Alone

Chapter: 11 // only •

When we arrived at the Kingdom it was a little past four in the morning, everyone was bustling about as per usual and some stopped their day to day duties to say hello with a small friendly wave.

I look at Jesus, nerves shooting through me though it's my fifth time coming to the Kingdom now. But when I see Benjamin waving his stick at me I feel like everything is okay again, weirdly enough, as Jesus is usually the one to make me feel this way.

Benjamin and I are best friends, have been ever since day one when I lent him To Kill a Mocking Bird after him having begged for it practically as he had read all of the books in the Library. He lent me The Catcher In the Rye, and from then on it became a ritual.

I wave back, Lord of the Flies in hand and his eyes light up with excitement. He drops his stick much to Richard's dismay, as he was in the middle of training him and beckons me to come over with his thumb.

"I'll uh-"

"No- of course, I understand. I'll come to you when we leave, yeah?" He smiles warmly.

"Don't bother, I'll know where to find you." I reply, matching his smile before I run towards BJ.

Suddenly, BJ starts running too, making a beeline for me in fact with his arms spread open but I pull away in fear we might collide and he trips over his own foot, plummeting face first on the ground. Horror pales my face when I realize what I've done, immediately I kneel beside him and help him roll on his back, his face covered with dirt and minor scratches.

He looks at me blankly, then all at once his lips curve upward into a goofy grin and he belts out a laugh that snaps me back into reality. I join him, throwing my head back as I evolve into a fit of laughter and he leans up on his elbows, chuckling softly while fixedly watching me laughing hysterically.

I feel bad for laughing when I finally sober up, he smiles lazily, but his eyes aren't following mine. "You have very soft looking lips," he muses, and my cheeks burn as he stares at them.

"Are you okay? You hit your face pretty bad." I inquire, our fingers entangled and his skin hot.

"Ego's a little hurt," he jokes as he leans up on his elbows. "Nah, I'm good. Little help?" I jump up and grab both of his hands and help pull him to his feet.

About a foot behind him is Lord of the Flies, I quickly scoop it up and dust the dirt off before tentatively handing it to him without making eye contact, feeling a little embarrassed by my book choice.

"Lord of the Flies, huh, w-what's this about?" He examines the book intently, I clasp my hands together and smack my lips.

"A fly lord leading a bunch of other flies," his jaw hangs open but he doesn't say anything. "I'm kidding, BJ."

"Oh!" He giggles, a stupefied look on his face. He fishes in his pockets and a look of disappointment paints his face, he grabs my hand with his free one.

"I must've left your book in my room, come,"

He pulls me along as we run to his room, I plop on his big bed as he rummages through the bookshelf, scanning over each book until he finds the one he's looking for and his cheeks turn rosy pink.

"What?" I ask. He hesitates at the bookshelf, picking at the spine of the book with his fingernails and chewing on his lip nervously.

"One sees clearly only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eye." He passes me over the book, I accept it hungrily and dust it off to read the cover- The Little Prince.