My Best Friend's Ex

Happy Birthday to Me

I lived in an average split-level home on one of the busiest streets in my little town of Gibson. There was not a lot of parking available, so as we rounded the bend, my house came into view, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. More than twenty parked cars littered my tiny front yard and driveway. Libby drove her car as close to my front yard as she could get. With a sigh of relief, I realized I was not going to enter teenage oblivion. Hopping out of the car, I joined the crowd of students from my high school, who were spilling out on my front lawn. The party began before I made it inside my house.

Everyone stared at me completely confused, not sure what to do since the “surprise” was ruined.  Evidently, mom and Libby had not planned this out very well. Ignoring the stares, I searched the group for one face in particular. Just as I was beginning to think he hadn’t come, he stepped away from the crowd, advancing in my direction.

“Surprise!”

Following his lead, everyone else began mumbling and murmuring “Happy Birthday” and “Surprise.”

 I didn’t care anymore. All of the nervousness and terrible feelings went away the instant I saw him.  No one else mattered anymore because the one person I had wanted to see there, other than Libby, had come.

Just as Libby had been my best friend for as long as I could remember, I had been in love with Benjamin Flynn for what felt like an eternity. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, just like it did in the movies when everything goes to slow motion. I could look at Benjamin Flynn for the rest of my life and never get bored. Ben looked exquisitely handsome, as always. He stood tall in front of me at six foot two wearing his baseball uniform for his game later in the day, and his green eyes sparkled in the bright sun. He outstretched his arms, and I found myself staring at his tan, hardened muscles, imagining what it would be like to be alone with him. Then everything came to a halt, and I was thrown back into reality. Ben wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me off the ground. He spun around, with me in his arms, gently placing my feet back on the ground, but my head was still in the clouds.

“Were you surprised?”

You would have thought he had said that he had always loved me and couldn’t live without me, because I was so ecstatic that all I could manage was a simple “Yes.”

Come on, stupid, wake up. You are acting like a dog in heat.

I was sure my mouth was gaping open with a little bit of drool running down the corner.

Now, there have been lots of times when Ben and I had accidentally touched or bumped into each other—like the last week of Junior year during lunch when we both reached for the same apple and touched hands.  Or the many times we sat near each other at pep rallies or basketball games squeezing close together to make room for all of our friends.  Ben had, on multiple occasions, even draped his arm around my shoulders when walking down the hallway. Sure it may have been in a little sister kind of way, but it still counts.  Hell, there had even been a few times when he leaned in close to whisper something to me during class. We were friends, after all. But this was the first time Ben ever intentionally hugged me and pulled me close to his chest. I could still smell his cologne and feel the hardness of his powerful body under his jersey. All of my thoughts focused on Ben while one person after another stepped up to wish me, “Happy Birthday!” When the last party goer finally stepped away, I replayed the memory of what now clearly ranked as the most significant moment of my teenage life. With a smile forming on my lips, I turned to search for Ben, only to see my Ben talking to my Libby.

It is well known at Deerfield High that Benjamin Flynn has had a thing for Libby Keller since the ninth grade. However, Libby was into edgier guys. She liked guys with anguish and pain who expressed their inner feelings through art or music. My best friend was into the whole bad boy, depressed, don’t give a s**t about anything kind of vibe. So to put it bluntly, she was into assholes. Ben was the opposite of what Libby found attractive. He was a nice guy, amazing at sports, an honor student, loyal, didn’t sleep around, and respected girls. Ben grew up in a family of women.  He had two older sisters, and his dad left his mother when he was ten.  The women in his life meant everything to him, so Ben didn’t treat girls like a piece of s**t.  He wasn’t your typical guy.  However, I don’t want you thinking Ben was a pansy, because that definitely wasn’t how anyone at Deerfield High perceived him.  All of the girls loved him, all the guys wanted to be him, and all of the adults thought he was an upstanding citizen who could do no wrong. Libby could have any guy she wanted—why did she have to flirt with Ben? Now, to be fair, Libby didn’t know that I liked Ben. I shared almost all of my deepest thoughts and secrets with Libby, but I never told her how much I was into Ben because I knew he was too far out of my league. It would have seemed desperate and pitiful if I ever let on how much l liked him. When Libby asked me who I was interested in—I would always name guys who were in my ‘league’ that I might actually have a chance with. Not that I ever went on dates, but I still wanted to be realistic. I always selected guys who were closer to my rating. Girls rated as a five, which is the rating I assigned myself, did not go out with guys rated as a ten, the score I and every breathing female, and even some guys at Deerfield had assigned Ben. Libby always encouraged me to make conversation with the guys I would mention, because whether or not she wanted to admit it, she thought of me as a five out of ten, too, or maybe even lower. Libby would never acknowledge it, but I know she enjoyed having me around because standing next to me made her look even more like a Greek goddess.

My party was off to a great start. My “friends” showed up, keeping my worst fears from coming true. Somehow I had made a blip on the popular kids’ radar, and they didn’t see my party as a complete waste of time. Maybe I wasn’t as low on the social standings totem pole as I thought. About an hour into the party, some of the guys, and Ben came to tell me that they had to leave for their legion playoff game, but they were planning on coming back afterward. I was sorry to see them go but overjoyed to learn that they intended to come back. For the first time, I started to feel like a true member of this group and not just a visitor who they might, at any time, ask to leave. They not only came to my party, but they were coming back. So, that meant people were actually having fun at my party.

When Ben and the rest of the boys’ baseball team left for the game, the party was still in full swing. Some people were playing billiards or air hockey. Others were in the backyard playing badminton or horsing around in my small above-ground swimming pool. There were teenagers all over the place.  

Wow, maybe I’m not as big of a loser as I thought I was.

Familiar arms wrapped around me from behind.

“See, I told you everything would be perfect. You need to start trusting me.”

Spinning in Libby’s arm to face her, I knew better. She had a look of pure relief on her face. She appeared to be just as relieved as I had been to learn that people showed up.

Nice try Libby, but your face gave it away. You are surprised as f**k that people actually came to this thing. Well, guess what? You aren’t alone. I am just as surprised as you are.

Not much later, my mom brought out my birthday cake, and I dutifully blew out the candles. It was bittersweet because this was one of the most beautiful days of my teenage life, yet it was coming to an end.

Ben and a few of the other guys reappeared not long after the sun went down. All of them had changed out of their jerseys. Ben was wearing dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt that fit snuggly in all the right places. His toned body was even more visible now than it was in his uniform.  He took my breath away every time I saw him. I couldn’t imagine how one guy could be lucky enough to be perfect in so many ways. Ben came into the house and made a beeline for Libby. The two of them talked for a few minutes, and then Libby slowly made her way through the crowd toward me.

“Hey, since I have not parentals at my house, we are all going to my place for an afterparty.”

Libby’s parents often left her home alone and to her own devices. So, the after-party Libby announced was a regular occurrence. No matter what we were doing, the group inevitably wound up back at Libby’s “parent-free” home. Libby didn’t have to convince me to come to the after-party—after all, I was the ‘guest of honor,’ right? And Ben would be coming, too. I might even get another birthday, hug. I ran upstairs to tell my mom about the after-party, which she had no problem with for a variety of reasons. One being, she was ready to have all of the teenagers out of her house. Second, she wanted her yard back to being a yard and not a parking garage. Lastly, my mom didn’t have to worry about me doing anything stupid like getting pregnant, because that would involve a boy actually showing interest in me. Oh, and a side note: As far as she knew, Libby’s parents were never out of town.