Rumor Has It

Ben (Alex Mack) and his girlfriend Elizabeth (Athena Anderson) are having a conversation when Elizabeth suddenly gets a strange text message from an unfamiliar number: 'Hey, I thought you needed to know... your boyfriend's cheating on you. I saw him kissing another woman last night'. Elizabeth scoffs, because SHE was with Ben last night. She shows Ben and they reason that it must be a wrong number, especially since neither of their names were mentioned in the text. They soon forget all about it, moving on with their day.

However, as the weeks go by, Elizabeth continues to receive messages claiming that Ben is cheating on her, this time actually using their names and mentioning specific details like Elizabeth's favorite restaurant. It's clearly not a wrong number after all. However, the accusations are obviously false, because the timeframes for when the cheating is supposedly happening are always during times when Ben has been with Elizabeth. She tries blocking the number that's sending the messages, but then she continues to receive the messages from a different number, and the police have been completely useless. Elizabeth becomes angry and paranoid, demanding that Ben tell her if he actually is cheating. Ben is shocked, sincerely insisting that he's innocent. Elizabeth is still furious, and storms out of the house.

After Elizabeth leaves, Ben's best friend Allison (Cali Caliente) drops by. Allison confesses that she's been attracted to Ben for a long time, and she's pretty sure she's felt signals from him that he feels the same way but hasn't been bold enough to make a move. He says that he's flattered and admits that over the years there have been times he's considered it, but the timing was never right. He reminds Allison that she KNOWS he's in a committed relationship with Elizabeth now, and things have been getting more and more serious since they moved in together, so he's not looking to jeopardize that. He's surprised that Allison is bringing this up now, especially since Ben had talked many times with Allison over the past few weeks about his and Elizabeth's recent struggles with someone trying to break them up with nasty rumors - he would think that she would be more considerate of his relationship when they've so recently been through hell.

Allison then reveals that SHE'S the one who's been sending messages to Elizabeth claiming that Ben is cheating. Ben is shocked and betrayed, and demands to know why she would do such a terrible thing - why is she trying to frame him??! Allison says she wanted to show Ben that Elizabeth doesn't deserve him... just look at how Elizabeth is acting jealous and distrustful, even though he has a solid alibi every time. Ben is shocked and disturbed that Allison would go to such extremes, but Allison insists she did it for HIM. Now they can be together, and she'll treat him with the love and respect he deserves. And unlike Elizabeth, Allison has no desire to keep Ben on a leash and pledge himself only to her, in fact Allison wants to give Ben the freedom to do whatever he wants whenever he wants, selflessly like a TRUE friend. Doesn't he see?! Allison has unlocked a new future for him where he can have ANY woman he wants without repercussions...