• Ben walked out of the kitchen (what was left of one) and back into the room where Leiah was. Doc sighed and whispered to himself, “God, don't let that boy make a fool of himself.”

    Chapter Three: Secret love

    Leiah saw Ben walk back in and asked, “What was that all about?”
    Ben lowered his head. “Nothing.” Then Doc walked in and looked at Leiah's leg. He rubbed some anaesthetic on the wound, then he grabbed a set of needle-nosed pliers. With great care, Doc plucked the rock out of Leiah. She squealed, obviously it hurt a lot. Ben still hung his head, he couldn't bear to meet her eyes. The thought of Leiah falling in love with someone else was agony to him. But he had no clue what to say, and he couldn't think of any other way to tell her. He was really stuck in a horrible situation.
    Doc inspected the wound, which had started bleeding. “Well, it seems that the rock chipped the bone in your leg. I wouldn't recommend walking for at least two weeks, and we might also need some crutches.”
    Leiah gasped. “No!! How will I get home now? Can you drive me? Its too long to walk with crutches.”
    Doc stopped her. “I can't afford an apartment, much less a car. You should stay here for the time being. I'd prefer that your parents stay out of this, for healing reasons. I meet them once, and I don't think they would understand the severity of your injury. So just stay here for now, okay?”
    Leiah sighed, “Alright. But only until the bone is healed.” Doc bandaged the wound, and whispered in Ben's ear, “You owe me one for this.” Ben lit up, and smiled. He waved as Doc walked out of the shack. After he left, Ben stammered, “Leiah, I have something to tell you.”
    Leiah turned to him. “What?”
    Ben cleared his throat. Just tell her, damn it!! He thought. But the knot in his throat protested. Sweat was pouring down his face and neck. But the words never came. He sighed and murmured, “Never mind.”
    Leiah eyed his suspiciously, then replied, “You should get some rest. You look sick.”
    Ben answered, “Na, there's nothing wrong with me. I just can't stand this hoodie.” He took it off, and then realized the shirt he had on was just an undershirt. Leiah laughed for a long time. Ben growled, “What's so funny?”
    Leiah gasped, “You should be showing the girl you like this, not me!! Hahaha!! You look funny to me for some reason!” While she pretended to keep laughing, she drank the image in. His muscular arms were fully exposed, showing just how strong he really was. He probably has a six-pack hidden under there, Leiah thought. Hard to believe I get to live with him for two weeks!! Maybe I should extend my stay! She smiled and finally pretended to contain her fake laughter. Ben looked somewhat forlorn, and put his hoodie back on.
    Leiah sat alone on the bench still, as Ben was shopping for a blanket and some food. She wondered out loud, “Who does Ben like? I mean, the only girls that I know with blond hair are total brats, they wouldn't even look twice at Ben. I know he isn't the worst guy out there, but he is kinda plain looking. Muscular, but plain looking. Those preppy girls could get anyone they wanted, why would they like him? I feel sorry for him, I don't think any of the girls at school would like him.”
    She kept thinking, when randomly she asked herself, “What if he likes me?” But before she thought he couldn't possibly like her!! A knot formed in her stomach, and she felt uneasy. “Well, its not like I like him anyway. I mean, why on earth would he like me? There are so many slutty girls at school that he could like, why would he like me??” She hopped to the window, and examined her face. There were several zits, and her glasses almost hid her dark brown eyes. Full lips sat beneath a rather shiny nose. Her dark blond hair was naturally almost pin straight, but got tangled easily. Her clothes consisted of a slightly baggy t-shirt, and jeans that were almost too tight. She looked at her legs, and imagined what the other girls at school looked like. Hers seemed to be impossibly larger than theirs, and she found tears on her cheeks.
    Anger rose in her. “Why am I crying?! Its not like I care if he dates a b***h! What he does in his spare time is his business! Gosh, what the hell is happening to me?!” She hopped back to the bench, and held her head in her hands. She whispered, “Maybe I really do care. Maybe I want to be that girl next to him. But he probably doesn't like me anyway, so it really doesn't matter.”
    With that, Ben walked in, carrying a huge blanket and some grocery bags. He smiled, “I wasn't sure what material to get, so I just got a fleece one. That okay?” He looked at her and asked, “You okay? You look like you were crying.”
    Leiah looked at him, and smiled. “Its fine.” For some odd reason she felt at that moment, she discovered that she loved him. She stood on her good leg and asked, “You need some help with that?”
    Ben shook his head. “You just rest,” He replied warmly. “If that leg is going to heal, then you need to rest.” He dropped the blanket next to her, and walked upstairs to get the cooler. Leiah smiled to herself, and whispered, “I love you.” Her smiled faded, when she thought he might discover her secret. So, she made a promise with herself saying, “No matter how much anyone asks, I love no one. I will never tell a soul of my love.”
    Ben walked back downstairs, and asked, “You hungry?”
    Leiah was about to answer, when she thought of how skinny all the other girls were compared to her. “No, I'm good.” She replied. My love is secret, she thought. But that doesn't mean that I won't try to win him over!
    Later that evening, Ben started to set up the massive blanket that he bought for Leiah. He picked it because it was thick and soft, so she wouldn't need a mattress. All he needed now was a pillow. He ran upstairs and got his pillow and placed it in front of the blanket. He marvelled at his work, and announced, “Your bed awaits, milady!”
    Leiah laughed, but then frowned. “What will you use as a pillow?”
    Ben replied, “Oh, I don't need one. Its fine, you enjoy that one. Now please excuse me, I need to feed Sakura.” He raced up the stairs, and disappeared into the room. Leiah waited until she was sure he wasn't going to poke his head out, then she held her head in her hands. “I'm such an idiot. The first guy that will talk to me, I fall in love will. And just all of a sudden, like two hours ago I had no feelings for him.” But as she thought more, she began to realize it wasn't so sudden after all. All those times she laughed with him, half the times she hadn't heard what he said. Whenever they walked home together, she always urged him to stay at her house for a while longer before going in. This was one of the first times she tried to make sense of her emotions before, so she had no idea what the heck was going on.
    Ben walked back downstairs, holding Sakura in his right arm. She was sucking on the bottle for all it was worth. Leiah smiled and wished her life was that simple. Ben gazed at Sakura, and whispered, “Don't you wish that all life could be as beautiful as this?”
    Leiah smirked and looked away. “You have no idea.” She added quietly. Ben eyed her, then turned his gaze back to Sakura. She was so tired from drinking that she dozed off in Ben's arms. Ben grinned, then gently handed her to Leiah. “I have to make some dinner, so can you hold her for now?”
    Leiah answered, “Sure. What's for dinner anyway?”
    Ben frowned. “I thought you weren't hungry.”
    Leiah had forgotten she'd said that. She cursed herself mentally then replied, “Well, I probably should eat something. Its had to run on empty anyway.”
    Ben smiled and ran up the stairs. He called down, “Well, we have some tuna and bread, so we could have tuna sandwiches. Then there's some canned Beefaroni, and some eggs and pickles. So what do you want?”
    Leiah was puzzled, so she asked, “How would you cook the eggs?”
    Ben shouted back, “Well, there's a pile of twigs in the closet in the kitchen, and a fire pit in the kitchen. There's some dishes in the cabinet hidden in the floor.” He walked down the stairs, holding the cooler. He sat next to her, and continued, “I had to hide the dishes because if I didn't, the drunks would come in here and steal them. So, you still haven't told me what you want.” He opened the cooler, and Leiah looked at the contents.
    There was a half-eaten loaf of bread, and a miniature carton of eggs. A small jar of pickles was stuffed in the far corner, and three slightly bruised apples sitting on top of all the canned goods. Leiah couldn't believe this kid lived on so little food choices. She picked out the eggs, a can of tuna, and the bread. Ben looked quizzically at the food, and Leiah explained, “Well, we can have tuna-egg salad sandwiches!”
    Ben chuckled, “Leave it to you to think of something fancy. Alright, I'll go get the fire started. Why don't you hang out in your bed? Its probably more comfortable than the bench.”
    Leiah replied, “Well, getting in could get complicated. Besides, trying to sleep in jeans this tight would be impossible. And I don't have a change of clothes.”
    Ben shook his head. “You don't have to wear your jeans to bed. Just take them off.”
    Leiah was shocked. But she remembered that she hadn't shaved her legs in a while, so she really didn't want to. But the jeans were uncomfortable, especially since her leg was swelling from the wound.