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Ben jerked awake, immediately standing and toppling his chair into the desk behind him. He grabbed his chest, then his face, rubbing the skin to be sure it was there.
He looked at the desk. Notebook open on a page with a doodle of a robot, ink smudged. The classroom was empty, shutters drawn on the windows, lit only by the flickery lights above.
He was back again. There was no end to it, no rest. He’d die, and he’d die, and he’d die-
But it kept changing- the last time was different, very different. Something had to give. Surely, something had to, eventually. It wouldn’t be him. He wouldn’t let it be him.
Ben dashed to the door, shoving desks out of place on the way. He lingered over the door handle only for a moment, before he braced himself and shoved it open-
“Whoa! Hey, watch it.”
-and found himself almost run right into a freshman.
Ben stared as the kid turned away and walked down the hall. He stared as everyone did. Classmates and teammates, a bunch of other kids he didn’t know the names of but he recognised them from around campus. The hallways were full of movement and conversation. Like any other school day.
He couldn’t help it, he needed to be sure- Ben grabbed onto someone’s arm, like he’d shook those kids by the shoulders back in the arcade, but this time it actually worked. The guy actually acknowledged him, in the form of a pissed off look and shaking himself out of Ben’s grip. There was a girl at his shoulder that muttered “asshole” as they both walked away.
He looked over his shoulder at the classroom he’d just come from- the windows were shuttered. Not dark, shuttered. And now that he looked closer, he could see there was still some sunlight peeking through the edges.
He started walking. Slowly, nervously. The instincts he’d gained from his trip through hell told him to run, take this chance to maybe actually leave this fucking place, but at the same time it felt as though any sudden move or sign of blind hope in his eye would shatter this world, leave it as artificial an illusion as the last dozen.
Of all the faces he recognised, there was one that actually got him to stop in his tracks. Around the corner in front of him, casually as ever, his history teacher stepped out.
She caught sight of him too and stopped with a smile, “oh, Ben. Was there anything you wanted to ask?”
“Uh- n-” his voice. Ben stopped, noticing it at last. It was his voice, his. It wasn’t different anymore.
His history teacher was still staring at him though, expecting an answer. He just shook his head, tried to smile, and kept walking. Given the look she gave him, it wasn’t a very convincing smile.
Around the next turn were the exit doors. Ben took a sharp breath as he turned to face them. They were open. Fucking open. He almost laughed. This couldn’t be real.
But he didn’t want to think like that, not when it was right there. His walk turned to a run. He bumped into people, he didn’t care anymore, he saw the sunlight on the other side and he just wanted to get out, he wanted to go home, god he just didn’t want to die.
And then he was there. Outside, before he knew it.
The light was fading. It was the afternoon, everyone was going home and there was an orange glow over it all. Ben took a breath. God, maybe this was real. Although he didn’t know that he’d ever feel sure of that. That he’d ever feel safe again.
He breathed again, taking it in like he was stocking up on air for the next time he lost it. What did he do now, just…go home? Be normal? Things couldn’t be normal after that. And he wasn’t even going to begin considering it was a dream, not a chance. He couldn’t talk to anyone though, he’d sound insane. Well, maybe he was, but he wanted to believe he wasn’t. But who would..?
Oh. Ben had an idea. Maybe a bad one, but he didn’t exactly have a track record for good ideas.
They were there, right where he expected them. Down the grassy side of the school, before getting to the sports field, there were some trees that kids would all gather under in the summer to get some shade. But right now it was barely warm, and there were only two kids out sat against one of the tree trunks.
“Hey, freaks,” Ben still felt like he was getting used to having his own voice in his throat again. Good thing that was something he was pretty used to saying.
The annoyance was audible from a distance. The short haired one closed the book they’d been writing in, while the one with a patched up hoodie sat up straighter and glared in Ben’s direction, “leave us alone, jerk. Where’s the rest of your posse?”
“I dunno, I just…” Ben was already having second thoughts about his totally really good plan. He rubbed his neck and caught a confused look from the girl glaring at him, probably because he should’ve already been asking for lunch money or something by this point.
She sighed and turned to the one she was sat with, “c’mon, Zero, let’s go somewhere else.”
“W-wait, hold on,” Ben stepped up again before the two of them could stand, “Roads, you like, see weird shit, right?”
Zero gave him a double take. They lowered their book into their bag and slowly answered, “despite the rumours, no, I am not in contact with the souls of the dead.”
“If you’re talking weird shit, though,” Zero’s friend spoke up, and Ben looked at her hopefully, “I did see your mom last night.”
Ben groaned. Zero laughed and tried to play it off as clearing their throat, “uh, we should go though, Jay.”
“N-no, come on, listen, this isn’t a prank- I know you get shit for it but I know you’ve seen weird shit going on in this town, and I-I thought you were just like the crazy freak girl or something like everyone else, but I-I- I just-”
“Okay, just fuck off,” Jay stepped up to him.
“Jay-” Zero tried to pull her back but it didn’t do much.
“You and your dumb fucking gang of jocks is always looking for some way to insult us, especially Z,” Jay continued, getting closer to Ben’s face, “but you don’t know the half of what they’ve had to deal with, and I’m not just gonna sit here while you call us names and make fun of us, so fuck off now, or I’ll make you.”
Ben took a step back, and Jay almost looked surprised that that had worked. She took a moment to make sure her point was clear before she turned around and lead Zero away.
“T-the forest-!” Ben called after them. Zero stopped.
“It had that book, i-in a tree, but I also saw something, the symbol on one of the trees, right?” he was practically begging.
Zero turned around, against Jay’s quiet protests. Ben met their eyes for a moment, then started patting himself down, “I’ll draw it, I still remember- shit, I left my bag in there, I-I just need something to-”
“How’d you know about the forest?” Zero’s words were quiet, but harsh.
Ben gulped, “I, uh…I overheard. One time I was sitting outside the councillor’s office. Sorry. But I’ve seen it now! I swear, it’s like…that weird, four, right? With…with the-”
“Circle at one end, yeah, I know. I know what you’re talking about.”
Jay looked between the two of them and muttered to Zero, “you think he’s actually..?”
Zero shrugged. They looked back at Ben, “so…what? Do you want our help, or something?”
Ben thought on it a second then looked around, checking nobody else would hear what he was about to admit. He played with his sleeves restlessly as he took a breath, “I- I think I just wanna know I’m not alone…right now.”
Jay’s eyes widened. She definitely wasn’t expecting that.
“Right…” Zero seemed to consider something, “okay, well, if you left your bag inside we can talk while you go get that. They’re probably closing up soon.”
Ben took a shaky breath, “uh, yeah. Right.”
~
It didn’t take long to get back to the biology class he’d left it in, and he didn’t want to spend enough time in there to even pick his chair back up. Jay and Zero were muttering outside but went quiet as soon as he returned. He cleared his throat awkwardly and started walking with them.
Zero was first to speak up, “so, you saw the forest in a dream, I’m guessing.”
“Well, yeah, it didn’t feel like that though,” Ben clarified.
He liked being in the school a lot less now. It was actually starting to get dark, and they seemed to be the only three roaming the halls. Better than being on his own, at least.
Ben stopped suddenly, “wait, just a sec,” and jogged into the men’s toilet.
“He’s seriously taking a piss right now..?” Jay muttered.
“I just gotta check the mirror, hold on,” he called back. He almost didn’t want to look at his reflection, but when he did…
Ben sighed, “oh, thank god.”
It was him. His own face looking back at him.
“Yeah, you look great prettyboy, now let’s go before they lock up,” Zero came in and leant against the wall.
“I’m not- it’s- y-you’re not allowed in here!”
Zero shrugged, “I can go wherever,” they glanced in the mirror and started fixing their own hair.
“I didn’t see a women’s sign outside,” Ben remarked.
“Who ever said I was one of those?” they still didn’t look Ben’s way, instead looking around at the graffiti until landing on one that said ‘Zero’ with an elongated Z, “oh sweet, it’s still here.”
Ben didn’t really know where to start with that, so he didn’t. He sighed, “I just…when I was in that ‘dream’, or whatever, my reflection didn’t always look like…me.”
Zero looked his way upon saying that.
“Come on already!” the moment was interrupted by Jay shouting to them from outside. The two decided it was probably best to head out.
Back on their way to the doors, Jay leant towards Ben, “so you wanted our help, and your first thought was to approach us threateningly and call us freaks?”
“Well I didn’t know I was threatening, but, y’know, that’s all anyone ever calls you guys,” Ben explained.
Jay stared at him a moment, “I genuinely can’t tell if you’re trying to be mean right now or if you’re really that stupid.”
Ben gave her a confused and slightly offended look. Jay turned back to Zero and leant onto their shoulder as they walked, “oh my god he’s so stupid Zero why did you stick us with the stupidest jock in our school.”
“Hey, my grades are decent,” Ben defended as he pushed open the front doors to the school.
Shnk
“But, like, emotionally stupid,” Jay doubled down on their point.
Ben tried the door again.
Shnk
Jay noticed the problem, “oh, god. Hey! We’re still here! Hello!?” she called out to the rest of the school in the hopes the janitor was still nearby.
Ben continued rattling the doors. They wouldn’t move. They were locked.
“Uh, Ben..?” Zero stepped closer.
Why the hell did he think it was over, it wasn’t, it wouldn’t ever be, they’d all die over, and over, and he was only given hope so that it could be taken away from him, he’d fallen for it, stupid, stupid-
“Ben-?”
It grabbed his shoulder and he smacked the thing’s hand away, running backwards into the opposing wall and slamming against the brick. Only then did he see it was Zero, not the monster. They stared at him, and Jay had stopped shouting to look at him too. He tried to stop panting and looking terrified, but he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. He just tried his best to blink it away and walked past them both.
“We- we’ll find another way, a-as long as we’re not backed into a corner,” he walked down the hall.
“Wh- Ben? Where the fuck are you going?” Jay chased after him, “we’ll wait by the door for the janitor to get back.”
“N-no-” Ben flinched at the mention of the janitor, “he’s not- w-we just have to keep moving.”
Jay put their arms out and gave up chasing him.
BANG BANG BANG
He didn’t get much further though, as he spun around to witness something slamming against the exit from the other side.
“The hell is-?”
BANG BANG BANG BANG
Zero was interrupted by further banging against the door that made them flinch.
“G-get away from it,” Ben started marching back towards the doors.
“What is it?” Zero looked at him.
“I can’t explain, just…” he trailed off, catching his breath and staring the door down. He could explain, but if and when that thing broke through, he wouldn’t have to. They’d see the monster themselves.
He would die again. He knew that. But maybe he could buy them time, more than he could for his history teacher- even though, if she was still alive…he didn’t know what to make of all that, he still didn’t have any idea what was going on, but he knew he would always come back, and they…might not.
The moment came, the doors flung open-
“RAAAHHH!”
Ben stumbled back a few steps, braced to be grabbed off his feet, have his head crushed, his neck snapped, any other option. But he just saw some of his friends from the football team. Making stupid monster faces in the open doorway.
One of them started to laugh, “oh, oh my god, Ben? Dude, we were trying to scare the freaks, I didn’t realise you were such a pussy too!”
One of the other boys joined the laughing while a third shouted beyond him to Zero and Jay, “school’s out, nerds, get outta the building!”
Jay walked past Ben, shouting something at them, but that was about the point he couldn’t focus on the noises anymore. His breathing came too fast and his heartbeat hammered in his ears. He still felt as though he was going to die, that dread gripping his chest and making him nauseous, no matter what he saw in front of him the feeling wouldn’t go away.
He fell, his legs too weak under him, the impact echoing through him. He could just hear his breathing and the sounds of his own head, the screaming and the feeling, the vivid feeling of his heart stopping as he felt pain he’d never felt before.
A touch against his arm brought him back to the real world, briefly. He looked up and saw Zero crouching in front of him.
“Hey- hey, listen to me. Baby’s first panic attack?”
“Wh- what?”
Ben couldn’t give much more of a response than that as Zero took his hands and held them, keeping his focus on them, “just breathe. As long as you’re breathing, you’re fine. Uh, shit, what’s the thing…can you, uh, name five things around you?”
Ben just gave them a confused look, still breathing heavy.
“Okay, yeah, that one hasn’t worked for me before, it’s just a technique the councillor told me. Just, um, keep breathing- try to breathe in time with me, right?”
Zero took a long, slow inhale, raising their chest exaggeratedly so Ben could see. He tried to follow, but couldn’t hold it long enough and had to exhale. Zero caught back up to him and breathed in again, trying to guide him to the right pace. He tried again, holding his breath as much as it felt trapped in his throat. This time he managed it, and let out another long, slow exhale in time with Zero. For a little longer they continued doing the same thing, just breathing in and out slow until Ben could manage it without it being so much of a struggle.
Jay came over when Ben was feeling a bit better, “you guys, uh, good?”
Zero nodded, “yeah. Hey, uh, where’d those guys that were banging on the door go?”
“Said I’d call their parents. They acted like they didn’t care but after what happened with Dylan I think they’re still a bit scared of me,” Jay grinned proudly.
Ben looked past her and indeed they were all gone, and the doors left wide open again. Zero noticed where he was looking and stood up, “alright, we should still get out of here, though.”
Ben got back to his feet too, not noticing until after that he’d held onto Zero to help him up, and suddenly had a rush of something like shame. He was hanging out with the freaks and had just been knocked on his ass by a prank, the next time he was in the changing room he was gonna get the shit kicked out of him, physically and socially. Why did he ever think this was a good idea..?
He didn’t think about that for long once he was outside again, the feeling of freedom overpowering whatever other thoughts were fighting for attention in his head. He leant towards Zero to quickly ask something, “hey, what uh, what was that?”
“...You had a panic attack,” Zero looked at him like it was obvious, “we were in the same psychology class. You know what that is.”
“Yeah, I was there, doesn’t mean I paid attention,” he grumbled and leant back again, trying to retain some of his cool vibe that was currently shattered to pieces.
Jay looked up at the sky and hummed, “it’s that festival tonight, isn’t it?”
Zero perked up, “oh, yeah, we should check it out. Wanna come?” they looked at Ben.
Jay looked horrified at the concept of his invitation. Ben tried to ignore it, “um, yeah, sure.”
Jay quickly pulled Zero aside and whispered to them, although it was entirely within Ben’s earshot, “are you kidding me? He has to go back to get his bag then that happens? He was totally setting us up for the rest of his team to fuck with us back there!”
Zero shook their head, “what he said about the symbol and, well, how he was just acting, I don’t think so. Even if he’s listening on my meetings, he’s never seen that symbol before. I’ve only shown it to you.”
Jay still didn’t look happy about it at all, but after a moment of looking between them and Ben, she sighed and gave in, “alright, we can all go to the festival. But I’m only bringing you with because having you there is gonna get the other jocks away from us.”
She continued glaring at Ben who nodded, just happy he didn’t need to walk there on his own. And there probably wasn’t anyone else he’d be going with now, anyway.
~
It barely felt like the evening once they all got there, with all the string lights hung up overhead it was bright and colourful everywhere they looked. It was half like a circus, with performers on stilts and unicycles waving to the groups of families and students walking by. This was probably the most life their quiet little town got all year.
Ben almost bumped into several people as he was taking it all in. The last time he’d been here, it was empty, desolate. Now, it actually seemed like he could have fun here.
Zero was busy pointing stuff out to Jay. It seemed they’d both been here before too, probably a few months ago when the festival came for summer. Zero seemed to enjoy finding everything that had changed since last time, like a spot the difference puzzle.
At one point, Ben couldn’t say exactly why, he found his attention drifting past all the stalls and attractions to the clearing behind them that lead towards the forest. This whole area was surrounded by woods, but there was a little space behind the stalls for the workers to park up and also to keep anything they wanted away from the public for any reason.
One of those things looked to be a fortune teller.
He didn’t need to look at it long to be sure. Whilst distant, that grinning face in the box left an impression.
He slipped between two stalls without so much as a second thought, the people at them too busy with the games to notice. Even if they had, Ben looked so intent on his path that they probably would’ve assumed he knew what he was doing.
The fairground music faded as he went past the lights, onto the dark patch of grass where the box stood.
The animatronic man shuddered a little as he got closer. Ben slowed down and looked it up and down, it didn’t quite look brand new, but it was in less disrepair than when he’d seen it for the first time in that storage closet.
“The future is a beautiful thing! Would you like to hear of it?”
Ben jumped as it began to talk all of a sudden. He supposed these things must be installed with motion sensors to get the attention of random people passing by.
“I may not always be clear, but I am certain,” the fortune teller continued, moving his microphone around robotically yet organically as he spoke.
Ben stepped forwards, eyeing the button- ‘press to hear, choose to listen.’
He pressed it.
“Well hello there! So we meet again. Or perhaps I should say for the first time.”
Whilst its eyes were unfocused and slightly off angle, Ben got a sense deep in his chest that those words were directed at him more than he liked.
He looked around before he spoke, already aware he looked insane to be speaking back to this thing, “what’s that supposed to mean..?”
“Did you like it? Your look into the future? Many men would pay to see how they die, you know. And you got it for free a hundred times!”
“Is that meant to be a joke?” Ben sneered at the thing, “what the hell are you? What do you mean my future, is that…th-that’s not how I die, that would-”
“We will meet again, though you will not remember this time. My future is dark. Yours is near endless!”
“What?” the lights in the fortune teller’s box flickered and turned off, “wh- hey! Hey! You showed me that? D-did you do all that to me? Who the hell are you?!”
Ben kicked at the thing, but got no response. He wanted to scream, but gritted his teeth instead and buried his face in his palms.
“Ben!” he looked over upon hearing his name to see Zero and Jay running over to him, Jay being the one shouting at him, “oh shit, nice find- what even is that?”
Jay walked past him and cupped her hands around the glass on the fortune teller’s box to peer inside. Zero stopped by Ben’s side and tilted their head at it, “that thing work?”
“It…did,” Ben crossed his arms. It seemed completely deactivated now. It had probably been put back here in the first place because it was broken. But it worked perfectly fine for him.
“Oh shoot, score!” Jay had noticed something behind the fortune teller, closer to the woods, and ran over to it.
Zero chased behind, with Ben following at more of a distance, “what is it?”
She flung away a sheet that had been put over the object like a magician revealing a magic act, to present them both with a bumper car.
“What’s that doing out here?” Zero crouched by it to get a better look.
“I think sometimes they keep an extra, or like, take one out if the bumper arena is like, too full. Or not full enough. I actually have no idea, but hey, here it is!”
Ben was also pretty intrigued, “would it like, work, though?”
“Eh,” Jay titled her head, “they’re designed for a pretty even, flat floor, I’d guess it’s like how shitty RC cars never work on the carpet. BUT- couldn’t hurt to give it a try, right?”
~
They crashed the car almost immediately. It was a pretty fun ten seconds though.
Maybe pointing it towards the woods wasn’t a great idea, but they didn’t want to smash it into the side of the ferris wheel and get in even more trouble, so it seemed like the lesser of two evils to ram into a tree instead.
Jay had been flung out of the car but was having a great time laughing on the floor, and Zero was catching their breath in the driver’s seat. Ben looked a bit shell shocked in the passenger seat, “...where did you learn to drive?”
Zero chuckled, “oh, I didn’t, you really shouldn’t have let me drive.”
“Mhm I’m beginning to realise that,” Ben stumbled out of the cart and was about to walk off to dust himself off, but stopped himself a moment to help Zero get out too.
They assessed the damage and came to a consensus that none of them were ever here and they didn’t see this happen. They were about to head back to the festival when there was a shuffling sound from somewhere nearby.
“Fuck is that?” Jay looked around for the source, “uh, hey, if someone’s here…we can implicate you in the crime, so don’t rat us out!”
There was silence for a few seconds. Then a growl.
“Crap, that’s not a person,” Zero grabbed onto Jay’s arm, “we gotta get back to the festival.”
Ben was the first to see it. Emerging from the cover of foliage, a wolf stared up at him, crouched low and slowly coming towards their group. It continued growling, curling its lips back from its pointed teeth.
Ben didn’t move. He couldn’t even tell in his own head if he was frozen in fear or stupidly brave, he couldn’t tell the difference.
Zero seemed to see it next, given their squeal, shortly followed by Jay cursing and calling to Ben, “j-just back away slowly, or something- or a-are you meant to make yourself big-? Fuck, no, that’s bears or something, uhm-”
Ben didn’t follow her advice, maybe for the better, although he couldn’t say he knew much more about dealing with wolves. They were usually in packs, weren’t they..? He supposed this one must’ve got separated.
It pounced. No warning, barely time to react, Ben just found himself thinking it was at least a different way to die.
Then a moment passed, and he wasn’t dead. He looked down. The wolf had its jaw around his leg, shaking and pulling on it like it was a chew toy, but Ben didn’t budge. It didn’t even hurt that much. Huh.
He raised his other leg and kicked the wolf in its side. It backed up a few steps, then jumped at him again, so he punched it. This time it stayed away, whining slightly as it retreated back to the woods.
Ben looked over his shoulder, and Jay and Zero were in shock. Jay opened and closed her mouth a couple times before actually managing to get words out, “okay, um, I did feel a bit bad for it because it whined at the end there, but also you just punched the shit out of a wolf, which is metal as fuck.”
Ben smiled and gave a thumbs up, assuming that was a compliment.
Zero nodded to agree with Jay, but then looked down and raised a hand to their mouth, “oh my god, your leg.”
Ben looked down too, “oh, that’s, uh…that’s a bit of blood.”
“That’s a lot of blood!” Jay corrected, “doesn’t it hurt..?”
“Um…” Ben wiggled his leg and felt the sting, “I mean, yeah, but I was expecting worse really.”
“We’ve gotta get you to a hospital…or something,” Zero came over to him, “can you walk?”
He made it a few steps before something in his leg disagreed and he stumbled over, only managing to hold himself up on a tree.
“Shit, okay,” Zero helped support him, “just sit down, I-I don’t think it’s good for you to be walking. Um, Jay, can you-?”
“Yeah, I’ll go see if there’s medics or something at the festival, I’ll be back,” she was already running back towards the distant music and lights before finishing the sentence.
Zero nodded, staying with Ben who was staring at his leg. He didn’t look worried at all. If anything he seemed a bit confused. Zero narrowed their eyes, concerned.
“You sure you’re okay?”
Ben took a moment to look their way, “huh? Um…yeah.”
Zero put their hand up with one finger put down, “how many fingers am I holding up?”
Now Ben looked even more confused, “...four? What are you giving me a math test for?”
“Sorry, just checking how, like, lucid you are. I figure if the damage is that bad the blood loss is gonna get to your head.”
“I’m fine, really. I’ve had…worse.”
“Worse than getting mauled by a wolf?” Zero laughed.
“Oh yeah,” Ben gave them a knowing smile, “seriously, this is nothing.”
“So like, you’ve…broken your arm playing football, or something?” Zero guessed.
Ben shook his head, “no, I died. A few times.”
Zero stared at him. Ben looked back and cringed, “sorry, is that like, a weird thing to say?”
“Wh- no- well, yes, but- n-no, I just- what…what do you mean, you died?”
“Well, back in school earlier, it wasn’t just that forest I saw,” he chuckled weakly, “the school was locked, there was this big monster, it just wouldn’t stop…coming after me.”
Ben paused, then laughed again, though it sounded even less genuine this time, “y’know, there was this one time, it…it grabbed me, and I was trying to kick it, grab at it, do anything but my feet weren’t even on the ground, I couldn’t…I couldn’t even reach it, I just- I-I was crying…”
Zero went quiet, just listening. Ben wasn’t even looking at them as he recounted the events.
“Because I couldn’t do anything, y’know?” even now he began to tear up, “I-I just wanted to do anything, just something that would stop it, I didn’t want to die again, I-I just- I didn’t want to…”
Zero held onto his hand, “h-hey, it’s alright, there’s not a monster here. Um, can you just…say how many fingers I’m holding up again?”
Ben looked at their hand, “...four..?”
Zero was holding up two fingers. They sighed, knowing the blood loss was definitely getting to him now.
Ben sniffed, “there’s something wrong with this town…”
“Tell me about it,” Zero looked around. They didn’t exactly like being in the woods, but with other people around, it wasn’t so bad.
When they looked back at Ben, his head was down.
“Ben? Hey, Ben?” they shook him, but his head just rolled side to side, unconscious. Oh, great…they just hoped Jay got back with help soon.
~
Ben woke up in the hospital. He was confused until he remembered vaguely what had happened at the festival, and then it made a lot of sense why he would be in the hospital.
There was a soft yellow glow coming through the window and quiet chatter from the hallway outside. One conversation started to grow and Ben rolled his head to the side as he could hear people entering the room he was in.
“-and we hadn't even studied half the things on that paper, it was- oh,” he caught the end of Zero's sentence, but they cut themself off anyway when they saw Ben looking their way.
Jay was with them and noticed Ben a moment after Zero. There was a moment of silence, before a grin came over her face, “about time! You'd better be glad you missed the worst pop quiz ever today.”
She took a few steps further into the room to sit on the end of Ben's bed and dig around in her backpack for something while Zero crossed the distance a bit slower and asked, “how are you feeling?”
Ben instinctively glanced down at his leg below the bed cover. He could tell there was an ache, but it at least didn't feel like a chunk had been taken out of him, so hopefully the damage wasn't too bad.
He shrugged to Zero, “it's fine. How long, uh…”
“How long were you out?” Zero filled in the rest, “only about a day, we got you here about midnight and then Jay dragged me here the morning after because she wanted to check on you before school.”
Jay turned to Zero with a distraught expression before they'd even finished, “no I fucking didn't! Plus we're only here now after school because our history teacher wanted me to get you the homework.”
She finally found what she'd been looking for in her bag and dumped a crumpled pile of papers next to Ben's arm. He groaned and reached for them with disdain.
“I still get hospital in homework..?” he grumbled, squinting at the papers.
Zero laughed, but tried to hide it as a cough.
“What? Did I say something?” he looked between them and Jay, who shook her head.
“No, no, don't- don't worry about it-”
Zero couldn't hold it together while Jay was talking and started laughing again, which only caused Jay to laugh as well. Ben sighed and put his head back on the pillow.
Eventually he cracked a smile and laughed along with them, not really knowing why. He could be happy, for now at least.