Never Have I Ever: Season 3

Part 4

"Why were you late for class?" Ben asks Aneesa, eyes gently tracing over her as he takes her hand and they exit Mr. Shaperio's class together. Trent bursts past them as he rushes out the door, cutting off their conversation, making Aneesa drop her book. Ben looks at him, annoyed, before helping her pick it up and then slowly turns his focus back onto her. She huffs out a short soft awkward laugh as she takes it from him, and their eyes catch. She can see how they glint at her with some curiosity as he waits... but she can also tell how they seemed tinged with something else deeper inside them too... maybe something that weighed on his mind. And the way he had kind of felt strange, kind of distant these past few days was not something Aneesa was finding new to...

She shrugs and lets her gaze wonder away for a couple of seconds, trying to fend off those thoughts that really wanted to play with her mind... thoughts that had mainly came more forcefully after the winter dance. Her eyes come back to meet him, his eyes that seemed slightly unfocused, eyes that wanted to flicker away now and then.

Maybe she didn't need to say anything, she decides. It's not like he had seemed to care... he were only half here for her... his eyes occupied with something else... something deeper he couldn't seem to pull himself out of... she could almost feel as they want to dim and fade away into other thoughts already, leaving her behind... He was half in his own world... She studies him for a few moments, suspecting she may know what seemed to be plaguing his mind.

"Umm. I just was." She hums quietly, red filling her cheeks. Ben watches her confused, his brows slightly furrowing curiously at her.

"You just were." He also hums back quietly, rhetorically. He knows how her reply had seemed strangely vague... and he does wonder whether if she may be hiding something. But Ben, his unsure if he wants to get into this... to delve further into something that maybe he just didn't feel he wanted too. His mind were already consumed in thoughts elsewhere, racing thoughts that would not leave him alone... and that were hard already to deal with... and so, it wouldn't be surprising that he may have come off as seeming somewhat unbothered. "So you don't want to tell me, ok." He replies, disappointed, but as he reaches his locker he still manages to muster a weak smile. She gazes at him, eyes searching him, wondering why her frustration were growing... maybe because she wanted him to care? And his feeble efforts were making her very annoyed...

Had he not cared to press on? Was he that trusting, he wasn't going to try, or could it be that he just really did not care? She sighs, reluctantly deciding she would tell him. Maybe he should know... Even if his mind seemed to be... elsewhere. He searches through his locker, and her eyes watch him.

"Ok." She replies, softly shrugging, bobbing on her feet. Her eyes flickering about, a little nervously. And that's when Ben turns to glance at her, and picks up on how she acts slightly different now.

"I... I have been seeing some of my old friends. From my old school." She shrugs, hoisting her bag higher onto her shoulder. Ben watches her confused, a soft frown forming on his face. He holds his gaze on her for some time, before casually returning back to his locker, continuing to search through all his books for the one book he needed for his upcoming class. He clears his throat.

"And... do you think that is a good idea?" He questions. Aneesa notices how his focus seemed still to be elsewhere... more on what he were now trying to find in his locker. And this makes her heart seem to want to flutter irritably. She just wants his full attention for once... She inhales, than exhales deeply. She's unsure she can contain it... she can't contain what she's held in for these past days... and she's breathing... but her breathing is not enough and she suddenly snaps...

"Why do you even care?" She finds the words escaping her faster than she can stop them, and it instantly catches Ben off guard. His eyes widen and he cocks an eye brow in surprise as he turns to face her, seeing now how her face appeared slightly contorted with some anger tainted in her eyes... and he wonders if he had done or said something wrong... if he were about to be in a whole lot of trouble too. "Ben. Your not my mum. It's ok. I just missed them that is all." She continues, trying desperately to push down the frustration trying to overwhelm her.