Control • Benny Weir [1] (#wattys2016)

☾ f i v e; g r a v e y a r d s ☾

The school day had been a tedious one for Grace; after her little episode with Benny the night before, she didn't even know if she could look him in the eye again. The thought of it hurt her, definitely; Benny was her best friend and she couldn't afford to lose him. However, she couldn't help but feel like keeping a distance from him would benefit the brunette boy; it would mean he wouldn't be dragged into her weird life where she believes she's hallucinating by seeing her parents and having weird powers she doesn't know how to control.

As the girl walked out of school, Erica no longer by her side after the night before, she began to wonder whether she deserved to have any friends. Sure, the girl tried to be nice to as many people as she possibly could but her selfish need to keep herself away from others seemed to be trying to take over. She just wanted to protect people, even if it meant no longer keeping the relationship up with them. Even it meant ignoring them until they finally realised that she wasn't worth it and moved on to someone better. It's, exactly, what she wanted for Benny Weir.

However, upon seeing them outside of school, the girl couldn't help but head over to them and join in with whatever situation was going on. Benny smiled at her once she wandered up to the two of them, settling herself between Benny and Ethan. When she turned her head away from smiling at Benny, her eyes nearly popped out of her head upon seeing her nerdy friend with no glasses and wearing sunglasses instead. It confused her a great deal but the girl could already hazard a guess as to what happened to him after the three of them, including Erica, had left.

"So, you're a fledgling too?" Benny asked, turning serious and settling back into the conversation that had been going on before hand. He, Ethan and Grace heard Rory scoff, causing frowns to etch their way onto their faces.

"Heck no. I'm rocking the full on vampire action, dude. The big V!" Rory announced, making a V shaped sign with his fingers, causing Grace's breathing to hitch and get caught in her throat, "Can I get a what-what?" Rory asked, raising his hand for a high five from any of the three. A shaky breath left Grace's lips as she glanced around, being the only one to notice the other figures wearing sunglasses. Benny glanced at her, wishing he could comfort the girl without it being deemed as weird or flirting. He just wanted to hold her close and protect her from whatever supernatural beings would be coming their way.

"What? You drank human blood?" Ethan asked, seeming incredibly shocked and, slightly, scared.

"They said if I didn't, I'd die. All the other kids were doing it!"

"Do you have any idea what you've just done to yourself?" Benny asked, slinging an arm over Grace, casually. They always showed platonic affection through things like hugging or holding hands but both teenagers saw the signs of affection in a completely different context now that they were crushing on one another. Grace heaved a pessimistic sigh upon hearing Benny's question, knowing full well that nothing extremely good would come out of being a vampire.

"I'm immortal and all powerful, dude. Ka-chow!" Rory answered, causing Grace to roll her eyes.

"Sure you are but when you're being burnt alive from the sunlight, don't whine to me about you no longer being 'all-powerful'," Grace huffed, earning a small chuckle from Benny at her sassy attitude. It was then that Rory glanced at the other vampires, who seemed to be waiting for the blonde haired boy in front of them, "Please, do not tell me you are just, suddenly, going to ditch us for your little vampire friends over there," Grace rose her eyebrow at Rory, who glanced at her, apologetically.

"Sorry, I gotta go to church," Rory shrugged, causing all of them to frown at him.

"Excuse me?" Grace asked, her shy demeanor having fallen since she was talking to someone she knew well. She glanced around at, both, Ethan and Benny, who were paying her no attention, "please tell me he's not being serious," she huffed, folding her arms, noticing that Benny's arm was still around her shoulders.