Chapter 2: First Day
Disclaimer: I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters. I Don't Own The Rights To Nathan Black Or Any Associated Characters, The Rights Go To annihalator2015
Disclaimer: This Series/Story Has Nothing To Do With The Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Cartoon Series. Any Similarities That May Pop Up Aren't Intentional
Author's Note:
* Hello and welcome to Chapter Two!
* In this chapter, you readers will be introduced to the Gwen of this universe. Also, compared to my other Ben 10 stories, the development of this story's plot will be significantly slower (to me at least). I'm doing that to keep it interesting. I don't want to move things too fast and I want to give characters and events enough time to develop.
* I can't really say anything other than that. Anyway, as always, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let's get right into the chapter!
Earth-6101
Monday – Late August, 2017
The Tennyson House
Ben
As sat up with a yawn as my alarm went off. I turned off my alarm and got out of bed, before sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I am so not ready for today." I muttered to myself, before I got up to get ready for the day.
One Hour Later
Bellwood Suburbs
Nathan had come over to walk to school with me. Once I had gotten done with eating breakfast, I went outside to wait for him. While I waited, I had my head buried in a book. I was so absorbed by said book, that I didn't even notice him approach.
"So, what is it this time?" he asked. "The cure for Ebola? Alzheimer's?"
I looked up at Nathan, seeing him smirking down at me.
"Very funny." I said with a frown as I stood up.
"What's up with you?" he asked as I slung my backpack around.
I put my book into my backpack, before zipping it back up and slinging it over my shoulder.
"Nothing." I said as I began walking down the driveway towards the sidewalk.
"Come on, what's wrong?" Nathan asked as he ran to catch up with me.
I turned to look at him as we reached the sidewalk.
"I just kind of, you know, didn't want to go today."
"What? But it's the first day of school! You have to go!"
"I know."
"So, why didn't you want to go today?"
I turned away.
"I don't know. I just have a feeling."
We walked in silence for the rest of the way there.
Ten Minutes Later
Madison High School
I stood outside and looked up at the three story building that would be my high school for the coming four years.
"You ready or do you need a few more years?" Nathan asked next to me.
I let out a sigh. I walked forward towards the main entrance without a word. My class schedule went as such: first class was Spanish-I, second class was Art Class, third class was Physical Science, fourth class was Physical Education, fifth class was English-I, sixth class was Career Connections (a class that helped students understand the concept of a career and put them on their desired path) and last class was Algebra-I.
"What's your class schedule looking like?" Nathan asked.
I pulled my schedule out.
"Um, Spanish-I, Art Class, Physical Science, Physical Education, English-I, Career Connections and Algebra-I. What about you?"
"We don't have all the same classes. I only have English and Algebra with you."
"Bummer."
"Do you want me to walk you to class? You think you can get there by yourself?"
"What are you, my boyfriend?" I joked.
We both shared a laugh after that.
"I'll be fine. It's only the first day. How hard can it be?"
So, after that, we parted ways.
One Hour Later
I walked out of my Spanish class after my first session. All and all, it was an okay class. Just your typical first day, your teacher hands out the syllabus, goes over policies and what have you, blah, blah, blah. I began walking down the hall and that's when I saw her for the first time.
The most beautiful redhead in the entire school. Her name was Gwendolyn Anderson. Before you freak out and call me a creep (and a stalker) for knowing her name and not even having met her, let me explain.
Her name was Gwendolyn Anderson, as I said. And she was the most popular girl in school. I had even known of her before coming to Madison! And I wasn't the only one. Lots of students from the middle school I went to knew who she was. She may have been one of the most popular girls in middle school before she moved on to Madison High.
She was now the most popular girl at Madison High and one of the school's best cheerleaders. She was so popular that news of her successes in freshman year reached us even in middle school. She was one grade above me, a sophomore. Okay, to back it up, she had gone to same school as me in my sixth and seventh grade years, however our existence was oblivious to each other.
But come eighth grade, that's when she finished and moved on to her freshman year. But even though she had left, I still heard stories about her achievements while I was still in middle school. So, after a long explanation, that's who she was. I was still standing there, looking at her like a creep.
And my world was about to be rocked. Gwendolyn began to turn her head, maybe having seen me out of the corner of her eye. But before she could turn to look at me, I got slammed into a locker.
"Whoa, nerd alert!" I heard an unfortunately familiar voice.
Once I recovered from being pushed into the locker and had readjusted my glasses, I saw that it was of course Kevin who had pushed me. And also, Gwendolyn was now nowhere in sight. It was as if she had disappeared.
"You really need to watch where you're going, Twerp." I heard Kevin say from behind me.
"Yeah, silly me for walking down the hallway." I muttered as I walked off. "What was I thinking?"
Just then, someone grabbed me from behind.
"Whoa, where do you think you're going?"
I felt the weight on my back lessen and I flew forward a little bit. Once I recovered, I turned around to see that Kevin had pulled my backpack off.
"What do you got in here? Your fancy schmancy textbooks?" he asked as he unzipped my bag.
"Wait, no don't do…" I began to plead, but it was too late.
He flipped my backpack upside down and everything in the bag, my notebooks and folders, spilled out on to the floor.
"That." I finished my statement.
"Oops." J.T. said next to Kevin, both he and Cash accompanying him.
"Hey, you can't do that! That's not…"
Before I could finish my sentence, Kevin whacked me in the face with my backpack, sending me back-first into the lockers.
"You don't get to do that, kid! You don't get to stand up to me!" he exclaimed. "That's what your boyfriend is for! Are we clear?"
I didn't say anything as I recovered.
"Good. So long as we're on the same page."
He dropped my now empty bag in front of me.
"Here ya go, Twerp. Clean up and try to get to class on time. You shouldn't be late on the first day."
He walked off with his cronies, leaving me alone. I rushed to grab my bag and began grabbing items and shoving them back into the bag.
This was ridiculous, this whole thing would make me late for class!
I finally got my stuff together and ran off to my next class.
One Hour Later
Well, I had managed to make it to Art without being tardy. And once that was over, I was on my way to Physical Science. And this time, I didn't run into Kevin or his cronies, thank God. So, I guess one good thing came out of today. When I walked into the classroom, I immediately noticed Gwendolyn Anderson putting her stuff down and taking a seat at one of the tables in the third row of four rows.
Let me say that again. Gwendolyn Anderson, the school's most popular girl, was in my class! Which, that didn't exactly make sense, as Physical Science was a freshman class and Gwendolyn was a sophomore. But I didn't question it. I walked further into the classroom and eventually down the third row.
I came to a stop and plunked my stuff down to her left, next to the window before anyone else could. I sat down next to her and it surprised me when she turned and spoke to me almost immediately.
"Hi, my name's Gwendolyn. What's yours?"
I looked back at her as I felt my face heat up.
"Oh, um, hello. I'm…"
She looked back at me, nodding for me to go on. I felt my face get even hotter.
I'm totally embarrassed, I thought.
Suddenly, I turned away and laid my head down on the table out of embarrassment.
Wow, Ben. Seriously. All she said was hello and asked for your name. You couldn't even give her your name? You are a sad, strange little man. And you have my pity.
Two Hours Later
Madison High School Cafeteria
After I met up with Nathan in English class and once the first half of class was over, we went to lunch. Seeing as he was my only friend, we sat at the same table, far away from Kevin and his cronies.
"So, you'll never guess who's in my Physical Science class." I said, breaking the silence between us.
Nathan remained in silence.
"Gwendolyn Anderson, the most popular girl in school!" I said, breaking the silence once more.
He looked up at me with surprise.
"The cheerleader?" he asked. "No kidding?"
"I'm being serious." I replied.
"Well, did you talk to her?"
"Well, she talked to me."
"What did she say?"
"She told me her name and then asked for mine."
"And what did you say?"
My face reddened with shame.
"I said, "oh, um, hello. I'm…" And then I laid my head down on the table out of embarrassment."
He began chuckling as he leaned back in his chair.
"What?" I asked with annoyance.
"God, you are such a tool!" he said with glee.
I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes.
"Don't remind me."
Just then, Nathan's eyes widened. I looked at him with confusion.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't look now, but uh, behind you." He said.
I turned around and saw Gwendolyn walk into the cafeteria.
"Wow." I said as I rested my elbow on my chair, then resting my chin in my hand. "She's so beautiful."
"Totally."
I continued to watch her as she walked further into the cafeteria.
"We should probably stop staring before it seems creepy." Nathan said.
"Yeah."
I sat there in silence as I continued to look at her.
"You should probably quit drooling, too."
"What?" I asked as I felt my chin and looked down, noticing that there was no drool.
"Ha! Made you look!" Nathan exclaimed.
I rolled my eyes and went back to watching Gwendolyn. Much to my dismay, I saw her go to sit down with Kevin and his cronies. I turned back in my seat, looking away from her now.
"It figures that a girl like her would hang out with a person like Kevin." I muttered.
Nathan shrugged in response. He picked up his fork and went to get a forkful of spaghetti from his tray. Once I noticed this, I tried to tell him not to do that, but it was too late. The second he put the spaghetti in his mouth, his eyes widened with surprise.
"Blegh!" he exclaimed as he spit out the spaghetti, back onto the tray. "That tastes awful!"
I shrugged.
"Hey, I tried to warn you."
"How did you even know about the food tasting that bad?"
"Hey, I go to summer school every year, remember? And I got to learn firsthand that high school food is awful. Horrendously awful."
"It's worse the middle school food!"
"You're not kidding."
"So, what do you have after English?"
I let out a sigh of displeasure.
"Ugh, Career Connections."
"Ouch."
"I know, right? It doesn't help that I've heard talk around the school that Mrs. Shelton, the lady who teaches the class, is really strict. Do you know what I've heard other kids call her classroom?"
"No, what?"
"They call her classroom 'Hell's Waiting Room'."
Nathan just looked at me.
"You might as well be doomed."
"Don't remind me."
Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch shift.
"Oh, thank God." Nathan said as he got up from our table. "Saved by the bell."
"I know, right? I didn't know how much longer I could stare at that "food"."
Nathan dumped his entire tray into the trash without a second thought. I let out a disgusted sigh as I did the same.
"I may have to get a job." I muttered.
"Why's that?" Nathan asked.
"Because I cannot eat their food by itself. I'm going to have to eat the chips and snack items that they sell on the cart next to each register. And my parents aren't going to give me lunch money if that's the case."
"Mmm."
One Hour Later
I was now sitting in my Career Connections class. And to my surprise, Mrs. Shelton was, dare I say, nice? To start off the first day, she had us tell the class something "unique" about ourselves. One of the kids in my class spoke up after introducing himself.
"I like writing fanfiction!"
Oh great, you're one of those, I thought.
"Ahem." I heard Mrs. Shelton clear her throat in front of me.
"Wha…?" I looked up at her with surprise.
She smiled down at me.
"What's your name?"
"Oh, my name's Ben Tennyson. And I enjoy reading and researching."
"Nerd!" someone behind me exclaimed.
Mrs. Shelton looked up with disapproval.
"Did you raise your hand?" she asked.
No one said a word.
"Good. Next. What is your name, young man?" Mrs. Shelton asked as she moved on.
Two Hours Later
The Tennyson House
"See you later, dude." I called to Nathan as I got inside the house.
"Ben, hon, is that you?" I heard Mom call my name.
"Yeah." I spoke in a glum tone as I climbed the stairs.
I walked into my room, threw my backpack onto the floor and then flopped down onto the bed. I was lying there for a while, before my Mom walked into the room.
"How was school today, Ben?" she asked.
I looked up at her, seeing that she was crouching so she could see me at eye level.
"Sucked."
"How were the bullies?"
"They sucked."
"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie."
"Mmm-hmm."
"Can I get you anything?"
"No, I just want to be left alone."
"Okay. Just call me if you need anything."
"Mmm-hmm."
She walked out of my room and closed the door behind her.
Ugh, what a day.
Author's Note:
* And that's Chapter Two! I hope you guys are enjoying so far!
* Next chapter will feature more character development. Without anything else to say, I'm going to go though, so have a Bwen-tastic day and bye.
Review Responses
Lightning-pays (Chapter 1): Can't wait for the next chapter
Thanks, Lightning. I'm glad that you couldn't wait for this one. I hope I didn't disappoint! Thanks for the review, as always.
Next Chapter: Ben continues week one of high school. Gwendolyn Anderson tries to get him to talk to her.