Subconscious - Awake

5

Bennett shook his head, quietly chuckling to himself. Adam had knocked a girl out.

That morning Ben had entered the building fifteen minutes early, plenty of time to spot Adam and accompany him to class. As Ms. Louan had always chided, "being 'early' is on time," leaving Ben to add a cushion of minutes before and after every activity so he would never be late. His shoes were muddy when he walked in, due to the rain, but the extra time allowed him to wipe them off with the paper towel from the bathrooms, leaving them now spotless and shiny once more.

He'd glanced at his watch then checked the door before returning to his textbook. Adam was running four minutes and fifty-three seconds later than usual, perhaps on account of the rain.

 And that's when it happened, Bennett had looked up just as Adam walked through the grimy glass doors, only to see him bring his closed umbrella down to land upon some poor girl's head. She'd staggered, righted herself, then staggered again. Ben was already moving toward her when she'd almost hit the ground, his hands already in motion. But Adam had beat him to it, wrapping an arm across her ribs, taking on most of her weight. So instead, Ben grabbed the girl's bag off her shoulders and grasped her elbow. Her eyes kept fluttering, her long spindly fingers twitching, as if trying to stay awake. 

Ben leaned to check the back of her head as Adam spat out a load of curses. She wasn't bleeding, one good thing. 

That's another thing Mrs. Louan constantly reminded Bennett of, there is always one good thing in every situation. When the crap hits the fan, when all else tilts in the wrong direction, there is always at least 'one good thing'. He knew it was a way to count your blessings, stay positive. Being an orphan, that wasn't always easy for Bennett Charles. Although, he did play the charismatic, charming boy quite well. Maybe too well. He didn't really know.

They had been about halfway to the nurse's office when the girl had officially gone unconscious, her head going limp, chin to chest, and her eyelids drooping. Adam had freaked a little but let it drive him faster. It was hard to keep up with him but Ben had managed.

"Why'd you have to do that," Ben had asked sarcastically through gritted teeth. The girl's backpack was exceptionally heavy, and this is not how he had planned to spend his morning.

Adam just glanced back at him with a mixture of gratitude and apologeticness in his brown eyes. Ben had been fully prepared for some sarcastic retort and worried him when his friend had seemed actually scared. Well, he had the right to be scared, if he had hit with about two times as much force, she could've died. Ben kept this observation to himself, not wanting to worry his friend anymore.

But all had turned out in the end. The girl was fine, besides a minor headache probably, and they all got to go back to class. Ben and Adam's teacher had been pissed but a charming smile from Bennett had her only giving them a warning. Playing this part had its quirks.

School had started about a month before and the classes were so full it was hard to keep track of all the students. Some classmates didn't even bother to learn the names of their peers since there were so many. Bennett couldn't blame them, he didn't know half of the kids in his chemistry class he sat idly in now. 

He'd finished his homework and classwork for the day while waiting for Reese to wake up. For all of his classes. It had seemed like a good idea at the time but now, sitting bored and unamused in an unchallenging class, he was starting to rethink his decision. He glanced at his watch, an old relic from his grandfather, a completely black face with a brown leather strap and shiny gold hands. Fifteen minutes to go. Suddenly a muted chime sounded from his phone; a message. Picking it up and throwing an apologetic glance towards his teacher, who was glaring at him for the interruption, Ben saw that it was from Adam. His friend would currently be in art, his third period, a class that they had recently discovered he shared with Reese.

Reese's headache just got worse. Headed to the nurse's.

Bennett turned off his ringer and texted Adam back.

What did you do now? Smack her with a paintbrush?

Adam ignored the jab and continued on.

I know you're just sitting there. Come with us.

This isn't some joyride, this is the nurse's office.

When Adam didn't respond, Ben simply sighed and replied.

Give me 5 min.