𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 - (𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐱𝐛𝐨𝐲)

Twelve

Benjamin barely touches his salad that was placed in front of him. He moves the salad around the plate, staring down at his fork.

Noah glances up at him. "You should try and eat, Benny."

Benjamin looks up, setting his fork down. "My throat hurts."

"Want some soup or something?" Noah shrugs.

"I don't wanna waste your money."

"It's not a waste. Chicken soup?"

"Uhh yeah. Thank you."

Noah gets up, going to order him some soup. Benjamin grabs his phone, looking into the camera. He sees the bruises starting to form on his face and neck.

He reaches over, grabbing Noah's hoodie. He slips it on, hoping to cover his neck. Noah walks back over, seeing the change, smiling.

"Cozy?"

"Very cozy. Can you notice my neck?"

"No. Don't worry. It'll go away. It's not too bad." Noah sits down.

"Okay. So...is Lucas like your best friend?"

"He kinda feels like a brother to me, even though we just met. It's a nice feeling. By the way, a bunch of basketball kids defended you today."

"Really? I though jocks hates me."

"They said you don't deserve that treatment. A lot of the guys aren't like that, you know?"

"I know. But..That means a lot.l

*
Benjamin walks into his house, heading straight to the kitchen to grab an ice pack to put against his cheek.

He goes into the bathroom, looking at where he was starting to bruise. Katen had only landed one hard punch just below his eye into his cheekbone.

It hurt to move his mouth. He places the ice pack back on his face, before going upstairs the his room. He grabs his computer, googling the best way to cover up bruises.  He eventually falls asleep due to the painkillers he took.

Mrs.Evans gets home from work. She sets her things down before heading up to greet Benjamin.

She knocks on the door. "Benny? Is there anything specific you want for dinner?"

No reply.

She knocks twice again. "Benjamin?"

She opens the door, seeing him passed out. She looks at the oversized jacket he has on. She walks over to him, seeing the bruises on his neck and face.

The jacket was also lifted up a little and she could see a small one on his back.  She fixes his hoodie before shaking him awake. "Benjamin?"

"Hm?" Benjamin lifts his head up a little bit.

"Get up, honey. I need to talk to you."

Benjamin sits himself up and looks at his mom. "What?"

Olivia shakes her head. "Where did the bruises come from?"

Benjamin's hand shoots up to his face. "Oh, I uhm...fell."

"You fell?" Olivia asks, not convinced.

"Yes...this morning. Dad was here, he helped me get back up. I just misstepped and fell down the stairs."

"Are you sure?"

Benjamin nods, laying back down. "I just fell, mom. I'm okay."

Olivia watches as he lays back, bringing the blanket up over his shoulders.

Mrs.Evans walks downstairs, preparing dinner. Mr.Evans was coming over for dinner so the family could talk.

He walks in the house, a bottle of wine in his hands."Hi, babe."

He gives her a kiss, setting a bottle of wine on the counter. Olivia smiles, stepping away. "Hey..were you here this morning?"

"Yea, why?"

"Did Benny fall? Like enough to bruise himself?"

"No. He caught himself. He fell on his hands and knees but that's it, why?"

"He has this bruise on his face..right on his jaw. And one on his neck. There's always one on his back. Says he fell."

"His back? He never fell on his back."

"Yea."

"What? Did the kid get beat up?" Damien asks.

"He told me it was from falling this morning."

Mr.Evans shrugs, "That couldn't be from that. He was perfectly fine when he got up."

**

Benjamin walks downstairs for dinner, he had tied the strings from Noah's hoodie to hopefully cover more of his neck. Benjamin sits down at the table, staring off into space.

benjamin! benjamin!

"Benjamin!"

Benjamin regains focus and looks over at his mom. "Huh?"

"I asked if you were okay?" Olivia places her hand on his shoulder.

"Y-yeah. Just tired." Benjamin says, looking back down at the table.

"Alright." She sets down his plate in front of him, smiling.

Benjamin grabs his fork, moving the food around his plate, making no effort to eat.

"So. Benjamin. Your dad and I just wanted to apologize for not telling you."

"Son. I wanna be a better father. You don't deserve to live in a world where your father mistreated you."

"Okay." He responds nonchalantly.

**
Benjamin goes to shower after dinner, hoping the hot water would help relax him after a stressful day.

Mrs.Evans goes into Benjamin room, setting his laundry basket down. She glances down to see Benjamin's phone ringing, Noah calling him.

She picks it up. "Hey, Noah. This is Benjamin's mom."

Noah stutters a little, not expecting his mother to answer the phone. "O-Oh..h-hi. What's up?"

"Did something happen at school today with Benjamin? He has bruises on his face and...He's not talking to me."

"Uhm. He'll probably be pissed that I told you but, Katen and his friends attacked him at school."

"What?"

"Yeah. They jumped him, basically.

"Oh god. Why didn't he tell me?" Olivia let's out a sigh, shaking her head.

"Im sorry."

"N-no..it's okay. Thank you for telling me."

Benjamin finished his long shower which consisted of him either crying or standing in complete silence for about thirty minutes.

He gets out the shower, getting dressed in some sleep clothes before getting in bed to mess around on his phone.

He sees a text form Lucas. As well as a few messages from Noah.

From Lucas: hey man. how ya doing ??

To Lucas: i'm doing okay :) thank you for today

He sighs and selects Noah's contact, calling him. He presses the phone against his ear as the phone trilled.

Noah picks up the phone on the second ring. "Hey. Are you alright? Feeling better?"

"Yea. Just wanted to hear your voice."

"Perfect. Have you seen Katen's posts?"

"No. What'd he say?"

"Some cryptic message. Posted a picture of him and his friends with the caption, "I'd say we had a great day boys."

Benjamin rolls his eyes and sits back in his bed. "He's so sick," Benjamin sighs. "I wanna crawl into a hole and die."