MORE THAN FRIENDS

So Adrian, tell me how you ended up with the "Sausage Prince" if you were so in love with Ricky, Tiffany asked as she became more intrigued by Adrian's tale. Well I guess, it started one day in the office with the guidance counselor. I went in to see our counselor at the time , and Ben was there as well and he needed a ride. So he suggested that I give him one and perhaps that I should try and become friends with someone since I was usually on my own. Really Adrian you weren't popular in school, I always saw you as the girl with a clique Diane confessed. No, in fact I was usually the school outcast since as Tif, pointed out I was the school slut. I was known for sleeping around, and stealing boyfriends which I did.

Adrian, I can't believe you were like that I would have never guessed with how different you are now, Heather exclaimed. Well, that is generally because back then I was alone most of the time, and I never had much money, or popular clothes so people generally ridiculed me for it. Also since my mom was always away working to support us I never really learned how to interact with other people. So, you went through your whole life without any friends Adrian, Joan exclaimed. No, not my entire life; Adrian responded. When I was younger there was another boy that was there for me, he was my first love Antonio and we were almost inseparable he was also my first. But, when he was younger he got cancer and had to move away in order to get treatment I never saw him again after that.

Oh my God, Jessica said as she placed her glass down on the table, Adrian that must have been so difficult for you. Did you ever hear from him again, she asked concerned. No, I didn't, but I did hear from his mom who let me know that he had passed away, she even asked me to attend the funeral but she understood why I couldn't, Adrian replied as she took a napkin to wipe her now watery eyes, which held back tears for her first love. So no one else ever tried to be your friend after that, Tammy asked surprised by Adrian's story. No, by that time I had developed this body, and the only people who wanted to be my friend were guys, and they usually wanted the obvious, Adrian replied. But, what about your mom didn't she try and stop you from doing that, Tammy asked.

No, my mom wasn't around much, and she couldn't really chastise me for things she did herself. The only thing she did do, was make sure that I had a prescription for birth control made sure I knew how to use condoms, and I didn't date guys like some of the creeps she used to sleep with, Adrian said dryly. But, what about your dad Adrian, asked Tiffany in anguish. I mean he's a D.A. and he wasn't around to help you or your mom. No, he was married to his second wife, and living just as miserable as my mom and I she responded, with a smirk.

Well back to Ben, Diana began, what happened on this car ride that you two shared together. Well, it was unique Ben, unlike most guys didn't try and flirt with me or try and pull a move, he was actually a real gentleman. While we were driving we began to talk, he decided that since I wanted Ricky, and he wanted Amy the best way for us to achieve our goal, since it was the same, :"Keeping Amy and Ricky apart" we should work together to do this. I was skeptical at first, but Ben is the type of guy that always made good points and no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I just couldn't help liking him, and smiling. It kind of made me angry that a guy like him could have such an effect on me.

So, you started to develop a crush on him, Tiffany said smiling at Adrian and taking a drink from her glass. It wasn't a crush Tiffany, Adrian replied, but I did kind of develop a respect for him, she responded. Yeah right, Tiffany said still smiling at Adrian as she placed her glass on the table. You respected the hell out of him which why you ended up pregnant by him she said with a giggle. That didn't happen until after that witch Amy broke his heart Adrian yelled.

Broke his heart, Heather asked trying to figure how all Adrian was telling her fit together. Okay, Adrian, continue with the story because now it's getting good. What happened to you and Ricky, and what about Ben, and Amy. Well, to be honest Amy and I were connected by much more than Ricky, she said hesitantly. My mom was having an affair with her father. What the fuck, Tiffany said out loud, gaining the attention of many of the other patrons of the restaurant. Excuse Me, Tiffany replied embarrassed by her action. Adrian, your mom was having an affair with the father of the girl your boyfriend knocked up, Tiffany whispered.. Yeah, we lived in a small town I guess, Adrian said with a giggle.

So, how in the hell did this all happen? Jessica asked still confused about the entire story. That I don't know Adrian responded, all I know was George was sleeping with my mom and married to Amy's mom. When his wife found out that he was having an affair she kicked him out which is right around the time they found out that little Miss Perfect Amy was pregnant. When that happened Amy's dad George, moved in with my mom and me. When he did that Ricky and he got introduced and he became very over protective of me. Adrian said with a grin. It was weird, but even though I hated his daughter and he didn't like my boyfriend and he wasn't my real father, it felt nice having someone care about me like that, Adrian said.

"So, what about your real dad, Diana asked looking puzzled at Adrian." Well it was when my mom decided to break up with George that I decided to find my dad. I was happy that George cared about me like that, but he wasn't my real father, no matter how much I wanted him to be. Honestly after being with George for a few weeks, I began to hate Amy even more because she literally had it all. She had friends, a great mom and dad who were both there for her. She even had sarcastic sister that to this day I wish was mine. She had a great boyfriend that supported her in the worst possible situation, and she never appreciated any of it, or them. I don't think that she ever appreciated the great life she had, not even now.

So, Amy had all that and now her dad was living with you that must have been tough for her to stomach especially while being pregnant. It probably was which is why Ricky and I broke up and I decided to start dating other guys. Really so who were some of these guys, Diana asked intrigued by the whole events. Well at first I decided to start dating Grace's ex-boyfriend Jack, but I realized that he was still in love with her so we broke it off. It was in a fight with Grace at school that I decided that I needed to start dating guys that I hadn't slept with which meant no one from my school. It was when all this was happening that my mom and George decided to break up.

"What, so your mom ended it or did he end it, Heather asked." It was my mom she realized that George, still loved his wife, and wanted to be there for his family. It was when he was getting ready to move out that I got Grace and found my dad. "Grace, Tammy said surprise." I thought that you two were bitter enemies. We were, Adrian replied. But, after the fight Mr. Molina said that perhaps we would make better friends than enemies.

So how did your dad and mom get back together did he track you guys down or something, since he was the District Attorney. No, I tracked him down Adrian, replied and found him living miserably with his wife and stepson. "So, he was married to someone else and raising another man's kid, that must have been tough on you, Tammy replied." It was, that's probably why when we met the first words I said were, "I hate you". Well, I can't blame you for that Jessica implied.

Girls, lets just let her tell the story and finish Tiffany, said allowed. "I need her to get to the ending so we can still catch a cab back to the apartment before rush hour. So just skip the rest of this melodrama Adrian and get to the part where you were sampling the, "Sausage Prince's" meat, she said with, Tiffany said with a grin.

Well if you must know, Ben and I became very good friends such good friends in fact, that we talked for a whole summer about everything including his feelings for Amy, and his fling with a girl he met over the summer while he lived in Bolona. Really, so he cheated on his girlfriend I thought he was a decent guy, Diana said. He is or was a decent guy, Diana but after John was born and all the stress everyone was under after his birth made him want to get away. I would have done the same, had I not thought Ricky would have started bringing Amy over to his apartment.

"John", of all the names she could have named him why John it's such a common name, she might as well have named him, Bob or something, Tammy said. It was then that Adrian shot Tammy a glare that froze everyone at the table and made everyone uncomfortable. Adrian, what was that look all about Tiffany said. It was nothing its just that Bob is the name of Ricky's biological father, he's the one that abused him when he was a child.

Sorry, Adrian I didn't know, Tammy said apologetically. Its' okay Tammy you didn't know. But, continuing, yes Ricky got his own apartment thanks to Ben's dad. "Hold the phone I thought Leo was Ben's dad, so why is he helping his son's competition. Tiffany asked." Honestly it took me a while to figure it out, but I realized that Leo was a nice guy, but he was also a wealthy man and a good father. Leo didn't want to tell Ben the truth, but he was helping Ricky to test Amy. It's why also helped Ricky by giving him a job. He wanted to see if he gave Ricky the ability to provide for her just as Ben could provide for her which one Amy would truly want, and Adrian said. "So Amy was a gold digger after all, Jessica replied." Given the circumstances and how things turned out, I think she was just a snob, Adrian replied.

But, back to my story, Adrian continued. Ben and I talked almost every day during this summer, and we got closer, he was like my best friend. We talked about everything, from his new fling Maria, to my first boyfriend Antonio. I really felt a connection for some reason when I talked to him. It felt as if he and I were like, I don't know. Like, "Soul Mates", Joan replied. No, Adrian said reproachfully. Soul Mates know everything about each other when they first meet. Ben and I were like something new. I don't know what we were, we were more than friends, that I do know.

So what happened with this girl he met in Bolonia that he met while on vacation, Heather asked. She's the person who, I have to say began to set up my and Ben's physical connection. Okay, how did all this take place, Tiffany asked. Well at the time Ricky and I had gotten back together with his promise that neither of us would try and hurt the other. As for Ben and Amy things had gotten complicated, because after being with Maria, and being friends with me, he started to question his relationship with Amy. Amy was under a lot of stress from being a teen mom, and her parents found out that they were having another child. Honestly she was starting to get really bitchy, and instead of turning that bitterness toward Ricky the guy who got her pregnant, she turned it toward Ben, and me.

"I'm confused now, Joan responded". "If Ricky was John's father, and Ben was there for her throughout the pregnancy why was she irritated at him, was it because he left." No, Adrian responded, it was because; now that John was born she no longer had an excuse as to why she didn't want to sleep with him. While in Bolonia, and hanging out with Maria, Ben finally realized that he was a catch and other women realized that too.

Unlike Amy Maria, wanted to sleep with Ben while he was there, and even though Ben was in the literal birth place of Blow Jobs he never gave in to temptation. He did make out with her, but he never let it go that far. So when he got back, he started to wonder why Amy unlike Maria and other girls didn't want to be with, especially after all they had been through together, and how they were supposed to fee about each other.

"You mean she never even gave this guy a hand job or anything like that, Diana asked a little surprised." Nope, Adrian said with a sly sarcastic tone. But, honestly I'm kind of glad she didn't Adrian said. "Okay so why would you be okay with Amy not having sex with Ben especially if you could have Ricky, Tammy implied". Because if she would have slept with, Ben then they might still be together, and I would have never fallen in love with him, Adrian said with a bit of sorrow in her voice. I might have loved Ricky, but Ben was the one who loved me back, she said with a tone of regret.