Saving Ben

Saving Ben Read Online Free PDF

Book: Saving Ben Read Online Free PDF
Author: Ashley H. Farley
Emma’s eyes. “Well what?” I grabbed her elbow and squeezed it. “Come on, I’m your roommate. You can tell me anything.”
    “My mother is a cafeteria worker at a local nursing home.” Emma took the final drag off her cigarette and ground it out on the bottom of one of her pumps. “But no one knows about this, so can we please keep it between us?”
    “Of course, Emma, but earning an honest living is nothing to be ashamed about.”
    “It might be honest, but I’d hardly call it a living. Neither of them makes much money and collectively they can barely pay the bills. There’s no room for extras like shopping or visits to the salon. Hell, they can barely afford a texting plan for our cell phones. I’m on a full academic scholarship. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be here. So it’s easy for you to say money doesn’t mean that much to you when you’ve never been poor.”
    “I can’t argue with that,” I said, sucking in my breath as though she’d punched me in the gut. No doubt I was that girl, the one who would’ve run out to the Apple Store and bought a new computer the minute mine crashed.
    We were quiet for a minute, both of us lost in thought. “So what is important to you, Katherine?” She grabbed a hunk of my hair and yanked on it playfully. “If not the finer things in life?”
    “Helping people in crisis. That’s why I want to become a nurse.”
    “Why not a doctor?”
    “Because I can’t imagine spending the next decade of my life in school. The doctor may be the one who finds the cure, but the nurse is the one who can make or break the patient’s recovery. I want to work in the ICU, where the patients and their families are truly in need.”
    Emma stood and offered me a hand. “You know, Emma, you’re a really smart girl,” I said when I was on my feet, face-to-face with my roommate. “You don’t have to settle for some guy you don’t love just because he’s wealthy. If you choose the right career, you can make plenty of money on your own.”
    “Why would I want a career when I can have money without having to work?” She looped her arm through mine and dragged me toward our dorm. “And don’t worry. I plan to be plenty in love with the man I marry.”
    ***
    Emma and I were so tied up with our new freshman friends, two weeks passed before we saw Ben and Spotty again. It was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, the first UVA football game of the season. We were all leaving the stadium at the same time, in the middle of the third quarter, not only because our team was losing but because it was steaming hot in the stands.
    “How much have you had to drink today?” Ben asked me.
    “Nice to see you too,” I said, looking first at him and then at Spotty.
    “So we’re going to play it that way,” Ben said, crossing his arms. “Are you having a nice day, Kitty? Is it hot enough for you, Kitty? How much have you had to drink today, Kitty?”
    I swatted at him but missed. “Actually, I haven’t had anything to drink. It’s so hot the thought of it makes me sick. Why do you ask?”
    “Because we’re going on a road trip and you’re driving.” Ben hooked one arm through mine and one arm through Emma’s and began dragging us toward the gate.
    “Ooh, a road trip,” Emma said, skipping alongside Ben. “I’m in.”
    “But we don’t even know where he’s going,” I said to her, and then to Ben, “Exactly where are you going?”
    “To the river, of course.” He quickened his pace. “But we need to hurry if we want to beat the game traffic.”
    “Wait a minute, damnit.” I stopped walking and jerked my arm away from him. “I haven’t said I’d go yet. What about Mom and Dad? Are they down there?”
    “I just got off the phone with Dad. They’re going to a party tonight, but he said they’d see us in the morning.”
    “Where’s Reed? Is he going too?” I held up my hand. “Wait a minute. Let me guess. He’s at the beach.”
    Spotty nodded. “Surfing the
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