Chapter 13: Suspension
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 Thirteen!
* This chapter will be an interesting one, I'll say that. I won't say anything else out of fear for spoilers.
* Anyways, with that out of the way, let's get into the chapter!
Earth-6101
Thursday, September 7th, 2017
Madison High School
Ben
I decided to avoid walking to school with Nathan the next morning, being embarrassed about what had happened the night before. So, once I got to school and got to my first class, I was about to put my stuff down when my teacher spoke up to me.
"Mr. Tennyson, you're supposed to report to the Principal's Office this morning."
I let out a groan.
"Oh no, not again." I whispered to myself.
I left the classroom without a word. I walked to the stairwell and up the stairs back to the ground floor, where I walked to the main office. I walked in, told the receptionist my name and that Principal Hannigan was expecting me. She pointed me to his office and that was that. His door was open, so I stopped in his doorway. I spoke to him as he sat at his desk, looking down at a set of papers on the desk.
"Mr. Hannigan?"
He looked up and once he saw me, he spoke.
"Ah." He said as he stood up. "Mr. Tennyson, please come in."
I walked into his office.
"You, um, wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Yes, yes. Please, sit down."
He shut the door behind me and I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk.
"So," he spoke as he sat back down at his desk. "I've heard that you were causing trouble at the Back to School Dance last night."
I hung my head.
It figures that this would happen, I thought.
I looked back up at him.
"Not exactly, Sir."
"Not exactly?" he repeated my words.
"Kevin and one of his friends took a bowl of fruit punch and drenched me with it."
"And yet, you chased after them, causing a scene?"
I was already not liking the way he was speaking, but I did my best to keep my composure.
"I caused a scene? They caused the scene, Mr. Hannigan! I was just minding my own business when they provoked me!"
"And yet, you chased after them." He repeated himself.
"Yes! What else would you expect me to do?!"
He narrowed his eyes.
"Do not raise your voice with me, Mr. Tennyson. I would expect you to do the mature thing and let it go."
"Let... it... go..." I said slowly.
He nodded.
"Well, let's say that you were in my shoes and it happened to you. What would you do?"
"I would let it go as a mature individual would do."
So, now you're calling me immature? Wait a minute! Where are Kevin and J.T. during all of this?! Do they somehow manage to get off scot-free with all of this?!
I sighed. Suddenly, I wasn't so interested in seeing where this conversation went.
"Sir, I know that I'm in trouble, can we just skip to discussing my punishment?"
He took a sharp breath through his nose.
"Very well. As per your punishment, you'll be spending the rest of the school week in Out-of-School-Suspension. I'll have to call your parents and have one of them come get you."
"O.S.S.?! Oh, of all the..."
Mr. Hannigan looked up at me as he reached for his phone, with an annoyed and angered look on his face. I sighed and cut myself off.
"Sorry, Sir."
Sometime Later
The Suburbs
Mom and I sat in silence as she drove back from picking me up from school. I looked at her as she drove down the street.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked.
"No," she said in a monotone voice. "just disappointed."
"With me?"
She shook her head.
"No. It's just... Benjamin, it's just so disappointing to see how broken the school system is."
I looked away from her. It kind of felt like she was mad at me. I was only ever called Benjamin when I was in trouble. She spoke up once more.
"You're not in trouble. You're not grounded or anything, you didn't do anything wrong. When you get home, you can do whatever you want. Just stay home, okay?"
"Okay."
After a few more minutes, Mom pulled the car up into our driveway and I got out, before she pulled back out to return to work for the day. After I watched her go, I turned and walked to the door. I put my key in, unlocked the door and entered, before shutting it and locking it behind me.
Later That Night
The Tennyson House
I was sitting in the basement, reading a book, when I heard the commotion upstairs. I looked up, but I didn't close my book. I heard my parents or maybe just one of them talking to someone upstairs. Shortly thereafter, the door to the basement opened and I was surprised to see Gwen and Nathan coming down the stairs, Gwen having a backpack with her.
"Hey man, where were you today?" he asked as they walked over to where I sat.
"You don't look sick." Gwen chimed in.
I looked at her funny.
"Um, no. I'm not sick. I'm suspended from school for the rest of the week."
They both spoke at about the same time, Gwen first and then Nathan.
"What?"
"Why?"
I chuckled at them speaking at the same time.
"Because of the scene that I made at the dance last night. After chasing Kevin and Cash, I was escorted out of the building and this morning, Principal Hannigan told me I was suspended until Monday."
Nathan grunted with disapproval.
"Typical. Leave it to the school board to both serve inedible meals and to punish the wrong students. So fucking typical!"
As he said this, Nathan raised his voice significantly. As he did this, I raised my hands and began shushing him.
"Chill out, man! My parents don't like foul language!"
He looked back at me, before the look on his face eased and he let out a long, drawn out breath.
"Sorry." He said.
I nodded back at him.
"Well, what about the real culprits? Were Kevin and Cash at school today?"
Gwen nodded, while Nathan said nothing. I scoffed.
"Of course. I get punished and the ones truly at fault get off scot-free. Makes total sense to me."
"Ben, I swear," Nathan spoke. "I'm going to kick their fucking asses for what they did last night!"
Again, with the cursing!
I shook my head.
"No, don't bother. I'm not mad at them, really. I'm more mad at Principal Hannigan for suspending me for no reason other than doing nothing would have been the 'mature thing to do'."
Gwen rolled her eyes in response.
"This is dumb. You should be in school, not sitting here serving out your O.S.S."
"Tell me about it. Anyway, what brings you guys here?"
She took off her backpack and sat it down on the floor, hunching down to open it. She pulled out a folder.
"Nathan and I volunteered to collect any homework that you'd receive today and tomorrow. Well, I volunteered to collect any homework, Nathan just wanted to find out what happened with you last night, as did I."
She handed me the folder. I took it from her.
"Thanks." I said as I sat it down on the table in front of me.
"You're welcome."
After that, she took a look around the basement, speaking after a few more seconds.
"So, this is what a laboratory looks like, huh?"
I raised my eyebrow out of confusion as I opened my book once more.
"What? No, this is just where I spend most of my spare time. It's just a basement."
"Oh."
I went back to reading with both of them standing there, until Gwen spoke up again.
"Hey, what is this?"
"What is what?" I asked as I looked up at her.
Gwen had taken the cylinder full of gray fluid off of the shelf across the room from me.
"Hey, put that down!" I said as I quickly stood from my chair.
I dashed across the room to her and gently took the container out of her hands.
"Oh yeah, please do be careful with that." Nathan replied. "It's very delicate."
I chuckled as I put the container back on the shelf, recalling the interaction between Nathan and myself that had transpired the day before freshman year started. I turned to Gwen as I pointed at Nathan with my thumb.
"This guy? He gets it."
"But what is it?"
"It's a molecular adhesive, but the molecules are unstable. It's a failed experiment."
"What was it meant to do?"
I cleared my throat as I walked back over to my chair.
"It was supposed to be a replacement for band-aids. The idea is that after the wound was ready to go on its own, the adhesive would fall off on its own."
"Oh. Well, that sounds interesting."
I sighed as I sat back down.
"Yeah, It would be if it actually worked."
I sighed once more as I rested my chin in my palm, staring off into space as I did.
"Is everything alright?" Nathan asked.
"Hmm?" I asked as I looked up to see them both looking slightly concerned. "No, everything's fine."
After a few more seconds, I spoke again.
"Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but do you think you guys could head out? I just need some time to myself."
They both looked at me with understanding looks on their faces.
"Sure," Nathan said as he turned for the stairs. "See you later, man."
As he went up the stairs, Gwen stayed for a few more seconds. After watching Nathan go, she turned to look at me again.
"Hey Ben, your Mom is actually pretty nice, you know that?"
I looked back at her with surprise.
"Um, thanks." I replied.
She put her hands behind her back and she looked like she was going to say something else. But if she did have anything else to say, I wouldn't be hearing it. She cleared her throat before speaking again.
"Well, I'm going to get out of here. I'll see you when you get back to school on Monday?"
I nodded.
"Yeah. Or you know, we could hang out over the weekend? See a movie or something?"
She nodded back.
"Yeah, sounds like fun."
Suddenly my face flushed, before I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.
"I don't mean like a date! You do know that, right? I meant like you, me and Nathan!"
She closed her eyes and covered her mouth as she began laughing hysterically. After she recovered from her laughing, she spoke again.
"You know, I think I was able to pick that up. I didn't need you to tell me that." She said as she quit laughing and waved to me. "I'll see you later, okay?"
I waved back at her as she headed for the stairs.
"Bye."
Spoiler alert, we would not go to see that movie.
The Next Day – Friday, September 8th, 2017
That morning, I woke up a little later than I normally would. When I got up that morning, I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, deciding that I was just going to skip breakfast to get an early start on my homework. After I brushed my teeth and was putting my toothbrush away, I thought I saw something in the mirror out of my peripheral vision. I looked up at the mirror to see my green eyes behind my glasses.
Wait, green eyes?
I looked closer and blinked as I did, which after I blinked, my eyes were brown again. I took off my glasses.
Maybe it was trick of the light, reflecting off of my glasses and onto the mirror?
I looked closer still at the mirror and even though it was hard to see at first, only at first, I saw that I had green eyes once again. I blinked and saw that they were brown again. I blinked again. And again and again and again. But I didn't see green eyes again after that. I slowly put my glasses back on.
"Weird." I said.
I walked out of the bathroom and decided that I was just going to try to not think about what had happened just now.
Later That Day
I spent most of the day doing my homework. Maybe at a little past noon, I began to hear the sounds of someone speaking downstairs. I know that Mom had stayed home from work to make sure that I got all of my homework done, which doesn't exactly make sense, because she's always trusted me in the past to do it without having to be told.
I quit working on my homework and stood up from my bed, moving to the door to my room, which was closed. I pressed my ear up against it and tried to listen to what was happening downstairs. After listening for a few seconds, I was able to confirm that someone else was definitely downstairs with Mom. It couldn't be my Dad, because he was in his office, working.
After listening for a while, I eventually realized that there were footsteps coming up the stairs. I quickly returned to my bed to at least pretend that I was working, even though I didn't really have anything to worry about. I had been sitting on my bed for a few seconds when the knock on my door came. I heard a slightly muffled voice outside my door, saying my name.
"Come in." I replied, in a semi-nervous tone.
The door to my room opened and I saw a familiar older man, with graying hair, wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and light brown cargo pants standing there in the doorway.
"Grandpa Max?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"
He walked into my room as he spoke.
"Your mom called. Told me that she and your father can't get through to you about your trouble with bullies. She thought that I might be the best one to talk to you."
I looked at him with confusion.
What do you mean "they're can't get through to me"? They already had this conversation with me, so what's the big deal?
"Um..." was all I could say before he spoke again as he approached the foot of my bed.
"May I?"
He gestured to the foot of my bed, where some of my homework sat. I moved some of it aside and allowed him to sit down.
"So, your parents told you to stand up for yourself and your principal told you to do nothing, right?"
"How'd you—"
"Your mom told me all about it. Now, listen closely. Don't listen to your principal. 'Acting mature and doing nothing', won't solve anything. You're giving your tormentors what they want. They see a victim who won't ever try to defend themselves and so they'll keep tormenting you because they know that they can."
"Okay."
"Your parents mean well, they told you to stand up for yourself and that is what you should do. But doing it just once isn't going to cut it. You need to keep standing up for yourself until your tormentors realize that they can't push you around anymore and they'll move on. Sure, they may still bug you, but they won't bully you anymore."
"Okay..."
I couldn't say that I knew what he was talking about with this.
"Back in my day, we fought back when someone was giving us issues. It's sad to see that this generation has gone soft. Your momma didn't raise no bitch, did she?"
I looked at him with even more confusion.
"Um, no?"
"Then continue to stand up for yourself and show your tormentors that you aren't afraid of them anymore."
"Uh, okay."
What even is this pep talk?! I shouldn't be confused with him and in a way, I guess it makes sense. Grandpa Max grew up in the mid-1950s and early 1960s, a very different time.
"You have to do that if you want to get past them. Remember Ben, do or do not. There is no try."
I regarded him with a confused look still.
"That's from an old movie, isn't it?"
He grinned at me with a wink.
"Maybe to you it is, Ben. To me, it's a classic."
"You know I don't like old movies, Grandpa."
He chuckled.
"Well, it may be old, but it's still a classic."
"What was it called again? Galaxy Wars?"
He scoffed as he rolled his eyes.
"Star Wars, Ben, Star Wars. Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back, more precisely. Try to at least get the title right."
"I can't remember titles, much less subtitles if I don't like old movies, Grandpa."
"Fair enough."
I turned away from him and looked back to my homework. I then looked at him once more ask I spoke.
"Grandpa, I don't mean to sound rude, but do you think you could go? I have a lot of homework that I need to get done."
He nodded with an understanding look on his face.
"Sure, kid." He said as he stood up. "Remember, you have our phone number if you want to talk to me or Grandma Verdona. Or if you just want to see us, we're only a few blocks away."
Ah, Grandpa Max and Grandma Verdona's House. I spent many a weekend there when I was a child. Good times.
I nodded as he moved towards my bedroom door.
"Okay, Grandpa."
He turned to look at me on his way out.
"Bye, kid."
I waved at him.
"Bye."
Later That Night
Later that night, I laid in bed after having completed all of my homework. Nathan had brought over the homework that I had received today, but I had yet to touch it. As I laid in bed, Mom came into my room to check on me.
"Are you feeling any better, honey?" she asked as she bent down to look at me.
"Just feel tired and a little cold. I also feel slight aching all over my body."
She pressed the back of her hand against my forehead and left it there for a few seconds. Just for the record, I was totally lying about the whole "I don't feel well" thing. I knew that fight club thing was tonight and I fully intended to throw my hat into the ring. The only problem was, I couldn't sneak out if my parents knew that I was still awake.
So, I put on my shoes, jeans and a sweater and got under the covers, all after I told my Mom that I wasn't feeling very good and that I was going to bed for the night. And that brings us to now, with Mom feeling my forehead. She retracted her hand after a few seconds and looked back at me with a slightly concerned look.
"You're a little warm. If you're not feeling better in the morning, I'll take you to the doctor's office."
I nodded.
"Okay, Mom."
She walked away from my bed and turned back to look at me before leaving the room.
"Can I get you anything before I go?" she asked.
"No, just close the door when you leave."
"Okay. Good night, Ben. I love you."
"Love you too, Mom."
She then left the room and shut the door behind her. Once I knew that she was gone, I rolled over, kicked the covers off and got out of bed. I made sure to stuff a few pillows under my covers, before pulling those back up. I tiptoed over to my closet and quietly opened it, before I got on my knees and began looking around.
A few years ago, my cousin and her parents came over for Halloween, I dressed up as a scientist and she made the very odd choice of going as a burglar/criminal person. She wore a black ski mask with her "costume" and had left that mask here for some reason, maybe she had forgotten it. I eventually found it in my closet and grabbed it. I stood up and closed my closet door.
I was going to have to use this alien watch to fight for me. And it'll no doubt time out at some point, so I'll have to hide my face when that happens. I stuffed the ski mask in my sweater pocket and moved toward the window. I unlocked my window and quietly opened it as I began thinking.
I'm going to try to win this fight club thing and get the prize money. If I can do that, I can get that laptop I have my eye on and I'll be set for the school year.
I pushed the window further up and then slipped out into the night.
And that's all I care about right now, I thought.
Author's Note:
* And that's it for this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed!
* So, I'll say right now that something big is going to transpire in the coming chapters. And if you've been paying attention to the inspiration that I've used in crafting this story, you may have a good idea of what'll end up happening, but for now, my lips are sealed.
* That's all I'll say on the matter. I'm going to go though, so have a fantastic day and bye.
Review Responses
Heroverse3 (Chapter 12): Hey, big fan here. Love the new story. Looking forward to the new chapters
Thanks, Heroverse. Seeing as this story has been the thing that I've been most excited about working on in a while, that means a lot to me. Thanks for the review, as always.
Next Chapter: Ben competes in The Second Annual Bellwood Fight Club for a chance at three hundred dollars in cash.