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Devi got invited to Ben’s sweet 16. She was actually quite thrilled about going to a party at someone whom she claimed she hated. Things between Ben and Devi have become quite civil after Model UN. Devi had seen a side of Ben that she’d never seen before. He’d surprised her that day. Ben was the only one who she told about her secret. Eleanor and Fabiola found out when Eleanor’s mom exposed her to Nalini. Obviously the truth had to come out. Otherwise Devi would have been known as the Indian girl that had just been murdered by her mother.
“So let me get this straight. Eleanor’s mom came back. You talked to her mom. Then Eleanor’s mom exposed you to your mom. Then your mom freaked out so badly that she squashed a cupcake?” Ben and Devi were talking during lunch time. They were sitting on the bleachers. After Devi’s fallout with her friends, she needed someone to talk to. Ben figured that leaving Shira alone for one day wouldn't exactly be a loss.
“Then Paxton asked me to help him with something. Eleanor needed my help too since her mom left. But-,”
“But you decided to help Paxton,” Ben finishes and Devi nods.
“And now Eleanor and Fabiola are mad at me and don’t want to be my friend.”
“I wouldn’t want to be your friend either,” Ben says half jokingly while giving a half smile. Devi can be a good friend sometimes. She listened to his problems. He also found listening to her problems quite amusing.
“HEY!” Devi says, but she’s smiling too. She friendly punches his arm. They both chuckle.
“Can you blame them? Why on earth would you do that? She needed you,” He says, still keeping a smile on his face.
“Paxton also needed my help. I thought maybe if I helped him, then I could go back and help Eleanor.” Ben switches back into being serious.
“David. You KNEW Eleanor’s problem. Isn’t that against girl code?”
“Ugh, you don’t have to make me feel so bad about it. I mean, I already feel like shit about it. At least I was helping Paxton. So doesn’t that make me a good person?” Ben rolls his eyes.
“And what was Paxton’s problem Devi? Did he want to get an opinion on which photo makes him look the hottest? Oh no wait, did he want you to do his homework for him?”
“NO! He’s not like that Ben. He wanted me to model for his friend.” Devi didn’t know whether or not to mention Paxton’s sister.
“So that’s what the photos were for,” Ben realises before he switches back into being annoyed “I don’t understand why he didn’t just go and tell you what the emergency was.”
“I know right. I ditched my friends for him. Then his exaggerated emergency was a photoshoot. It was fun, but still.” Ben lets out a stifled laugh.
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?” Devi asks confused.
“You spend your time wasting it on a guy that got mad at you, twice. Your friends have ALWAYS been there for you. They even were there to listen to your having sex with Paxton bullshit. They’re definitely keepers.”
“I know that. I do want to be friends with them again.”
“David, you keep saying that. But it doesn’t help when you don’t put those words into action. You’d just end up making the same mistakes you did over and over.” Devi scoffs.
“I said I was sorry. I wanted to make it up to them by going with them to your party and having fun.” Ben rolls his eyes again in frustration. He knew Devi was a difficult person, but he honestly thought Devi would start feeling even an iota of remorse or regret for her actions. Afterall, Devi has been friends with Eleanor and Fabiola for years. You just don’t decide to leave your friends just because of one stupid fallout.
“There’s a difference between saying sorry and meaning it.” Devi feels a bit exasperated.
“Why does it always have to be my fault?” Devi asks condescendingly.
“Maybe because it is David. Eleanor may have not even wanted her mom to come talk to her yet. But you went out of your way to talk to her anyway without her permission. To top it all off, you literally did what her mom did. Her mom chose an acting career over her, and you choose Paxton over her,” Ben says, he’s kind of close to shouting.
“I was just trying to help,” Devi says shrugging. She turns away from him, slouching with her elbows on her knees with her hands propping up her face. Ben calms down a bit.
“Ok, Let me ask you a question? Eleanor and Fabiola or Paxton?” Devi looks at him confused.
“If you had to choose between the 2. Who would you choose? Paxton or Eleanor and Fabiola?” Devi squints her eyes at him.
“What kind of question even is that? You’re seriously making me answer that?” Ben sighs.
“David, the answer wouldn’t even be a thing to think about. Choosing Paxton over Eleanor and Fabiola is like choosing popularity over true friends. Your idea of ‘making it up to them’ is going to a party. A party that Paxton would be at. Your idea of ‘Making it up to them’ is something YOU want to do. Maybe you need to put their needs before your own.”
“Ok, how would I do that?” Devi asks, a bit pissed. She thought talking to Ben about her problems would help her feel better. But now she feels a bit worse.
“Maybe, instead of prying into their business, you should ask them about how their life is. Maybe ask how Eleanor’s feeling about her mom abandoning her. Also probably try apologizing again for everything you’ve done.”
“Why are you so blatant about this? It’s a sensitive topic.” Ben stiffly laughs again.
“You being a bad friend is a sensitive topic?” He starts chuckling. But Devi doesn’t take the joke.
“Why do I have to listen to you? You don’t have any friends to be able to understand.” Ben just glares at her expressionless after she said that. Then she starts to realize how badly she just fucked up with that. Ben gets up from sitting down.
“Ben I-,” Devi starts.
“Nah. It’s fine. I’m fine. You’re right. I don’t think anything I say is valid right now. Although, before you said that, I thought you were my friend.” She sees that Ben is kind of hurt.
“I am your friend though. I’m really sorr-,” Ben cuts her off.
“It’s ok Devi,” He smiles, to Devi it looked very forced. “I guess I’ll see you at my party.” He walks away. He stops then turns back to face her.
“Y’know, if I had friends like Eleanor and Fabiola. I wouldn’t let them go.” He turns back and walks away again.
Devi blackmailed Kamala into driving her to Ben’s party. She thought she could wait and have more time to figure out how to deal with her friend drama. But there was someone that she thought she needed to make things right with.
After an awkward encounter with her friends, she was met by a happy faced Ben.
“Devi, you came!” He said. Devi didn’t understand how easily Ben could recover from the shit Devi had said to him. You would think the guy would despise her after wishing the nazi’s would kill him and the whole model UN incident.
They were sitting inside the screening room. Ben was talking about his neglectful family. Devi looked at him apologetically while apologising that he had to go through that.
“I brought you a present.” She opened her purse and brought out a little box.
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Ben said while still having a smile plastered on his face. He opened the box to reveal a necklace that had a yin yang pendant.
“I’m so sorry. What I said was really messed up. You were just trying to help me, and I lashed out on you when you didn’t do anything other than being a supportive friend. I talked Kamala into stopping at the mall before I got here. I saw the necklace and it reminded me of us,” Devi smiles at him.
“in Chinese philosophy and religion there are two principles, one negative, dark, and feminine (yin ), and one positive, bright, and masculine ( yang ), whose interaction influences the destinies of creatures and things. I’ve been so negative which has affected not only myself, but Eleanor, Fabiola, you. Then you’re positive. Whenever I treat you like shit, or whenever we fight in class, you always have a smile on your face. Whether it’s a cocky grin or a genuine smile, you’re always positive and bright. I think that’s why we connect. You make me want to be a better person.” Ben looks at the necklace then looks at Devi again. He stares at her intently for a few seconds before smiling.
“I think we make each other better, Devi.”