After dinner and the obligatory trip to the club an impromptu party assembled back at the house. The doors were open and people milled back and forth from the house and out by the pool.
People were everywhere, some in their nightclub attire some dressed in bikinis and beachwear. There were, obviously, more women than men.
Ben sat next to her, �Sorry we didn�t find more guys for you.�
�No you�re not. You didn�t even try. But that�s ok. I can do for myself.�
The women were all beautiful and fit. Black, white, Asian and everything in between was represented. She noticed Sean, Jack and Derek all had women captivated with their excellent conversational skills. Yeah, she was sure that�s what it was.
�Everyone else has a girl. What are you over here wasting time for? I�m not giving you any. No need to waste your time on me.�
�So cynical. Why can�t I just want to talk to my friend with no ulterior motive?�
She looked at him guiltily.
�Its Thursday night and we haven�t spent that much time together. Let�s you and me get up and spend the day together.�
He looked out at all the beautiful people. To Maleeyah, it looked like it could be a commercial for some expensive alcohol or a Tommy Hilfiger ad.
�Derek�, he pointed towards Derek�s direction with his beer, �He was talking about the good time he had with you today. And I thought back to the times we�ve had like that back home.�
She smiled and placed her hand on top of hers, she didn�t know what surprised her more; that Derek really did enjoy his time with her or that Ben missed being with her.
�You and me tomorrow, all day.�
Being out with Derek all day in the sun had taken its toll and if she were going to have a repeat performance in a few hours she needed to crash.
�Hey, I�m going to head to bed. I�m exhausted and I want to be well rested for our day tomorrow.�
He stood up and pulled her into a hug, �Goodnight.�
�Night Ben.�
She took one more look before going into the house. Now that she thought about it, it was more like something from the Jay-Z video collection.
**
She wore a pink tank top and a khaki colored miniskirt.
�You look nice. But then again, you always do.�
�Thank you.� She couldn�t explain it, fashion for whatever reason was important to her. Not as important as family, school and world hunger but when it came to all the superficial things, it was on the top of her list.
�Do we have anything planned or are we flying by the seat of our pants?�
She already knew the answer. Outside of the classroom, Ben wasn�t into being very responsible and planned.
�I say we wing it. We can think of stuff to do over breakfast. I�m starving.�
She smiled as they walked out the door. �I�m starving� had to be his favorite words.
**
They were sitting on the Coral See it was a semi-submarine boat. They were viewing the sights of the underwater world down in the air-conditioned cabin of the boat. The narrator educated them on the fascinating wildlife. The beautifully colored fish swam around like children playing with each other. They were of the brightest blues, purples, yellows and reds she had ever seen.
�Its so beautiful she whispered to no one in particular.�
�Yeah, it is.� Ben answered her.
She nudged him, �I�m glad you picked this out. If I missed doing this it would have been a shame.�
He held his hand out, �Give me your camera.�
She had forgotten she had her camera with her. She was so caught up in the view she didn�t think to take pictures to remind her of the experience.
�So what are we doing after this?�
�I was thinking maybe we could go back to the cliffs and you could jump off this time.�
�Like hell. I�m not jumping off a thirty foot cliff.�
�They have guys that will jump with you.�
�Absolutely not Ben. And I still can�t believe you did that. I should tell your mother.�
He laughed at her. One, she had never met his parents and two he was 22 years old.
�I was thinking of going to see some of the local psychedelic places.�
�Psychedelic places?�
�One of the locals told me about Ma Brown�s. It a place that has the mushrooms and pot.�
She and Ben did have that in common. They both liked a little marijuana every now and then. She was turned on to it in high school and even though she wasn�t addicted she never really stopped doing it for a prolonged period of time. She and Ben would do it at her house, but it was usually late at night and always outside in the backyard. She didn�t want her house smelling like that.
�Cool.�
**
Maleeyah followed behind Ben into the house and they were both greeted by silence. It seemed that the guys had left.
�Lets head out to the pool.�
She nodded, �I�ll meet you out there.� Ben was already in his swim trunks all he had to do was remove his shirt and sandals.
�Well, don�t you look hot?� Ben smiled as he watched her. It was one of her newest bikinis. It was a gold two-piece. The bottoms were low rise hot shorts with a faux belt.
�Thank you.� She lay next the pool in a lounge chair watching Ben do laps.
She heard something and looked up to see Jack followed by Derek holding hands with and leading a beautiful thin beauty. She was going to give him a hard time about picking up women in broad daylight.
�Where have you guys been?�
�Took Derek to go pick up his friend from the airport.�
The airport?
Derek led her over, �Maleeyah, this is Vanessa. Vanessa, this is Ben�s friend Maleeyah. And swimming laps over there is Jack�s brother Ben.�
Maleeyah smiled and waved, �Nice to meet you.� If she was dumb enough to believe for one moment Vanessa was simply Derek�s friend she would have known better when Derek introduced her. She wasn�t Maleeyah; he needed to clarify for her that she was Ben�s friend Maleeyah.
�Hello.� Maleeyah really couldn�t see too much of her face behind the huge Jackie O glasses but she could see more than enough of her size 0 body in her little miniskirt and top to know that she was closer to a ten than a zero.
026 | No Ordinary Girl