Back at Square One (BEN Drowned)

11

Shaking some famous dead guy's hand didn't seem like a real pact at first but it sure did feel like one. Something seemed to be bugging me with each day that passed, like I was on a time limit and I needed ideas quick. Ben never put all that much pressure on me but I still felt it. And at school it was cranked up to full capacity, and my brain was on the verge of exploding every day until I could get home and power-nap.

Except one day, I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't just fall asleep and forget about everything for a good second. It probably had to do with what had happened earlier.

In Chemistry that day, my lab partner for the semester (weird alien worshiping kid) was acting extra creepy and intrusive with all his questions and stares, and intense scribbling in a notebook that seemed more like a journal than something for school. It wasn't even coming off as him being into me; he just seemed way, way too interested in my personal life and thoughts. Almost like he was interviewing me for something.

"What's your favorite song that's strictly from an anime?"

"Are those jeans you're wearing? It's like you lost the left half of your brain, or something."

"Who would you say is your closest friend, if you have any right now?"

"Are both of your parents home most of the time? Or just one? Or do you not have any?"

I resisted the urge to sock him in the face when he asked if I was a hermaphrodite or not. Sometimes I would answer and he would seem frustrated, or disappointed, like I'd answered wrong. At one point, he paused, sighed, and rested his face in his hand.

"Do you think I'm weird?"

How the fuck am I supposed to answer that?!

"...yes. But weird isn't bad," I hesitantly said, raising an eyebrow and getting back to my classwork. He'd caused us to fall behind a lot on the assignment but we—well, pretty much I was able to finish it on time. That was another thing about Unsettling Alien Kid; he didn't do much of his work in class, but never got reprimanded, and didn't even seem like a slacker. He just looked like he was thinking about important things a lot. A lot. Maybe too much.

What's on his mind half the time, anyway?

I lay awake in bed at 4:00 in the afternoon speculating until I finally realized that this wasn't even what I should've been thinking about in the first place. I was supposed to be connecting the dots, thinking of strategies, doing something to try to help Ben's situation. It felt like if I wasn't sleeping or eating or going through a crippling bout of anxiety, I had to be thinking.

Thanks, brain!

I groaned and sat up, holding my head and trying to shake the thought of that weird kid. I needed some rest, stat. But before I could cleanse myself of the worry my phone buzzed.

Hey are you good - B

I almost smiled.

Yeah. Something weird just happened at school. Oh, also I got a new addition to the insult book wanna hear?

Sure.

Well, not really. Got asked if I was a hermaphrodite today :)

There was a pause in conversation. It surprised me. Ben always texted me like this, but since he's technically everywhere in the web, he can't text from a solid number. So he just "borrows" some random line and contacts me from there. But our talks always went so smoothly, like we were just chatting in real life and not through the internet, and Ben paused. I raised an eyebrow, not able to tell whether he was busy laughing at me or just genuinely shocked. After a good second, he responded again.