Sorry for the delay on this one guys. I wasn't exactly happy with the original plot and the direction that I was going for in this chapter in particular. But know, here it is. The date is obviously meant to signify that it's a flashback. After that section of this chapter, it goes back to October 2013, taking place during the events of Episode 1 of Life is Strange. But once again, this is all an alternate timeline and we're now back to Ben's perspective on things. Enjoy!
WARNING: Contains some drug references and Nathan being sketchy as usual!
Chapter 4: Old and New Faces
June 30th, 2013:
Ben still had a perfect memory of this day in his head as the events that took place on it happened not too long ago. It wasn't just his birthday, but his eighteenth to be exact. This was the significant moment of his life in which he would now be entering the void of adulthood. And how exactly was he spending his special day so far? By lying in his bed.
Ben had slept until it was noon, like he did on most days in the summer. Usually, his dad would wake him up so he wouldn't end up being late to work with his Uncle Joaquin for the summer carpentry job he was working. Today was different, as his Uncle gave him the day off.
Ben rolled over in his bed to grab his phone and check for the time to see if it was justifiable to get up.
"1:00 PM, fair enough." Ben said, looking at the time on his phone. He then sat up on his bed, placing his feet down on the floor of his room and decided to check his phone for all of the unread messages that he slept through. He first saw one that was from his mom:
Mom:
Happy Birthday Benji! It felt like yesterday when I held you in my arms and now you're already an adult. Be sure to check the mailbox at your father's. I mailed something a little special for you. Love you more!
Thanks mom! Miss you!, Ben texted back.
Sometimes, this day was also hard for Ben. His mother was never able to celebrate his birthday with him since he always spent the entire summers with his dad in Arcadia Bay. It only made him hate it even more that his parents were separated. But he and his mom were always close. She was the reason that Ben developed such a taste for music and movies from the 70s and 80s. In fact, the vinyl record player that Ben owned belonged to her when she was his age and she decided to pass it on to him when he was moving to Arcadia Bay to attend Blackwell.
Ben often spent most of his life living with her. When he was five, his parents had finally had it with each other and decided to get a divorce one day. His mom took him with her and the two moved to San Francisco. After settling in, she eventually became good friends with a fellow co-worker who had a daughter that was Ben's age at the time. The little girl's name was Dana Ward and the two got along really well. The two moms would always arrange play dates for their kids, who would eventually go to school together and become somewhat of a brother-sister duo. Now they were both attending Blackwell together.
Ben then opened the next unread message, which was from his dad:
Dad:
Happy Birthday Ben! I'm sorry that I'm not at home to celebrate with you. Of all the days my Alma Mater chose to host my class reunion, they just had to pick your special day. I'll make it up to you with a meal at the Two Whales diner when I come back tomorrow night. Plus I'll have your present for you too! You're gonna love it!
Ben then read the next message from his dad that followed
Dad:
And yes, I know that you're now 18 and you have the house to yourself tonight. That still doesn't give you an excuse to throw a party or even worse, burn the place down while I'm gone. Call me if you need anything.
There were several more messages that followed, each with the same kind of message as his parents'. They were all from Ben's relatives and even some of his friends back in San Francisco. He didn't even check his Facebook yet to see how many people had written "Happy Birthday" on his wall. He decided that he would find somewhere in the house to sit down and take the time to respond to all of the kind birthday wishes.
After Ben had showered, he changed into a red and gray tank top, navy shorts, and slipped into a pair of Sperry's. He then grabbed a bowl of cereal and proceeded to check his Facebook, until he heard a loud knock at the door.
No one was obviously here for his Dad since he was out of town, and Ben had only been in Arcadia Bay for two weeks. Who was it that really wanted to see him? It's just that he didn't really have a lot of friends in this town. He figured that it must have been a birthday present delivered to him. But from who? He gave up on guessing and opened the door to his surprise.
Standing in front of Ben's door as he opened it, was a girl that was close to his height and had a slender build. She wore pale blue ripped jeans, black boots, and a white sleeveless shirt with a skull on it. She wore a necklace with three bullets hanging on it, and had a tattoo sleeve on her right arm that displayed an artistic design of butterflies, flowers, and a yellow skull. She also had a dark blue beanie worn over her dyed blue hair. Ben was confused as to who exactly this was at first, but he was soon able to recognize the girl through her punk rocker fashion by looking into her bright blue eyes.
"Chloe Price?" Ben asked.
"Well yeah, who else were you expecting,' Ferris Bueller'?" Chloe retorted teasingly.
Ben was able to tell that this was definitely Chloe, as she had given Ben the nickname "Ferris Bueller" back when they had met a couple of summers back.
"Wow. Chloe, you um… look… different." Ben acknowledged, still trying to take in the appearance of her new look
"So do you." She replied.
"You been hitting the gym since we last seen each other?" Chloe asked as she noticed Ben's new appearance.
"You can say that. I've been doing some weightlifting for football." He stated.
"Well damn, back when I met you two summers ago, you looked like you never even picked up a weight in your entire life." She added jokingly.
Ben looked at Chloe somewhat awkwardly, still trying to figure out what she was doing here anyway.
"You look good, is what I'm trying to say." Chloe said to Ben.
"So, do you members of the Ferris family usually let your guests in or just let them stand outside in the sweltering heat? Just wondering." She asked sarcastically with a cheeky smile.
Ben was glad to know to that if one thing about Chloe didn't change, it was her sarcasm.
"Oh sorry, come on in" He told her as he apologized.
"Happy birthday, dude!" Chloe said as she leaned in to give him a hug. She then handed him a small white cardboard box with string tied around it and a gift bow attached on top.
"Thanks Chloe. What is it exactly?" Ben asked out of curiosity as he stared at the box.
"It's a bomb." Chloe answered nonchalantly.
"What?" Ben looked at her with a confused look on his face.
"I'm totally kidding dude. Man, you're gullible." Chloe reassured him as she laughed.
"It's a cake. My mom made it when she heard that you moved back into Arcadia Bay for good and I told her that I was gonna visit you today." She mentioned.
"Well, Joyce always did know the way to my stomach." Ben mentioned.
"Yeah, well the cake is for later." Chloe stated "Right now we gotta get our medication session on. Shall we?"
"We shall!" Ben replied. He placed the cake on the counter in the kitchen, just before the two went upstairs to Ben's room.
Chloe shut Ben's door behind her as Ben sat at his desk and opened one of his drawers.
"Oh, before we take part in our festivities, I wanted to give you your present I got you, before we get hella stoned." Chloe brought up.
Ben was then reminded of how Chloe loved the word "hella". They once spent so much time together one summer, that the word "hella" eventually caught on to Ben's vocabulary and he even got a couple of blank stares from his friends back in San Francisco when they first heard him use the word.
"Aw, Chloe, you didn't have to…" Ben said
"No, you deserve this, okay?" She interrupted.
"You've been a good friend for these past summers that we've known each other. And no matter how much I would bitch at you about how hard life was for me, you always listened. And people like that are hard to come by now these days." Chloe confessed to him as she began to choke up a bit.
"Plus, you'd also let me crash on your couch whenever I needed to get away from my step-douche, which makes you even more of a winner in my book." She finally added.
"So without further ado, happy birthday!" She said as she revealed a brand new vinyl record that she held behind her back to Ben.
"No way!" Ben reacted to the sight of the record.
It was Daft Punk's hit single, Get Lucky, which Ben now had the pleasure of playing on his record player, all thanks to Chloe. After all, Daft Punk was one of Ben's favorite musical artists that were from today's era of music.
"You have no idea how much I love this." Ben expressed to Chloe giddily. "Thanks Chloe! How did you even know to get this for me?" He asked.
"Cause you always mentioned how you're into vintage stuff." Chloe answered as if that question was a no-brainer.
"Seriously, I have… had a friend almost like you who's obsessed with Polaroid cameras. You two would probably make the best of friends." She joked.
"Well, not's waste any more time." Ben said. He found his bowl that he and Chloe would always use whenever she came to hang out at his place. Chloe pulled out a bag of fresh new bud that she recently bought and prepared to pack it into the bowl. The two were now ready to start "medicating".
Hours had passed and Ben and Chloe were now stoned to the point where they began to debate the benefits and risks of packing the bowl again. Ben enjoyed that Chloe had kept him company for his birthday, the two caught up on everything from life in Arcadia Bay and San Francisco to their plans for the future.
"So, what do you think you're gonna do after you graduate from Blackwell?" Chloe asked.
"Go to College, I guess." Ben simply answered, not knowing what else to say.
"Well no shit, that doesn't surprise me at all coming from someone like you." Chloe replied.
"Like, where do you think you would go and for what?" She demanded to know from Ben.
"Well," Ben said in a hesitant tone. "I've been thinking about being an actor lately." He told her.
"An actor?" Chloe asked. "Dude, I know that we're both hella baked right now, but are you're being one hundred percent serious with me?" She asked.
"I really mean it. Honest! Well, it feels like more than just a thought at this point. I'm already gonna be studying Drama and Film Studies at Blackwell anyway. Plus, I wouldn't be opposed to writing some screenplays for films on the side too." Ben expressed.
"I can totally see it dude." Chloe supported. "Ben 'fucking' Ferris: Movie Star, Writer, and Director." She said in her best impersonation of an announcer voice. "You better make it big in Hollywood, dude. Then give me a call when you do. That way, we can write and star in 'Pineapple Express 2' together." Chloe brought up.
"Sounds like a plan." Ben said.
The two had conversed more just before they heard the sound of the doorbell from downstairs.
"Oh, that's them." Chloe shouted as she jumped up from the floor and began to leave Ben's room.
"Who's them? Who are you talking about?" Ben asked wanting to know, from Chloe. He began to chase after her down the stairs.
"Just some party people." Chloe answered nonchalantly.
"What? Chloe no way." Ben snapped as he grabbed Chloe's arm and stopped her from opening the front door.
"What's wrong? All of a sudden, you don't want your special day to be celebrated by anyone else." She asked in an upset tone.
"No, it's not that." He told her truthfully. "It's just that... my Dad will make sure that I don't live to see the day I turn nineteen if we wreck this place. Ben added.
"Relax dude, I'll crash here with you tonight and we'll clean up everything when we wake up tomorrow." Chloe said as if she had the situation all planned out. "That is if we can power through our hangovers." She joked.
Chloe then opened the door and the two were welcomed by a crowd of people standing outside of the house. Every single one of them knew Chloe.
"Sup, Frank?" Chloe shouted addressing Frank Bowers, the local drug dealer in Arcadia Bay.
"Hey." Frank answered back. "Happy Birthday, big guy." He said, addressing Ben. "Where do want us to put the kegs?" He then asked Ben. And yes, when Frank said kegs, he meant more than one.
"Kegs?" Ben asked with a surprised look on his face, making sure he heard what Frank said correctly.
"That's right!" Chloe said.
"As your personal party planner, it's my job to make sure that you have fun tonight and get hella wasted at your own birthday party." She explained.
"Fuck it." Ben said to himself.
"Hey Frank, put one keg in the kitchen and the other outside in the backyard." Ben shouted eagerly, ready to get crazy for his eighteenth birthday.
Everyone standing behind Frank outside the house went wild as they knew the party had officially begun.
"Chloe, remind me to hire you as my wedding planner." Ben told her.
"I gotchu, bro." Chloe said as the two gave each other a fist bump.
"And thanks for doing all of this." He added.
"No problem. You deserve all of this anyway." She stated.
Monday, October 7th, 2013 (Present Day)
That was Ben's last memory that he had of him and Chloe this past summer. The two didn't get to spend much time together after that, as Ben ended up getting more work hours piled up on him. He also needed to make time to train for football.
Ben was sitting in his science class, still reminiscing about that epic day and night that Chloe planned for him. He wasn't even paying any attention to the lecture that his teacher, Ms. Grant was giving to the class. Luckily he sat in the back of the classroom and right next to Warren Graham, the smartest kid in the class who was a natural born science wiz. Unlike other Vortex Club members who excluded others outside of their social group, Ben didn't mind Warren at all. In fact, he liked his style. The two of them were both movie nerds at heart, and Warren actually had a wider knowledge of films than Ben. He had a flashdrive that was filled with hundreds of movies and anime, some that Ben had never even heard of. Science was never Ben's strongest subject and he didn't do so hot on the first exam in the class. After he saw that he got a D-, he then turned to Warren and asked if he could tutor him to help him bring his grade up. He needed to if he wanted to stay on the football team. Warren was only sixteen years-old though, making him the youngest student attending Blackwell. Despite him being two years younger than most of the other students, Ben felt that Warren was much more mature and respectful than any of the football players on the team.
Today, Ben was eager for the bell to ring, concluding the final class of the day. He wasn't dying to be anywhere specific. He was just waiting all day to talk to Mr. Jefferson about taking part in an independent study that he could tie to his Video Production class. Independent Studies were really nobody's favorite thing to complete at Blackwell. Every student was required to do one before graduating from the Academy. The procedure was simple though. Students were to take any kind of experience outside of class, rather it be a sport or club and do a 24-hour observation period. Once the required amount of hours for the observation period were met the student would then have to write a 1,000 word essay, tying their activity of choice back to any of their classes they were taking. Everybody hated it as it was just more work to fulfill alongside with their class schedule, the mandatory deadline to submit the independent study application was today. It wasn't until late last night, that Ben came to the conclusion that he wanted Mr. Jefferson to assist him in his independent study. He figured that working alongside a former cinematographer would look good on his resume if he wanted to make it in the film industry. Ben decided that he would go talk to Jefferson, who was in the classroom across the hall and ask if he could have the privilege to work with him, that was if the two both had flexible hours that worked around Ben having football practice.
The bell eventually rang and Ben swept his notebook and pencil on the table into his backpack using his arm. He jumped out of his seat and rushed out of the classroom trying his best not to push or shove anybody out of the way. He could see some of his fellow Vortex Club friends just walking out of Jefferson's classroom as he made his way to go in. He engaged in a bit of small talk with them as he passed by.
"What's up, Ben?" Taylor greeted with a warm smile as she flashed a peace sign with her hand.
"Not much T-Swizz. How bout you?" Ben replied and asked her.
"Chillin now that I saw your smiling face." She said back in a flirtatious manner.
"Ben, my man!" Hayden shouted to him as the two performed their secret handshake they created together.
"Sup Hayden." Ben asked
"Not much dude. You down to try out my new bong… I mean game system I bought over the weekend?" Hayden asked, choosing his words carefully to make sure a teacher or even David Madsen or Principal Wells didn't hear him.
"Maybe tonight after I get out of practice. I bet you I can get a new 'high' score on that thing, haha." Ben played along with Hayden.
Just as he opened the door to Jefferson's classroom, Ben was met by the brunette girl, Max. It was already October and he still hadn't introduced himself to the girl with the camera, even though they had one class togehter. He always saw her walking around campus, taking pictures with her Polaroid camera. Ben was always first to put himself out there and introduce himself to new people whenever he had the opportunity. Then he thought about her camera and wondered to himself,
"Could that be Chloe's old friend that she briefly brought up that one time?" Ben thought to himself. "Probably not." He concluded.
"I see you, Max Caulfield. Don't even think about leaving here until we talk about your entry." Mr. Jefferson shouted to Max as she made her way to the door. She then turned around and walked over to Mr. Jefferson's desk, where he was seen chatting with Victoria, who was without a doubt trying to get her flirt on with him.
"Oh hey, Ben." Mr. Jefferson called acknowledging Ben who was standing in the doorway.
"I'll be right with you. Just feel free to take a seat anywhere in the classroom while I finish talking with Miss Chase and Miss Caulfield." He added.
Ben did as the man said. And looked for a vacant table to sit and wait at until Jefferson would give his attention to him. Upon looking at the tables, he saw Kate again. She was sitting at one of the tables, not moving her body even an inch and staring down at the surface of the table. Did she not know that class was officially over?
Ben felt obliged to walk over to the blonde and ask her if she was alright, but something was also telling him that it would be best if she was left alone. Ben decided to sit at the table in front of her in case he changed his mind. As he pulled the chair out to take a seat he heard the sound of a piece of paper crinkle under his foot. He moved his foot to see that it was in fact a balled up piece of paper. He picked it up and sat down in his chair, his back now facing Kate's. He then unwrapped the paper ball figuring that it was just a note that someone passed to their friend in class. Wanting to eavesdrop on the conversation of the previous students, Ben was shocked at what he read upon unraveling the concealed note.
Dear Kate, We love your porn video XOXO -Blackwell Academy.
"What the hell? If this is supposed to be a joke, it's not really funny." Ben thought to himself.
Ben decided to ask Kate if she had seen this note since it was referring to her. He turned around and was about to tap her on the shoulder to ask her if she had seen this. He only wanted to show it to her to make sure she was aware of it. Before his finger could even meet her shoulder, she had gotten up out of her chair, placed her red handbag over her shoulder, and began to walk out of the classroom, completely unaware that Ben was in her proximity.
"Well, you tried Ben." He said to himself feeling bad seeing her like that.
Mr. Jefferson was finally done chatting with Max and Victoria at his desk and began to walk over to Ben who was still sitting at the table.
"What's that you've got?" Mr. Jefferson asked as he saw Ben with the note referring to Kate.
"Oh, just some girl's number from my last class." Ben lied putting the note away. He didn't want Jefferson to catch him red-handed with a hurtful note that wasn't even his.
"Well, it's not my business to know who my students are seeing anyway." Mr. Jefferson laughed.
"So, what can I do for you Ben?" He asked.
"It's about the…" Ben began to speak.
"The independent study, that's right. You mentioned it to me when we had class earlier today." Mr. Jefferson interrupted Ben as he remembered.
"Do you have the application with you?" He asked Ben.
"Yeah, here it is." Ben answered as he pulled out a white sheet of paper that was folded in a square. He began to unfold it as Jefferson pulled out a pen to sign his name on the application.
"Well, it's not in the best condition, but it'll still get by with the folks in the main office." Jefferson joked commenting about the appearance of Ben's application.
"Here you are Mr. Ferris." He said to Ben in an upbeat tone.
"It's great to see that we have a student here at Blackwell with an interest in the Film industry." He added. "So, how about we start on Wednesday at 4 PM, right after school?" Mr. Jefferson asked Ben.
"Wednesday works for me." Ben answered with enthusiasm.
"Wednesday it is then. I'm looking forward to working with you outside of class, Ben." Jefferson stated.
"Thanks again for this." Ben thanked him with excitement before leaving the classroom. He threw the nasty note about Kate in the trash can and left the room.
Ben made a quick stop at his locker to put away his books that he didn't need for his homework. As he walked down the hall which had a fair amount of students still hanging around, he and everyone else was alerted by the sound of a siren. It wasn't the familiar sound of the bell that let the students know class was dismissed. This was the sound of the fire alarm, which had everyone caught off guard by the noise. Ben thought that this had to be the work of some asshole who decided to hit the fire alarm button as a prank. As he was about to make his way out of the school building and find a safe spot to stay outside, he saw the door of the girls' bathroom open. As Ben looked to his curiosity, he recognized the familiar face of his old friend he hadn't seen since his birthday over the summer.
"Chloe?" Ben asked in surprise.
"Ben." Chloe shouted in relief to see him.
"Come on, follow me." She ordered.
"But, I..." Ben tried to tell Chloe he needed to report outside of the main building before he'd get in trouble for loitering in the halls while the fire alarm was going off.
"Are you coming or not?" She snapped at him.
"Shit." Ben said to himself as he began to follow Chloe.
As Ben looked to his right, he also noticed Nathan walking out of the girl's bathroom shortly after. What was he doing in there in the first place? Why was Chloe here at Blackwell when she had gotten expelled a few years back? His mind was racing with questions and the annoying sound of the siren and worry of being caught by someone didn't help either.
Ben and Chloe exited through one of the side exits of the main building. They raced through the parking lot to get to Chloe's car, a yellow rusted pick-up truck.
"Get in. We're fugitives now." Chloe joked to Ben as if this was all some kind of game to her.
Ben opened up the door to the passenger's seat as Chloe inserted her keys into the ignition. She pulled out of the parking lot and the two took off, leaving Blackwell Academy.
Ben and Chloe both agreed on going to Arcadia Bay's lighthouse, a quiet and secluded area where they could catch up on everything else that happened over the summer. The two were currently conversing about Ben's historic birthday party.
"I'm actually surprised you remembered that night at all." Chloe laughed, thinking back to just how inebriated Ben was that night.
"Yeah, well it was mostly just bits and pieces anyway." Ben confessed.
"Without a doubt." Chloe agreed. "I still couldn't believe that of all of the places I could have found you when the party was finally over, you happened to be passed out in the backyard, covered in your own puke." She mentioned trying to fight back her laughter.
"You remember that part better than I do." Ben said as he smirked. "Thanks for the lift by the way, Chloe." He added.
"No worries, I just wish our summer could have been filled with more adventures like they used to." Chloe expressed somewhat sadly.
"Me too." Ben said. "It's just that I ended up getting swamped with more hours at my Uncle's Carpentry Company. I had to start taking shifts for one of his co-workers after he got killed by a drunk dri... I mean passed away." Ben said as he restated his sentence. He avoided making eye contact with Chloe at this moment.
"Dude, it's okay." Chloe said in an annoyed but sincere voice.
"It's already been five years since my Dad... left me and my mom. I just gotta learn how to move on. But it's hard to do that when people like my 'step-tool' try to bring me down to their own level." She said sadly looking out into the sun.
"So what was the whole deal with you and Nathan running out the girl's bathroom today?" Ben asked with concern as he tried to change the subject.
"I needed some cash from him. Like hella bad. And if he wasn't gonna pay up, then I was gonna rat his ass out that he was selling drugs to kids at Blackwell." Chloe explained to Ben.
"Well yeah, I know he does. I even bought some bud off of him once. But what do you got against Nathan anyway to blackmail him?" Ben asked with wonder.
"It's cause he's an elite asshole who sells bad shit cut with laxative...and he dosed me with some drug in his room." Chloe confessed to Ben.
"What? No way!" Ben replied in disbelief
"Look, I'm sorry if he's your whole Vortex Club BFF, but he's actually a total scumbag." Chloe protested.
"So how did it happen? Him dosing you." Ben asked.
"I met him in some shithole bar that didn't card me. He was too rich for the place and too wasted. And he kept flashing bills..." She added.
"Just tell me what happened, Chloe. Please?" Ben begged.
"I was an idiot. I thought he was so blazed it would be an easy score." Chloe stated.
"So you needed the money that bad?" Ben questioned.
"Actually, yes. I owe big time. And I thought I'd have enough for me and Rachel if she showed up..." Chloe brought up.
"Rachel? You mean, Rachel Amber, the girl who went missing a few months back?" Ben asked with interest.
"Yeah, that's her. But anyway, Nathan and I went back to his room at Blackwell. We drank and I laughed at his rich kid bullshit. He was one step ahead and put something in my beer..." Chloe mentioned.
"Shit Chloe, I can't believe this... I mean, I do but... Then what?" Ben responded still in shock at what Chloe was telling him. Chloe was a couple of things but not a liar. He still wanted to take her side though.
"I passed out on the floor. I woke up and next thing I know, that perv was smiling and crawling towards me with a camera." Chloe said.
"What the fu… sorry, go on." Ben reacted trying to contain his emotions.
"Everything was a blur... I tried to kick him in the balls and broke a lamp. Nathan freaked, so I managed to bum rush the door and get the hell out. Ben, it was insane." Chloe revealed to Ben, still sounding traumatized by the event.
"Chloe, this is so fucked up." Ben said angrily. "What did you do then?" He asked.
"I figured I would make him pay me to keep quiet. So we met in the bathroom. That was until I realized the fucker brought a gun with him and pointed it at me. And then that was when the fire alarm had went off, you and I happened to run into each other in the hallway, and here we are now." Chloe added, finally finishing her entire story to Ben.
"Chloe, this is serious. If Nathan actually did have a gun on him, then we need to go to the police. I'll testify with you. I saw him walk out of the bathroom right after you did." Ben stated as he wanted to let his friend know he had her back.
"I appreciate that, Ben. I really do. But I just don't want you to get involved in this." Chloe expressed, dismissing Ben's advice.
"Why not? You're my friend and you know that I'd go out of my way for you." Ben argued.
"Dude, I know." Chloe shouted.
"It's just that... you're a student at Blackwell now and the Prescotts own that place. And if you try to cross Nathan, let alone stab him in the back when you two are friends, his family could make your life a living hell." She advised him.
"Well then what am I supposed to do? Confront him about everything you just told me. We can't just let this slide, Chloe." Ben preached to her.
"You could if you wanted to. Unless you want him to pop a cap in you." Chloe sighed.
Ben had given up on trying to persuade Chloe to take the situation into her own hands. He then checked his phone to see that the two had left Blackwell over an hour ago. He then saw that Victoria had replied to a message that he sent her earlier.
Ben:
Hey Victoria, I heard someone talking about some porn video that involved Kate Marsh. Do you happen to know anything about that?
Victoria:
OMG Ben! How did you not see that at the VC party on Friday night? Kate's tongue count was off the charts lol. There's a youtube video of it up on a website and pictures of it are up all over campus. I'll send you the link.
Ben:
You don't have to do that. I just wanted to know what all the buzz was about. Thanks!
Victoria:
Ok, your loss then :P
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Ben asked Chloe.
"Ask away 'Ferris Bueller'." Chloe replied.
"So, there's this girl back at Blackwell who seems really quiet and doesn't really party or anything like that." Ben began to bring up.
"Only thing is she went to one of the Vortex Club parties over the weekend and got completely trashed. And now everyone's talking about her being in some video of her making out with a bunch of guys." Ben stated with a bit of worry in his voice.
"Well maybe she just felt that she needed to let loose for once." Chloe said as she sat back admiring the view from where they were sitting.
"Look, I'm being serious." Ben snapped.
"What if Nathan had something to do with that too? Maybe he slipped something in her drink that caused her to do all that crazy shit that people are saying." Ben theorized.
"Knowing someone like him, it's possible." Chloe answered. "But you can have all of the time to play detective back at Blackwell and figure things out while you interrogate Nathan. You ready to head back now?"
"Yeah. I better get back to Blackwell before your 'step-douche' launches a search party for me." Ben joked.
The two laughed as they made their way back to Chloe's truck.
Chloe had drove back to Blackwell to drop off Ben. They pulled into the student parking lot and came to a stop. Before Ben opened the door to get out of the truck and take off, he turned to face Chloe.
"Thanks for the lift Chloe." Ben thanked as he was happy to have reunited with his best friend again.
"Yeah, no problem. Just remember what I said about Nathan, alright? He's not exactly who he seems to be." Chloe reminded him.
"Got it. I'll try to talk to him when I see him and find out what his problem is." Ben mentioned to reassure Chloe that he would help her.
"You can try." Chloe said with a blank expression on her face, not even looking at Ben. He stepped out of her truck and began to walk back to his dorm, noticing that Chloe was still waiting in the parking lot.
As Ben walked back to the dormitories he could hear the sound of someone raising their voice. From what he could hear, it sounded like none other than David Madsen, Blackwell Academy's head of security and Chloe's stepfather. He was most likely giving someone a hard time like always. Ben followed David's voice, hoping to get a glimpse of what petty issue the guy was shouting about. As he got closer to the dorms, he looked around the corner to see Kate being confronted by David. Kate seemed so shy and harmless from what Ben had observed, whenever he saw her walking around campus. So what exactly did she do to piss off David? Ben didn't know the answer to that, but whatever it was, David was getting too out of line when he approached her.
"...so don't think I'm blind! I see everything here at Blackwell! Do you understand what I'm saying?" David shouted at Kate sternly. He then poked her shoulder with his index finger.
"No, and leave me alone!" Kate pleaded as she was slightly pushed back from the force of David's poke. Ben could see that she had a fearful look on her face.
Ben felt like he would be making a huge mistake by interfering and getting on David's bad side. But what was the right thing to do in a case like this? He couldn't just stand there idly and let the poor girl get picked on.
"Hey! Why don't you do what she says? Leave her alone!" Ben demanded as he made his choice to stand up for Kate.
"Excuse us, this is official campus business." David shouted at Ben for intervening.
Kate began to look down at her feet with a sad expression on her face as she felt that someone stepping in would only make the situation worse.
"'Campus business'? Oh, so you mean yelling in a student's face and bullying them?" Ben responded as he stepped in front of Kate, blocking David's full view of her. He and David were now face to face. The mustached security guard stood slightly taller than Ben and even had a muscular build from his time spent in the military.
"Hey, hey, nobody is bullying anybody. I'm doing my job." David argued in his defense.
"Yeah, 'doing your job'." Ben replied with sarcasm in his voice as he made quotation marks with his hands.
"I led troops into combat and this is the kind of respect I get here? I know who you are. And you're now part of the problem, 'Mr. Bigfoot'. I will remember this conversation." David barked at Ben as he gave him a warning before walking away from the two students.
Ben took a deep sigh to clear his mind before turning around to comfort the girl who had clearly been in distress.
"Are you alright?" Ben asked her.
"Y-Yes, I-I am." Kate answered timidly, still in disbelief of what she had just witnessed. A stranger, in her eyes, had actually just went out of their way to help her.
"That was great. I think you scared him for once." Kate stated excitedly to Ben.
"Yeah, I think so too." Ben replied, still trying to process what he had just done.
"I'm Ben by the way." He introduced himself to her.
"My name's Kate." She replied.
"I have to go now, but thank you, Ben. It means a lot." Kate happily thanked him before she walked away.
"Any time, Kate." Ben replied. He smiled as he watched her run off happily.
He had properly introduced himself to the mysterious blonde he had seen since the first weekend at Blackwell. Though, he kind of wished that they had met under much different circumstances. Still, he felt that he had done his good deed for the day, if not the week, considering how he spoke to an authority figure in such a way. He proudly walked back to his dorm to call it a day.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this one, especially with creating the history that Ben and Chloe have. Don't forget to leave a review and favorite this story so won't miss out on any future chapters. Stay tuned for chapter 5!