Ben413Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjhwbhwd7F
February 19, 2005
413Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNCeGCRQLd
*
Same day
*
"Beautiful?" Her eyes bug out of her head. "I thought you said-"
I cut her off before she can go full hurricane. "Chill out, Beautiful, it's you." She looks unconvinced. "Seriously, check the number."
"I'm the first contact in your phone?" She looks at me, shocked. It's just a coincidence that it comes first alphabetically, but I'm not saying a thing.
"Aww... Isn't that sweet, sugar butt?" Kai laughs, pulling Barbie against him.
She looks really offended. "Sugar butt? Are you calling me fat?"
"What? No! Like your ass is so sweet, I just want to take a bite." He chomps his teeth, making a biting motion.
"Ugh... You guys are sickening!" Vanessa makes a gagging noise.
"Oh please, you and Nate are just as bad!" Sophie scoffs.
"Yeah... and you and Luke aren't disgusting at all." Vanessa rolls her eyes.
"All right, we get it. You are all mushy and gross, can we keep going?" I really didn't want to do this with a full audience, but it's too late now.
"Okay, next up... Bikini blonde? Seriously Ben?" She rolls her eyes.
"Just delete it." She's going to read each one out loud? Shit. This is really gonna suck.
"Blonde Stacy? Hey! She actually has a name." Kat jokes. God, she's adorable.
"Hey, I remember her. Although her name was Lacy and you always called her the wrong thing." Nate opens his stupid mouth.
"Oops." I shrug. Who cares what her name was?
"Wow..." Kat glanced at me before pressing the button. "And she's deleted."
"Blonde Barbie?" Kat looks across the table. "You don't mean-"
She's cut off by Kai yelling. "What the fuck man?" Oh shit. This doesn't look good. At. All.
Barbie lays her hand on Kai's arm. "Calm down, baby. We exchanged numbers just in case I couldn't get ahold of you. We've never even used them, right, Benny?"
God I hate when she calls me that. Makes my skin crawl. "Yep, that is exactly right."
Except it's not.
Not only does she not have my number, it's far from innocent. She wanted to hook up with me and insisted I put her number in my phone.
I never called her, but why would she lie? They weren't even dating yet, were they?
"Should I leave it then?" Kat looks at me, but Kai answers through gritted teeth.
"Delete it." Guess he didn't quite believe the excuse either.
"Seriously, baby, I told you. It's completely innocent." Barbie tries to reassure him, but he just crosses his arms, looking quite intimidating.
"Delete it, Beautiful. Only you, remember?" Honestly, I would have deleted it myself, but I completely forgot it was in there.
I wouldn't go near Barbie with a 10 foot pole, even if she wasn't dating one of my best friends.
"Okay, we have... Bridesmaid? I'm just going to go ahead and delete that one."
"That was a good wedding, man." Nate fist bumps Ben, before catching himself.
Vanessa's eyes are huge for a second before they turn into angry slits. I feel like there should be a rattlesnake sound coming from her.
Nate clears his throat. "Moving on, Kat."
"Brunette with bandana? Deleted."
"Blonde Taylor? Is this one of your friends?" She wants me to be a different guy, I can tell. She wants me to be a guy who doesn't have dozens of girls in his phone, but it's too late.
"Nope. Delete her." I wish I had a different answer.
If only she knew the truth. 413Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXyd3LUqqu
Maybe she wouldn't look at me with quite so much disgust.
"Blonde at McClain's?" She looks around the bar, like she can pick out this random girl by that description.
"Is it her?" She points to a girl sitting by the bar alone. "Or her?" She points to another girl walking towards the bathroom.
"Your guess is as good as mine." I shrug my shoulders.
All the girls scoff in offense. Shit. Guess that was the wrong thing to say.
"I mean, just because a girl gave me her number doesn't mean I called her." Another round of scoffs by the girls.
What did I do now? First I'm a jerk for having girls in my phone and now I'm a jerk for not calling them?
I look around the table. "Guys, help me out here?"
"No way, bro." Kai betrays me first. He would totally have my back if Blondie wasn't here.
"You're on your own, man." Nate looks away. He has enough trouble on his own, but seriously? Come on, bro.
"Sorry, dude." Luke at least looks ashamed for ditching me.
"Bastards." I mutter to myself. What happened to bros having your back?
They better hope they don't need me anytime soon. I take turns glaring at each one of them. as Kat continues looking through my phone.
"Dad and Dad's work. Guess those should both stay." She continues scrolling. "Let's see who's next... Drunk Redhead? Seriously, Ben? That could be anyone."
"Oh shit, give me my phone!" This isnt good. This is so not good.
I try to pry the phone from her hands, but I'm too late. "Hey, wait... is this Vanessa?"
"What the fuck, man?" Nate is going to kill me.
"I called dibs, man. Did you really think I wouldn't get her number?" Seriously, he's the one who made me this way, why is he complaining?
"You did not call anything, asshole!" Nate is barely containing his anger.
I definitely called dibs, but I am really glad nothing ever happened.
"Seriously, drunk was your description of me?" Vanessa seems to be trying to escalate the situation.
She is a pain in the ass.
"Thank god I never called you." Ah, shit. Is that too harsh?
"Oh please, like I'd ever go out with you!" Vanessa scoffs, crossing her arms in defense.
"Okayyy... Definitely changing her name." Kat shivers. "Up next... Drunk with black hair. Looks like you weren't alone, Ness."
"Poor girl." Vanessa continues to glare at me. Shit. I was supposed to be winning her over, not making her hate me more.
"Eco blonde and Eco brunette? What does that even mean?" Confusion covering Kat's beautiful face.
"Economics, like the class. Delete them." I sigh. This is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.
"Headband blonde?" I should be used to her shocked face by now, but it still hurts a little that I can't be who she wants.
"Oh! I know her! She's always wearing a different headband. Every day. It's kinda weird." Vanessa chimes in. Of course mocking some girl would cheer her up.
"Deleted. Okay, home. Leaving that one, obviously." Although, you could
"Jean jacket? Is that like a name or...?" Kat trails off, looking for me to answer.
"You know, honestly... I don't know. Maybe I typed it wrong? Just delete it." I actually have no idea who that could be.
"Kai, stays. Kid? Please tell me that's not a girl." Her eyes tell me she's not enjoying this as much as I hoped she would.
"It's his brother, Cole." Nate speaks on my behalf.
"Okay, Kid stays. Kinky blonde?" Her mouth pops open, a blush taking over her entire face.
"Delete it. Delete them all, Beautiful. I don't need them."
"O-okay... Uhm... She clears her throat. "Let's see, Luke. He obviously stays."
"McClain's bartender? Seriously? I thought you were flirting with her!" Flirting? All I can think about is Kat. I haven't flirted with anyone else in weeks.
"Just now?!? Right before asking Kat out? That's pretty low, even for you, playboy." Nate's stupid girlfriend throws me further under the bus.
"Shut it, Red. I was not flirting. Besides, it's not that one anyway." I wince, knowing that didn't help.
"Well, she winked at you..." She did?
"Are you sure? I didn't notice." I was too busy starting at the girl next to me.
"Well, whoever she is, she's deleted." She seemed a little to happy to do it.
"Mini-skirt blonde. Just gonna go ahead and delete that one." She doesn't wait for my response.
"Ms. Young? Like the Sociology professor?!?" Her eyes wide, mouth popping open.
"Oh... Uh... Yeah. She wanted to tutor me or something." Kat cringes.
"Just delete her." This is the first one that really embarrasses me, even though I would never do something that stupid to jeopardize my education.
"Okayyyy... Let's see... Mom, stays. Nate, stays." She winces. Uh oh. "Samantha the bitch? That's not the same-"
I cut her off. "Just. Delete. Her." I bite out, unable to say much more about that lying bitch. Please let her drop it.
"Deleted. Sophie? Do you just have everyone's girlfriend in here?" My relief for her dropping the Samantha topic is instantly gone. For once, though, I actually am innocent, but I'm sure it doesn't look that way. Shit.
Every guy at the table is going to want to beat me up. Why did I think this was a good idea?
Everyone looks at Luke, waiting for him to blow up. "What? I trust Soph."
"Aww... Thanks Lukey. We planned your surprise party together, remember?" She's grinning from ear to ear as she leans her head on his shoulder. He just smiles back before kissing her forehead.
"Spanish blonde. Delete. Spanish redhead. Delete. Tube top brunette? Ugh, Ben, seriously? You really were a pig, you know?" I can't help but love the way she uses "were". I was a pig, past tense.
"I know, Beautiful, but that life is over." I smile, I am genuinely happy about my new life.
As long as she's in it.
"Okay, last one. Wedding blonde? Is this the same one the bridesmaid was at?" She's so fucking cute, even when she's giving me shit.
"Nope, different weddings. Not that it matters since they will both be deleted." Thank god this is over.
I just hope it worked.
She hands back my phone, and even though I know it's impossible, it feels so much lighter.
I glance through my contacts, my parents, a few friends, it's just so... normal. I hate to tell her, but I'm not sad to see any of those girls go.
I'm no longer Ben the playboy.
It feels fucking amazing.413Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNaFHWs02V
