The Lost Boys

So

Benjamin hated his name. His parents were high as the moon when he was born, and thought it'd be the funniest thing if his middle name was Frank. 

Benjamin Frank Lee. They always had his full name on attendance. Benjamin supposed the school staff got a kick out of it too.

He sighed as he walked out of the school building. School wasn't over, but he didn't feel like attending anymore classes. He'd probably just pick another fight.

Benjamin could not feel.

He doesnt know when it started, the muted emotions, slow reactions, numbed feelings. He felt unattached from himself, not here nor there, not alive nor dead.

He often found himself jaywalking through busy highways and cramped intersections. He spent nights on his apartment roof, bordering on drunk, legs swinging above the 30 story drop.

He couldn't process the risk of his actions until the last moment, pulling himself back at the crucial second, where thrill became dangerous. When he began smoking, it was the only way he could see colour.

Without it, everything was black, white and grey. With few exception.

"Benji! Hi!" Benjamin turned his head to see a boy run up to him. Cue the exception.

"Hello, Elliot." Benjamin smiled softly. The shorter boy was his only friend and he preferred it that way. The more people someone gets close to, the more likely they will be fake and hurt you. Elliot was just an eager kid and he quite liked that. After being isolated most of the time, the energy the kid had was welcome.

"Are you skipping too?" The bright eyed boy asked. Benji nodded. 

"Yay! We can stay together." Elliot laced their fingers together. "Right?"

Benjamin nodded again, not bothering to ask why the younger kid was skipping too- he saw the clear bruises on his face. "Ellie, where is your best friend you always tell me about? He didn't want to keep you company?"

Elliot smiled, scrunching up his nose. "Ah... Ollie? Um, I didn't tell him that... you know, that it happened again."

Benjamin sighed. "Elliot, I've stayed quite because I didn't want to pry, but if you're getting bullied or hurt, you can tell me, okay? I'm on your side."

Elliot let go of his hand. "I- I'm not being bullied. I just... fall a lot. That's all."

"It seems your Ollie doesn't believe that either, since you never want to tell him when you have to come to school looking like you were thrown down stairs!"

Elliot looked up at the older boy in shock. Benjamin never raised his voice at him before. Benji sighed when he saw the other's hurt face. "Wait, Ellie-"

Without another word, the smaller boy turned and ran away. Benjamin let out a small curse. He had no choice but to follow. The small boy wasn't athletic and he was limping after a few yards. Benji easily caught up and gave him a back hug. "Sorry, Elliot. You're fine. You're okay."

Elliot remained very, very still. "...You can make it up to me."

Benjamin backed away. "How."

"Agree to meet Oliver."

"Nope."

"Why?"

"I've already told you, man." Benji shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'm not joining your little band of misfits."

Ellie puffed out his cheeks. "That's not what we are. Ollie says we're like any other group of kids."

"Yeah, you are- if you chose every kid in a bad situation and shoved them into one place." Benji sighed. "Anyways, no offense but I'm not interested."

"That's mean." Elliot huffed. "It's not like that. We're all happy."

"Yeah because of your fruity fairy best friend Oliver." Benji said mockingly. 

"Stuff it." Elliot glared. "You're just jealous. You have no friends. You just watch everything silently like an empty vessel."

Benji shrugged. "Disappointed?"

"No." Elliot frowned. "I liked you."

Then he walked away. Benjamin stared blankly after him before shaking his head and following again. He slipped his hand into the younger boy's and pulled him to his side.

"Ah, you kill me, Ellie, you really do." He twisted his mouth. "It's not fair in the slightest."

Elliot laughed. "Once I heal, you meet Oliver."

"Whatever boy, just walk."

 He had never believed the word around town. That Oliver Harrison could talk a suicidal child off a ledge, that he could heal broken hearts and crumbled souls with a bright smile and no weight on his chest. And he didn't trust it either. 

Of course, until the pair bounded toward him one morning and plopped down to the bench he was sitting on like they were friends for years.

"Hello! I'm Oliver, call me Ollie!" Benji was not expecting a handshake, much less an enthusiastic hug. "Elliot told me so much, including your reluctance to join our so called 'band of misfits'. But let's be friends anyways! I've heard I'm a good one."

And with the dazzling smile on his face, Benjamin could believe it. So a little shocked by the greeting and overall overwhelmed with the presence of the luminous boy, he replied,

"Okay?" 

He didnt trust it, but looking at the blinding smiles on both of the boys faces, he realized that he wanted to be able to smile like that one day too.

"Ollie, you're the friendliest person I know."

"Why thank you."

"Is that how you actually are?"

"...What do you mean? Of course."

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End of character introductions. How you feeling? Also if you didnt get it, the quotes at the bottom are between Ollie and the character of the chapter. Any predictions of how things might turn out? I think it can be surprising to some, expected to others.