Ben looked at Spencer who seemed to be wiping the tears off his face.
"Bro, please share your sadness with me too. Let me be the eraser of Sarah's sadness. Please bless me, Bro!" Ben spoke earnestly but Spencer smiled sadly as he looked at the determined Ben.
"You're not thinking enough with this situation, Ben. Don't think things are easy, it's as easy as you say now," Spencer said as he patted Ben on the shoulder a few times and smiled.
"What else do I have to understand, Bro? Maybe, in your mind all this time, I'm just an unstable teenager who is just playing with my feelings for Sarah, right? You're wrong, Bro,"
"For God's sake, I love Sarah, Bro. I even thought about separating Alex and Sarah, by challenging Alex. I didn't even think twice when I spoke I would take Sarah away from him if Alex wasted Sarah!"
Ben was so firm in voicing his determination to love Sarah.
Then, who and what kind of a Ben Randall is in Sarah's life?
*
Ben Randall is a young man who is two years older than Sarah. Ben is also at the same school as Sarah, as well as Alex's underclassman.
Alex and Ben's relationship was very good even though they were juniors and seniors, but that was before Sarah appeared as a new student at their school.
Sarah's indifferent and quiet personality makes Alex and Ben fall in love. Coupled with Sarah's beautiful face, both of them started to compete to get Sarah's heart.
Alex and Ben's relationship is strained because Sarah prefers Alex to be her lover, even though Ben is no less kind and handsome.
Sarah's initial reason for rejecting Ben and preferring Alex was because Ben came from a rich family as well as one of the families who became regular donors at their school, while Alex was just a child who grew up in an orphanage and went to school by relying on residual fees from his achievements.
In Sarah's opinion, Alex can be more independent if one day their young love relationship changes to a more serious level, without just enjoying the wealth of his parents.
Ben lost in Sarah's judgment, but even so Ben wasn't mad at Sarah. He decided to love Sarah in silence.
Until the day Alex finishes high school, Ben feels that he can approach Sarah from the start and it starts with the acceptance of new students at their school.
At that time, Ben was elected student council president when Stu was a new student at their school. Meanwhile, Sarah did not participate in the student council activities, whose job was to greet them in a unique way that had become a tradition at their school.
On his first day of school, Stu accepts the task of getting the signatures of all the student council members, including Ben. At that time Stu's legs were a little limp due to a fall while learning to ride a motorcycle with Sarah, so Stu's pace and walking speed slowed down.
But in the end, Stu was able to get all the student council members' signatures except for Ben and that got him punished by Ben.
Sarah, who had been watching her younger brother from the start, took a voice to Ben, who she judged had no compassion for Stu, who had a hard time walking.
Sarah stood in front of Ben, to protest that Stu had to be punished for walking around the school grounds with his feet like that.
"Ben, why are you punishing him like that? Can't you see his limping leg?" Sarah protested.
"Call me senior, Sarah, I'm doing my duty as student council president," Ben replied calmly with a smile.
"Ah, well, Senior!" Sarah corrected her words in annoyance, "Senior, can you postpone the sentence for my younger brother whose leg is still sore?" continued Sarah asked.
Ben smiled seeing Sarah's behavior which he thought was very sweet. But he hid his smile and continued to put on a stern face.
"Stu knew the punishment beforehand, Sarah. So he did have to circle the field. Besides, I'm not asking him to finish within a certain amount of time. Stu can walk slowly with his sore leg. I was right, Stu?"
Ben answered according to his duty and asked Stu.
"Senior is right, Sis. I do have to walk and receive my punishment. Senior didn't do anything wrong or be mean to me," Stu replied, "Unless..." Stu hung his sentence.
"Except what?" Sarah asked in surprise.
"Unless the student council president is my sister's boyfriend, maybe I'll get off the hook," Stu replied with a chuckle, as did Ben with a smile on his handsome face.
Sarah widened her eyes in disbelief.
"You guys are crazy!" Sarah immediately cursed at Ben and her own younger brother, "So you guys set me up, didn't you? Hey, Stu. Why don't you just be his younger brother?" Sarah was angry at Stu and then turned to Ben who was still smiling.
"Hey, Senior! How many times does Stu have to circle the field?" Sarah asked irritably.
"Three times. You don't have to do this, Sarah. Let Stu serve his sentence," Ben said casually with an endless smile for Sarah.
"You're both crazy. You punished Stu but Stu cornered me with his ridiculous requests. If I don't do this he'll be the one driving around the field and his leg will take longer to heal. Who's going to have a hard time taking care of him at home? Me too, right?" Sarah grumbled again.
"You or I don't have to run if you're Bro Ben's girlfriend. Look at him, Sis. Our senior is so cool!" Stu is even more ridiculous by praising Ben to Sarah.
"You guys are crazy!" Sarah cursed again and then turned to run around the field, replacing the penalty for Stu.
"You see, Stu? She never liked me. There was always Alex in her eyes," Ben said weakly with a forced smile.
"You can't give up, Bro. Although I don't hate my sister's relationship with Bro Alex, I prefer Sarah to be your lover. I am more comfortable talking and playing with you than Bro Alex, who is quieter when he comes to our house," Stu expressed his concerns.
"Alex is quiet but that doesn't mean he doesn't love you. You're Sarah's younger brother, of course, he loves you too, Stu,"
"Come on, don't be sad or plan silly things like this again. Sarah will think I'm crazy, hahaha! You saw how many times she called us crazy, hahaha!"
Ben burst out laughing but Stu remained silent. Stu knows that right now Ben is only hiding his sadness due to Sarah's attitude that he never saw Ben as a good man to be a lover. Stu leaves Ben with his plans failing.
'In your sister's eyes, I'm no better than Alex, Stu. But I never hated Sarah. I've always loved her,' Ben replied to himself as Stu left him.
Ben knows that Stu isn't the only one who likes her being Sarah's lover. The rest of Sarah's family also agrees that Sarah is with Ben rather than Alex, but they can't force Sarah's decision if she prefers Alex.
Even so, Ben was not discouraged. He still considers Sarah's family as his family because while in Sarah's family, Ben gets the full attention he doesn't get from his own family.
Understandably, Ben is an only child whose parents are rarely home because they always travel abroad for business. Feeling in Sarah's family, he does not feel lonely even though his status is only as a friend of Sarah and Alex.
Until now, Ben has always maintained his relationship with Sarah's family even though he had drifted away after Sarah and Alex were reportedly married due to an unexpected incident.
However, he returned after Sarah's friends gave him the shocking news about Sarah and it immediately brought him back to Sarah as he is today.
*
"But I know it's impossible to keep them apart because Sarah only loves Alex. Then who am I to want to keep them away? If I separate them, Sarah will get sick, and I don't want that, so I choose to give up and leave,"
"But now I'm here, Bro. If you don't believe my words that will make Sarah happy, we'll see later. But maybe now I can't do anything until I get your and mother's blessing and permission to make Sarah happy, "
"So now I ask for your blessing and permission to support me to make Sarah happy again. I believe I can, Bro!"
Hearing Ben's strong determination to ask for his blessing, Spencer was touched and grateful that there were still so many people around Sarah who loved his sister.
Spencer patted Ben on the shoulder as he spoke and smiled.
"Cheer up, young man! I give you my blessing. I hope Sarah accepts you with all her heart. Let Sarah choose because this is her life. Cheer up, Ben!"