Legends of Adanes Book I - The Darkness Rises

Chapter II {Benjamin}

TWO DAYS EARLIER...

EARTH WORLD

SUMMERTIME HAD FINALLY ARRIVED. Ben thought it would never come.
As Ben made his way down the great stone steps out front of his ancient mammoth of a schoolhouse, he almost had to restrain himself from skipping. The start of June was finally here, and he couldn't be happier.
Middle school was never a cakewalk, especially without his best friend, but the past year was an absolute nightmare. The teachers, the students, everything about North Franklin Middle was hell. Ben had been counting down the final weeks of school in earnest. It was now summer, and Ben was glad that he could finally get his vacation started.
As Ben walked out the front gates and started down the sidewalk, he began to think about his best friend, Jake.
Jake was truly the only kid to treat him well once Ben and his family had moved here from Gwangju. Jake didn't make fun of his "funny face" or his accent like the rest of the kids did. He handed him a cookie on the first day of second grade and asked him to be his friend. They've been partners in crime since.
Of course, however, fate had to be a heartless bitch whenever the two started middle school. Local school district lines caused them to be sent to separate middle schools, Ben living in a different neighborhood than Jake. The past three years had been unbearable without him, but since there was only one public high school in Fullbrook, the two would finally be going to the same school again at the end of the summer. But first, they had an entire three months off of school to enjoy.
     Ben smiled as he rounded the corner onto Jake's street. Knowing Jake, he had probably been drafting up grand plans of fun for weeks now. That was just how Jake worked. When he got excited for something, he went all out preparing for it. Ben liked it. Whatever he had planned, it always turned out to be some of the best times Ben's ever had.
     At that moment, Jake's house came into view, fifth house down on the right. It was a two-story Southern style house, blue with white trim, with an L-shaped front porch and white columns. It might've seemed a little out of place in eastern Montana, but not in Fullbrook. One of the things Ben liked most about Fullbrook was its mixed characteristics. There was a little bit of everything in Fullbrook, which somehow made it its own town.
Something bounced on the sidewalk and landed in front of Ben's feet. He glanced down to see what the object was.
     A pinecone?
Ben looked up in the direction that the pinecone came from, then laughed. "Hey, you could've hit me!" he called out to the one responsible for throwing it.
"Don't you think that that was the whole point of me throwing it?" the culprit called out.
Ben scooped up the pinecone, then threw it back towards the boy. "Geez Jake, I thought we were friends!"
Jake laughed at his friend's statement. He was standing on his front porch, leaning against one of the white pillars. A small pile of pinecones sat as his feet. He must've gotten them from his backyard. A few pines grew there, and cones littered the ground almost constantly. "What took you so long? I've been waiting for ages!"
Ben joined him on the porch, plopping down in the white rocking chair by the front door. "It's not my fault that you get let out early!" The school that Jake went to let students out at 3:00; Ben's school didn't let out until 3:30.
"Yeah, but you walk really slow." Jake sat down on the porch, crossing his legs as much as one can in skinny jeans. "And you get distracted easily. And you have bad breath."
     "Okay, no I don't, no I don't, and what does that have to do with anything?" Ben replied. "And my breath isn't bad!" He paused. "Wait, is it?!"
     Jake laughed. "Nah, you're fine." He leaned back against the porch railing. "So, how was the last day of eighth grade for you, ole buddy ole pal?"
     Ben sighed, rubbing his face. "It was freaking hell, but I'm glad it's over."
     "What, did someone give you any problems?" Jake asked. "Do I need to take care of it? Because I will."
     "No, just the usual, in general horribleness. It's all over now, so it's okay."
     Despite Jake's staggering height of five foot two and his general scrawniness, he remained the scrappier and feistier of the two friends. He had gotten into a few fights at his school. South Fullbrook Middle wasn't as near as hellish as North Franklin, but it did have the occasional supreme asshole who felt the need to pick on the skinny kid who wore glasses.
Of course, there was one larger reason Jake was a subject of torment at his school.
     "What about you?" Ben asked. "How was your last day?"
     "Surprisingly uneventful," Jake replied.
"Did you at least ask out that one guy you've been babbling about lately?"
Jake rolled his eyes, leaning over and smacking his friend on the shoulder. "No, and I told you I never planned on doing so. He's straight as hell anyways."
"Whatever. I still think you should've." After a moment of silence, Ben continued. "So, did you do much at school?"
Jake shook his head. "Nope."
"Lucky. My history teacher actually LECTURED today!"
"Really? That's insane. All I did was sit around and think all day."
"About?" Ben asked, already knowing the answer.
     At that moment, Jake smiled his signature scheming, devious smile. "Nothing much. Just about all the fun I got planned for us this summer."
Ben couldn't help but smile. "I figured that was it. It's nothing that'll get us killed, right?"
Jake let out a chuckle. "I can't guarantee you that you won't at least get maimed slightly this summer. But it'll be great, trust me."
     "Can you at least tell me what we might be doing?" Ben leaned forward in the rocking chair, causing it to shift slightly.
     Jake pretended to ponder the matter for a moment, then said, "nah."
     Ben made a fake pouty face. "Aw, come on. Please?"
     "But if I tell you, that'll take the fun out of it! It's gonna be a surprise."
     "Alright, fine," Ben said. "When does it all start though? Like, when do the ominous, possibly deadly festivities begin?"
     "Tomorrow, actually," Jake responded as he stood up. "We'll probably head out after lunch, or at least while it's still light out."
     "So I'm guessing tomorrow's scheme involves going outside?" Ben was secretly hoping that it didn't. Being outside wasn't really his forte; he was your typical World of Warcraft junkie. He fought blood elves; he didn't really go on walks.
     "Unfortunately for you, yes. It shouldn't kill you though."
Ben groaned. "Why can't we just stay inside and hate everything like normal teenagers?"
"I don't know if you've noticed this by now," Jake said, "but we're not exactly normal teenagers. I'm an abnormally short, funny-looking gay kid who's read all of J.R.R. Tolkien's books at least four times and wears too many superhero and cat t-shirts, and you're a giraffe of a Korean guy who does nothing but play World of Warcraft, eat Cheetos, and take ikebana classes."
"Hey! Don't insult ikebana! It's a disciplined art form that helps a person develop a closeness to nature!"
"Dude, you're not even Japanese! And you hate nature!"
"Fight me."
Jake looked up at his friend, a smirk on his face. "You know I would win."
"True."
"So," Jake said, "what do you wanna do now?"
Ben stood up from the rocking chair. "Well, right now, I kinda feel like kicking your butt at Mario Kart."
Jake scoffed. "As if. I'll totally destroy you." He pulled his house key out of his pocket and unlocked the front door. His parents weren't off work yet, and his sister was most likely out elsewhere. He walked inside, Ben in pursuit, both assuring that they'd dominate the other.

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