The night Shelby met Ben, the girl was shocked by her luck; she didn't want to go to another bar again and have boring conversations with lame guys. However, one of her best friends, Lizzy, told her that she needed to go out after a horrible week and guilted Shelby into going out with her. Once at the bar, Emily saw a guy she knew from the gym and made them talk to him; Shelby rolled her eyes; at least if they struck a conversation, she would be able to excuse herself early. However, the moment the guy introduced his friends, Shelby couldn't take her eyes off Ben. She made a point to make conversation with him the rest of the night, and even when Lizzy was ready to go, Shelby stayed until Ben was ready to leave. After that night, she texted him, and they even went out on a date, but sadly, nothing came of it; however, she started asking around about Ben to some of her friends.
It took her a little time, but Shelby managed to get information about Ben and his family, and she was happy to know that her parents knew Ben's uncle. They shared that Ben's dad was not in the social scene and that aside from gossip about how the boy was not on the same level as his cousins, people never talked about Ben. Her mom even shared with Shelby that some of her friends liked Adam and hoped to marry him, but he never looked at any other girl once Belle came into the picture. "Some of them even say that the only reason Adam is not in charge of the family business is because of her. Ben is not close to any of them either, but I know that his family helped him with college, so maybe he will be back into the family business in the future."
Shelby's mom's voice repeated in her mind whenever she thought she should give up on him; Ben was good-looking and a nice person, but what made her put extra effort was that. Ben was the type of guy her father would see as a good fit for her, he was hardworking and came from a good family, and with a bit of push from her, he could get back into the right circles, and eventually, the family business. His cousins weren't precisely great businessmen, so his uncle would stay in control of the company for as long as possible.
After two rings, Shelby said hello to her parents and told them that she needed them to call one of her friends, Ben's uncle, and tell him that the boy was not acting correctly. She dramatized the situation enough for her parents to be angry that their daughter would be humiliated by going alone to a party where their friends celebrated an engagement. High society took this type of event seriously, and many of his friends' kids were going to attend the event.
Meanwhile, back in his house, Ben went upstairs and talked to the girls sharing some points of his conversation with Shelby and assuring Mal that she shouldn't feel bad. "Honestly, I didn't want to go with her, and after our conversation, I don't even want to talk to her for a while. I understand that she is upset, but the way she talked to me right now, that's not ok."
Mal nodded, hugged her boyfriend, and told him that she was sad that he had to go through that, and Ben kissed her head, hugging her a little tighter. After that, Lonnie said her goodbyes, and Ben took Mal's hand and asked the girl to sleep with him that night, and Mal smiled and nodded. They changed and then lay in bed talking about their plans for the trip until they fell asleep.
The couple woke up to Ben's iPhone nonstop ringing; they tried to ignore it, and the boy just picked up the phone and pressed the side buttons, trying to make it stop for it just to start again. Finally, he groaned and focused on the screen, and Ben saw that his dad was calling him, which never happened. Mal asked him who it was while sitting; Ben told her at the same time that the phone started ringing again, and Mal told him to answer the call. The boy answered and his Dad's voice made it clear from the start that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation. Ben made a move to get out of bed, not wanting Mal to hear whatever the call was about, but as he moved to get out, the girl put her hand on his leg and whispered to the boy to stay. Mal took his free hand and put it between hers, trying to support the boy that seemed tense.
Ben asked his dad why he was calling him, and his voice matched Adam's energy because he wanted to make it clear that he was ready to respond to whatever attack he was going to get. The last time he had a conversation with his dad, using that tone of voice, his grandmother had agreed to give Ben some money for his university to save face. The memory of his father telling him how he hated owing his family something and that he better not disappoint them came loud and clear in his memories. Sure, Belle had to intervene, and in the end, his father calmed down and told Ben that he knew that it was their choice to force the situation to get the money for him. Still, the boy remembered how he started to distance himself from his parents; Ben felt like they didn't want to know much about his life. Maybe he was wrong but the feeling of them putting him at bay, not wanting to know of any hardship in case he asked for help, and they had to ask Adam's family for money, made them cut their communication a lot.
The boy had worked as soon as he could; Ben never planned to ask them for financial help for his university; he knew he would have to get a student loan. Adam and Belle chose to do that, and yes, he accepted the money because it would make his future easier, but the price, in the end, was higher than he expected. Ben didn't have a bad relationship with his parents; he mainly didn't have one now. They would call each other for their birthdays and their anniversary, but aside from the nostalgic call of Belle, the boy didn't talk to them much aside from his yearly visit for Thanksgiving. Everything was pleasant on those occasions, and he enjoyed having that time with them, especially when Jay and Lonnie went with him, but there was no longing to spend more time with them.
Adam's voice came strong, telling Ben that his uncle called him to say that Ben had been fired from his job and that he had broken up with his girlfriend to date some vlogger girl."Can you imagine how embarrassing it is to find out all of this from my cousin?! What kind of mess is your life, Ben? You cheat on a sweet girl to go with someone that can give you things?!"
Ben was taken aback and confused, but most of all, he was angry. How his dad could think that this was an appropriate way to ask him something about his life made the boy more furious. Also, he was sure that Mal had listened to his dad's rant, and he hoped she didn't think any of it was true. The boy started to explain that he was wrong, but Adam just cut him off telling him that he was lying and that he felt sick of knowing how he was this horrible person, and just as Adam started insulting his "new vlogger" girlfriend, who had no issues helping him cheat Ben couldn't take it anymore.
That was the point that made Ben lose it; he stood and went off on his dad. Every time Adam tried to cut off Ben, the boy would talk louder; suddenly, Mal heard the anger rising in his voice when he told Adam to stop talking about her. Mal couldn't take it and got out of the room; she was sure Ben didn't notice the boy was so focused on the call that she could have put a podcast on without the boy noticing. She went into her room, trying to calm down; seeing Ben so angry was such a contrast to the usually calm and sweet boy that it made her nervous.
Mal picked up her phone and noticed it was almost eleven; they had stayed up late talking, so it wasn't weird that they slept in, but it was strange, all Ben's dad said. The girl wondered who could have created all those lies and why; then, someone came to mind, but Mal shook her head, trying to erase the thought. After checking her emails, she put her AirPods in and headed downstairs, trying to ignore any noise coming from the boy's room. After making her way into the pantry, she decided to start lunch so when Ben was ready, they could eat together, and maybe if he was up to it, they could talk about the conversation with Adam.
The girl chopped the ingredients and was about to put them in the pan when Ben hugged her from behind and put his head on her shoulder; he took one airpod and then apologized for how he acted upstairs. Mal emptied her hands and turned to hug the boy back, assuring him that he didn't need to apologize to her; she understood why he was upset and asked him if he wanted to talk about the conversation with his dad.
Ben hesitated; he knew it would be best if Mal knew about the situation, but he wasn't sure he was ready to relive it, so he told her that. Mal nodded, understanding the situation and hugging him a little tighter, asking him if he wanted to help her finish cooking their lunch. Ben nodded, Mal told him what to do, and together they finished their meal, put the table, and sat down to eat; in the middle of this, the girl put on a podcast, understanding that he didn't want to talk but not really find it the silence comfortable. They ate listening to the podcast, which was talking about a book, the host two comedians would tell the story while making commentaries, and Mal smiled at some of them. After they finished eating, a new episode came on, and they cleaned the kitchen while listening; at this point, Mal was sure that she was the only one paying attention.
Taking her phone, she sent a quick text to Lonnie with a simple message sharing with the girl that Ben had talked to his dad on the phone and things were bad between them. Two minutes later, Jay called Ben, and the boy answered; Mal wasn't sure if she should leave or if the boy was going to do it to have some privacy. Finally, she noticed Ben walking into the dining room and whispering; obviously he didn't want her to know he was discussing what happened. Mal decided that she would give him space, and after finishing putting the dishes away, she went to her room and took her skin routine bag, then went into the bathroom to shower and do her routine and maybe put on a mask. She did part of her routine and then got into the shower, and Mal couldn't help to feel sad that Ben wasn't comfortable talking to her about his dad; part of her understood they didn't really know each other that much, but they were in a relationship, and that meant at least for her to be vulnerable.
She got out of the shower, dried up, and finished her routine by putting her mask on, knowing that Ben was surely still talking to Jay. Mal went into her room, closed the door, and lay on her bed once again, feeling left out; for the first time since meeting the boy, she felt like they were far away. Her mind started convincing her that once again, she had jumped into a relationship when instead, they needed time to get to know each other. Then she heard it, the voice of her mom making fun of her telling her that, as always, she wasn't important or good enough, and that's why people didn't want to share their lives with her.
Tears started to blur her vision, and Mal took a couple of deep breaths, trying to get out of her head and focus on anything else. It had been a while since she felt this way, like everything that happened was because of something she did or didn't do; maybe if she was more open about her mom, Ben would feel comfortable sharing more about his parents with her. Then a new wave of tears came; how do you tell someone that your mom wanted nothing to do with you and the only reason she even raised you was because of the money she got because of you.
A couple of minutes passed, and Mal finally managed to calm herself; the voice of Rachel, her therapist, came to replace Malificients calming the girl down and telling her to think things through. The woman had helped her so much over the years, and even now that they only talk, if Mal felt like her coping techniques weren't helping her, Rachel's advice and guidance always help the girl center.
Mal felt like she was taking things out of proportion; Ben had a problem with his dad and wanted to talk to someone that knew more about their relationship; she also knew that if something happened with her mom, she would go to Evie first.
After a couple of minutes, she fell sleepy, so she gave in to the slumber, and soon Mal was having a peaceful sleep. When she woke up, the mask had fallen from her face, now completely dry, and Mal hoped it helped the puffiness that usually appeared after she cried. Moving her hand around, she found her phone and noticed it was almost five o'clock; standing from her bed, she made her way towards her mirror and was pleased to see that her eyes looked ok; there was some puffiness, but she thought it wasn't really noticeable. Her hair was a mess, so the girl brushed it and decided to change; if Ben wanted more alone time, she would go to a coffee shop to work on her video; at least her things were ready for the trip. Would the boy still be open to joining her on the trip?
Mal opened her door and saw that Ben's door was wide open, and he wasn't in his room, and then she heard Lonnie's voice coming from downstairs. The girl must have left work early to be home at this time; she silently made her way to the top of the stairs, and even though she wasn't sure what they were saying, the tone seemed to be serious. Mal turned and went back to her room, put her things in her tote bag, then sent a text to Miranda asking her if she wanted to join her at the coffee shop to work, and finally asked for an uber. Making sure the car was near, she made her way downstairs, making enough noise for them to know she was coming down.
Lonnie stood and said hi to Mal, but before the girl could say it back, Ben's voice made her turn towards the boy who was looking at her with concern in his eyes, asking her if she was ok. Mal wondered if he could notice that she cried, so she turned towards Lonnie, focusing on the girl when sharing that she would work in the coffee shop with Miranda. Lonnie nodded but looked a little taken aback by the information, and Mal wanted to roll her eyes at the girl. Was she judging her for leaving Ben? First, he wasn't alone, and second, the boy was not talking to her about the situation or in front of her, so leaving would free him to do whatever he felt comfortable doing.
Ben came to Mal's side and took her hand, making her turn, to her luck, at that moment, her phone rang, so she moved her hand away to look at the phone. Mal answered the call and almost cheered when the Uber driver told her that he was waiting for her outside the house; she thanked him and promised to be out in a second. Hanging up, she turned towards Ben and kissed him on the cheek, telling him that she would be back after dinner and not to worry, then said bye to Lonnie. Mal was about to celebrate her clean escape, but the moment her hand touched the knob of the front door, Ben's hand was on hers, asking her to look at him; the girl swallowed a curse and turned, trying to convey innocence.
"I'll take you; cancel the Uber." Mal didn't even think about her response, but it surprised even her in a second.
"No, my ranking is going to go down. They are not happy when you cancel when they already are on the pickup point, or you made them wait, Ben. Come on; I have an almost perfect score." The boy looked at her like she was crazy, but Lonnie backed her up about the ranking and added how impressive it was that she had a high score.
"Fine, but we need to talk; please come early." Mal nodded and went on her way; the last they heard was the girl apologizing for taking so long before the car went away.
