He never ran this fast in his life. Sweat was pouring down his face and his breaths were fast and rapid. One more corner and he’d be there. The doors were closing. He sped up and reached for the handle, gasping for air. His teacher, Mr. Cooper opened the door.
“Ah, Tennyson. I thought you wouldn’t make it. Come on in.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world” Ben grinned and took a seat.
It was his final exam in high school. He couldn’t quite believe it himself either, one exam separated him from finishing high school with honours, something he never believed he could accomplish. This last month was hell for him. The countless hours spent studying on math, English, science, Spanish… It was eating at him, but he was determined to succeed. Alone. It’s not like he wanted to do it alone, but he really didn’t have a choice, seeing Gwen was too occupied helping Kevin with his own school problems. He did have a slight problem with that, but he was never going to say it to Gwen, because at the end of the day all that mattered was that she was happy. And to him it seemed like she was, and that sufficed. He shook his head from his oh so too often occuring Gwen thoughts and focussed on the psychology exam before him.
“Breathe, Ben. Just breathe…” he thought to himself.
He took a few deep breaths and his hand started its job. A full three hours later, he was finally done. The last person to leave left over half an hour ago, but the now 19 year old teenager took his time with this exam. Psychology has been his Achilles heel all year. He was never much of a talker and even though he tried, he was never really good at it, at least that’s how he saw it. He handed the paper in exactly at noon and left the school with a decent feeling in his gut. He had to pass this test. Not because he’d hate coming back to redo it, but because Gwen’s birthday was in a weeks time and he wanted to be completely relaxed on the day.
6 days later…
It was a lovely summer morning and Ben slowly started to awake in his warm, comfortable bed that he desperately didn’t want to leave. But he had to. Today he’d find out if he passed high school and that damn psychology exam. He took his undershirt off and slipped under the shower, turning on the cold water tap. When finished, he reached for a white T and his yellow Hawaian shorts that he loved so much. Sleepily desceding down the stairs into the kitchen he found a note that read…
“Ben,
I left some pancakes and strawberries for you on the fridge. If you’re not hungry, just drink the remaining OJ from the carton.
Love, mum”
He smiled and reached the fridge, reaching for the juice which he drank in one gulp. He checked his cell and saw it was time to leave to school. 20 minutes later he was there and he stopped to look at the big grey building that put him in despair so many times during his 4 year tenure there. He’d miss some of his friends, but on the bigger scale all he could think of was good riddance. Sighing before the front door, he entered and walked towards the classroom in the second floor of the building. Almost everyone was there, waiting for Professor Cooper to enter. Many were biting their fingernails in anticipation, and some girl actually rocked her head up and down because of the fear of failing. Ben just sat down and waited. The professor entered shortly after and announced the results. 5 people failed and murmurs and sighs were heard across the classroom. Then, the professor handed the tests out one by one, individually to each person. Ben was among the last to get his paper. He turned to the front page of the sheets and took a quick glance at the grade. He could hear voices in the background, people crying and moaning. He simply put his paper down on the table and left the classroom. Just as he was about to exit the front door, Gwen stepped in.
“Hey Ben, how’d it go?”
“I’d rather not talk about it, Gwen. I just want to be alone now, if that’s OK with you.”
Gwen put on a concerned and sad face and reached her hand towards his shoulder.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” he shrugged and left.
Gwen really did feel sorry for her cousin. She really hoped he’d pass this test, especially after he did so well in the previous ones. She felt guilty for not helping him, because he asked for her help but she denied saying Kevin had a math and science exam coming up and that he really needed her. Ben hung up then saying he understood. She thought a lot about the way she treated him lately, and she was disgusted with herself. He always paid attention to her when she needed his help or just wanted to hang out. Her boyfriend was no reason to neglect Ben and she’d promised herself she’d spend more time with him in the summer. Now that Ben’s summer was looking rather bleak, she hoped that at least Kevin passed so she could feel at least a bit better. The second she reached the third floor, she knew that wasn’t going to be the case. She heard loud voices, voices similar to Kevin’s. A minute later she found herself in the classroom, seeing Kevin angrily protest to Ms. Flame, the math teacher about the unfairness of the test and that she purposefully flunked him. Gwen sighed. She [i]hated[/i] this Kevin. He was intolerable and a jerk to everyone. Alas, she stepped up to him to try to talk.
“Kevin… what’s wrong?”
He turned around to see the auburn haired girl and his anger grew.
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong! This… bitch!… here gave me an F on purpose! She knew that if I passed this exam, I’d pass the year but nooooooooooooo! She hates me so much that she just HAS to flunk me!”
The vein on his forehead was really big now and Ms. Flame was getting worried about her safety.
“That is quite enough, Mr. Levin!” “I never did any of those things and you very well know it! Also, I will not tolerate being insulted by a student like yourself. You’re going to the Principal.”
Kevin just groaned in annoyance and started swearing to himself. Then he turned to Gwen again,
“This is all your fault. If you could actually tutor me properly, I wouldn’t have gotten myself in this mess” he grumbled.
Gwen couldn’t believe her ears. The selfish SOB. How dare he?
“Screw you, Kevin Levin. I’m done helping you and being your girlfriend. We’re done.”
She left the classroom, fuming down the hall. She was furious, she just wanted to kick some butt and vent her frustration. Gah, she hated that guy. Should’ve dumped him way earlier in the first place. She was about to leave, but saw the doors of Professor Coopers classroom open, so she decided to go ask for the result of her term paper she’s done weeks before but forgot to ask for the grade. She entered the room and saw the professor at the back, watering the plants.
“Professor Cooper?”
The older man, in his 50’s turned around. He smiled at Gwen,
“Ms Tennyson, how can I help you?”
“Um, could you tell me the result of my term paper on child behaviour from 2-6 years of age I did in May?”
“Ah yes, that. That was very well written, perfectly may I say.”
Gwen smiled and wanted to thank the professor and leave. But she turned around as she thought of Ben.
“Professor?” “May I ask by how much did Ben miss out on passing your class?”
Mr. Cooper looked at her strangely, with a slightly confused expression on his face.
“What do you mean, miss out on passing?”
“Well, he flunked this last exam, didn’t he?”
“Oh no, dear. He had the highest score in the class, 94%”.
Gwen opened her mouth in shock. Why didn’t he tell her?
Ben was grinning like a fool, walking down the street towards his house. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that result. 94%. He never wrote any exam over 80% in this whole year, so this came as a big shock to him. Positive, but still a shock. Thankfully, now he could fully focus on Gwen’s upcoming 19th birthday. He took his keys out of his pocket and opened the front door of his house, running up the stairs into his room to search for a small black satin box. He stuffed it in his pocket as deeply as he could and ran off further down the street towards Gwen’s house. Ten minutes later he was there and he knew he didn’t have much time before she came back home. He climbed up the oak near her window and thankfully her bedroom window was slightly open. He crawled inside and left the box on her bedside table, climbing back down the oak and going back home.
A lot had happened today, she thought. She never had problems with school unlike most of the other kids, because she passed every subject with straight A’s. But she finally broke it off with Kevin, something she agreed with herself, she had to do a long time ago. The biggest thing bugging her though, was why Ben didn’t tell her he aced that psychology exam. Maybe he resented her because she was ignoring him lately or he just didn’t want to talk with her. She wanted to see him though, the sooner the better. In fact, she was just preparing to leave her room and walk towards Ben’s place, when she saw the black box on her table, something she was certain she’d never seen before. She reached for it and sat on her bed, fixing a lock of her hair behind her ear as she sat down. As soon as she opened it, a piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and started reading…
“Dear Gwen,
this is probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Writing this letter is tougher than I thought it would be, since we’re cousins and all and I just want to wish you a happy birthday. But are we? Just cousins, you know? I never really did feel it that way, if I’m fully honest with you. Even when we were 10 and doofus was all I usually heard from your mouth when directed at me, we were still closer than most brothers and sisters however really weird that may sound. As years came and passed by, I started liking you and have come to the conclusion that I really enjoy hanging out with you. You’d never mock me for my love for video games (well not really mock me, just mock me in the Gwenny way you only know how) or for being a weirdo at times. Hell, you’d even play Sumo-Slammer with me and kick my butt every single time but don’t worry, I enjoyed it every single time. I guess what I want to say is that I want to thank you for being such a good friend over all these years and that you never have to worry about us not clicking. I don’t resent you for hanging out with Kevin and you should never think that. Don’t frown at me, I know you. We’ll always have our special connection and I’ll always love you, Gwen. Regardless of what happens.
Now, I hope that didn’t freak you out, I just feel I had to get it off my chest. And just so you won’t say to other people that all I got you for your 19th birthday was some dumb letter, check the black box. Hope you’ll like it.
Only your doofus, Ben”
A little tear came out of Gwen’s eye. The letter was all Ben. It was his hard to express himself nature, mixed with infinite gentleness and quirky humor. She loved the letter, even if it didn’t make much sense. She dropped the piece of paper on her bed and reached for the black box. She opened it and gasped. It was a beautiful silver spiral bracelet, with a few tiny emerald beads on it. It was beautiful and she was determined more than ever to thank Ben properly for everything he’s done for her. But that could wait for tomorrow, she decided.
The next day…
It was party time at last, and Gwen couldn’t wait for all her friends to gather at her house later on in the afternoon for her birthday party. The pool was ready, the drinks were ready, the snacks were ready. Everything was ready, only the guests needed to arrive. She really waited for only one guest though. Ben. She hoped he’d come sooner rather than later, but she just wanted him to be there. And there was the first ring on the doorbell. She hurried and opened the door for a bunch of her friends, wearing swimsuits as ordered on this hot summer day. With each minute, more people arrived and the day slowly started transforming into dusk, with the sun slowly descending but the temperature still very warm. It was nine o’clock, but still no sight of Ben. She just decided to relax on one of the lounge chairs until he arrived.
He arrived, finally. A little past nine, his cell showed. As soon as he got out of his BMW, he heard loud noise and figured ringing the door bell would be pointless. So he just let himself in and walked towards the back of the house, one hand behind his back. He reached the back of the house and looked around for a few seconds, surveying the crowd, looking for Gwen. And then he saw her. Lying on the lounge chair, talking to one of her friends while drinking some pink looking cocktail. She looked stunning, at least in his eyes. Her Pink bikini mingled perfectly with her brownish tan and auburn hair and he saw the bracelet on her hand, smiling to himself. He was about to step toward her, when she noticed him in his typical summer attire, his white T and his hawaiian shorts, which she found ridiculously cute. She approached him with a big smile on her face.
“Hey there, stranger.”
“Hiya back.”
“What you hiding behind your back?”
“Flowers.”
“Are they for me?”
“Maybe.”
She smiled broadly again and took one beautiful rose from Ben’s hands and sniffed it. It smelled wonderful. She thanked him and kissed him on the cheek, heading inside to take care of the rose.
“It’s beautiful, thank you.”
He wanted to say she was more beautiful, but decided against it.
“So, do you like the bracelet?”
“I love it, but how much did this cost you, Ben?”
“Uh, bout 5 bucks.”
“5 bucks?! You’re saying these emeralds are fake?”
“Hey hey, chill. Does that really matter?”
She pouted a bit. God, he loved her. Yeah, he said it. He loved her.
“No. But still…”
“They’re not fake. I got ’em from Diamondhead.” he grinned.
“That’s not really fair, you know.” “What if someone else gave me a similar bracelet, but I opted against it because this one looked prettier?”
“Someone else gave you a bracelet?” “Who?”
She laughed out loud at his facial expression. She loved teasing him.
“No, silly” “I was pulling your leg.”
“Damn you, witch.”
They both smiled. It was evident in the air they enjoyed spending time with one another. She put the rose in a vase and turned back towards him.
“The letter was beautiful.”
“Ah… Glad you liked it.”
“I loved it.”
“Really?” “What made you love it?”
“It was so you. Not properly expressing yourself, but just enough so that you reach into someone’s heart.”
“That was so cheesy, Gwen.”
“The letter was cheesy, Ben.”
“Touché”
They looked into each other’s eyes. They both wanted each other, all it took was for one of them to take the first step. And they did, together. Their faces inches apart, they finally kissed. Slowly at first, Ben caressing her hair with one hand while the other traveled down her spine towards her beautiful ass. She tangled her arms in his soft hair, the beads in the bracelet catching some strands of his hair. It escalated fast and it turned into a passionate fight of mouths and tongues. They finally broke it off to gasp for air after 2 minutes of intensive kissing. They leaned their foreheads together and smiled. Ben grabbed Gwen’s hand and they walked out to mingle with everyone else and enjoy the party.
It was 2am, and the last of the party animals have gone home, leaving Ben and Gwen alone in her house with all the leftover pizza and alcohol that they started cleaning up. They weren’t finished until 4, both completely exhausted, falling asleep in each other’s arms on the couch.
The next morning…
Ben awoke to the sounds of some dog barking down the street. Wanting to go back to sleep, he started lying back down when he noticed the figure he was tangled with on the couch. Gwen. His Gwen. The mere thought of that made him grin like an idiot. Gwen woke up to the way to proud smiling form of Ben looking down upon her.
“What are you so happy about?”
“Just this, I guess.” “Finally got what I want.”
“And what’s that?”
“You, Gwenny girl”
“Ugh, thanks Benny boy.”
“Point taken”
Laughs erupted for a few seconds, but Gwen started talking again.
“I’m sorry for the way I treated you this past month, Ben.” “I’ve been awful to you.”
“Hey, hey forget about it.” “I understand completely and it’s not like I’ve been worse off.”
“Oh, way to make me feel better, doofus”
“I can’t be expected to just worship you all the time, can I?”
She sounded displeased at that and made a face. Ben gulped. She laughed at him and he grabbed her and started running towards the pool.
“Ben, no!” she laughed out loud as he tossed her into the pool.
“That’s what you get for teasing me, evil woman!” he laughed back.
He swam over to her and they kissed passionately, exploring each other more with each nip and lick. This short swim was over. But neither could wait, so the furthest they got was the lounge chair. Ben sat down and pulled her on top of him. They kissed again and their hands roamed their bodies. Ben took her bikini off and slowly massaged her breasts. Gwen moaned deeply, in pleasure. She could feel his member, throbing against her already. Ben turned them around, so Gwen was laying on the chair while he slowly started kissing down her body, from her lips, ears and neck to her breasts, dipping his tongue in her navel making her gasp loudly to her wet pussy. He kept nipping at her clit and licking her pussy and she was enjoying every bit of it.
“Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” she barely asked.
“Pretty sure” Ben replied with a huge grin on his face seeing her all flushed and ready for him.
She pushed him off her and took his shorts off to see his big cock, pulsating and ready for her. She took him in his mouth and he groaned. Her mouth was perfect for him and she accepted him all the way. But he wanted her, so he pulled out. Sitting back down on the chair, he put her on top of him and she started riding him with an intense tempo that had them sweating and gasping for breath in minutes. Gwen begged…
“Ben, please. Take me from behind.”
Ben almost came right there on the spot. But he complied with his last bit of strength and turned her ass against him, entering her from behind and slowly exploring her. They were both getting close and Ben wanted to see her face when she came around him. So he took her in his arms and got inside the shallow part of the pool. He started pounding harder again and she loved it. One more stroke and it sent them both over the edge. Ben collapsed on top of her and they floated in the water, his head between her breasts, resting while she stroked his hair.
“I should tease you more often.”
“Oh yeah”