How You Get the Girl

You Are Not the Boss of Me

A few days later Ben and I were sitting in a coffee shop after school and Ben was helping me with math. I never had gotten another math tutor but Ben did not seem to mind when my phone buzzed.

"Chip again?" Ben asked.

"Yes," I said. Then I faced up to a conversation I had been dreading having with Ben. "He's going to be Minneapolis this weekend for a debate tournament. He wants to get together on Saturday night for dinner with us."

And that was when Ben finally lost it. "Is there something going on with you and Chip? You text him all the time. Now you're going to going out with him on Saturday. What the deal Harper?

"Are you serious? Are you actually asking if I'm going to cheat on you with Chip?" I asked him.

"You seem very interested in the guy." Ben said.

"He's a friend. I am allowed to have friends." I said.

"Are you sure that's all he wants to be?" Ben demanded.

"Of course," I told him.

"He's paying a lot of attention to you for a guy who just wants to be your friend," Ben stated

"You were that nice to me when we were just friends," I said.

"I never wanted to be just your friend," Ben exclaimed.

That was interesting information, but I was too mad to pay it much attention. "So just because you never wanted to be my friend he can't want to?" I demanded. "Do you really think the only thing a guy can want from me is to be with me? Do you not want me to have any guy friends? Or is it that you just don't trust me?"

"I don't trust him" he said with a hard edge to his voice.

I was pissed. "Should I stay away from Miles, Logan and Jonathan than too?" I asked. "Or are they okay? Do you get veto power over the guys I'm friends with? Am I only allowed to hang out with the ones you approve?" I demanded.

"I don't think Chip wants to be your friend but hey, go hang out with the guy. Do whatever you want."

"Fine, I will," I told him and texted Chip back. Ben and I sat in an angry silence for another fifteen minutes until I had to leave. He had no right to try to control who I could be friends with or what I did. He all but accused me of thinking of cheating on him. What was his problem?

. . .

I continued to be mad at Ben and I was pretty sure he was mad at me. I avoided him at school the next day and said as little as possible to him in class. I told him I could not do anything with him after school and went home.

I met up with Chip on Saturday night for dinner. I drove over to the hotel where his team was staying. I walked into the lobby and saw Chip standing across the room looking at his phone. I had texted him from my car when I had parked.

I walked up to him. "Hey," I said. Normally, I would have given a friend like Chip a hug but Ben's words about him echoed in my head so I didn't. I hated that Ben was making me act differently than I usually would. Get out of my head Ben Ryan, I thought.

"Has your tournament been going okay?" I asked

"Great. We made it to semifinals," he said.

"That's great. I know place that has really pizza near here. It's only a couple of blocks. We can walk if you want?"

"Sound's good," Chip answered.

We walked to the restaurant. As we ate we caught each other up on our lives. Texting and the occasional phone call did not really tell you everything. I told Chip about my most recent paintings, how my classes were going, pretty much everything in my life except about Ben. I really did not feel like talking about Ben right now.