𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 - (𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐱𝐛𝐨𝐲)

Fifty Four

The next day at school, Lucas was standoffish towards Gabi. Noah and Benjamin walk over, carrying on their conversation.

Noah nods and turns, "Whatever... I'm still standing by that, though...Aye, wassup".

Lucas daps Noah up, nodding. "Hey, bro...Can we talk real quick?"

"Yeah...Come on, I gotta stop by the locker room and grab my shit". Noah turns, kissing Benjamin once.

Lucas stands up, following him. Benjamin sits down next to Gabi, smiling. "Hey. Is he okay?"

"I don't know... He's not talking to me".

Benjamin hums and looks away. "So...I didn't get to tell you yesterday but Kiara-".

Gabi sees Elly walk by, standing up. "Why are you always talking about her? It's so damn annoying".

Benjamin furrows his brows, "Are you serious?"

"Yes! Fuck! All you ever talk about is your problems like...Grow a fucking backbone and grow up".

*
Noah sees Elly getting in the backseat and sighing. "Wassup?"

Elly shakes her head, "Do you see this shit?" Elly points to her cheek and then shows her wrist.

Noah nods, "Yeah, bro. What happened?"

"My fuckin' mom...Saturday when I got home. She fuckin' violated, man".

"She hit you?! Why didn't you say anything!"

Elly shrugs and shakes her head, "Tell who? My dad? He's all the way in Brooklyn".

Benjamin gets in the car, slamming the passenger's door shut. Noah and Elly both turn to look at him.

Noah taps Benjamin, "Babe? You okay?"

Benjamin stares out the window, shrugging. "Fine".

Elly looks back at Noah, shrugging. Noah tried again, "What happened? You were fine this morning".

Benny shakes his head, "Gabi is just being bitchy. That's all".

Noah nods, "You sure?"

Benjamin doesn't look at Noah as he keeps staring out the window. "Mhm".

A few seconds after, Lucas gets in, also slamming the door shut. He sits next to Elly, shaking his head. "It's like every time I get in a relationship shit has to get fucked up!"

Elly looks at him, "Gabi? What'd she do?"

"She's fucking ghosting me. I didn't do shit and she's ignoring me".

Elly and Noah look at each other. "Well-uh...Is she joining us for lunch?"

Lucas looks out the window, "She coming over. Elly switch spots. You in the middle".

Elly nods, switching spots with Lucas. Gabi gets in the car, sitting next to Elly. Noah smiles, "Uh... McDonald's?"

Elly nods, "I'm chill with that".

**
After school, Elly walks into her house, going into the kitchen. Jason walks over, "Hey. You got any homework?"

"Mm. Nah".

"Go put in some basketball clothes. Let's go shoot some hoops".

"Can't. Mom said I'm not allowed out. Don't wanna get hit again".

"She'll be fine. Tell her you with me. Go".

Elly smiles and nods. Elly goes into her room, shutting the door.

She grabs some basketball shorts and a tee-shirt. She grabs some long socks, putting them on followed by her air forces.

She walks out, putting her hair in a bun. "I'm ready".

Jason smiles, "Sweet. We gotta record some for pops".

Elly nods and sits down to tie her shoes when her mom walks in. She looks down at Elly, "Where are you going?"

Jason walks over, "I'm taking her to the courts".

Ana shakes her head, "No you're not. She's grounded".

"Mom. She needs to get practice in. She's going with me. Nowhere else".

Elly sighs and looks down at her shoes. She stands up, grabbing her phone. Ana looks at her, walking over. She lifts Elly's shirt, seeing the boxers. Ana shakes her head, "You look dumb".

Elly pulls her shirt back down. She walks past her mom, grabbing a water bottle. "I'm waiting in the car". Elly walks out of the house, slamming the door shut.

Jason frowns and turns back to his mom. "She hasn't done anything to you. Stop treating her like shit".

**
Benjamin rinses his plate off before placing it in the dishwasher. He sighs and presses the start button.

His mom walks over, "What's wrong, honey?"

Benjamin turns to his mom, shrugging. "D-do you think that...All I ever talk about is how...fucked up my life is?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Like...The only way for me to have a conversation is if something's going wrong".

"No..? Someone said something?"

Benjamin grabs his paper towel off the counter, throwing it away. "Gabi told me I'm annoying because I'm always ranting about my problems".

"You're not annoying. It's good you're ranting. It's worse if you hold that stuff in".

"She made me feel like shit. I always confide in her...I don't know why she's acting different...But also the same thing happened with...You know".

"I know, honey. Just try and talk to her, okay? Maybe she's just having a bad day".

Benjamin nods, "Yeah... Maybe".

**