How You Get the Girl

I Never Suspected He Had Any Secrets

It was a week after the party. I was starting to be able to read Ben pretty well. Something was bothering him and he was not talking about it. He was even more quiet than usual. Had I done something? Said something to upset him? Was he just not that into me? Maybe he wanted a girlfriend who actually understood what he was talking about when he told her about programing or math stuff. Maybe I was too dumb for him. I was beginning to brood and that was just not working for me so I decided to it was time for him to talk about what was upsetting him. Of course, getting him to talk about what he was thinking about was harder than I thought it would be. I tried asking him if he was okay when we're studying at school and all I got was an 'I'm fine.'  I tried asking him again when he was tutoring me in math at his house and got a 'nothing's wrong.' He seemed to think I would take that for an answer. Like that was going to happen.

I needed to resort to more drastic measures. I had to get him someplace alone, where we could talk. Kenzie and Ben's mom always seemed to be around at his house. That left my house. My parents had a strict no boys policy, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them and they were going to a party on Saturday. They were taking an Uber and that always meant that they were planning on drinking and having a good time. They would be out late. I, their little angel, who had never snuck a boy into the house, could, of course, be trusted. The minute they left, I let Ben in the side door. Ben had been surprised when I had asked him to come over to my house. But I had reassured him they would be out and had told him I wanted to spend some time alone with him. No surprise, he seemed to think that was a great idea. Too bad for him that the first thing on my list was talking about why he was acting so weird not making out. Not that I was opposed to it, but first he had to tell me what was bothering him. No talking, no action.

I led him through the mess that was the first floor of my house and upstairs to my bedroom. I had cleaned it up before he had come over so he would not know how messy I was.

Ben stopped in the doorway of my room smiling.

My room was painted pink with white furniture and wood floors. It was my sanctuary because it was where I kept my books and did my art. Half my room was set up for my drawing and painting, with a drafting table and an easel. The other half was a normal bedroom with a queen-size bed, dresser and a wall of books. I did not like to read on a Kindle, I was old school. My bookshelf was full of fantasy books. I did not show most people room because it held both my books and my art. My love of fantasy novels was definitely not cool and my art was personal. I did not need Sasha or Julia commenting on it.

"Letting you in here is a real act of trust," I told Ben.

"Can I see what you're working on?" he asked. When I nodded, he walked over to my easel. The painting was almost done. It was an abstract painting of the sky with clouds at sunset with the water below. I had done the sketches for it that summer out by Lake Minnetonka. It was a study of color and the way the water reflected light rather than a representation of reality but I was pleased with how it was turning out. I held my breath to see what Ben thought.

"It's beautiful. Is it water and sky?"

He got it. "Yes."

"You're really good."

"Thanks." I could feel myself blushing.

I sat down on my bed and looked at Ben. He had been brooding about something all week. Whenever we had talked I had been lucky to get one-word responses. I had not even been able to get him to talk about computers or math, so clearly, he was not okay. That was going to end. I needed to get Ben to admit something was bothering him. I would have to be tactful, subtle.

"What is the matter with you?" I demanded. "You have gone from quiet to mute since the party last weekend. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong," he said. He was still refusing to answer. That just made me more determined to pry it out of him.