A Spark Of Hope

Ben's Story (1)

* beep beep beep beep *

 The phone alarm rang ones again and Ben was alive to wake up to it one more time.

Yipee..

He slowly and not-simultaneously opened his eyelids. He lazily reached out for his phone and silenced his alarm. 

* ping ping ping ping ping*

He sighs. Another hundred messages from an event he can't remember. 

 He sluggishly got up - phone in hand -  and walked over to the bathroom to get ready for another week of college.

He wears his clothes after a lukewarm shower. "Ayooooo!! You's mad man, hahaha!" his phone quoted a male. "You were drunk stupid making out with Kim, you sly bastard.."

"Last Night was craaazy, bro, I can't believe you pulled that crap!" Another person spoke.

"You're bullshit cracks me up, man, I hope to spot you at another get together with your charm!" This person sounded familiar.

 He didn't brushing his hair and couldn't be bother by the way his eyes look sulked and had dark rings around them. He stares at them whiles brushing his teeth. The longer he looked the more tired he got of them. And hearing the voice notes from last night didn't help. Except for one particular one. 

"Honey?" a calming, shaky female voice spoke. "It's been a while since we've spoken. Despite everything that happened, I still do worry about and miss you a whole lot. Call me when you can okay? I love you."

He spat and rinsed, then headed out. 

It wasn't a long walk to the school, but for some reason in felt way too long because of how much the bright day light hurt his eyes. Definitely hung over. He aggressively pulls his hoodie over his head and glares at the ground he walked on. Too bright, he thought with gritted teeth

He steps in and walked towards the classroom he was supposed to be at.

"Mr. Benjamin," the lecturer said as she acknowledges his presence at the entrance. Her expression held no emotion but her voice held some degree of annoyance. "You're late. Take your seat."

Ben reacted a moment too late, which led to his classmates turning to stare at him. Ben wasn't a shy one but he rather not have his classmates stare at him at the moment - It made him nauseous. Or it could have been something he may have eaten but can't recall. 

His classmates didn't look like their usual selves. Large, shapeless, forms of black with ominous looks that were there faces. Unfazed, Ben walked forward.  Each step grew heavier but to ignore that, he basically stomps towards his seat. His skin crawled but he ignored that too. If only he could just numb the overactive feelings within him. It felt like they were gonna eat him up on the inside if he paid any mind to them. 

"Hey, are you okay?" 

Ben looks besides him. He stared at his classmate. No longer a big blob of menacing black shades, he just saw a black girl. The only dark skinned girl in class to be precise. That was one of the few distinguishes he had between his classmates. 

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?" she repeated herself. "You don't look too good."

Ben reaches out to his bag and takes his book, not wanting to answer. He stares at the cover for a bit to see that he got the wrong one. A mixture of a soft groan and a sigh leaves his throat and he tosses his book back into his bag, missing it by a couple of inches. Luckily for him, his teacher decided to ignore it. 

The correct book was slid towards him. He looks up again, at the girl sitting besides him. She didn't look at him but nudges the book closer to him. He didn't know what to say, but still took the book. He opens and flips through the pages. He peaked a bit over her arm to see where they left off and flipped to the page. 

Time goes by and lectures seem to take forever to finish. Ben was barely keeping up. In fact, as time went by, he began seeing double.