Chapter 6
Just finished this. And am continuing on to chapter 7.
After the outburst at lunch, Stu didn't see Ben at all. He seemed to have left the school for the rest of the day.
Stu was a little hurt over what had happened, but he was betting Ben was just in a bad mood today. He wasn't very friendly to begin with, so Stu guessed that the days he was in a bad mood ended up like today.
'I wonder what has him upset,' Stu thought as he walked home after school. 'And where did he go after lunch? Home? Too bad I don't know where he lives. I could go and talk to him. But what if he didn't go home? Maybe he went somewhere else?' Stu thought hard for a moment about all the places Ben may have gone. Then it came to him.
"Library!" Stu said aloud, and began walking in the opposite direction of his house.
Stu arrived at the library almost an hour later, having had to take the bus there. He entered, and began to look around for Ben. He first tried in the teen fiction section, then non fiction, followed by biography, and finally fiction. He stumbled upon Ben in the classics area of the fiction section, quite literally. He tripped right over Ben's legs, which were outstretched across the floor.
"Ow, son of a bitch!" Ben cried.
"Shit, that hurt..." Stu mumbled rubbing his nose which he had fallen on.
"YOU? What the hell are YOU doing here?" Ben asked accusingly as he jumped to his feet.
"I uh... I came to find you," Stu mumbled as he, too, got to his feet.
"And why on Earth did you do that for? Didn't you get the message at lunchtime? I DON'T LIKE YOU."
"I think you're just having a bad day. I thought we were having a fun last night while working on the story..."
"Then you truly are an idiot. I was putting up with you so I can get a good grade on our stupid story."
"Oh..." Stu stared down at his shoes. He was fighting back tears.
"Oh good, god, are you crying?" Ben sounded annoyed, but Stu could swear he heard a bit of regret in his voice.
"Of course not," Stu sniffled.
"Look, Stu, I just... I don't like people, okay?" Ben said, sounding more sorry now.
"How can you not like people? Who on Earth dislikes ALL people?" Stu looked up now, only to see that Ben was gone. Stu looked all around for him, but couldn't find him.
'Damn, he's quiet! I didn't even hear him leave!' Stu though, and sniffed. He hadn't actually started crying before, though he had been close. He often cursed himself for getting so easily upset, but it appeared to work to his advantage this time. Ben had sounded sincerely sorry about hurting Stu's feelings, which Stu took to meaning that there was still a possibility of them being friends. And he was even more determined to make it work now. Stu headed home feeling much better than he had all day.
The next day at school, Stu steered clear of Ben until English class. He had a new tactic: to appear less desperate. He was going to make it look like he was fine with not being friends with Ben, and hoped that it would lead them to actually hanging out and you know, being friends.
He entered the classroom and casually sat in the desk next to Ben's. Neither boy said anything until after the teacher told them to get to work on their stories.
"So, I was thinking we shouldn't write about elves," Stu looked over at Ben.
"Why not? You were the one who suggested it." Ben looked questioningly back at Stu.
"Well, we haven't been able to come up with a plot for the damn story, so I figure we should just do something different," Stu explained.
"Makes sense. But what should we write about then?"
"Uhhh... I was hoping you would have an idea..."
"Of course," Ben sighed and rolled his eyes. "What about... a zombie story?"
Stu looked at Ben with a huge grin on his face.
"Hell yeah! Zombies rule!"
"Alright, that's settled, then." Ben smiled a bit.
They finally managed to make a start on their project by the end of the class. Stu was getting up out of his desk, and was grabbing his things.
"Did you want to come over to my house to work on the story this time?" Ben asked suddenly. Stu turned to look at him.
"That would be great," he said coolly. "Tonight?"
"Yeah. Let's meet at the front doors again." Ben was standing now too, and putting his backpack on his back. "Just don't be late this time." And with that, Ben turned and walked out of the room. Stu smiled, and followed.
Stu was, in fact, on time for their meeting. Ben was already waiting when he got to the front doors.
"Oh, I don't need to wait half an hour for you this time!" Ben said, mock surprised. Stu laughed.
"No, I ran out before any of the teachers could trap me." They then headed in the direction of Ben's house.
"So how far away do you live?" Stu asked.
"It's only about a 15 minute walk." Ben responded.
"Oh, good. Gym really wore me out this afternoon. I don't think I could walk for more than 15 minutes." Stu feigned exhaustion as they walked along.
Arriving at Ben's house 15 minutes later, they walked into the living room.
"Hey mom, I hope you don't mind I brought Stu over. We need to work on our English project." Ben explained.
"Oh, that's no problem at all!" She said, looking rather happy. "Did you want to stay for dinner, Stu?" Ben looked a little peeved that she had asked this.
"I'd love too, as long as you don't mind me staying!" Stu answered cheerily.
"Oh, not at all! We're having fried chicken tonight. Sound good?"
"Extremely! I never get to eat that kind of stuff!" Stu was very excited now.
"All right then. You two better get to work, supper will be in about an hour and a half."
Ben then led Stu down the hall to his bedroom. Stu was a little startled when he walked in there. There were huge bookshelves along all of the walls leaving room only for a desk and a bed. The shelves were all full of books, and the shorter bookshelves had things on top of them, like CDs, a CD player, and a television.
"Wow. Why do you bother going to the library? You must own every single book in print!" Stu exclaimed, impressed.
"Uh, no. Very far from it." Ben said as he set his backpack at the end of his bed. "We'll have to work sitting on the floor again."
"Okay, no problem." Stu dropped to the floor where he was, and took off his backpack. Ben looked slightly amused by this. He then followed suit, and pulled out the papers from English class.
What felt like only 20 minutes later, Ben's mom came in with their suppers.
"Mom, you could have just called us. We could eat at the table." Ben said, looking a bit irritated.
"Oh, nonsense. You two just eat in here and watch some television," she replied, and left the room.
After eating the most deliciously unhealthy dinner Stu had ever had, the boys decided to continue writing. They wrote for a few hours, rather enjoying themselves, and their story, at this point.
"Hey, what time is it?" Stu asked out of nowhere.
"Uh..." Ben glanced over at his alarm clock. "Holy shit, it's 9! We've been writing for like, four hours!"
"Wow, seriously? I should probably get home," Stu looked a little sad. "How much did we write, exactly?"
Ben shuffled through the papers.
"Well, we wrote the outline, and about...10 pages of the story." Ben got a little grin on his face as he spoke. "Hopefully the teacher doesn't have a problem with reading such a long short story."
"Well, she didn't give us a limit on the length," Stu pointed out.
"Very true. Though after this project, she might start." Ben laughed.
"Right, well, I better get going. My mom is gonna be SO pissed at me." Stu stood up and grabbed his bag.
"Alright," Ben also stood, "I'll walk you out." They both walked out of the room and down the hall towards the porch.
"Oh, Stu, are you leaving?" Ben's mom looked at them as they passed the living room.
"Yeah, it's getting late..." Stu sighed.
"That's too bad. You're welcome here anytime!"
"Great, thanks!" Stu smiled, and he and Stu continued walking. "Bye!" he called to her.
They reached the door, and Stu exited.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" he waved to Ben as he walked down the sidewalk.
"Yeah, see you." Ben returned, and closed the door.
Stu was still smiling. The evening had been great, he felt like he and Ben had made a large amount of progress.
'I hope we continue to hang out after this story's finished,' he thought as he passed house after house down the lamp-lit street.
He arrived at home shortly after, much to his dismay.
"Where on EARTH have you BEEN?" His mother demanded, looking just as pissed as he had predicted. Perhaps even a little more so.
"I was at Ben's house..." Stu looked at his feet. "I meant to call, I just got caught up in everything and forgot. Sorry."
His mother just held a hard stare.
"I promise to call you first thing next time..." he continued.
"You had better. And to help enforce this, you're grounded until Monday." His mother said, stiffly and angrily.
"Yes, mom." Stu's head was still hanging, but he wasn't at all sorry. Though he was a little mad now.
"That means you can't go anywhere but school, and no TV, computer, guitar, or friends over."
"Yes, mom." Stu was really mad now. Now he and Ben wouldn't be able to continue writing after school.
"Now get to bed."
"Yes, mom." Stu turned and headed up the stairs. He threw his bag down on the floor upon entering his bedroom, and closed the door. He cursed himself for not calling as he changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. He slid into his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while before drifting into sleep.
And how about some drawings of the main characters, yes?
Ben!
Stu!
Each image links to the deviantART page. :3
Okay, back to writing...
After the outburst at lunch, Stu didn't see Ben at all. He seemed to have left the school for the rest of the day.
Stu was a little hurt over what had happened, but he was betting Ben was just in a bad mood today. He wasn't very friendly to begin with, so Stu guessed that the days he was in a bad mood ended up like today.
'I wonder what has him upset,' Stu thought as he walked home after school. 'And where did he go after lunch? Home? Too bad I don't know where he lives. I could go and talk to him. But what if he didn't go home? Maybe he went somewhere else?' Stu thought hard for a moment about all the places Ben may have gone. Then it came to him.
"Library!" Stu said aloud, and began walking in the opposite direction of his house.
Stu arrived at the library almost an hour later, having had to take the bus there. He entered, and began to look around for Ben. He first tried in the teen fiction section, then non fiction, followed by biography, and finally fiction. He stumbled upon Ben in the classics area of the fiction section, quite literally. He tripped right over Ben's legs, which were outstretched across the floor.
"Ow, son of a bitch!" Ben cried.
"Shit, that hurt..." Stu mumbled rubbing his nose which he had fallen on.
"YOU? What the hell are YOU doing here?" Ben asked accusingly as he jumped to his feet.
"I uh... I came to find you," Stu mumbled as he, too, got to his feet.
"And why on Earth did you do that for? Didn't you get the message at lunchtime? I DON'T LIKE YOU."
"I think you're just having a bad day. I thought we were having a fun last night while working on the story..."
"Then you truly are an idiot. I was putting up with you so I can get a good grade on our stupid story."
"Oh..." Stu stared down at his shoes. He was fighting back tears.
"Oh good, god, are you crying?" Ben sounded annoyed, but Stu could swear he heard a bit of regret in his voice.
"Of course not," Stu sniffled.
"Look, Stu, I just... I don't like people, okay?" Ben said, sounding more sorry now.
"How can you not like people? Who on Earth dislikes ALL people?" Stu looked up now, only to see that Ben was gone. Stu looked all around for him, but couldn't find him.
'Damn, he's quiet! I didn't even hear him leave!' Stu though, and sniffed. He hadn't actually started crying before, though he had been close. He often cursed himself for getting so easily upset, but it appeared to work to his advantage this time. Ben had sounded sincerely sorry about hurting Stu's feelings, which Stu took to meaning that there was still a possibility of them being friends. And he was even more determined to make it work now. Stu headed home feeling much better than he had all day.
The next day at school, Stu steered clear of Ben until English class. He had a new tactic: to appear less desperate. He was going to make it look like he was fine with not being friends with Ben, and hoped that it would lead them to actually hanging out and you know, being friends.
He entered the classroom and casually sat in the desk next to Ben's. Neither boy said anything until after the teacher told them to get to work on their stories.
"So, I was thinking we shouldn't write about elves," Stu looked over at Ben.
"Why not? You were the one who suggested it." Ben looked questioningly back at Stu.
"Well, we haven't been able to come up with a plot for the damn story, so I figure we should just do something different," Stu explained.
"Makes sense. But what should we write about then?"
"Uhhh... I was hoping you would have an idea..."
"Of course," Ben sighed and rolled his eyes. "What about... a zombie story?"
Stu looked at Ben with a huge grin on his face.
"Hell yeah! Zombies rule!"
"Alright, that's settled, then." Ben smiled a bit.
They finally managed to make a start on their project by the end of the class. Stu was getting up out of his desk, and was grabbing his things.
"Did you want to come over to my house to work on the story this time?" Ben asked suddenly. Stu turned to look at him.
"That would be great," he said coolly. "Tonight?"
"Yeah. Let's meet at the front doors again." Ben was standing now too, and putting his backpack on his back. "Just don't be late this time." And with that, Ben turned and walked out of the room. Stu smiled, and followed.
Stu was, in fact, on time for their meeting. Ben was already waiting when he got to the front doors.
"Oh, I don't need to wait half an hour for you this time!" Ben said, mock surprised. Stu laughed.
"No, I ran out before any of the teachers could trap me." They then headed in the direction of Ben's house.
"So how far away do you live?" Stu asked.
"It's only about a 15 minute walk." Ben responded.
"Oh, good. Gym really wore me out this afternoon. I don't think I could walk for more than 15 minutes." Stu feigned exhaustion as they walked along.
Arriving at Ben's house 15 minutes later, they walked into the living room.
"Hey mom, I hope you don't mind I brought Stu over. We need to work on our English project." Ben explained.
"Oh, that's no problem at all!" She said, looking rather happy. "Did you want to stay for dinner, Stu?" Ben looked a little peeved that she had asked this.
"I'd love too, as long as you don't mind me staying!" Stu answered cheerily.
"Oh, not at all! We're having fried chicken tonight. Sound good?"
"Extremely! I never get to eat that kind of stuff!" Stu was very excited now.
"All right then. You two better get to work, supper will be in about an hour and a half."
Ben then led Stu down the hall to his bedroom. Stu was a little startled when he walked in there. There were huge bookshelves along all of the walls leaving room only for a desk and a bed. The shelves were all full of books, and the shorter bookshelves had things on top of them, like CDs, a CD player, and a television.
"Wow. Why do you bother going to the library? You must own every single book in print!" Stu exclaimed, impressed.
"Uh, no. Very far from it." Ben said as he set his backpack at the end of his bed. "We'll have to work sitting on the floor again."
"Okay, no problem." Stu dropped to the floor where he was, and took off his backpack. Ben looked slightly amused by this. He then followed suit, and pulled out the papers from English class.
What felt like only 20 minutes later, Ben's mom came in with their suppers.
"Mom, you could have just called us. We could eat at the table." Ben said, looking a bit irritated.
"Oh, nonsense. You two just eat in here and watch some television," she replied, and left the room.
After eating the most deliciously unhealthy dinner Stu had ever had, the boys decided to continue writing. They wrote for a few hours, rather enjoying themselves, and their story, at this point.
"Hey, what time is it?" Stu asked out of nowhere.
"Uh..." Ben glanced over at his alarm clock. "Holy shit, it's 9! We've been writing for like, four hours!"
"Wow, seriously? I should probably get home," Stu looked a little sad. "How much did we write, exactly?"
Ben shuffled through the papers.
"Well, we wrote the outline, and about...10 pages of the story." Ben got a little grin on his face as he spoke. "Hopefully the teacher doesn't have a problem with reading such a long short story."
"Well, she didn't give us a limit on the length," Stu pointed out.
"Very true. Though after this project, she might start." Ben laughed.
"Right, well, I better get going. My mom is gonna be SO pissed at me." Stu stood up and grabbed his bag.
"Alright," Ben also stood, "I'll walk you out." They both walked out of the room and down the hall towards the porch.
"Oh, Stu, are you leaving?" Ben's mom looked at them as they passed the living room.
"Yeah, it's getting late..." Stu sighed.
"That's too bad. You're welcome here anytime!"
"Great, thanks!" Stu smiled, and he and Stu continued walking. "Bye!" he called to her.
They reached the door, and Stu exited.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" he waved to Ben as he walked down the sidewalk.
"Yeah, see you." Ben returned, and closed the door.
Stu was still smiling. The evening had been great, he felt like he and Ben had made a large amount of progress.
'I hope we continue to hang out after this story's finished,' he thought as he passed house after house down the lamp-lit street.
He arrived at home shortly after, much to his dismay.
"Where on EARTH have you BEEN?" His mother demanded, looking just as pissed as he had predicted. Perhaps even a little more so.
"I was at Ben's house..." Stu looked at his feet. "I meant to call, I just got caught up in everything and forgot. Sorry."
His mother just held a hard stare.
"I promise to call you first thing next time..." he continued.
"You had better. And to help enforce this, you're grounded until Monday." His mother said, stiffly and angrily.
"Yes, mom." Stu's head was still hanging, but he wasn't at all sorry. Though he was a little mad now.
"That means you can't go anywhere but school, and no TV, computer, guitar, or friends over."
"Yes, mom." Stu was really mad now. Now he and Ben wouldn't be able to continue writing after school.
"Now get to bed."
"Yes, mom." Stu turned and headed up the stairs. He threw his bag down on the floor upon entering his bedroom, and closed the door. He cursed himself for not calling as he changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. He slid into his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while before drifting into sleep.
And how about some drawings of the main characters, yes?
Ben!
Stu!
Each image links to the deviantART page. :3
Okay, back to writing...