Disclaimer I do not own Animorphs or Ben 10

Chapter 27: Time Well Spent

Rachel's POV

I walked down the school's hallway; it was the friday and the bell was still ringing, announcing the end of class. My eyes scanned around searching for a particular patch of brown hair. I knew that it was a bad idea, I knew I am gonna get chewed out for it by Jake and the rest, but I was gonna do it anyway.

In the split second that there was a break in the crowd I caught the distinct sight of the person I was looking for; longish brown hair, white jacket, and jeans. It was Ben , and he was heading out of the school's front doors.

I shouldered my way through the crowd, it didn't help that most of them were headed in the opposite direction. I mean what the hell! Did everyone just happen to forget something in a a classroom? If I didn't know any better I'd say that the Universe just hates me right now, but ever since I became an Animorph I learned that if the Universe really ever did hate me, I'd already be dead. It was just my luck that it took me forever to get out the school's front doors.

The moment I was free from the crowd of kids I quickly looked around trying to spot Ben again, but he was gone. I hung my head in disappointment. Oh who am I kidding, things between us and Ben are really shaky at the moment, so it would make sense that he'd avoid us while trying to sort out what to do next, I mean that's what we're doing. So why am I even gonna try?

"Hey Rachel!" A voice called out. I turned around to see Cassie calling out to me, struggling to catch up to where I stood amongst the other kids trying to head out of school as quickly as possible. It took her a few moments to reach me. "Where were you going in such a hurry?" She asked.

I didn't really want to answer her, but I did anyway. "I thought I saw someone I recognized."

"Who?"

"It's nothing, just forget about it." I said, dodging the question. "So where're you headed today?"

Cassie shrugged. "I dunno, I thought that you wanted to hang around the mall and drag me along for the ride." She said jokingly.

I gave the idea some thought and I smiled slightly. Going around the mall for a bit of window shopping would really help keep my mind off of Ben. "You know what, Cassie? That sounds like a great idea." I said, turning to walk in the direction towards the mall.


I tried to go and talk to Ben several more times after what had happened that friday and all of them ended up like that day, I even tried keeping an eye out for him in the mall, but I didn't have much luck there. Almost everyday for that week I'd catch a glimpse of him and the moment I try to go to him he ends up giving me the slip. What the hell! Was he intentionally doing it or he doesn't know that I'm trying to get his attention.

I kept going at it, my mind was too distracted by thoughts of Ben to concentrate in class. It wasn't bad enough to effect my grades, but the teachers haven't noticed for now at least.

Without me realizing it, it was already friday again, by then I was at the end of my patience. And you know what? Fuck it. I'm going over to his house and talk to him.

Once school was over I went straight ahead in the direction towards his house. I remember the way easily enough, since I was able to literally get a bird's eye view of the route.

I took the bus to save me some time, and maybe, hopefully I'd catch him before he gets home. Things'll probably get pretty awkward if his parents get involved, if you catch my drift. Meeting a friend's parents can get real embarrassing real fast, and not just for their kid either.

I got off at the bus stop near where Ben lived and walked the rest of the way. Now that I got a closer look at the neighborhood it was actually one of the nicer ones in the area. The houses were larger and nicer looking, the neighborhood itself was a bit of a ways off from the busy roads that led to the main city which made the area quieter compared to where I'm from. It's a pretty pleasant neighborhood and I found myself enjoying my walk.

After several minutes, Ben's house was within sight. Looking around to see if Ben was nearby I looked over my shoulder to see if I had accidentally gotten ahead of him, but there was no one there. I picked up my pace slightly and made my way to the front door. I looked myself over. Good I wasn't wearing anything too nice, something pretty casual*.

I quickly knocked on the door without thinking when it suddenly hit me. Why am I here in the first place? The realization struck me like a bolt of lightning. Oh God, I didn't even think of an excuse to visit! Actually, now that I think about it, I don't even know why I'm here in the first place. My mind raced to try and quickly make up an excuse. Only then did I notice that there was a car in the driveway and that there was a chance that one of Ben's parents would answer the door. Okay, think. If one of his parents answer the door I'll introduce myself as Ben's friend, no point in lying anyway. And the reason I came over? I wanted to surprise Ben with a visit. Yeah, a casual friend coming over for an unexpected casual visit.

I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves. Then I heard some footsteps approaching the door. I took another breath and put a smile on my face.

The door opened and I was greeted by a woman, whom I assume is Ben's mom, who looked. . . well, who looked like a classic "American Woman". What's more, it was pretty weird that she kinda reminded me of myself. She was fairly tall, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a business suit and her hair was tied up in a neat bun. She gave me a warm smile and asked. "Yes, How can I help you?"

Suddenly everything that I had thought of at the last minute left my brain, and I just stood there, not sure what to say. Believe me, I know. Strong, confident Rachel, the first to get into a fight during a mission, and a cat's got her tongue. I just stood there pretty awkwardly for almost a minute before Ben's mom spoke again. "Um, hello? Is there anything I can help you with, young miss?" And before I could respond, I heard a voice coming from inside the house behind her.

"Rachel?"

Ben's mom turned just enough for me to see Ben standing just down the hallway inside the house. He wasn't wearing his jacket, just the plain black t-shirt and jeans like he always does. The moment I saw Ben, I snapped out of my stupor.

"Oh hey, Ben!" I said waving at him, God I feel like an idiot. I tried to think of anything else to say, anything at all, but unfortunately all I said was. "Um, yeah, uh hi. . ."

"What are you doing here?" He sounded surprised. Wait. Surprised? Not angry? Yes! He isn't mad that I suddenly showed up at his house unannounced. Okay I can work with this. Just breathe and things will go over smoothly.

Just before I could say anything, Ben's mom spoke up. "Oh! So you must be one of Ben's friends. Well don't just stand there, come on in!" I had completely forgotten that she was there. I looked over at her then back to Ben, who smiled.

"Yeah, come in." He said.

Just before I was about to walk in by myself, Ben's mom quickly ushered me in before closing the door.

The inside of their house was as nice, if not nicer than the outside. While I know nothing about interior design, since clothes and accessories is where I'm more comfortable. I'd say that the place had a more modern look to it. Though something seemed off, but I just can't put my finger on it.

"Ben, take care of your friend here so I can get back to the kitchen."

"Alright." He replied, and his mom left to where I assume the kitchen was. "Come on Rachel, let's head over to the living room."

He led me to the spacious living room, I looked around taking the entire place in. The place was strangely really clean for a family where both parents work full time. I wonder if they use a house keeping service? Well from the looks of this place I wouldn't put it past them.

"Have a seat." Said Ben, gesturing at the large couch. I nodded and sat down, the leather of the couch made a farting noise the moment I out my weight on it making me blush in embarrassment. Ugh, why does this have to happen now?

Ben just laughed and sat down on on his own seat near the couch, and to my surprise it too made a farting noise when he sat down. "It's alright, these are pretty new and they do that all the time." He explained.

I relaxed a little at that and settled in a bit more, causing the couch to make more noise though this time I didn't mind so much.

"So what brings you here to the neighborhood, Rachel?" He asked, crossing her legs and leaning back into the seat.

Oh you know, just passing by. Wanting to know why you've been avoiding me this past week. Y'know casual stuff. "Just wandering around, and noticed I was close to your place so I just thought of dropping by." I tried giving a noncommittal shrug and casual smile, which instead came out as forced and awkward, like the way a cartoon character smiles and it's so obvious that they're lying.

If Ben noticed he didn't show it.

Then Ben's mom walked in with a plate of cookies and placed it on the coffee table between us and said. "So Rachel, tell us about yourself. Ben over here doesn't really talk about his friends so I'm curious to know what kind of people he spends time with."

So I talked about myself a bit, you know the usual things, where I lived, my family, all that boring stuff. His mom is really nice, and hell her cookies are amazing! She's really friendly and easy to talk to, it kinda reminds me of Ben, I guess I now know where he gets ti. I got so swept up in the conversation that I didn't notice the time fly.

"Oh my, look at the time." Said his mom.

I looked over at the clock and saw that it was getting pretty late, I didn't even notice how dark it was getting. "Yeah, it's getting pretty late. I should get going."

"Nonsense, it's getting late and a girl like you shouldn't be out at this time." She said.

Lady, if you knew what kind of situations I've been in, you wouldn't be saying that. I can take care of myself. "It's fine, it's a quick ride back home."

"No, I insist. You can stay over for dinner. I can call your parents and tell them where you are, then after dinner I'll give you a ride home."

Wow, his folks are really nice. I guess that's no surprise since Ben's really nice too. "Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, I don't want you to go through all that trouble."

"It's fine. We don't really get a lot of guests over and besides, I made a bit more than I expected anyway." She replied.

"Yeah, stay over. She may not look it, but she's a great cook." Said Ben.

"Oh stop it, Ben. I'm not that great."

He leaned closer to me and said in a stage whisper. "She might deny it, but she really is a great cook."

Well, if Ben says I can stay, then what the hell. I smiled. "Okay."


So I told his mom the number to my house and she called. My mom seemed okay with it and everything was fine.

Dinner was delicious. Ben wasn't kidding when he said that his mom was a great cook. I've never had shepherd's pie that good before. I also met his dad, his name was Bruce, I think. He seemed a bit quiet compared to Ben, but hey I'm not really one to judge.

After dinner, Ben's mom gave me a ride home. I said bye to Ben and said I'll see him at school. Hopefully now he'll stop avoiding me.

She dropped me off and I went straight to my room and fell right on my bed.

Well that went better than I expected. To be honest, I wasn't exactly expecting anything, but I guess in the back of my mind my brain kinda went to the worst case scenario where he'd start yelling at me and slam the door in my face. But I'm glad that didn't happen. It seemed so weird. I mean there's something different about them and I can't explain it, but they both seemed normal. Now I know that doesn't sound strange, but when you're up against an alien invasion where someone who you think is normal is actually a controller, normal becomes suspicious. But I get the feeling that they aren't controllers, not once during dinner did they mention the Sharing and that's always a good sign, though you can never be sure. But I really hope that they're not. If they knew about Ben then we're probably doomed. That's another thing, I'm surprised that they don't know about Ben and his morphing ability. From what Ben's told us he's had this ability for such a long time and not once did his parent's find out. Well I guess the same could be said for us since we've been able to hide our missions from out parents, and we haven't exactly been subtle either.

I sighed loudly and turned to lie on my back and face the ceiling.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

It's not often I ask myself that.

*Okay, so since I live in the Philippines and considering how young I am plus the fact that like every other male is completely useless when it comes fashion, I have no idea what a girl like Rachel would casually wear on a friday. So if any of you could suggest something for Rachel to wear in this scene in their review, I would greatly appreciate it.

Author's Notes: Well it's been a record smasher for the longest time I didn't update. It's been what? 8 months? I'm also sorry for the drop in quality too. Now here's my reasons for not being able to update. One, I've been super busy with college and even with all my time spent studying I still failed three majors and one minor, that means will be held back a year which had been something I wanted to avoid. Two, at this point in UH it's a lull in the story, thus making it hard to write because if I don't handle this part delicately it will mess up a lot that I have planned. And finally, this story has been going on for such a long time that it's feeling stale. I hate to admit it, but to be honest I've lost most of my drive to write this story, now I just want to finish this and move on to other projects. So now this story will be about five or so chapters before I'll wrap it up. I just need to put in the things i've planned to happen and it'll be over. So that means things will be going along faster, I'll still keep the POV shifting, but I won't back track as much as before, if at all. I hope you all understand my situation and that you'll enjoy what I have in store before I end this. Feel free to send a PM if you have any questions, and remember

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