chest, looking annoyed and the boy looked apologetic; Ben made her way to her and offered her a set of keys. "I wanted you to have them so you can feel free to come and go as you please. I forgot to give them to you yesterday with everything that happened. Also, I know I didn't react how you wanted me yesterday, but even though I appreciate your offer, I can't take your money. This is my house, my dream, and even though it is going to take me a lot of time to make it what I wanted to be, I can wait."
The girl rolled her eyes at Ben and shook her head. "This is not charity Ben; I don't know why you think it is. I make my money through videos and brand deals, so I don't see how exactly this situation makes you feel like I'm giving you money. Anyway, I'm done talking about it; thanks for the keys; hopefully, I'll give them back soon."
With that, Mal walked outside, not sure where she was going but sure she needed to get away from Ben. She didn't make it to the end of the street when Mal realized Ben was following her and turned to ask him what he wanted; the entire point of her walk was to get away from him. "I'm sorry, it's just that you don't know the neighborhood, and it is early. I'll just walk behind you. I promised I won't talk.
"I found you so frustrating, Ben. Honestly, you are so nice but so dumb at the same time." Mal stood looking at him feeling defeated and the boy looked at her feeling horrible for making her feel like that.
"I know I said I wasn't going to talk but let me tell you a story." Mal rolled her eyes but nodded, and Ben signaled for her to walk, and they started walking next to each other. "My dad came from a wealthy family that took away their financial support after he married my mom. It wasn't like they disowned him, but when it was time to pass down the family business, they decided to go with one of his cousins, and he soon had to find another job outside the company. So they work a lot and manage to have a comfortable life, no big house but a nice one in a good neighborhood. I grew up having everything I needed but nothing more; no new sneakers until mine were broken, one Christmas present, and things like that. Honestly, I didn't mind it. I was happy, and I learned to work from a young age and save. Jay's upbringing was hard, and when we became friends, I realized that I had a great life, so every time I could, I would invite Jay to my house to eat every time I could. I would search for deals and buy extra clothes and share them with him, not all the time because I knew he didn't like to feel like a charity case." Mal looked at Ben, the boy was walking looking ahead, and she imagined how a young Ben would go out of his way to help his friend.
"Finally, they were hiring where I worked after school, and I managed to get Jay a job. We worked together, and I still helped him whenever I could, he is like a brother to me, so it was only logical for me to help him. Years went on, and Jay started vlogging; he saved for his equipment, and one Christmas, I gave him a new microphone; after a while, he quit his job, and I moved on to another job. I still would try to help him whenever I could until one year, my birthday came, and Jay surprised me with the coolest sneakers I had ever seen. I saw them once in a store with him, but they were expensive, so I asked him if he was insane when he gave them to me. That day Jay sat me down and explained how much he was making and how much he appreciated the times I helped him, and he wanted me to know that I didn't need to take care of him anymore. I know he meant it as a way to help me focus on me but I can't explain how that made me feel. I've worked so many years and even though I had savings, they weren't much and I was applying to college and needed to earn as much as possible because there was no way I was getting a scholarship, I spent too many hours working instead of doing extracurriculars. Then I understood I was feeling alone, I thought Jay and I would have the same issues and find a way to overcome them, but he had decided not to go to college and continue his vlogger career. In the end, my parents basically shamed my grandparents into helping me with some money for college and I managed to get a partial scholarship so I didn't need to get a student loan." Mal turned and looked at Ben, making him stop.
"I don't understand, they didn't want to give their son the company he was supposed to inherit because he married your mom, right?" Ben nodded and Mal continued. "However, they were shame into help you? How is that even possible?".
Ben chuckled and explained that for some people, their image was everything, and Mal couldn't help but think of her mom at that moment, she felt closer to Ben. So, apparently, everyone in Ben's grandparents' circle knew that all of his cousins were going to whatever college they wanted fully paid by his grandparents, and they assumed Ben was going to do the same. When word of this reached Adam, Ben's dad, he made sure to let everyone know that his parents weren't doing that with Ben. The pressure and shame that came with that made his grandparents give enough money to say they contributed to his education and safe face in front of their friends. They didn't know Ben had a partial scholarship so honestly never knew they had really helped him.
"Honestly I'm grateful, but when they gave it to me they were sure to make me feel like I was a charity case and nothing more to them. They talked down to my parents too but they were ready to take it to save me from having this big debt to start my life. Sure, after that they also felt annoyed and made it clear that I was responsible to see for myself from that moment on. I don't blame them, my grandparents were brutal and we didn't deserve all the things they said to us when they gave me the check." Mal felt sad, and a part of her started to understand why the boy wanted to make everything on his own. Ben continued to tell her how he managed to work through college, sometimes Jay would try to help him with things but mostly was moral support and also they ended up being roommates. They were living in a cheap apartment at first, but after a while, Jay wanted to move to a nicer part of town. With the money, he was making he could afford it practically on his own and he offered Ben to pay for it so he could save more money.
"At first I said no, and moved with other people but it was a nightmare. Jay moved with some other vloggers and he didn't like it either, they were into pranking and he just hated not knowing what was going to happen. So, in the end, we moved together and we shared expenses but he did pay a little more than me, he said that he could afford it and he felt he owed it to me to help now that he could. Finally, when I moved here I had enough saved up for a downpayment and here I am. Lonnie tried to pay me rent, but I said no so she instead helps me with projects around the house. I know you can afford to help me, but I feel like I would be taking advantage of your generosity and I'm not ok with that." Mal nodded and they continued walking, it took her a couple of minutes but she managed a way to convince Ben that he would not only not be taking advantage of her but actually helping her. If Mal took anything from his story was that Ben would always be open to helping somebody else so she went with that argument.
After the boy understood that he would be helping her by giving her the renovation of his house Ben accepted but he had some conditions. As always, Mal would work with a budget that would be covered by a share of the profit of her videos of the series and brand deals. If the income would not be what she expected for some reason, Mal promised the boy to let him know and stop the reno. "Trust me Ben, I've done this before and I've never needed to put a dollar from my savings. Also, you and your friends will help with the projects so that is also a way we can cut costs."
Ben was apprehensive, but he knew a good opportunity when he saw it and knew that Mal wouldn't hesitate to tell Jay, and he didn't want his friend to try and pay for his renovation behind his back. They walked and talked about the girl's plans and how she wanted to film an introduction video about the project, and he wanted Ben and his friends in it because they were going to be part of it. "I'd like to announce it on Instagram live on Frida; do you think your friends could come?"
The boy promised to ask them, and then they made their way back to the house so Ben could get ready for work, and Mal started sending emails and talking with her agency. After everything seemed to be on its way, she decided to take a nap. When she woke up, the smell of chicken made her stomach growl and soon, Mal made her way downstairs and saw Lonnie and Ben making dinner. They didn't seem to notice her, so she made her way upstairs as quietly as possible and took hold of her camera ready to start a new vlog, and then she stopped, will they be ok to be filmed? She needed to ask them and not assume so with that in mind; she took the camera but didn't turn it on.
Mal joined Lonnie and Ben and helped them finish the meal while they shared how their day went, and Ben announced that his friends were coming on Friday to film what Mal wanted. The girl knew that brand deals would take some time, so she needed to work within Ben's budget for the first video.
On Friday, they made the video with Ben's friends as a tease for her IG live, and she was impressed with the number of her followers that tagged other people mentioning Ben was in the video. Lonnie saw the confusion on her friend's face and explained that Ben would appear on some of Jay's videos, and he had over ten thousand followers of his own. Mal was impressed and wondered why the boy never mentioned it, but Lonnie told him that he didn't care about it, so he barely posted and never did a life. "Did you tag Jay?. You should so he can repost it; then you'd really see the "power of Ben" in action." After that, Lonnie laughed and told the confused Mal that many Jay subscribers thought he was cute.
Mal reposted the story with a countdown, tagged Jay, and then asked Lonnie to text him cause they were going live in twenty minutes. It took the boy five minutes to repost it, and when she went live, Mal saw a lot of her followers and some new name's saying hi to Ben in the comments. This renovation was going to be a success, and she was going to take advantage of Ben's following; the boy needed to understand how to work social media.