The Difference between Life and Death

(Day 27: Friday Afternoon)

"Ben. Can you come up here for a minute?"

Ben stands from his desk and walks up to the middle-aged man, "Yes, Mr. Conrad. What is it?" before he sees the graded assignment lying on the desk.

He holds up the paper, "A C, Ben? This isn't you."

Ben shakes his head, "That's impossible. I've been studying. I haven't even been skipping half of the reading lately. This must be a mistake."

The teacher lays the paper back down, "Ben." before he folds his hands. "I know that being king must be putting a lot of stress on you."

"What does that have to do with this?" he questions as he furrows his eyebrows.

It takes a moment for Mr. Conrad to say, "Ben. I'm worried about you. You haven't been yourself lately, and, frankly, your appearance shows it."

"My appearance?"

"You look exhausted," the teacher explains. "How much sleep have you been getting?"

Ben shakes his head, "I'm fine. I don't feel tired. I mean… maybe just a little drained, but not tired." He sees the balding man nod, as if he's taking the information in. "What?"

"I need to ask you this, and I want you to be honest with me." Ben doesn't speak. "Is there a chance that you thought you would be able to handle your schedule better if you could stay awake longer?"

"I…" Ben lets out a confused breath, "I don't understand."

"Are you taking something to stay awake?"

"What? No!" Ben looks behind himself and sees several students staring at him, before he leans in and stresses, "I'm not taking anything."

Mr. Conrad looks down for a second, "Ben. If you are—"

"I'm not," Ben yells, before he shakes his head again. "What's wrong with everyone? I'm just a guy trying to get through this life. There's nothing wrong with me, and I'm not doing anything I'm not supposed to be doing."

"Ben," the teacher says, trying to get his attention, as Ben picks his books up from the front row and begins to leave. "If you do this, then I'm going to have to call your parents."

"Then do it," Ben exasperates. "I'm not doing anything wrong, and I have nothing to hide." He glances at the floor, realizing there is something he's hiding; however, it is a something of which his parents are already aware of. He looks back up and calmly comments, "I'm going to Communications."

"Ben?" The class looks at him. "I thought you had Psychology today."

It takes a moment for him to say, "I wasn't really learning anything I don't already know."

The brown haired teacher smiles, "Well. I'm afraid you won't be learning much here either. I was just about to put on a film for the class."

"No," Ben tiredly objects. "That sounds interesting."

"Alright, then." He gestures to the desks, "Take a seat." and it's not a minute later that Ben sits down next to Aziz.

"Hey."

Ben glances at him, "Hey."

When the room darkens and the projector lights up the board Aziz comments, "You know, it was a bad idea to leave when you did."

"Why?" Ben mumbles.

"Well. I mean, it kind of looks bad." Ben looks up at him. "As a royal, you should have known not to leave the team so soon after what happened. Now people are going to think those things about you are true."

"But you don't?" he inquires.

Aziz tries to smile, "The coach said you just weren't feeling well, and you claimed the shove was just an adrenaline rush… I'd like to believe you."

"But you don't," Ben replies before shaking his head.

"I admit I have questions," Aziz honestly answers. "However, what I really don't get is why the coach would protect you only to have you leave the team."

Ben looks down at his things, "We just came to the conclusion that it was no longer a suitable environment for me to be in."

"Okay," he begins. "As your friend, I'm going to tell you not to phrase it like that to anyone else." Ben looks back up at him. "If anyone has heard about the possibility of you using performance enhancers, then they're going to think that you and Coach decided it was an unfit environment simply because it caused enough stress for you to use."

"But I didn't," Ben rejects. "I don't."

"That won't matter." He watches him place a hand to his temple and forehead, "Hey. It's going to be okay."

Ben shakes his head, "No. It's not that." before he starts searching through his things. "I think I forgot to do something this morning."

"What?"

"My tics-tacs," Ben whispers anxiously. "Do you see them anywhere?"

Aziz looks at the desks before glancing at the floor around them, "No. I don't see them anywhere." before he watches Ben put his hand back to his head. "What's going on?"

Ben tries to take a calming breath, "I'm just not feeling very great at this second, and I thought a couple might help me a little.

"If you're not feeling well, then you should go see the nurse."

"No," Ben immediately says with wide eyes, but he continues with less panic at the sight of Aziz's questioning look. "I— The class. I don't want to interrupt the class."

"What are you going to do?" he slightly laughs at the absurdity. "Just wait it out?"

"Yes." Ben seriously answers, "There's only like fifteen minutes left. I can wait." and that's what he does. He stares down at the watch he wears and counts down the seconds. Just fifteen more minutes. Just thirteen more minutes. If I feel any worse in five minutes, then I will leave. I could just sneak out of here. Just ten more minutes. I can handle it.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

Ben glances at him and opens his mouth to speak, but in the end he merely looks back down at his desk and watch. Nine minutes. I can make it another three. Eight. What if we get to end early? Seven. I might as well just stay. Six. Five. He watches as the lights are switched back on, and he blinks several times as his eyes adjust to the large amount of light.

"So, you see class," the teacher stares out at them. "Communication is very important. It may be the difference between someone's life and someone's death." Ben feels Aziz looking at him, but he ignores it. "I hope you all found the video very informative and entertaining." Ben slowly moves his head, as he watches his classmates gather their things, and it's not soon after that the bell rings. "That's it for today. Remember that your reports are due Monday." A quarter of the people have already left. "If everyone gets a B or higher, then we can watch another video on Thursday."

"Ben?"

Ben looks up and sees Aziz standing next to him on the left side of the classroom, and with another glance around he finds that practically everyone has left. So, he stands to his feet and reluctantly takes his hand from the desk. The teacher is staring at him. He sees him staring at him, so he moves his foot forward. Something is off. Things look different somehow. "Ben?" He looks back at the teacher but remains silent. "Benjamin?"

Ben opens his mouth to speak, but he finds himself unable to. Instead, he takes another step forward to prove he's okay, but in the end his eyes cross and he falls to the floor. "Ben," Aziz yells as the teacher hurries over.

"Ben," the teacher shakes him.

"He said he wasn't feeling well," Aziz informs.

The teacher places a hand to Ben's forehead, "He's very warm. We need to get him to the nurse." but then Ben makes a noise and his eyes crack open.

"Ben," Aziz lets out in relief. "It's okay. We're going to get you to the nurse."

"No. no," Ben whispers. "Dor— horm."

Aziz looks at the teacher in concern, "He really doesn't want to see the nurse."

"Well, that's just too bad," the teacher instructs, "because that's exactly where we're taking him."

Ben raises his arm to push the teacher in the shoulder, but he doesn't budge. "What is it?" asks Aziz. "Having a little trouble pushing him across the room?" Ben roars at him, and Aziz laughs. "So, that rumor was true, then." Ben lays his head back down on the carpet, and Aziz grabs hold of his upper arm, "Come on. If you can roar, then you can stand. Get up." Ben complies, but the moment he stands he passes out and Aziz struggles to keep him upright.

- That whole line about how important communication is and how it can be the difference between life and death has to be my favorite quote in this chapter. It's just so suspenseful and foreshadowing. Did I scare you?... Oh. Wait. You probably want to see the conclusion to this first. Right. Okay. Next chapter. I hope you're enjoying this.