Never Let Each Other Go

☆Side 3 - ChopperBen☆

First of all, how the fuck am I at almost 9.2k reads?! Second of all, I wanna apologise for missing last week so you're getting two sides (today and Sunday) this week!! (I definitely did not spend almost two weeks fussing over wtf I should write) Listening to Odetari literally helps me write

Ben

It was days later when I went back to school. After I spent days tossing around in bed with high fever and nothing to do, I could finally go outside again. I sighed when I stepped out the house early in the morning, breathing in the still fresh air. It'll get really hot this afternoon, the almost cold air in the mornings never prepared for the hotness later on.

I arrived later than expected at school. I normally go by bus, an old, classic bus. It was already hot there in the mornings and very cramped. The bus arrived late, which caused me to almost speed to school after I left the bus. Everyone was in the hallways, talking loudly with each other about their classes today, crowding the hallways. The clacking of lockers closing always gave me a headache.

Not being late slowed my racing heart, which meant I could walk around school for the remaining five minutes before class. So I went outside, taking a short stroll. I spotted Nueng and Palm sitting somewhere on the grass alone, talking to each other. They seemed to have a comforting space. What would it be like to be their friend?

Jokes on myself, I thought to myself. I was in fact friends with Nueng, but kinda messed it up later. It's something I always avoided talking about. Actually, I am kinda jealous of them. They seemed to have found comfort in each other, seeming like they could face any challenge together. It's not that I still wanted to be with Nueng, it was just that I was happy for him that he found someone who could take of him better than me.

I also wanted something like that.

We had maths, biology and geography that day. I yawned like ten times during maths. It was always damn boring, even though I was good at maths. To my surprise, I didn't encounter Chopper today in the hallways. Maybe he was sick? Well, I couldn't just go around and ask Nueng or Palm about him. They'd for sure give me a weird look and ask why I asked about him. It was almost bad luck having a crush on someone like Chopper, knowing I had been a dick these past weeks and he hated me for it. But I was going to fix it.

I always thought about buying a locker, but I didn't have the money. It would ease the carrying stuff to school. But since both my parents passed, I was living alone and had to work three or sometimes even four jobs on weekends. I hated all all those jobs. They payed horrible, but what choice did I have?

I was planning to finish my education, then work somewhere better. But who knew how the future would turn out?

I sighed when I returned into my small space of a flat today. I finished homework late in the evening at eleven. Then I was finally able to cook and eat something. Then I went to sleep.

I woke up with a strange feeling. I went to check my mail, like every morning. I never received any mail. I hated myself for having the urge to check it every morning. I was shocked when I saw a letter sticking out of my mail box. When I opened it, my shock was even bigger. Who the fuck would write something like this?

Dear Ben,

how are you? I hope you're doing good. Or bad. I don't care. You still owe me money, remember? Probably not. It was ages ago. You owe me fucking 5000 Baht. I want that money back by the end of the month. Remember, I'm always watching you. You will have to deal with me if you don't have it until then.
-A

-691 words