Saving Ben Read Online Free PDF Page A

campus.
    After a few too many Tahiti martinis at the FIJI house one night, we were stumbling across the green on our way back to our room when, out of the blue, Emma blurted, “I’m gonna marry someone rich one day. I mean . . . the kind of rich that’ll buy me all the servants I want, maids in black uniforms bringing me champagne and strawberries in bed every morning. I want the cars and the clothes. And I want the plastic surgeon to keep me looking young, when I’m ready for one of course.”
    Two weeks with Emma and I’d grown accustomed to listening to her ramble. “Give me a break, Emma,” I said, hiccupping. “I’m pretty sure you are never ever going to need a plastic surgeon. You’re so beautiful, you can have any husband you want.” I laughed at the irony in my statement. “I mean . . . any man you want. Don’t take someone else’s husband, for God’s sake.”
    Her heel got stuck in the dirt and she grabbed a hold of me to keep from falling. “Ow! Shit! That hurts.”
    “Take off your shoes, silly, before you break your ankle.”
    “Fine.” She held on to my shoulder while she slipped off her pumps. “I’m tired. Let’s rest a minute?” She relaxed all of her muscles at once and dropped to the ground like a rag doll. “Come on. Sit,” she said, pulling me down beside her.
    “Ahh, feels sooo good to lie down.” I stretched out on the grass beside her, but when the earth started to spin, I sat back up. “Uh-oh. Bad idea. How many of those Mahiti Tartinis did we have anyway?”
    Emma burst into laughter. “That’s a good one. Mahiti Tartinis.”
    “You know what I mean.” I swatted at her arm but missed. “Whatever you call them things. They were strong.” I brought my knees up to my chest and propped my elbows on top.
    I was surprised when she pulled a cigarette from her bag. “Since when do you smoke?”
    “When I drink sometimes.” She offered the pack to me. “Want one?”
    “Sure.” I took a cigarette and held it between my teeth while she lit it with her little pink lighter. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the taste and the buzz. “Wow. It’s been a long time since I had a cigarette.”
    “What about you, Katherine?” she asked, stuffing the pack of Marlboro Lights back into her bag. “What kind of guy do you want to marry?”
    “Hmm . . . let’s see . . .” I stared up at the dark sky. “The kind who gets up at night to feed our baby a bottle, even though he has to go to work the next day.”
    “No, dummy. I’m not talking about the kind of father you want for your children. I’m talking about the kind of man you want as your husband.”
    I took another drag from the cigarette and then flicked it down the sidewalk, watching the sparks fly as the cherry burst apart. “I want to marry a man , not a boy, someone who’s older than me. Someone who is world-wise and street-smart, but honest and kind, too.”
    “Oh, how sweet,” she said, sarcastically. “But come on, don’t you want him to be successful? A doctor or a lawyer, someone who makes a ton of money?”
    I shrugged. “Money doesn’t matter that much to me.”
    “Ha! That’s because you already have plenty of it.”
    “Don’t get me wrong. Having money definitely comes in handy at times, when you need it, like when your car breaks down or—”
    “Or when your computer crashes on the day before you leave for college and your parents can’t afford to get it fixed or buy you a new one,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip.
    I sobered a little as another piece of the puzzle that made up my roommate fell into place. “Why didn’t you say something?” I leaned into her a little. “It’s not the same as having your own, but we can work out a schedule for you to use mine.”
    “That’d be great. Thanks,” she said, exhaling a thin stream of smoke. “My family is not rich like yours. You already know my father is a professor, but my mother is . . . well . . .”
    I could see the tears glistening in