~June 24, 2021~

I woke up to Benny's face right in front of mine. I groaned lightly while stuffing my face back into my pillow.

"It's too early for this," I grumbled.

He laughed lightly. "We gotta leave soon."

My shoulders shrugged. "Whatever."

"Come on." He pestered. "If you loved me you would get up."

I stayed still and lightly smiled at myself. He gasped in mock hurt.

"Ouch."

I laughed. "I'm kidding."

I then sat up and his bright smile glistened in my eyes.

"Good morning." I smiled back at him.

He kissed my cheek lightly. "Good morning, beautiful."

I pushed the hair behind my ears before stretching my arms above my head.

"When are we leaving?" I asked while standing up.

"In an hour or so." He stated.

"Alright, that should give me enough time," I mumbled to myself.

"Hm?" He hummed.

"Oh, nothing."

His shoulders shrugged. "Alright, I'll be in the kitchen helping my mom."

I nodded while watching him skip away to the kitchen. I began getting ready and examined myself in the mirror. I groaned lightly.

"Ugh, why am I so ugly?..." I whispered to myself.

"You're not ugly." Benny's voice echoed from the other side of the door.

I hummed lightly in confusion and swung open the door. And Benny was standing there.

"Are you stalking me, Rodriguez?" I smirked.

His head shook. "No, I just came in here to tell you we're leaving in ten minutes."

"You just said an hour," I muttered while fumbling with my earrings.

His shoulders shrugged. "My mom keeps changing up the schedule."

"Sheesh." I sighed. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Nuh-uh, not yet." He said while pushing me back into the bathroom.

I hummed lightly in confusion. "What?"

He faced me back towards the mirror and crossed his arms over his chest.

I sighed. "What are you doing?"

"We're not leaving until you tell me one thing you like about yourself." He explained.

I laughed lightly. "This is stupid."

"I don't care. Go."

I sighed softly. "Okay, um...I don't know. There's nothing nice about me."

"Fine. I'll tell you." He nodded while slithering his arms around my waist.

"Good luck with that," I muttered.

He rested his chin on my shoulder and smiled.

"Your eyes, your hair, your lips, your nose. Pretty much everything." He whispered.

"You're lying."

His head shook. "I would never lie to you."

I sighed. "Well, thanks..."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

My head shook slightly. "Not really..."

"What can I do to make you believe me?" He asked.

My shoulders shrugged. "I don't know."

He hummed quietly. "Hm...."

"Guys! Time to go!" My mom yelled.

"Coming!" I shouted.

I looked back at Benny.

"Come on, slowpoke," I smirked.

His eyes rolled. "Alright, alright, alright."

I laughed lightly before walking out of the bathroom.

••••

I hopped out of the car and immediately stretched. Ugh, finally. I felt Ralph smack the back of my head, making me exclaim loudly.

"Aye!" I grumbled. "Knock it off."

He laughed lightly. "Make me."

I smirked. "Oh, I'll make you."

I then grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his face. He grunted angrily while fiddling with it to get it off.

"Jerk!" He exclaimed.

I laughed loudly. "Boom!"

He pulled my hair, making a shriek escape my mouth.

"Mom!" I shouted.

I heard my mom's fingers snap.

"Ralph, stop it right now." She demanded.

He quickly let me go and stood up tall.

"Sorry, Ma..." He mumbled softly.

"Mhm, now help me bring these bags inside."

He nodded and followed her to the trunk. I rubbed my head and heard Benny's feet pound on the driveway.

"Finally, I can leave that stuffy car." He sighed in satisfaction.

I chuckled lightly. "Took you a bit."

He stretched his arms above his head. "Yeah, I was still waking up."

"Ah," My tongue clicked. "I see."

He nodded and grabbed his bags.

"You stayin' over for a bit?" He asked.

"If you want me to." I nodded.

He smirked. "Of course I do. Come on."

I laughed lightly and followed him inside. We walked up to his room and something felt off. I didn't say anything about it though because I would probably sound like an idiot.

He opened his door and his eyes immediately widened at something. I peeked my head around the corner and saw Heather sitting on his bed, her arms crossed tightly around her chest.

"Heather?..." He whispered.

She stood up. "Hey, Ben."

"What are you doing here?" He asked while setting his bags down. "And how did you even get in?"

"It doesn't matter. I just came here for an apology." She stated.

His eyebrow raised in confusion. "Apology? What do you mean?"

"You and Nat need to apologize to me."

I gasped. "Um, no? You should be apologizing to us."

Her head shook. "No, you guys made me get sent home early. Apologize now."

"No! You apologize to us!" I demanded.

"Natalie, don't," Benny mumbled at me.

A huff escaped my mouth as my arms crossed over my chest.

"Heather, please just leave. I don't wanna see your face again." Benny sighed.

Her jaw clenched. "No."

"Get out please." He begged while pointing to his door.

She huffed and frantically looked around for something. She suddenly grabbed a picture of Benny and his dad and smashed it on the ground. A loud gasp escaped Benny's mouth.

"Hey!" He shouted angrily.

She then grabbed the photo from inside and ripped it into shreds. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes as he watched the pieces of paper fall gracefully to the ground.

"See you later, asshole." She said while pushing herself out of his doorway.

I wanted to punch her in the face so bad, but I needed to comfort Benny instead.

"It's okay," I reassured him while placing a hand on his back.

His head shook. "That was the last thing I had of my dad and now it's gone..."

I sighed softly and watched as he fell to his knees. The glass from the picture frame dug into his legs, but he didn't seem to care.

"Benny!" I gasped as I knelt next to him. "You're gonna hurt yourself!"

He didn't listen to me. A tear fell from his eye as he picked up one of the shreds of paper.

"It's all gone..." His voice cracked. "He's gone..."

"No, it's not all gone. We can probably re-print it or something-"

"No," He cut me off. "N-no, we can't."

I sighed softly again as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered.

He whimpered lightly as he squeezed me back tightly.

"I miss him so much." He whispered back.

I gently ran my fingers through the back of his head. "I know you do..."

He burst into a quiet set of tears as he just hugged me tighter. Poor thing...

••••

author's note:
my poor baby :(. have a great day, luvs💕
~Olivia🧸🤍

{5/3/21}