hate is a strong word (bxb)

18

"So, you're really still grounded, eh?" Scar questioned the next day during lunch. 

Braxton's head immediately perked up at that comment, and he watched carefully as Ben answered. 

"Yeah," Ben answered, "I still have an entire week left of being grounded, and it really sucks."

Ben looked to Braxton as he began to speak up, "how come you're grounded?" Braxton questioned. Ben didn't mention it the day before--not that there was much time for casual talk--and he thought that he should've known that Ben was grounded. Since he was grounded, that must've meant that Ben had Braxton over in complete secrecy. 

"I, uh," Ben debated whether or not he should tell the truth, but then decided that lying would just be a waste, "my dad found some of my pot."

"He didn't know you smoked?"

Braxton assumed that Ben's dad must've been fine with that kind of thing. After all, Ben smoked quite frequently, so he was surprised to hear that the boy had somehow been managing to keep that a secret from his father. 

"He's, uh, he's pretty strict at times," Ben answered.

Ben didn't have the best relationship with his father. His father was a fairly close-minded person, and whenever Ben spoke to him for more than two minutes, he was filled with the deepest sorrow. He hated the fact that his dad had to be bigoted. Sure, it didn't matter that his dad didn't like the idea of him smoking weed. Most parents wouldn't be fine with that. It was the fact that his dad got like that with everything that Ben did--whether it was something bad or something good. His dad was the simple type. He liked beer, football, and all other things that were like that. 

"It must suck being grounded," Scar stated, "I mean, what do you even do with your spare time, then? I can't imagine still getting grounded when you're almost eighteen years old."

"I'll find something to do with my free time for the rest of the week," Ben subtly looked over at Braxton.