Author's Note:
I want to apologize for taking so long to come out with the next chapter. I spent a little too long enjoying my graduation. Then I heard that my cancer has come back and that sent me into a depressive spiral that lasted a few weeks.
I'm trying to get back on top of things and currently have a goal of writing for at least 15 minutes a day. (With an ultimate goal of an hour a day.) My goal for the next chapter is a month but it will definitely be shorter than how long this chapter took.
Please let me know what y'all think and I hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER 1
Present Day, USA
Ben feverishly punched numbers into his calculator. He only had a few minutes until the bell rang for the start of class. Mrs. Hudson had also decided that this should be the deadline for all math homework; including the worksheet that Ben was now trying desperately to finish. Normally he would just turn his assignment in with a few problems undone and save himself the stress. Unfortunately, he had done this a few too many times and his grade wouldn't survive if he kept it up. So, he feverishly wrote numbers and hammered away at his calculator.
With less than a minute left, Ben resignedly scribbled in some answers that looked close enough and hurried over to the turn-in pile. Whipping his page onto the stack, he breathed a sigh of relief. As he sat back down at his desk the bell rang and Mrs. Hudson snapped the lid to the homework pile shut, preventing anyone else from turning in their assignments late. Ben had been on the wrong side of that rule a few times which hadn't helped his grade in the slightest.
Sighing, Ben sat at his desk and tried to pay attention as class started. It wasn't like he didn't know how to do the math, he just had other things to do and ran out of time. It seemed kind of dumb for the school to grade him on whether he had time to do homework rather than if he knew the material. The next few classes also passed with him struggling to pay attention but ended with him mostly just staring out the window instead. He used to read to pass the time but ever since his grades started falling his teachers had put a stop to that. Which was totally unfair considering he had gotten through most of his school career reading during class and he ended up doing just fine.
When the bell finally rang for lunch Ben was more than ready for a break. Grabbing his lunch-sack he started to make his way to the cafeteria where he and a few other guys had lunch together. Bellwood High wasn't in a major city, but it still had enough students that you had to claim your spot if you wanted to eat at the same place. However, claiming a regular spot required being early; which was difficult when your classroom was on the other side of the school, the hallways were filled with people, and you got detention if you ran. So, Ben usually took the indirect route of circling around the building. Even though it was longer, it allowed him to run. Which the best part of Ben's day. He hadn't measured the distance, but his record was 1 minute 7.56 seconds and he could almost sprint the whole way.
Heading to the starting door, Ben placed one hand on the handle and the other on his watch. He took a steadying breath and got into a runner's stance. Ben's watch beeped as he pressed start. He exploded out the door open and began sprinting with all he had. Ben couldn't stop a smile spreading across his face as he ran. This feeling of freedom was what he lived for. As he pumped his legs and forced air into his lungs, he reveled in the sensation of exertion. This is when he felt truly alive.
Ben slammed through the finish door, hardly slowing down as he crossed the threshold and stopped his watch. The small hallway was empty. Which wasn't too surprising as this hallway only had a few offices and a door which led to the cafeteria. Hands on knees and gasping, he looked at his watch. 1:08.02. Drat, perhaps next time he would have to try stretching and warming his muscles up before he ran. That was supposed to help. Perhaps some deep breaths as well to oxygenate his blood a bit more. Regaining control of his breathing, Ben straightened himself and began walking down the short hallway.
As he neared the door to the cafeteria, he heard laughing ahead of him. He noticed a group of about 4 girls walking out of a stairway. As Ben drew level with the stairway, he saw a lone girl sitting on the steps who held a half-eaten sandwich. Ben could faintly see a few tears were running down her face as she stared straight ahead, unmoving, her expression stiff. One of the girls mockingly called back to her, "Don't forget to tell your hobo to call my tailor!" The girl turned and flashed a smile at him. Ben felt his heart skip a beat.
Sabrina, one of the prettiest girls in school. She had high cheek bones, long brown hair and brown eyes that sparkled as she laughed. Ben smiled back as she turned to enter the cafeteria. If Ben could ever run into her when she was single and not with her friends, he would totally ask her out. Ben followed them through the open door and into the cafeteria. Making his way to his usual table, he placed his jacket over a few seats and waited for his friends to show up.
Loud laughing erupted nearby, Ben looked over and saw a couple guys looming over a small, slightly obese, kid with glasses. They appeared to be holding a little black case just out of the kid's reach as he tried to grab it. The taller of the two guys was trying to look in the little black case as the kid swiped at it. Laughing, the he held it higher. When the smaller kid tried to grab it again, he tossed it to his friend. This initiated a game of keep away with the unwilling kid. More and more people were flooding into the cafeteria as the game of keep away continued. Ben frowned with disgust, which then morphed into a slow smile. He hated bullies and with everyone watching this seemed like the perfect place to humiliate them.
Walking over, Ben snatched the black case out of the hands of one of the boys just as he caught it. There was a delicate tinkling inside which sounded like glass vials. Probably insulin. Handing it back to the poor kid Ben faced the duo.
"Leave him alone." he said loudly, trying to look intimidating.
"Awww, we were just joking around weren't we." The bully retorted looking at the small kid, a mocking smile on his face. The bully's companion nodded in agreement wearing a similar smile. "I just wanted to see what was in his case. Make sure he wasn't hiding any drugs to sell." he laughed. The bully grabbed for the case, but Ben smacked his arm away, a little harder than he meant to. Ben moved to place himself more fully between the kid and Bully. A few kids sitting close by pulled their lunches away at this point, but a small crowd was beginning to gather around. Quite a few of the students had their cell phones out and were recording. Guess I've developed a bit of a reputation, Ben thought wincing internally. The bully glared at Ben as he pointedly shook his arm out. Ben could almost see the bully's pride take over as the bully looked at the surrounding students; he couldn't back down now. When he looked back at Ben there was no humor left in his face.
"I said leave hi-" Ben was cut off as the bigger kid threw a punch aimed at Ben's head. Ben barely covered his head in time. Before he could think, Ben and the bully were swinging wildly, grabbing, and punching at each other blindly. Pain erupted through Ben as the bully's fists pummeled him. Ben could dully hear a cheering crowd around him as he and the bully fought each other. With adrenaline running through him it was hard to tell how long they fought, but before he knew it Ben was thrown to the floor with his arms pinned behind him. Trying to look up with his face pressed against the floor Ben saw several security guards had pulled them apart. Students surrounded them still chanting and cheering. Ben couldn't help but smile, drinking in the cheers. It always felt good to be the hero.
Ben was marched directly to the principal's office. Upon entering, Principal White looked up over his half-eaten sandwich. When he recognized Ben, he sighed deeply and motioned for the two security guards to put him in the chair directly across his desk. As security left, White sighed again and rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"What am I going to do with you Ben?" he asked, his tired eyes squeezed shut.
"Let me go back to class." Ben said hopefully.
"You know I can't do that. This is the third time you've gotten into a fight this year and we are barely halfway through it! If I didn't know better, I would say you were trying to make me expel you."
"It wasn't my fault! They were picking on some kid and I stepped in to stop them!"
"Daaa…gnabit Ben!" Principal White exploded, barely catching himself. "That's what you said the other nine times! If I wasn't such close friends with your father, I would expel you without a second thought!"
"It's not fair!" Ben whined, defending himself. "They started it! Just ask anyone who was there! They were all cheering for me!"
Principal White sighed pointedly. "We've been over this Ben. It doesn't matter who started it, we have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to fighting." As Ben began to protest White held up a hand. "Yes, I know how ridiculous the policy is but I'm not in charge of the rules. I just enforce them." Sitting back, White stared out the window. After a few moments of contemplation, he said "I'm going to have to suspend you for the rest of the year."
"What?! That's not f-"
"No it isn't fair!" Principal White said loudly, frustration driving him to nearly shout. "If you were any other student, I would have you expelled! You're lucky I'm friends with your father!" he reiterated. As he sat back, he seemed to calm down a little. "You only have half a school year left until you graduate. If you do your schoolwork from home, you won't be able to get into anymore fights but you'll still graduate on time. That is if you can keep your grades up." White stood up and nodded seemingly pleased with his solution. "I really hope you learn your lesson. In the real world you can't make it through life fighting everyone you meet. I'll let your teachers know to email your schoolwork to you for the rest of the year. Good luck Ben."
Without waiting for a reply, White waved a security guard back in and instructed him to escort Ben to collect his things and see him off campus. As Ben walked home and got the chance to cool down, his stomach to begin filling with dread. His parents were going to kill him.
Ben walked into his house and pulled off his shoes and dropped his jacket and backpack onto the ground. His entire body ached. He was going to have some nasty bruises. He fell flat onto the couch and let out a loud groan into the cushions. With his feeling of dread growing, he awaited his parent's arrival. Suspended again. This time for the rest of the year. Last time the weeklong suspension had been torture. His parents had been passively angry at him the entire time. They'd made him do extra chores and prevented him from playing any games, hanging out with friends, or even watching any movies. At least they had let him read his comics, so he hadn't lost his mind completely. But even then, they had only allowed him to read for two hours a day before confiscating them. He'd barely made it through that week, but this time was going to be a lot longer.
Fear wakened anew within him as he heard his parents pull up in the driveway. He could hear his parents chatting as they closed the car doors. Hopefully, they would just kill him quickly and be done with it.
Carl, his father, glared at him. "Well obviously you are grounded for the rest of the school year." He said after he had finished yelling at Ben. The suspension note lay on the table in front of him. He had barely gotten through half of it before he'd lost his temper.
"I'm so disappointed in you, son. A 17-year-old should know better than to try and solve every problem with his fists. Go upstairs and wait in your room as your mother and I decide what to do with you." Without a word Ben trudged up to his room, plugged in his headphones, and blasted some music.
That went about as well as he thought it would. Everything he had said seemed to make things worse and his parents angrier, so he'd sat quietly and let them rant until they had calmed down. Ben stared at the ceiling and tried to lose himself in the music. After about 30 minutes of trying to ignore the painful bruises that the bully had caused, his phone blipped. Come downstairs, your father and I have made a decision. With dread growing in his stomach Ben made his way downstairs and sat before his parents.
"Since your mother and I are leaving on our vacation in a week, we have decided that you are going to live with your Grandpa. Perhaps his military discipline will shape you up."
"Not Grandpa! He's so old and boring! He never likes doing anything fun like kicking a soccer ball and he doesn't even have any cool stories to tell since he didn't serve in any wars! Why can't I just stay here like last time?"
"You know your mother and I have been planning this vacation for over a year. We aren't going to cancel it and we definitely aren't going to leave you here by yourself for an entire month. You need to be punished for your behavior and that won't happen if we are gone."
"But – ", Ben began.
"Our minds are made up." His father interrupted sharply. "You are going to live with your Grandpa and that's final. Now go get packed, we are dropping you off today."
"Yes sir." Ben said sullenly.
Ben dragged himself back upstairs and began throwing his belongings into his duffle bag. Things could've been worse, he mused. He could've been sent to the military or a boarding school like they'd threatened last time. At least he'd probably be able to watch movies and play games at Grandpa's; so long as he kept his phone. Did Grandpa even own a TV? Slinging his bag over his shoulder he made his way back downstairs. His parents were waiting by the door. Without saying a word, they walked outside and got into the car. This is going to be a fun car ride. Ben thought sarcastically; the tension was already thick enough to cut with a knife.
A silent hour later, the car pulled up to his Grandpa's house. Turning in her seat and holding out her hand his mother flatly said, "Phone.". Great, Ben thought, this is going to be torture. He passed his phone to his mother. She popped out his sim card and put it into the punishment phone. A Nokia 3310. His parents had bought it the first time he had been suspended.
As Ben pulled his backpack and bag out of the trunk he looked around. Grandpa's house looked every bit as boring as it he remembered. A green lawn with no trees or decorations and an old, rusty motor home parked in the driveway. Ben could practically feel waves of boredom emanating from the house and turning his brain to mush. Lugging his bag behind him, he made his way to the front door behind his parents. Before they had reached the porch, Ben's Grandpa Max appeared from behind the RV, rolling a trash bin behind him.
At nearly 60 years old, Grandpa was in great shape. It was obvious that he took time to work out every day as he had a very lean and defined physique. His hair had started greying in his early 40's and now that it had completely turned grey, streaks of white were beginning to show above the ears. He had permanent wrinkles around his eyes that looked as if he had spent all of his life squinting. Or smiling, Ben amended as Grandpa's face lit up upon seeing them. Ben couldn't help but smile back. It had been a few years since he had last seen Grandpa. Now that he was standing in front of him and smiling, Ben began to realize how much he'd missed him. Grandpa walked over and wrapped him in a big hug.
"Ben! It's good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too Grandpa!" Ben said hugging him back. "I see you still have your awful taste in shirts."
Grandpa's deep, genuine laugh made Ben smile even more. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
"I could say the same to you." Grandpa replied, holding him at arm's length. "A white shirt with a black stripe? Is that really all the style you can muster up?"
Ben smoothed his shirt, in playful defiance. "This is a fantastic style; you can wear it with any color!"
Grandpa's eyes twinkled. "The same could be said for my shirts."
"That's because they are every color. Hawaiian shirts went out of style forever ago. At least mine don't make people go blind." Grandpa chuckled and turned back to Ben's parents.
"What prompted this surprising but very welcome visit?" Ben glanced with surprise at his parents. They hadn't told Grandpa that they were coming? Let alone that they were planning on leaving Ben with him?
As Ben's parents began relating the story of his fights and subsequent suspensions of the past few years, Grandpa Max's face lost a little of its joviality. A few times during the tale Grandpa glanced at Ben with an eyebrow raised but other than that he didn't say anything.
"So," Ben's dad concluded, "we are going to leave him with you for the rest of the school year while he does his homework online."
"Woah, rest of the year?" Ben cut in, "I thought your vacation was only going to be a month!" His father's veiled glare shut Ben up.
"I doubt a month would be long enough to change your behavior." Carl said, his voice sounded polite but felt threatening.
"I see." Grandpa said slowly. He looked thoughtful for a moment then brightened up. "This is perfect timing! I was planning a long cross country road trip that is going to take a month or two, but Ben could easily do his homework while we traveled. He would even have a study buddy to -." Grandpa's phone rang and he pulled it out to look at it. He excused himself and walked a short distance away. After a pause he glanced furtively at Ben and his parents, then walked behind his RV.
Study buddy? Who would Grandpa be planning a road trip with? Had Grandpa finally started dating again? It had been years since Grandma had died. How long do you normally wait after the death of a spouse before dating again? Ben barely remembered Grandma, but he did remember how destroyed his Grandpa had looked at her funeral. That amount of sadness seemed like the kind that resulted in a person never dating anyone again, but Ben wasn't exactly an expert. Perhaps time really does heal all wounds and Grandpa had found someone.
Ben shuddered mentally. The thought of going on a month-long road trip with Grandpa and some random old lady flirting with each other made him want to gag.
Carl's phone beeped and he pulled it out to look at it. He glanced at his wife with a raised eyebrow, then turned to Ben. "We are leaving. Tell Grandpa we said bye. You better behave yourself with him. If he has to call us…" Ben's father let the threat hang in the air. The look on his father's face told him that now was not the time to ask for leniency. "Yes sir." Ben said resignedly. His father nodded and without any further goodbyes, his parents got in their car and left. Ben felt his hopes leave with them.
A short time later Grandpa walked back around the RV as he put his phone in his pocket. "Did your parents leave already?"
"Yeah." Ben said and tried to ignore the slightly hurt tone in his Grandpa's voice. Ever since Grandma died his parents had been a bit distant with Grandpa. Grandma had apparently been the glue that had kept his family together. "So, who's this study buddy you mentioned?" Ben asked trying to distract Grandpa and lighten the mood. Grandpa smiled at him and picked up his bag. Holding his hand towards his door he said, "Right this way." Ben tried to suppress his growing dread and led the way inside. Before he had even set his backpack down, Ben heard a voice that made him wish that Grandpa had started dating again.
"What are you doing here?!" Without waiting for a reply, his redheaded cousin, Gwen, turned to Grandpa. "What is he doing here?! Grandpa, please, tell me you didn't!" Grandpa Max smiled as he closed the door behind him. "I thought it would be fun if your cousin came along with us on our trip!"
"But I've been looking forward to this trip for the past month! Now you are telling me my doofus cousin is going to come too?"
"Nice to see you too, dweeb." Ben said, throwing as much sarcasm as he could into his reply.
Grandpa Max just smiled as he set Ben's bag on a couch. "It'll be good for the two of you to get to know one another. Perhaps you may even come to be friends." Now that thought made Ben want to gag.
"Well then," Grandpa said, clapping loudly and rubbing his hands together while looking almost gleeful. "Ben, you can sleep on the couch for tonight. Gwen already has all her belongings in the guest bedroom. Let's get a good night's sleep so we can start early tomorrow! I want to make it to our first campsite before nightfall! This is going to be a great adventure!"
Yeah right. Ben thought as he and Gwen glared at each other.