What Lies Behind the Door

Part 3 ~ Benjamin Bell; small town transfer

 Benjamin Bell lives in every small town ever. where the only thing to do is binge drink, and hang out in parking lots trying to bum cigarettes from passersby. Everyone knows everyone and no one is ever expected to leave. The high school is only there to funnel people into the local ranches.  You're born, you work, you die. That's what's expected of you and anything off the beaten path leaves you an outcast and a weirdo. 

When Ben didn't show up at the local high school, the expectation was he was dead. when Kathy Bell opened the door to a pile of pity casseroles she was baffled. When the Lilies piled up on her kitchen counter she became worried, and when she was checking out at the local grocery store and the teenage clerk offered her their condolences, she was mad. What the hell was going on? 

It was revealed to Kathy during book club that the whole town thought her son was dead. She first thought it was a very elaborate joke, and when no one else was laughing she realized it wasn't a joke she made someone explain. 

No one in the town particularly liked the Bell child, he was the weird kid, head in the dirt, always flipping over rocks and logs, and always holding some critter. His comically thick glasses earned him "bug eyes" before his talent manifested. (People typically manifest their talent around 6 or 7, and often at birthday parties people might place bets on the kid's talent). The common talent in Springfield is controlling animals, and while Ben was controlling an animal, he was controlling bugs, and that wasn't acceptable. 

For most of his schooling, Ben was an outsider. No one paid any attention to him, so no one knew what he could do. Ben used the bugs around him to spy on everyone. he could fly high through the clouds, viewing everything from above. 

While buzzing about, on a rainy febuary afternoon, he saw several bodies floating in the water. When he called the cops to report the crime, Ben became a primary suspect. The small lake was miles away from any town, hidden in a small Appalachian valley. The small lake was only accessible through a small unofficial trail, carved by generations of fishers looking for monstrous fish they would never catch. Ben had to go under a full investigation, testing the full extent of his power. They made ben find small canisters of perfume, miles apart. They had him see how far he could fly out before the bug left his control. The cops were astounded, no one in their small town had adapted a talent for a very long time. No need to. And something of this magnitude was unheard of.

 While yes they were weirded out, but they saw the potential he had and told ben what they saw in him. They also called up the RMIMA telling them about the kid with the best tracking talent seen in 50 years.

 Ben had seen their pamphlets in the counselor's office, collecting dust on the rack. Most of the counselor's jobs were convincing kids which ranch to work at. So when Ben told them he wanted to go to the RMIMA during his "future planning meeting", they thought he was joking. laughing him out of the office before opening up their email to spread the news. The counselor was meet with shock however when they saw at the top of their in box an email from the school, asking to talk to Ben. 

three days later when Ben was called back in he was prepared to have a come to jesus talk, where he would be told that his expectations we too high, that he should get off his high horse and go work on a ranch or like everyone else. Instead he found a man sat in the counselors chair, and the counselor in one of the small chairs in the corner, leaving the only place to sit in front of the desk. 

"Ah, Ben!" The man stands up and offers his hand to the small boy in front of him. "Oh I'm sorry I should introduce my self shouldn't I?" the man offers up a comforting smile before continuing "I'm mark, a teacher at the rocky mountain institute for the magical arts. I'm assuming you've heard of us before?" he gives a small chuckle and gently waves his hand, indicating its time to shake hands.

"Hi I'm Be- but you already know my name" they shake hands and sit down. "What brings you here?" he shifts in his chair "I cant imagine why someone of your... prestige would grace the halls of this shit hole." Ben can feel the counselor staring holes in the back of his head, like she doen't also know about the brick in the basement that if touched, could collapse the entire building. 

more laugher from Mark, as if it wasn't meant as a dig, meant to say get out. "Well Ben, Im here for you actually" he leans back in his seat "I would have thought you would have been told by now" he clears his throat and the counselor jumps in her seat. "I heard about what you did this February, and I must say, Im impressed. Your talent is truly asstonishing, and to be frank, I want you in my class room." 

"I......What?"

"I want you to come to RMIMA, this next fall. I've gotten all of the paperwork straighten out, all you need to do is say yes."

"No...I'm going to spring field high school in september, like everyone else." you could hear the gears turning in his head "Wait, hold on. I...I don't understand."

"Yes, yes, this must be a lot. of course. Well I suspect you remember this past February well." He pauses to wait for someone to laugh at his pun. No one does. "In any case" (hehe) "I got a call from the police chief about the case."

'"And?"

"Well all of the staff get a lot of calls from parents and school administration claiming that they have a kid on there hands that's really something. Normally we reroute them to the admissions office, and let them handle the call there. But, I stayed on the line. Recently I've had my world rocked and, its made me want to give the worl-"

 "I don't see how this pertains to the topic at hand, Mark"

"right, yes im sorry. Any way I stayed on the line and I learned about you. You..."  He paused for a moment, and suddenly he seemed a lot older  "Long story short, I pulled some strings and you have a spot in our building next school year."

"Wait so I am a student at RMIMA? Like I'm enrolled and stuff?" The beginnings of a smile crept on to his lips until all to suddenly his face fell. "That, that's great, and all. But I cant accept. A boarding school, 3 countries away. Even if i could pay the tuition, what about my mom? How would she live, we make enough to live in the valley, but traveling out of state?" Ben got up out of his chair, turning to reach for the door handle. 

"Ill pay."

Ben knew that this was his escape, that this was his chance to make it out of his shit hole home town. He wouldn't let anything get in his way of proving that he could be something. That you didn't need to be from a big city to be something. He was ready to fight tooth and nail to get that spot, never once taking for granted that he was a recommendation by the school to get in, and trying his hardest to show that he belonged there.