Chapter One: The Beginning 2/3

I sat on the bench, waiting for Benny to finish getting dressed. I felt clean and shiny.

She finally came out, and she put her arms up, “Ta-da.”

“Took you long enough,” I grinned at her.

There was a short silence as we headed out.

“Ren,” she said before she stopped.

I stopped to stand with her and nearly fell over.

She held her hands up to catch me just in case, but fortunately, I was able to recover in time to save myself.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Benny asked.

I felt nervous, but I nodded.

“Is that a birthmark on your face?”

I always hated the birthmark on my body. I say body because the only part of it you can see most of the time is the one on my face, the side of my neck, and my hand.

“Yes,” I said, a little more frustrated than I intended.

“I was just curious,” she said, “It looks kind of cool.”

Cool? That was a first.

“Really?” I asked.

She nudged me with her arm “I was thinking more badass, but I figured cool was better to blurt out first.”

A strange feeling of relief washed over me.

“Come on,” she said, nudging me forward “Let’s get our tour on.”

I walked with her this time, actually being able to look around.

“That’s the gym, we were just there,” she pointed “The cafeteria is right there.”

I nodded every time she showed me something. This was definitely going to help, I already know I tend to get lost, and I don’t have the best sense of direction.

I watched as she glanced at the gate, “Hold on a second.”

I stopped, and I saw her head right for the large black gate. There was a guy on the other side. He stood there as if he was waiting for her.

Who the hell was that? What the hell was she doing?

I didn’t wait for her to call me over; I was quick to follow behind her.

“Gus,” Benny said, I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Benny,” he said, his smile almost as wide as hers.

He looked over at me, “Who’s the new chick?”

Benny looked at me “This is my new roommate.”

“Another one?” he asked, “How many is that now? Six?”

He’s joking, right?

“Ren,” Benny said, “This is Gus, my boyfriend.”

“Juveniles and perverts, huh?” I asked her.

She giggled, “Yep.”

He looked a little confused, but he didn’t ask.

My tact abandoned me as I blurted my next question.

“So, what’d you do?” I asked him.

“No small talk first?” he asked me amused.

I didn’t think it was really that necessary, not if he really did something bad to end up there.

“I’ve got a few assault charges,” he admitted, “None were towards a woman.”

I looked at her; she knew she was crazy, right?

“You must like this one,” Gus said, “This is the first roommate I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”

“Is that so?” I said.

“Gus!” I heard a male voice from the other side of the gate.

He turned back to acknowledge the male, “Looks like the King is at it again.”

I made a face.

King? That seemed like a stupid nickname to me.

Of course, I think it mattered as to why or how he got the nickname in the first place.

I was curious to know who this King guy was.

Gus turned back to look at Benny, I could see the short light-colored hair trying to grow on his face; his hair was light brown.

“Tell the guy to calm down,” she said, “I want to talk to you.”

He gave her an evil smirk “Maybe you should leave campus so we can hang out.”

She looked over at me, “Want to hang out?”

“I’m pretty sure I wasn’t invited,” I stated.

“You’re invited now,” she said.

“Why don’t you two just go out tonight, and we all do something tomorrow before everyone else comes back?” I suggested.

She looked at Gus, who, in turn, looked at me.

“You sure?” he asked, “I don’t mind.”

“Go be a couple,” I said, “I need to figure out how I am going to deal with this school.”

“You might go crazy trying to figure it out,” Benny stated.

I started to walk away, but then I realized I didn’t bring my key with me.

“You brought the key,” I pointed at her.

“My bad,” she smiled, “Let me take her to our room, and I’ll meet you outside.”

“Alright,” he said, “Nice meeting you, Roommate Ren.”

I turned to let him know I heard “Likewise boyfriend Gus.”

We walked back to the room, and she opened the door before handing me her bag.

“I shouldn’t be gone long,” she said, “We’re hanging out tomorrow, I’m serious.”

I nodded, “We’ll hang out tomorrow.”

She walked away, and I shut and locked the door, now I was going to lie down and sleep.

I set her bag on her desk, and I set mine on the floor before pushing it under my bed.

I pulled the blanket down before lying down on the bed and pulling the comforter over me. As long as I can sleep here, I think I’ll be fine.

At least I hope so.

++++++++++++

The sound of creaking woke me up, and for a minute, I had forgotten where I was.

I sat up quickly in my bed, feeling my skin crawl.

“Sorry,” I heard a whisper.

I turned to see Benny standing there looking guilty.

I looked around for my phone to see the time.

2:37 AM.

“I thought you said there was a curfew?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“On school nights,” she nodded quickly “I’m sorry.”

I frowned as I laid back down.

“So, we have a plan tomorrow,” Benny said as she got into her own bed “We should go see a movie.”

I nodded, “That sounds fun.”

“It’ll just be the four of us,” she said, looking at me, “Alright?”

“Four of us?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “You, Gus, Michael, and me.”

I barely registered what she was saying to me, but I figured that everything would be fine.

“That’s fine,” I said, “I just need to run by the post office tomorrow.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Night Benny,” I said.

“Goodnight, Ren.”

All I had to do was roll over, and I was out.

++++++++++++

A booming sound nearly made me fly out of bed.

“Sorry,” Benny said low.

I groaned as I rolled over to face the wall.

“You should be waking up soon,” she said.

I sat up, I completely forgot.

I went right to my closet to throw on some clothes, a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeve black and red striped shirt.

It was a shame, even my clothes didn’t fit me like they used to. I needed to make a mental note to get out and buy some that did.

I quickly put on my red Converse, and I was pretty much ready.

The last thing I had to do was grab my wallet and my notebook.

“Is that a notebook?” Benny asked me.

I nodded as I put the small gold book in my front pocket.

“I can meet you guys at the theatre?” I asked her.

“Sure,” she nodded, “It’s the one up the street from the mall.”

“I’ll see you guys there in about an hour.”

“Later,” she said.

I made sure I hooked my room key to my wallet. I didn’t want to lose it or get locked out of my room. I was already too new to be that stupid.

Before I came to this city, I made sure I had the bus schedule on my phone, so I wouldn’t get lost, and I knew which one went where.

The one closest to the school took me to the town square, in that small area was the post office.

From there I can figure out which bus will take me to the mall.

I scanned my card before walking past the driver to take a seat near the front.

It took a few minutes before the doors closed, and we were in transit.

I found myself looking out the window watching as the school went on and on until it finally ended.

That school was much larger than I ever thought possible.

It needed to have dorms for the students, classrooms, a gym, a cafeteria, a field, and who knows how much area for extra activities.

The bus stopped, and I got up to get off.

I glanced around before I saw the building labeled ‘Post Office.’

I walked into the building, and I told them my name, and they brought out a small orange package for me.

My name was on it, just like my mother said it would. I was thankful it was even still here, considering it got here three days before I did.

I opened the package to see an envelope in it along with a bright pink scarf.

I frowned at the color, but it felt pretty awesome.

Next, I took the envelope in my hand, and I opened it.

I scanned the letter. It was a common thing from my mother.

It was kind of her to send me a scarf, but that was unlike her.

I always frown when I see anything with the words, ‘Mom and Earl.’

Then there was the weirdest part, she sent me an actual credit card. On purpose. In the letter she told me to use it for the things I needed, that’s it.

I stared at the paper before looking at the piece of gold plastic. At least she got the gold part right. I opened my wallet to secure the card safely, and I put the envelope in the larger packet before resealing it. I needed to meet them at the mall now.

I tucked it under my arm, and I headed out. I would call my mother later to thank her.

The bus at the sidewalk wasn’t the right bus to take, so I had to walk a block over.

This one was more like a trolley. I stepped onto it and showed the lady my pass. This one had no seats, so I was forced to stand up. I felt tired already, not sure if it was because I was physically or mentally.

I stared down at my phone to find out how many stops we had to make before we got to the mall, but I felt something on my side.

It didn’t really bother me until I felt something touch my butt.

My head shot up, and the feeling was gone, whatever or whoever touched me moved away.

I turned around but didn’t see anyone too close to me that looked guilty.

I returned my attention back to my phone, and it didn’t happen again. The bus stopped two more times before I was finally at the mall.

I got off and felt relieved. It was far too creepy on that thing. I had to wonder if it was a person touching me on purpose, or if it was just an accident.

The theatre wasn’t too far away, but I had to walk there from the bus stop.

Maybe in the near future, I need to try and get a car.

I could see the entrance from here, and I saw Benny standing there with Gus and another guy I didn’t recognize.

“Ren!” Benny called before waving wildly at me.

I smiled. I really did feel welcome.

Gus grinned over at me, the other guy not so much.

Once I was close enough, I could actually see him.

He had short dirty blond hair, and his eyes were dark blue with thick brown eyebrows and long dark lashes. He wore all black. The pants definitely weren’t jeans, they looked more like dickies. His shirt looked like it was supposed to be long-sleeved, but he had the sleeves pushed up his forearms. There were three buttons at the neck of his shirt, and only the top one was open. Even his shoes were black. 

He is tall, but not as tall as Gus.

“I’m Ren,” I said, trying to be friendly.

He just looked at me. I couldn’t help but notice a dark line under his jaw.

“Come on,” Gus said, “Give the girl a chance, it is a double date after all.”

Gus dresses similarly to his friend. The shirt almost looked like the same one, only midnight blue. He wore beige dickie shorts with camouflage shoes. 

I made a face, “A double what?”

Benny looked at him, “I may have forgotten to tell her that.”

I glared at her.

“Michael,” the guy said.

I wasn’t expecting a voice like that to come out of him. It was kind of deep, not country music deep though.

I looked at him before nodding.

“We’re going to watch a chick flick,” Benny said.

The two guys groaned.

“It wouldn’t be a date if we watched an action movie,” she hissed.

“I don’t agree with a chick flick,” I stated.

She looked at me, “Ren, you are supposed to be on my side.”

As I stared at her, I realized exactly what she was wearing.

Her shirt was black, and it looked almost a full size too big for her. It said, ‘Does this shirt make my tits look big?’ Her dark blue jeans were riddled with tears, but the most significant was on her left knee. On her feet, she wore dark blue Converse. 

“Does it have to be a chick flick?” I asked.

I looked at the two guys. Clearly, neither of them wanted to watch a girly movie either.

In the end, we ended up watching a very girly movie.

++++++++++++

I stared blankly at the large screen.

“Are you crying, Gus?” Benny asked oddly.

“It was just so sad!”

I stared forward while I tried to decide if I actually liked the movie or not.

“Hey.”

I turned to see Michael looking at me.

“Let’s ditch the married couple.”

I didn’t really respond. I just made a face.

“Let me rephrase that,” he said as he inched forward in his seat, “Let’s ditch the married couple and grab some food.”

I nodded before I stood up.

“We’re leaving,” Michael said to them.

I was basically pushed out.

It took a minute before we were actually out of the auditorium, and in the hallway where we could actually hear each other speak.

“So, how did you like the movie?” I asked awkwardly.

He glanced over at me, “It sucked.”

I nodded slowly as we walked into the mall.

He held the door open for me. Honestly, I was surprised.

“Thank you,” I said.

He only nodded in response.

I followed him until we reached the food court.

Trailing just a bit behind him, I was able to figure out what the black line was. Only it wasn’t a line. He had several tree branches on his neck, only some of them were visible because of the ends. Two of them were a lot longer than the others, helping me decipher precisely what they were. They weren’t colorful at all, just black ink with black, blue, and purple watercolors.

“What do you like?” he asked.

It took me a second to register his words.

I shrugged, “I pretty much eat anything.”

“Find us a seat,” he said.

“Let me give you some money,” I said, reaching into my pocket, but he was already walking away.

What the hell? He insisted on paying for my ticket at the theatre, and now he is buying me lunch? I thought this was a fake date, so why was he treating it like a real one?

I found a seat a little away from people, and I took the notebook out to look over a few things I had written before.

I had to remind myself to thank him. He seemed like a nice guy, even if he was acting a little like a dick.

I read over the last page I wrote, feeling depressed. I was telling myself to be strong, not to add another scar to my body.

I feared coming here, far more than I should have.

So far, things were actually going really well, but I knew that good feeling wouldn’t always last.

The chair across from me was pulled out, and I quickly shut the book.

“What is that?” he asked me.

I looked at the book, “My sanity.”

He just shrugged it off as he pulled a sub sandwich out of the bag and set it in front of me along with a soda.

He had the same in front of him.

“It’s a meatball sub,” he said, “If you don’t like it, I’ll eat it.”

I felt myself smile, “Thank you.”

He looked at me oddly before opening his sandwich up.

If I ever had a real date, I imagine that it would be like this. This guy was expecting me to eat this foot-long sandwich.

I can’t wait to see his face when I actually do.

++++++++++++