Page 20 of Beauty and the Nerd
“There’s no way they’re dating. She’s way too gorgeous to be with our brother,” Daphne said, and Emma shook her head with a half-smile.
“Looks aren’t everything, sometimes they’re the last thing you should be looking for,” she stated, as Ben gently took her hurt hand into his.
“Wait, so you twoaredating?” Daphne asked as their mom came into the room with a dish.
“Yes Daphne, we’re dating,” Ben stated, meeting his mother’s gaze as her mouth pursed in irritation over the news.
“Ben, can you help me with the last couple dishes?” she questioned, and he pressed a soft kiss to Emma’s temple before heading into the kitchen with her. “What on earth are you thinking?” she demanded the instant they were through the door. “That girl…”
“Her name is Emma, Mom, notthatgirl,” Ben said trying to stop her before she got going. Her displeasure with the situation was quite evident.
“I don’t need to know her name because that sort of girl is only after one thing Ben. She’s the one you’ve been helping all semester, isn’t she? And now she’s probably just stringing you along in order for it to continue, for you to do her work so she can go goof off with the boys on the basketball team.”
He lowered his voice hoping that she would as well as he told her, “Mom, stop it.”
“That sort of girl will only string you along to hurt you or humiliate you later Benjamin. I will not let that happen. You tell her to get out of my house and stay away from you. You do not need that type of girl in your life. I will not have you sleeping with her just so she can fool you into doing whatever homework she wants you to do for her.”
“Stop it!” Ben sighed, holding in a groan, hating that this was the first thing she thought when he introduced someone as incredible as Emma to them. “You knownothingabout Emma so stop it.”
“No, that sort of girl…”
“For god’s sake Mom,stop it! Look, I don’t know what the pretty, popular girls at your school were like, probably a lot like most of the others at mine, but that’snotEmma. Yes, she is gorgeous and popular. She won Homecoming Queen, but there’s so much more to Emma than just her looks. Give her a chance,”Ben said not budging as his mom planted her hands on her hips. “Give her a chance because I love her and I’mnotgoing to lose her by allowing anyone, but especially notyou, to treat her like shit, Mom.”
“That girl is playing you Ben; you’ve spent more time helping her this last semester than on your own schoolwork. It’s a wonder you kept your grades up with her keeping you out to all hours of the night. I don’t care what you think you feel. It’s just sexual attraction and it stops now.”
“You want to know who Emma is?” he demanded, as she grabbed the last dish to take to the table, following her out finding Emma’s seat empty.
“I think she went to the bathroom; it looked like she was about to cry,” Daphne said as he sent a glare at his mother.
“ThanksMom. I meanreally, thank you for being so freaking judgmental towards the most incredible girl I’ve ever known, who was already nervous about meeting you, themomentyou laid eyes on her. God, I told you last night that she was special to me and to be nice, give her a chance, andthisis what you do? Then you wonder why I never bring people over to the house,” he fumed, glaring at her because it wasn’t the first time she’d been judgmental towards someone, but at least then it was just one of his friends, not someone that he loved with his whole being.
“Oh, and FYI,Emma’sthe girl I told you about in my texts while I was at NYU this summer. She’s been on at least the B Honor Roll all during high school and the only reason she even went to the tutor center was so we could spend time together without everyone acting like you just did. And the reason my grades didn’t slip is because we would do our homeworktogetherinhalfthe time it would have taken me on my own. Emma aced every single one of her classes this past semester with little actual help from me beyond setting up times for usto get together and study instead of her trying to cram it in whenever she had two seconds to spare around all of her other obligations. The rest of the time we spent together was simply for us to be together.
“So, thanks for telling me who Emma supposedly is, and thanks for having such confidence in my ability to know if a girl’sactuallyinto me or not. Andreally…thanks for taking one look at her and jumping to the totally wrong conclusion because also FYI, we’renotsleeping together. Emma’s still a virgin and I absolutely love the fact that she has never let a guy push her or talk her into letting go of something she feels is meant to be special, shared with the right person and not just anyone or everyone. Andhell, while I’m on a roll, regarding a subject that really isnoneof your damn business, whether you’re my mother or not, I’mnota fucking virgin so stop thinking you know everything because youdon’t,” he added, before storming from the room as her jaw dropped along with his siblings at his last bit of information.
He saw the shut bathroom door and knocked lightly on it calling out her name. She didn’t respond, and he tried the knob, finding it unlocked. It slid open a hair, and he peeked around it, spotting her at the sink, leaning against it with her weight braced on her arms.
A little push opened it further and he moved to her, noting the track of tears that’d slid down her cheeks, marring even the soft makeup she wore, telling him they’d fallen hard and fast. The fact that his mother, his own mother, made her cry, upset her like this made every potentially harsh word he’d uttered to the woman suddenly seem not harsh enough. He pulled her around into his chest and cupped the back of her head as she tried to stop the new set from falling.
“Shh, I’m so sorry Em.” He hushed her softly, unable to believe his mother would purposely speak so loudly to ensureEmma overheard the awful, untrue things she said. Even when he’d brought over some friends she didn’t like when he was younger, she’d always waited until after they left to let her displeasure be known. She’d never said it where they could overhear or even treated them unkindly to their faces. Well, not with her words at least, her disapproving looks said a lot but never had the actual words come out while someone else was here. “You didn’t deserve any of that and if I’d known…I never would have brought you here if I’d thought my mom would be so rude to you, baby.”
“She was just trying to protect you the same way my dad does with me,” she said, and he shook his head amazed that she’d be that nice about it.
“You don’t have to defend her Em. I can’t begin to defend her, so you certainly shouldn’t.” He was not about to let her think it was right. Hell, even if a girl had played him, he still wouldn’t let his mother act like that. He wasn’t that much of a loser that he needed his mama to protect him. Her dad’s protectiveness was entirely different from the shit his mom just pulled. It came from a place of concern, while his mother’s didn’t really make a lot of sense other than that she wasn’t in control of the situation. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here. I’m not going to let her upset you further.”
“I’m okay now.” She lifted her face to his with a soft smile as he wiped away the traces of her tears. “I’ve had other moms say that at least I was pretty, even if not smart at dinners before, I guess I just wasn’t expecting to hear that first thing.”
“You shouldn’t have heard it period because my mom never should have said it. She really shouldn’t have said you were just sleeping with me so I’d do your homework because at least then I wouldn’t have told her you were still a virgin,” he countered putting a new smile on her lips and a blush into her cheeks.
“Please tell me you didn’t Ben.” She let out a soft groan at his nod. “Now I really can’t show my face in there again.”
“Why? Because you think she’ll be thinking that you’re just stringing me along with the hope that I’ll get the chance to rid you of yours, so I won’t leave school one?” She shrugged lightly, making him laugh. “Don’t worry, I told her I wasn’t one already, so she could stop thinking she knew what was going on when she doesn’t.”
She gasped, her jaw dropping slightly in surprise. “You told her? Ben!”
“Now she can think like your dad is that I’m trying to talk you into sleeping with me,” he added, kissing her neck making her laugh. “That’s better, I hate it when you’re upset.” He cupped the back of her neck gently before kissing her. “I love you happy, baby.”
“Me too.” She sighed, her eyes shutting as he kissed her forehead. Comfort washed through her with the soft gesture giving her the strength to pull back and look at herself in the mirror. A soft groan slipped from her lips seeing her eyeliner smeared from trying to stop the tears along with the tracks of it down her cheeks.
