Chapter 5
Not sure I'm happy with this chapter, but... *shrugs*
Ben stood outside the front doors at 4pm, waiting for Stu to show up. He was already about 15 minutes late. Ben was starting to get a little edgy. He already didn't want to go to the kid's house, and he especially didn't want to wait an hour for him to show up.
Suddenly the doors opened, and out came Stu.
"Sorry dude, the teacher pulled me aside to have a talk. I couldn't escape," he explained, looking apologetic.
"It's fine," Ben grumbled. "Shall we get going?"
"Yes, yes let's go," Stu began walking in the direction of his house.
"So you don't do any extracurricular activities of anything?" Stu asked.
"God no. Do you?"
"Nah, most of them are sports. I don't like sports." Stu said in reply.
"Same here. Waste of time if you ask me." Ben responded.
"Totally. Instead of any of the schools activity, I do one of my own," Stu changed the subject. He waited a moment for a response, but when Ben didn't ask what it was, he continued. "Yeah, I have a band. Unfortunately, the other three guys live back in my old city, but it's not too far away. I'm going to try to get them to come over for a weekend or something so we can practice."
"That's great."
"So what do you do in your spare time? Have any hobbies?" Stu inquired. Ben rolled his eyes.
"I read and write a lot," he replied shortly.
"Oh cool. What kinds of things do you write?"
"I don't know, short stories I guess."
"Awesome, then you should be a big help with this project, eh?" Stu nudged Ben in the side with his elbow.
"And you won't be much at all..." Ben mumbled quietly.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Okay. So this is it," Stu stopped in front of his house. It wasn't anything spectacular, just a normal, regular-sized house. Stu walked toward the door with Ben following behind.
They entered the porch and took off their shoes.
"Mom, I'm home from school. I hope you don't mind a brought someone over!" Stu called to his mother.
"Who'd you bring home?" She questioned as they walked into the kitchen. She was a thin average height woman with short blonde hair.
"This is Ben mom, he's here because we have to work together on a project for English class." Stu illustrated.
"Is he staying for supper?"
"Uhh..." Stu turned to Ben questioningly.
"No, I'll be leaving before that." Ben said.
"All right, then you boys better get working," she turned back to whatever it was she had been doing when they had walked in.
"Right. Let's go upstairs to my room then" Stu turned and headed for the stairs.
Walking into Stu's room, Ben could tell that he was a fan of music. There were posters of punk bands all over his walls, CDs strewn across every surface, and a couple of guitars leaning against the back wall. There were also a large number of boxes stacked around his room.
"Be glad you didn't stay for supper, my mother is a health nut. All of the food we eat is organic shit that tastes awful." Stu had a disgusted expression on his face. "Anyways, sorry my room is kind of a mess. I haven't really had time to unpack properly since we moved in last week."
"That's uh... no problem. That sucks about your mom, though," Ben said sympathetically. "Organic food is horrible..."
"Tell me about it."
"So I guess we should get started, huh?"
"Yeah. You can set your bag anywhere. We're gonna have to sit on the floor to work, though. My desk isn't big enough for both of us to sit at." Stu dropped to the floor on his ass and patted the floor next to him.
Ben plopped down, as far away from Stu as he could without being rude.
"So, what should the plot be?" Ben asked.
"Uh.... What if an elf peasant has to go rescue the elf princess from an evil... goblin!" Stu suggested.
Ben raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"First? It's cliche. Second? It's stupid." Ben said, bluntly.
"Oh..." Stu looked down, and appeared to be thinking again. "What if an elf falls in love with a different species?"
"No. That's just creepy. And gross."
This went back and forth like this for over an hour, until Stu's mom called up the stairs that dinner was ready.
"Well, I guess I better get going," Ben said, standing up.
"Yeah, I guess so..." Stu looked disappointed. "Did you need a ride home or anything?"
"No, I don't live that far away. I'll just walk." Ben picked up his bag and exited the house as quickly as possible.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow!" Stu called from the door as Ben walked down the sidewalk.
"Yeah, sure."
Ben arrived home 25 minutes later, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed on the couch in the living room.
"Where were you for so long?" His mom asked as she sat down beside him on the couch.
"I had to go to the new kid's house to work on an English project because my English teacher wants to torture me by giving us partner projects." He grumbled in response.
"I see," she nodded, "so is he a nice kid? Do you two get along?"
"Well, I suppose he's a bit better than the rest of the morons at school, but is still incredibly annoying."
"Maybe you should give him a chance. I bet you two could be good friends! And you could use a friend, Ben. You spend so much time alone, you must be lonely."
Ben stood up while she was still speaking and headed to his room.
"I'm fine, mom," he said, perturbed. She always pestered him about trying to make friends, and to stop being so damn picky when it comes to people. She just didn't understand that he didn't LIKE people. He didn't want a friend. They just leave him in the end, anyways. They always did.
Ben flopped onto his bed when he got to his room and just lay there on his stomach, face buried in the blankets. Lieutenant Fuzzyboots followed shortly after, and nudged Ben's hand with his face, purring like crazy.
"Hey Lieutenant," Ben said quietly as he began petting the cat. "Why do you think it is that mom won't stop pestering me about making friends? Do you think she's worried about me? I don't see why. I mean, I'm perfectly fine with being alone. I prefer it, in fact. Maybe she thinks I'm to cynical or something. But I've always been that way, haven't I?" The Lieutenant continued to purr as Ben scratched his head. "I just don't understand what her problem is..."
Ben rolled onto his back and continued to contemplate late into the night.
The next day, Ben was in an exceptionally bad mood. He guessed it was partly because of what his mom said last night, and some of the conclusions he came to about why she wanted him to make friends with Stu. He slammed around the house getting ready for school; throwing his books in his bag, dropping it loudly to the floor in the kitchen, loudly pouring a bowl of cereal for breakfast. He supposed he was being a bit childish, but he didn't care. He was grumpy. As he loudly put his empty bowl in the sink after eating his cereal, his mom entered the room.
"What the hell are you doing, being so loud?" She questioned, looking irritated.
"I'm getting ready for school. What else would I be doing?" Ben snapped grumpily.
"Why the attitude?"
"Bad day."
"The day just started, how could it be bad already?" His mom started to look a little concerned now, rather than annoyed.
"Bad night, bad mood." Ben picked up his backpack and headed to the door.
"Why was the night so bad?" But she wasn't fast enough in asking her question, Ben had already slammed the door.
He didn't really understand why he was so pissed about what his mom had said, and he knew he would feel bad about being so rude and waking her up later in the day, but right now he was too mad.
Arriving at school, he pushed through the crowds in the hallway more violently than usual, causing many of the other students to glare at him as he passed. He payed them no notice.
"Watch where you're going, moron!" Shouted a rather large guy as Ben shouldered past him a bit extra hard.
"Oh, shut the fuck up and look who's calling who a moron." Ben retorted and kept walking.
"What was that, tiny?" The gut said angrily, but again, Ben was already gone.
Lunchtime came a few hours later, and Ben was still in an unpleasant mood. He sat at his usual table and pulled out his book. He wasn't even hungry, he just sat and read. Then he heard someone set a bag down on his table, and he looked up from his book. He saw Stu standing there, causing him to start fuming.
"What the hell do you want?" He asked, glaring at Stu.
"I thought we could eat together, and maybe work on our story!" Stu said cheerily, taking no notice of the angry tone or glare that Ben had just put out. Ben held his glare as Stu began to eat his lunch.
"How come you're not eating? And why is it that you read so much, even at lunchtime?" Stu asked, sounding curious.
"I don't know. Why is it that you refuse t o leave me alone? Why must you ask so many damn questions, Why the HELL are you SO ANNOYING?" Ben asked mockingly, getting angrier and louder with each question. People at tables nearby turned to see what was going on.
"Whoa, Ben, dude, what's the matter?" Stu looked startled.
"There you go with the fucking questions again! Why can't you just leave me alone? Haven't you noticed I have no interest in you? I only agreed to be your partner in English because you slightly less stupid than the rest of this school!" At this point, the entire cafeteria was silent and staring.
Stu looked a little hurt, and didn't say anything in return. Ben got up from the table and stormed out of the room. He couldn't put up with this any more today. He wasn't going to English class next period and have to deal with Stu again. He exited the building, and headed for the library, his safe haven.
Ben stood outside the front doors at 4pm, waiting for Stu to show up. He was already about 15 minutes late. Ben was starting to get a little edgy. He already didn't want to go to the kid's house, and he especially didn't want to wait an hour for him to show up.
Suddenly the doors opened, and out came Stu.
"Sorry dude, the teacher pulled me aside to have a talk. I couldn't escape," he explained, looking apologetic.
"It's fine," Ben grumbled. "Shall we get going?"
"Yes, yes let's go," Stu began walking in the direction of his house.
"So you don't do any extracurricular activities of anything?" Stu asked.
"God no. Do you?"
"Nah, most of them are sports. I don't like sports." Stu said in reply.
"Same here. Waste of time if you ask me." Ben responded.
"Totally. Instead of any of the schools activity, I do one of my own," Stu changed the subject. He waited a moment for a response, but when Ben didn't ask what it was, he continued. "Yeah, I have a band. Unfortunately, the other three guys live back in my old city, but it's not too far away. I'm going to try to get them to come over for a weekend or something so we can practice."
"That's great."
"So what do you do in your spare time? Have any hobbies?" Stu inquired. Ben rolled his eyes.
"I read and write a lot," he replied shortly.
"Oh cool. What kinds of things do you write?"
"I don't know, short stories I guess."
"Awesome, then you should be a big help with this project, eh?" Stu nudged Ben in the side with his elbow.
"And you won't be much at all..." Ben mumbled quietly.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Okay. So this is it," Stu stopped in front of his house. It wasn't anything spectacular, just a normal, regular-sized house. Stu walked toward the door with Ben following behind.
They entered the porch and took off their shoes.
"Mom, I'm home from school. I hope you don't mind a brought someone over!" Stu called to his mother.
"Who'd you bring home?" She questioned as they walked into the kitchen. She was a thin average height woman with short blonde hair.
"This is Ben mom, he's here because we have to work together on a project for English class." Stu illustrated.
"Is he staying for supper?"
"Uhh..." Stu turned to Ben questioningly.
"No, I'll be leaving before that." Ben said.
"All right, then you boys better get working," she turned back to whatever it was she had been doing when they had walked in.
"Right. Let's go upstairs to my room then" Stu turned and headed for the stairs.
Walking into Stu's room, Ben could tell that he was a fan of music. There were posters of punk bands all over his walls, CDs strewn across every surface, and a couple of guitars leaning against the back wall. There were also a large number of boxes stacked around his room.
"Be glad you didn't stay for supper, my mother is a health nut. All of the food we eat is organic shit that tastes awful." Stu had a disgusted expression on his face. "Anyways, sorry my room is kind of a mess. I haven't really had time to unpack properly since we moved in last week."
"That's uh... no problem. That sucks about your mom, though," Ben said sympathetically. "Organic food is horrible..."
"Tell me about it."
"So I guess we should get started, huh?"
"Yeah. You can set your bag anywhere. We're gonna have to sit on the floor to work, though. My desk isn't big enough for both of us to sit at." Stu dropped to the floor on his ass and patted the floor next to him.
Ben plopped down, as far away from Stu as he could without being rude.
"So, what should the plot be?" Ben asked.
"Uh.... What if an elf peasant has to go rescue the elf princess from an evil... goblin!" Stu suggested.
Ben raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"First? It's cliche. Second? It's stupid." Ben said, bluntly.
"Oh..." Stu looked down, and appeared to be thinking again. "What if an elf falls in love with a different species?"
"No. That's just creepy. And gross."
This went back and forth like this for over an hour, until Stu's mom called up the stairs that dinner was ready.
"Well, I guess I better get going," Ben said, standing up.
"Yeah, I guess so..." Stu looked disappointed. "Did you need a ride home or anything?"
"No, I don't live that far away. I'll just walk." Ben picked up his bag and exited the house as quickly as possible.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow!" Stu called from the door as Ben walked down the sidewalk.
"Yeah, sure."
Ben arrived home 25 minutes later, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed on the couch in the living room.
"Where were you for so long?" His mom asked as she sat down beside him on the couch.
"I had to go to the new kid's house to work on an English project because my English teacher wants to torture me by giving us partner projects." He grumbled in response.
"I see," she nodded, "so is he a nice kid? Do you two get along?"
"Well, I suppose he's a bit better than the rest of the morons at school, but is still incredibly annoying."
"Maybe you should give him a chance. I bet you two could be good friends! And you could use a friend, Ben. You spend so much time alone, you must be lonely."
Ben stood up while she was still speaking and headed to his room.
"I'm fine, mom," he said, perturbed. She always pestered him about trying to make friends, and to stop being so damn picky when it comes to people. She just didn't understand that he didn't LIKE people. He didn't want a friend. They just leave him in the end, anyways. They always did.
Ben flopped onto his bed when he got to his room and just lay there on his stomach, face buried in the blankets. Lieutenant Fuzzyboots followed shortly after, and nudged Ben's hand with his face, purring like crazy.
"Hey Lieutenant," Ben said quietly as he began petting the cat. "Why do you think it is that mom won't stop pestering me about making friends? Do you think she's worried about me? I don't see why. I mean, I'm perfectly fine with being alone. I prefer it, in fact. Maybe she thinks I'm to cynical or something. But I've always been that way, haven't I?" The Lieutenant continued to purr as Ben scratched his head. "I just don't understand what her problem is..."
Ben rolled onto his back and continued to contemplate late into the night.
The next day, Ben was in an exceptionally bad mood. He guessed it was partly because of what his mom said last night, and some of the conclusions he came to about why she wanted him to make friends with Stu. He slammed around the house getting ready for school; throwing his books in his bag, dropping it loudly to the floor in the kitchen, loudly pouring a bowl of cereal for breakfast. He supposed he was being a bit childish, but he didn't care. He was grumpy. As he loudly put his empty bowl in the sink after eating his cereal, his mom entered the room.
"What the hell are you doing, being so loud?" She questioned, looking irritated.
"I'm getting ready for school. What else would I be doing?" Ben snapped grumpily.
"Why the attitude?"
"Bad day."
"The day just started, how could it be bad already?" His mom started to look a little concerned now, rather than annoyed.
"Bad night, bad mood." Ben picked up his backpack and headed to the door.
"Why was the night so bad?" But she wasn't fast enough in asking her question, Ben had already slammed the door.
He didn't really understand why he was so pissed about what his mom had said, and he knew he would feel bad about being so rude and waking her up later in the day, but right now he was too mad.
Arriving at school, he pushed through the crowds in the hallway more violently than usual, causing many of the other students to glare at him as he passed. He payed them no notice.
"Watch where you're going, moron!" Shouted a rather large guy as Ben shouldered past him a bit extra hard.
"Oh, shut the fuck up and look who's calling who a moron." Ben retorted and kept walking.
"What was that, tiny?" The gut said angrily, but again, Ben was already gone.
Lunchtime came a few hours later, and Ben was still in an unpleasant mood. He sat at his usual table and pulled out his book. He wasn't even hungry, he just sat and read. Then he heard someone set a bag down on his table, and he looked up from his book. He saw Stu standing there, causing him to start fuming.
"What the hell do you want?" He asked, glaring at Stu.
"I thought we could eat together, and maybe work on our story!" Stu said cheerily, taking no notice of the angry tone or glare that Ben had just put out. Ben held his glare as Stu began to eat his lunch.
"How come you're not eating? And why is it that you read so much, even at lunchtime?" Stu asked, sounding curious.
"I don't know. Why is it that you refuse t o leave me alone? Why must you ask so many damn questions, Why the HELL are you SO ANNOYING?" Ben asked mockingly, getting angrier and louder with each question. People at tables nearby turned to see what was going on.
"Whoa, Ben, dude, what's the matter?" Stu looked startled.
"There you go with the fucking questions again! Why can't you just leave me alone? Haven't you noticed I have no interest in you? I only agreed to be your partner in English because you slightly less stupid than the rest of this school!" At this point, the entire cafeteria was silent and staring.
Stu looked a little hurt, and didn't say anything in return. Ben got up from the table and stormed out of the room. He couldn't put up with this any more today. He wasn't going to English class next period and have to deal with Stu again. He exited the building, and headed for the library, his safe haven.