Two Halfs, One Heart

Chapter 3- The Krakken

We were now camping by a lake. Gwen and I were on the pier, watching Ben as he went to go dive into the water. "Cannonball!" He shouted. "Judges scores. Yes! Perfect Ten! Yeah! The crowd loves him!" Ben said, imitating judges and a cheering crowd. I watched him and shook my head while smiling. "This boy is too much sometimes," I thought to myself. "A perfect dweeb is more like it," Gwen said as she watched Ben. "Come on. Dive in. Come on, Paige. Please! I'll hold you, princess." I blushed but shook my head. "No thanks, Benji. I'm really tired. I just want to go to sleep," I said. "Please! Who knows what nasty, slimy things are slithering around in there?" Gwen said. Then she moved her flashlight to Ben who was pouting. "I rest my case," She finished. "What's the point in camping by a lake if you're afraid to get wet? Am I right, Paige?" Ben asked as he raised his arm and slashed Gwen. "Knock it off, midget!" Gwen scolded him. We walked away from the pier. "Hey! What's happen--" I heard Ben start to say but then stop. Fear consumed me so I went to check on him. He was underwater. Only bubbles in his place. "Very funny, Ben. I'm not falling for it," Gwen said as she stood beside me. When he didn't immediately come back up, I started to get really worried. "Benji, please!" I shouted, I could feel tears threatening to spill. Gwen put her arm around me. "It's ok, Paige. I'm sure Ben's just playing a prank." Then Gwen started to become worried. "Ben?" All of the sudden, a monster emerged from the lake. Gwen and I fell backwards but I landed on my ankle wrong. Pain shot through me. Then I realized that it was just Ben as Four Arms covered in seaweed. "Ben!" Gwen scolded. "You two should have seen the looks on your faces. Ah, priceless." I tried to stand but I couldn't put weight on my ankle. Ben's expression immediately changed to concern and guilt. "Peincess, I'm so sorry," Ben said, trying to comfort me. Gwen looked at my injury and helped me walk. "You are so busted when I tell grandpa," Gwen said as she helped me back to the Rust Bucket.

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After Max bandaged by my injury, Gwen and I went to bed. I'm sharing a bunk with Ben. Just like when we have sleepovers. I heard the door open, "I was just attacked by a giant lake monster," Ben said, still Four Arms. Gwen threw a pillow at him. "Hello! Current events. You already got Paige and I with that one," Gwen said, exhaustion in her voice. "But I'm not kidding this time," Ben said, as he begged us to believe him. "Come on, champ. Joke's over," Max said, sleepily. "But, I..." He tried again. "Get some sleep. Remember we have an early day tomorrow for our fishing trip," Max reminded us. Suddenly, the beeping started, so Ben was returning to normal. "Yeah, Ben; come on. Come to bed. I'm tired," I said, urging my best friend to sleep. He did and we cuddled.

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The next morning, we all got ready for our fishing trip. Then we went to the docks. Ben was still trying to convince us about the lake monster from last night. "No, really. It was humongous with these red glowing eyes. Princess, you have to believe me," Ben said, trying to get me to believe him. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to believe. "I'm sure it was just some kind of big fish, that's all," Max said, trying to come up with an explanation.

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"Yeah. So give the mega fish story a rest, will you Captain Dweeb?" Gwen asked. Ben took my hand and led me away from Max and Gwen. We stopped by a bucket of worms and Ben got a devilish smile on his face. When Gwen got closer, he picked up a handful and held it out to Gwen. "Breakfast?" Ben asked Gwen as she screamed. "Ben, gross! What's with the bucket of slimies?" She asked.