Tormented

Chapter 6

Benedict opened his front door with a huff like this was somehow my idea. I rolled my eyes at him as he walked in first not bothering to see if I was following him as he disappeared down the hall in silence.

'Okay then...' I said aloud to myself as I edged in.

While I was alone I took the opportunity to look at my new surroundings. The only other house I'd been in of this size was Sarah's, but it still astounded me that people actually lived like this. It was like a house from a movie. It was Perfectly clean with everything in its place. There was minimal clutter, unlike my house. The floor in the lobby was a beautiful marble tile with white walls and furniture surrounding it. I would have felt incredibly lucky to live in a house like this, something Benedict seemed to take for granted.

'This way.' Benedict shouted from where he stood, pulling me out of my trance.

It wasn't until I'd finally caught up with him that he was standing at the bottom of some stairs with his bag hanging from its strap as it rested on a step.

'We can study in my room.' He says as he starts to go up without waiting for me to say anything.

'Erm... I'm not going into your room.'

'Why?' He huffed annoyed.

'We can study down here, you must have a table or something down here.' I gestured to the copious rooms that seemed to jet off in every direction.

'My laptops upstairs.' He tells me as if that should be reason enough for me to go running after him.

'Then bring it down. I'll wait here.' I tell him, not budging an inch.

'Fine.' He shakes his head as he turns to leave me at the bottoms of the stairs.

It's when Benedict is in his room that the front door swings open.

'I'm home.' A little voice shouts.

I watch as a young boy walks in, flinging his back off his shoulders and kicking his shoes off, sending them flying. A small chuckle escapes my lips as I watch the little boy relax in to his home unaware of my presence.

'Bennie?' The little boy shouts, coming to a stop when he locks eyes with me.

'Hi.' I smile at him, trying to ease the shock expression on his face.

'Who are you?' He asks, looking scared to see someone in his house who he didn't recognise.

'Char. You must be Bennies little bother?' I say putting emphasis on Benedict's new name that I'll definitely be using in front of all his horrible friends.

'Chuck.' He corrects obviously annoyed that I referred to him as the little brother. 'Are you Bennies girlfriend?' He asks out of the blue, taking me off guard.

'No.' I spit pulling a disgusted face before remembering he was just a kid. 'I mean... I'm just here to do some school work.'

'Oh.' Was all he says as he walks up to where I stood before disappearing up the stairs without another word.

Just as I was tempted to go and see what was taking Benedict so long he appears waving his laptop around in his hand.

'Found it.'

He sets us up in the dining room, giving us ample space to spread out. I thought we were the only people in the house besides his brother, so when a door swings open on the far side of the room I jump.

'Hi hun, you hungry?'

'Nah, I'm good Julie.'

My mouth practically popped open at his blunt response as well as the fact he just called his mum by her name. I mean, how disrespectful. She was only being nice?

'What about you sweetheart?' She says turning to me, ignoring Benedict's poor attitude.

'Er... erm no thanks.' I stutter.

'Well you know where I am.' She says as she walks back the way she came, leaving me to wonder what I was actually doing here if someone was home to watch his little brother.

'What the fuck?' I whisper across to Benedict.

'What?' He hisses.

'You told me your mum was out? Why am I here?'

'Julie isn't my mum.' He tells me, going back to his notes.

'Who is she then?' Annoyance clear in my tone.

'Just the cook.' He tells me flippantly like it was normal to have one.

'Could she not look after your brother?'

'She's not a baby sitter, Charity case.' He replies without looking up.

Just as more questions starting popping into my head about why he couldn't have just got a baby sitter for chuck, or why he was so rude to Julie, or where his parents actually were, the front door swings open again. This time with more force as it collided with the wall behind it, sending a loud bang through the house.

'It's not fucking happening Pete, why the fuck are you making this so hard? This is your fault!' A women screamed as she walked through the house followed by an angry looking man who looked like an older version of Benedict.

'This is my house too Helen. I'm not just going to fucking leave.' He shouts back at her.

'Well I'm not leaving. Where are you boys going to stay?'

'Here with me.'

'Over my dead body.' She yells, oblivious to the two of us sitting at the table able to hear everything.

My eyes flick to Benedict not sure what to do when he lets out a sigh.

'You need to leave.' He tells me with no further explanation as he starts to pack up his things.

'But I've hardly done anything.' I tell him, pointing to the empty page in my notebook.

'Get out.' He growls at me, standing from his sit.

'Fine.' I spit back as I gather my things back into my bag. 'But don't think I'll be coming back here ever again.' I tell him as I walk to the front door when I could hear the shouting moving further into the house. 'What a waste of time.' I huff more to myself, not caring is Benedict had heard me.