Saving Ben Read Online Free Page A

ice cream on Friday nights when all the other girls were learning to dance at cotillion or attending sleepovers.
    When the music began to play and Emma and I turned toward the band room, Ben grabbed me by the arm. “You’ve done something different to yourself. You look good.” He bent down and whispered in my ear, “Please be careful and remember—don’t ever drink anything out of a trash can or take a drink from someone you don’t know. The guys around here like to take advantage of girls who drink too much.”
    “Getting drunk is not my style, Ben. You know that.”
    “Hey. I watch out for you. It’s what I do. I can’t just turn that off.”
    I followed Emma as she made her way to the front of the stage where everyone was dancing as one. We joined in, losing ourselves in the music as our bodies moved to the beat. Emma’s fair hair and radiant skin glistened under the strobe light. She was the prettiest girl on the floor, and every boy who tapped her on the shoulder for a dance recognized that. She made it clear to all of them that she was with me. Not in a lesbian kind of way but in a leave-me-alone-I’m-partying-with-my-girlfriend kind of way. That hour and a half was a point in time I wouldn’t soon forget. My first taste of real freedom.
    When the music stopped and the lights came on, Emma and I joined the long line of girls waiting for their turn in the restroom. We stood quietly, listening to others around us, the older girls who were commenting on the younger girls who were speaking openly of things they should’ve kept a secret.
    By the time I turned my stall over to Emma, the restroom was empty except for one other girl. I snuck a quick glimpse of her reflection in the mirror while I was washing my hands in the sink next to her. I might have considered her unattractive—with hazel eyes, thin lips, and high forehead—if not for her golden hair. It wasn’t bleached white-blonde but the color of ginkgo leaves in the autumn.
    Our eyes met and she smiled. “You’re Ben Langley’s little sister aren’t you?”
    I nodded, surprised. “How’d you know?”
    “Your eyes. You have the same deep, soulful eyes.”
    I felt my face blush and I turned away from her, grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser.
    “I’ve been keeping a file on you, you know?” When she saw my concerned expression, she added, “Relax. I have a file on a lot of incoming freshmen. I’m Honey Mabry.” She held out her hand to me. “I’m the president of the Chi Delta sorority. Our mothers were pledge sisters.”
    “It‘s nice to meet you.” I forced myself to smile. “I’m Katherine Langley, but then you already know that, don’t you?”
    She covered her mouth and laughed, a tee-hee that sounded more like a sneeze.
    Emma came out of the stall and inserted herself between Honey and me. “I’m Emma, Katherine’s roommate. Do they call you Honey because of your hair?”
    Honey gave Emma a quick head-to-toe inspection before returning her attention to me. “Are you all settled into your room in the dorm?” she asked me.
    I’ve known girls like Honey all my life, girls from wealth and privilege who can spot an outsider from a hundred miles away. They have built-in radar that can alert them to impostors, and girls like Emma show up the brightest. Girls who try too hard. Girls who don’t stand a chance in their world.
    “Yep. Seems like we’ve lived there for years.” I leaned up against the counter with my back to the sink. “I’m curious too. About your name.”
    “It’s a boring story, really,” Honey said, sighing. “But if you must know. When my brother was little, he couldn’t pronounce my name, Elizabeth, so he adopted my mother’s nickname for me. Honey. It just kind of stuck.”
    Disappointed, Emma reached over and stroked a lock of Honey’s hair in an overly familiar way. “Well your hair is very pretty. Exactly the color of honey.”
    Honey tucked all her hair over to one side and turned her