Free Broken Fairytales by Monica Alexander Page A

fact that he’d picked me over her in high school. So she flirted with him pretty s hamelessly whenever she saw him. Whatever. I was used to it, but this time I actually walked in on her pawing him in the kitchen and rubbing up against him about an hour after we’d gotten to the party which pretty much crossed a line in my book .
    As soon as Ben saw me, the unc omfortable look on his face turned to panic as he rea lized what the scene must look like from my perspective . He backed away from her so quickly that it looked like he’d been shocked. I immediately shot a glare at Ashleigh, who leaned against the counter looking indifferent to the situation. 
    Ben started apologizing profusely, but being drunk and very over Ashleigh always trying to steal my boyfriend, I’d just turned around and walked away from them both, putting my hand up behind me to stop Ben from coming after me. I needed to decompr ess and let go of what I’d seen and what might have happened n ext had I not walked in on them .
    Of course, Ben immediately ran after me, cornering me in the hallway and babbling like a crazy person about how sorry he was. That started fight number one of the night. If only he’d let me calm down before he’d come after me , it might not have been so bad . I was not usually an overly emotional person in public, but in that moment, I was so fired up that I didn’t give a damn that people were staring and commenting that sweet Emily Cole was flying off the handle.
    Not caring who noticed , and sick of the expectation others had laid upon me to be good and sweet and nice all the time, I let loose on Ben , shouting everything that I’d held in all at once. In Ben’s defense, I’d never before expressed any aggravation with Ashleigh’s flirting and over-aggressive attempts to make-out with him, so it may have come as a surprise that I was so upset, but at the same time, how could he think I could have been okay with al l of it? Yes, I had know n Ash leigh since kindergarten, and was never surprised to find her flirting with anyone, especially Ben , but it was just a teensy bit annoying after five years that she continued to do it.
    I knew Ben wouldn’t do anything with her, but it was hard to get over the fact that a very w ell-endowed, gorgeous girl was sticking her chest in your boyfriend’s fac e and rubbing up against him every chance she got . For as long as I could remember, I’d put up with her flirting. I hadn’t said a word, but what h urt , now that I thought about it, was that neither had Ben. At no point had he ever stood up to her , pushed her away , or told her to leave him alone , and suddenly I was pissed that he hadn’t done any of that.  
    Ashleigh relished the fact that she was a UNC cheerleader and Ben was a footbal l player. Any time I went to a football party with him, she was always somewhere close by. What she never seemed to get is that Ben would never go for her, not to mention the fact th at he w ould never cheat on me. She didn’t stand a chance , and her seduction attempts had become desperate and pathetic .
    The night before had been the same as always – different location, same tactics – w ait until Ben was separated from me, and I was talking to other people, then move in. She never gave up.  Thankfully, Ben never gave in either , and he always tended to assume the guilt over her flirting which usually parlayed into him not leaving my s ide for the rest of the night. I told him time and again that it didn’t bother me, but it always did. H e always felt b ad that he let her get to him, but not once did he speak up and tell her to stop. I was over it.
    I screamed at him in the hallway for a good five minutes before te lling him I was done and walked away. I wasn’t sure what I ’d meant by being ‘done’, but it had the desired effect. Ben’s face held a look of shock and awe that I glanced at befo re shoving past him to the back porch where I ran smack into my