It was Saturday afternoon, and there was nothing to do. At least, I didn't know of anything to do in this tiny mountain town. There had to be someplace fun to hang out, though.
"Come on, Benji, let's go explore. Where shall we go?"
"Hmm, I heard there's a dance club downtown. Shall we check it out?"
It didn't really compare to the places in LA, but it was still fun. Lars' Discotech, it was called. They even had a decent juice bar.
There was a small stage, but no band was playing. No one seemed to mind when we decided to play around with some of the instruments. Of course we sounded horrible, but we had a great time pretending to be the hottest new band. Before we knew it, it was five o'clock and time to head home for dinner.
We had just pulled into the driveway when we heard my mom's panicked scream coming from the back yard.
I burst through the back gate just in time to see my dad begging the grim reaper not to take him. Mom and Rain were bawling their eyes out, while Rain's friend from work looked on in horror.
None of us could stop crying for days afterward. Rain kept collapsing into the arms of her friend, and at first we thought her friend was simply giving her a sympathetic shoulder to cry on.
It wasn't long though, before the relationship turned into something decidedly more than simple comfort.
One thing led to another, and my sister finally got her wish. Yup. My geeky sister and her equally geeky friend, in the hot tub. I never thought she'd really do it.
We were still in mourning when the day of Marina's graduation arrived. We tried to put on a happy face for her...
...but ended up crying our eyes out anyway, when we remembered how proud daddy would have been, if he was still with us.
Marina moved out on her own the next day. Rain and I couldn't believe she really wanted to go, but she said need her own space, in order to pursue her new career as a private investigator.
"Ack! Who's there?" I was startled, to say the least, to see the mop moving on its own across the kitchen floor. I heard an amused snort behind me.
"I asked Seashell to clean up," my little brother snickered. "If it bothers you so much, you could tell me where to find a rainbow gem, you know."
"I already told you, I don't know where to find one here. I found mine in LA."
Peri was nothing if not persistent, and managed to get his potion without any help from me.
I remembered how happy I was, when I made Benji real. I hoped Peri would be just as happy with Seashell.
Benji and I were growing closer every day. We no longer kept our flirting only to the short time after school.
He was so adorable, sometimes my heart would start to ache just looking at him. This morning was one of those times. I decided I was going to tell him just how I felt.
"I like you a lot, Benji. I mean ...really like you. If you know what I mean."
Great job, Mali, I groaned to myself. Very smooth. Yeah right.
"I really like you too, Mali."
"You do?" I giggled, and felt my face stretch into a goofy grin.
Then he pulled me into a long drawn out hug. I didn't want to let go, but it was time to head to school. And that was all. Again.
I couldn't get my mind off him all day at school, and by the time we got home, I had made up my mind. I was going to do something, that if I was honest with myself, I'd been wanting for a long time.
'I guess we should start on our homework, but I need a snack first. You want something, too, Mali?" Benji called as he started toward the kitchen. I followed behind, my heart pounding because of what I was about to do.
"Yes, I do want something," I replied, coming up behind him and taking hold of his hand. He turned around, and suddenly his face was just inches away from mine. I leaned in a little bit more, and then it happened - our very first kiss. His lips were soft and warm against mine, and I wanted it to last forever, but it was over way too soon. I didn't know what to do next. We just stood there looking at each other for a few minutes.
"I guess we should start on our homework," I finally mumbled.
I had hoped that our first kiss would take our relationship to a new level, but the day of our birthdays arrived and we were still stuck in the same old rut - a few flirts here and there, but nothing more. I wanted to do something different for once, so I suggested we go to Lars' Disco again, just the two of us.
"Happy Birthday, Mali!" Benji's exuberant cheering could be heard even over the pulsing music. His excitement attracted the attention of some of the other patrons, and before long, everyone was cheering and singing Happy Birthday.
Then it was Benji's turn, and I made sure to sing just as loudly for him as he had for me.
"Happy Birthday, Ben!"
Later, as we sat at the bar, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He seemed oblivious, though. I sighed inwardly. Would we ever be more than just best friends?
Notes
What's up with all my spare girls being gay? First Cloudy, and now Rain. I forgot the name of Rain's friend, and didn't feel like loading the game again to get it. Rain never rolled any more wishes about her after the hot tub anyway.
I had to move Marina out because she rolled a wish to be a PI, and that's way too time intensive for someone who's not the heir.
Malibu rolled one wish to kiss Ben for the first time, and after that - nothing. So frustrating.
