Marianne by Elizabeth Hammer (best books to read in life TXT) 📕

Marianne was totally shocked that Ben was speaking to her and even more confused by his words. She had a vague memory of having discussed books with him, but that was in another age—B. P.

Ben smiled and bit the side of his lip ring. The train started moving then, and he had to speak loudly over the speaker. “Not really. But I happened to see one at my cousin’s house the other day, and I thought of you. I think it was called, Say Cheese and Die!”

“That’s a pretty good title,” said Marianne, trying to push away her nervousness. “But I think I prefer The Horror of Camp Jellyjam.”

He nodded slightly, looking a bit nervous. “Um... do you really read Goosebumps?”

“No, Ben!”

He was silent for a moment, and then a particularly loud outburst from Georgia’s little group seemed to grab his attention. He leaned toward Marianne in the darkness of the tunnel. “Is it okay if I tell you that I was about to physically remove Georgia from the line, back when she was insulting you? You handled her very well, though, and saved me the trouble.”

Marianne hadn’t handled anything, at least not on purpose. What on earth was he talking about? She laughed a little and tried to subdue her instinctual fidgeting. “You wouldn’t have had to try very hard, anyway. I think a good poke on the forehead would have knocked her on her back.”

Ben laughed. “You’re right. I just hate when she talks to people like that, though.”

“It’s okay. She’s just drunk.”

“How do you know? Have you ever seen Georgia sober?”

That last line had been meant to get a laugh out of Marianne, but for some reason, she didn’t think it was very funny. Something about Ben sitting by her was giving her the willies. Strange. She’d never disliked him before. She smiled a little but didn’t say anything.

“So, is that all your own hair?”

“Um...” Marianne glanced at him and then back to the dinosaurs passing by in front of them. “Yeah. Except the little white pieces. Those are fake.”

“Wow. Your hair is really thick.”

Marianne had to exercise incredible control not to turn on him and shout, “What the hell are you talking about?” She didn’t know why, but his comments were really pissing her off. She settled for saying, “Thanks.”

Marianne turned in her seat and searched the group for Sally. There were a few inches of space on the bench up there, so Marianne decided to make a run for it. She looked apologetically at Ben. “Hey... I’m going to go check on Sally, okay?”

He looked surprised but sat up immediately to let her pass in front of him. The conductor didn’t like that Marianne was moving mid-ride, but didn’t say anything. Apparently, someone was watching from a camera though, because she got yelled at through the speaker.

Marianne relaxed as soon as she was free of Ben. Leaving him there alone had been incredibly rude, but she couldn’t regret it. He’d done nothing wrong, but, for some reason, she’d rather have sat next to a pedophile. It made no sense. Ben was being nice. And he’d been mildly heroic back when he’d ousted Victor. Marianne should have liked him more than ever after what he’d done for Sally. He was sweet. He was good looking. He was...

Oh. Those were exactly the reasons she wanted to get away from him. He’d been sweet. He’d been handsome. He’d been heroic. That bastard was trying to be Patrick. It was totally irrational, but Marianne felt so defensive that she got angry all over again.

In protecting Sally, Ben had affected Marianne, too. He’d touched Marianne’s heart by acting, and then again by involving her in his secret. And then again by joking with her. Who the hell did he think he was? He wasn’t allowed to make her heart race the way he had. Patrick had the corner on virtue and attractiveness, and she wanted to push Ben off the train for making her forget that.

And what was she even doing here? Patrick was coming home soon—he was probably driving at this minute—and she was parading around Disneyland in a skimpy dress, making secret bonds and inside jokes with other dudes. It was unfaithful. Marianne hadn’t even been carrying her cell phone; it was locked away in the pocket of Sally’s backpack. What if Patrick had tried to call her, and she hadn’t heard it? Marianne reached under the seat for the backpack and fished out the phone. Thankfully, there had been no calls. And it was earlier than she’d thought, only eight-fifteen. She was safe.

What would Patrick think about this night? What would he think of her? He’d think she had the maturity of an eighth-grader, that’s what he’d think. Seriously, what kind of person gets dressed up like a vampire call girl and goes to an amusement park? Marianne was so embarrassed that she could hardly breathe. That may have been partly due to the boning of the dress, but still. The cloud of shame hung around her like an old lady’s perfume. Marianne leaned over to Sally’s ear. “I want to go home now.”

Sally turned away from her conversation mid-sentence. “Okay, doll. This place is closing in a few minutes, anyway.”

“Thank you.”

Sally and Marianne had to walk for ten minutes just to get back to the lot where they’d parked. Marianne always parked at Downtown Disney, the open-air shopping center by the Park, because parking was free for three hours. They were just passing the gigantic sports bar near the exit when Sally decided she needed a cigarette. She pulled Marianne over to the side of the building and they sat down on the pavement.

Marianne had never liked this building. The walls were super tall and straight, with slightly raised images of sports figures popping out of the sides. And they had flat, moving heads. Creepy. The logo had a giant flame on top, and there were little flags sticking straight off the walls. Somehow,