Benji (Ben Pincus / Kenji Kon) snippets

Dunked. [SEASON 1]

     The twentieth day of camp was the hottest so far. Dave and Roxie were hesitant about letting everyone outside, as were the counselors of the other units. Nobody but Ben seemed alright with being stuck inside; therefore Brooklynn lead a plead to Dave and Roxie to let everyone— all units included— go to the pool instead. The counselors couldn't resist and went to share the plan with their coworkers. 

     So, unfortunately, Ben wound up sitting at a bench in the shade of an umbrella. Across from him sat Yasmina, humming to herself and drawing in her sketchbook. To their sides, Brooklynn, Darius and Sammy played Marco Polo while Kenji swung his legs in the water, remaining on the concrete.

     Ben, biting his nails, watched Yasmina's drawing of a carnivorous dinosaur of sorts come together. Yasmina pretended not to notice, but Ben could see an occasional smile after glancing in his direction.

     Soon, the playing trio was out of the water and surrounding the sun chairs claimed by Dave and Roxie. Brooklynn asked a question, to which the counselors looked towards the bench before making a suggestion.  Ben frowned, but Brooklynn approached anyway, followed by Darius and Sammy. They all were smiling.

     "Y'all wanna come in the pool with us?" Sammy asked.

     "I'm fine right here," Yasmina answered. She pointed her pencil at her paper, "On second thought, I might come in when I finish this."

     Brooklynn turned her head, "Ben?"

     "Uh—"

     "It'll be fun!" Darius exclaimed. "You ever play Marco Polo? Prolly not, but we'll teach you."

     After looking between their faces, Ben nodded and joined the group.

     As the sky began to darken, everyone in the pool retreated to floaties and noodles to relax on. Brooklynn, however, clung onto Darius', pulling at the neck of a Brachiosaurus.

     "Ugh, no!" she cried, letting her hair soak. "I couldn't imagine!"

     Yasmina laughed softly, "It was crazy. Hurt like hell when I managed to pop it back into place."

     Darius was still making a face. Sammy shuddered.

     Ben could imagine. He'd suffered plenty of dislocations, concussions, breaks and fractures playing volleyball. But he'd wait for someone to ask to contribute.

     Brooklynn then treaded over to Ben. "You don't have any stories? Boooring."

     Ben rolled his eyes away from her, but shrugged.

     "He might just be quiet," Sammy butted in. Her face lit up, "Maybe I can help with that. I got Yas to open up some more!"

     Ben grinned.

     Brooklynn waded to Darius, who warned, "Pull me under again, Brooklynn."

     Brooklynn, ignoring the soft threat, took the boy by the arm and tried to pull him off the Brachiosaurus floatie. Darius whined, kicking at her with chaotic joy. Brooklynn started giggling and pushed away, coming for Ben.

     "No," Ben said quietly, paddling the water with his feet.

     With a wide smile, Brooklynn grabbed Ben by the shoulders and dunked him under. As he had no time to cover his nose and mouth, he took in a decent amount of water, sputtering and sending bubbles everywhere. In the corner of his eye came another wavy figure, and he was hoisted to the surface seconds later.

     "You're such a buzzkill," Brooklynn complained.

     "He didn't wanna be pushed under." Ben rubbed his eyes and nose, coughing. Kenji's strong arm kept him above the water's surface. "You knew that."

     "Whatever," Brooklynn scoffed. "He knows I'm playing with him."

     Truth to be told, Ben didn't like what Brooklynn did. But he only swallowed and squirmed in Kenji's grasp. 

     "Doesn't matter." His tone changed, "Are you alright?"

     Ben swallowed and nodded. Kenji's softening was strange, certainly, but not something he'd be upset over. He figured the campers— including Ben himself— were beginning to grow on him. The vice president at school was the same way with him, as they're forced to cooperate with the president.

     Brooklynn was now on a noodle between Sammy and Darius— Ben's noodle.

     "Are you fucking serious?" Kenji expressed Ben's aggravation for him.

     "It's fine," Ben told him. "I wanted to sit on the edge anyway."

     Saying nothing, Kenji scooted back to the concrete and hauled himself onto it. Ben did too, sitting next to him.

     "Uh, cool— cool ring."

     Ben looked down at the twisty gold band on his pointer, attempting to hold back a smile. "Th... thank you."

     Kenji nodded briefly, staring at the ripples he was making with his fingers.