Rotten Liaison || Benny Rodriguez

Chapter 1

The excitement was irresistibly charming. The touch was huge with fascination. The look in those eyes....those damn eyes....

The blaring of his alarm from his little red clock had intruded Benny's nightly fantasies from his slumber. He groaned as he lazily rolled over and smashed his hand onto the small silver button to hush the bellows of the ringing. Breathing deeply and rubbing fingers across sleep-filled eyelids, he rose from his warm wrinkled bedsheets and let the skin of his feet hit the soft carpet floor below. His bones crackled as he stretched the stiffness from his body. He bent all the way backwards until a loud pop was heard and a instant wave of relief struck him. The house was eerily calm and sounded somewhat empty. The rooms were filled of darkness and not a single object stirred. Benny wobbled to the bathroom and flipped the light switch. The illuminating light from the bulbs stung at his eyesight. As he looked in the mirror, he turned his head in different directions to examine his face. A print from how he had slept was pressed into his skin. He rubbed at it to smoothen the surface again.

As he exhaled through his mouth, the horrible stench of morning breath disgusted him. So he grabbed his toothbrush. He spread the minty blue toothpaste on the top of the bristles. The sounds of him scrubbing his teeth was quite loud compared to the tranquility of the house, but he didn't care. He rinsed and spit in the sink and went back to his room. The first thing he saw once opening his closet was a dark blue flannel. Slipping it on over a white t-shirt, he put on his jeans with rolled up bottoms and his usual worn pf flyers. He really wasn't in the mood to dress out today since the feeling of sleepiness still stayed to him. His blue dodgers hat hung on the headboard of his bed. He swiftly grabbed it and planted it on his head. Then, he turned off the light and went downstairs.

In the living room, the only source of light was the flashing glow of the television screen. Benny's mother laid in a hysterical position across the sofa. The blanket covered most of her body, but only one foot remained unwrapped. Her mouth was widely parted and drool was oozing from the corner of her lip. Raspy snores erupted from her as she continued to remain in her own dream town. Benny took one glance of her and, careful not to wake his snoozing mother, patted her hair gently. He saw strands of grey hidden within her dark brown hair and grinned weakly. He then went into the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar from the cabinet. Hunger was very weak on his stomach, so he fed to it briefly. He proceeded to open the door slowly so as careful not to wake the woman on the couch and closed it behind him.

The bus stop was empty as always once he reached it. He sat down on the bench and waited. As he did so, the melodies of birds chirping sounded and the sun rose higher into the magenta sky above. He had to admit that the outdoors was quite peaceful when it came to dawn as it is when it came to dusk. The street and houses nearby looked bare and deserted. Benny never understood why they lived alone in such an isolated place. He longed for more people his age to socialize with.

Some time later, the bus pulled up. Benny climbed aboard and the bus set off down the road. He looked out the window as trees and houses were a blur before his eyes. The temperature of the bus was somewhat chilly and numbing. He tightly wrapped his arms around his chest and kept his teeth from slightly chattering. A few minutes into the trip and the school came into view, which was a pleasing sight to Benny. He hopped off and went in.

The hallways were full and crowded like usual. Benny made a quick stop to his locker to grab his textbook for English. In the corner of his eye, he could feel a human figure watching him. He wanted to turn to see who it could possibly be, but another thought told him that class was the main dominant thing that he needed to land focus upon than just some stranger. So once grabbing his textbook, he closed his locker and paced up the hall.

Hardly any students were inside the classroom at the moment. Most likely due to a majority of them either making their way there or still having talks and laughs with friends somewhere in the corridors. Benny found his spot and sat down. He took off his backpack and set his textbook and notebook on his desk ready for work. It didn't take too long for the class to become filled with the other students and they all sat in their respective seats. The tardy bell finally rang throughout the building. Ms. Mabus, the English teacher, closed the door and welcomed her class warmly. She pointed out the assignment on board and everyone got started. Benny picked up his pencil and began jolting down the problem.