Faded Love

Chapter 12

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"It's ok, guys"

Karen and Ben looked at each other and shrugged. "If you say so" Ben said and sat down.

The day went as usual. Anna packed her things and started heading out. As she left, a name was calling to her. "Hey, Anna! Wait up!" Karen ran up to her with Ben following from behind. "What's up?" Anna stood waiting for Karen.

"I was wondering if you want to have a study session with me and Ben?" Karen asked. Anna thought if she had any plans for the day, which she did not. "Sure, where?"

"We were thinking at your place if you said yes" Anna's eyes got bigger when hearing this. "W-well you see my house is pretty messy" Karen looked at her shocked. "Really? You dont seem like the type to have a mess" Ben looked at her suspiciously. "We dont mind" Ben said.

"Its really messy. We wont be able to study under that condition" Anna said embarrassed. Ben and looked at her for a while and then spoke up, "Well we can always go Karen's" Anna felt relieved.

"Um, hang on. Who said we can go to my place?" Karen looked at Ben angry. He shrugged, "I mean were just going to study" Karen gave in and agreed the study session would take place at her house.

"Wait, Ben didnt you say that you dont really care about school?" Anna looked at him suspiciously. "Yeah, but I should give it a try sometimes" Anna nodded and the three began walking to Karen's house. Anna knew where to go, since she has went there multiple times.

Once they arrived, Anna was greeted with a motherly hug. "Anna! Look at you! You have grown so much since I have seen you!" Karens mother gave Anna one more tight hug and let her go. Anna giggled, "I was here last week. Pretty sure I havent grown that much" Karens mother smiled at her, "I guess thats how a mother sees her child when they are separated for more than a day"

"Im also here mom" Karen raised her hand. Karens mom smiled at her too and hugged her. "Of course, I wont forget you. Did you bring Anna to help you with your homework? You really need it" Karen blushed. "I don't need help. Were here for studying" Her mother smiled and then turned to Ben.

"Who might this be?" Ben smiled and introduced himself. "Im Ben, a friend of Anna and Karen" He shook Karens mothers hand. "You must be the boy who Karen talks about" Karen was shocked to hear this come from her mother. "I do not!I dont have time in talking about asses like him"

"Well it seems like you have a lot of time" Karen grew more embarrassed and claimed that she did not care about the brown hair boy. As she continued, Anna decided to meet her in her room. "They are going to take a while. Lets meet her in her room" Ben agreed and both started walking to Karens room.

As they entered, they could see band boy posters were a thing for Karen, due to the amount of them hanged on her walls. Her bed was made neatly. It was covered with a bluish and purple sheet with a stuffed bear on top. The shelves had trophies from sports events that she had joined when she was a kid.

Now she is no longer interested in it. They looked down to see a fluffy white carpet. Anna was surprised to see that Karens room was neat. "Didn't think Karen would be into this style" Ben said as he looked around. Anna nodded and sat her things down, and so did Ben. They took out the notes and books that were needed and waited for Karen. For the time, they started talking.

"So...how long have you known Karen for?" Ben began. Anna looked at him and calculated the years. "We met in third grade. So, about 9 years" Ben nodded. It was now Anna's turn to ask "Where are you from?" Ben looked at her and thought about it for a while. "I'm from a city close by here. Probably 5 miles from here" Anna nodded. It was quiet for a while and Ben spoke up again.

"I think its time to just ask interesting questions" Ben stretched out. "Fun fact questions?" Anna cocked her head to the side. "You know the ones where you ask 'Do you believe in this?' Or 'Have you ever done this?' Those types of questions" Anna understood and agreed to it. Before they could start, Karen slammed the door open and entered the room. "Done having a tantrum over me darling?" Ben smirked.

Karen glared at him, "Like hell I would, anyways what have you guys been doing while I was gone?" She said while getting her books out. "We were about to ask interesting questions to each other, wanna join?" Anna asked. Karen said sure. "You wanna start?" Ben looked at Anna. She nodded and asked Ben a question.

"Have you lost a friend?" Anna asked. Ben nodded. "I wouldn't say like broke up or anything like that. But lost them to death" Anna seemed concerned. "How? Oh wait, I shouldn't have said that. You don't have to answer" Anna panicked. Ben smiled, "Nah, its fine"

"He was a good guy. He was smart. But not that smart after what happened. He lived through a tough life. His dad was an ass. He would kinda force him to be beyond successful in school. This was stressful to him. So one night he decided to end it all" Anna gasped. "Yeah. I was shocked. My friends were too. But one of them, she was hurt. She blamed herself for his death. I guess you can say they had a crush on each other. They never confessed"

Karen and Anna were hurt to hear what Ben has gone through. "Hey, its in the past guys. Lets forget about it" Anna agreed and they continued. They asked questions around the trio, some personal and some weird. It was now Ben's turn to ask. He turned to Anna and thought about the question. "Have you seen a ghost?"

"Uh.." She thought about the question. Do I just say I did? I mean they dont believe in ghosts right? Anna thought. "I have" Karen seemed excited. "Where?!" Karen said excitedly. "At my house.." Anna's voice went high. "Can I go there tomorrow?" Karen ate impatiently for Anna's answer. Anna sighed. She knew Karen would continue to bicker her about the ghost until she can go to her house. "Sure" Karen yelled a "Yes!" in the air. (Does that sound cringy?)

Ben looked at Anna while she was talking to Karen. He looked at her suspiciously. "Lets get to studying shall we?" Karen grabbed her book and looked at Ben. He quickly looked away from Anna and to Karen. "Right" He grabbed a book, which Anna did so as well. They began reading from the book. Asking each other questions from the subject.

They spent most of the day. Anna left early since it would be dangerous to leave when the sun was down. Ben left last.

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