hate is a strong word (bxb)

5

It had been somewhat of a long week for Benjamin Adams, and it wasn't going too entirely well for him. He had tons of projects and assignments that were due for nearly all of his classes, and the situation with Braxton certainly didn't help him concentrate of the struggles he was suffering. Though, he found that he couldn't fully blame him for being such a distraction and nuisance. After all, it wasn't his fault that he was such a distraction—well, maybe it was, since Braxton did seem to go out of his way to provoke Benjamin. Yeah, it might've just been his fault.

But it was finally the weekend. It was finally the fucking weekend and all of the assignments from the previous week were no longer relevant in his life. He would finally be able to just sit back in his backyard, hang out with Scar, and begin to let himself relax.

Unfortunately, the assignments that had been piling up throughout the week were only half of his issue. The other problem was Braxton, who unfortunately lived in close proximity to him. As a frisbee flew over the fence that separated the two backyards, it occurred to Ben that it might not be that easy to avoid him over the weekend.

Scar looked at it skeptically, "do... do you think that was Braxton's?"

"Probably," Ben got up from the lawn chair and grabbed the frisbee.

With the frisbee in his hand, he poked his head over the fence to meet eyes with Braxton—who he figured that he would probably see—alongside two younger girls. If he had to guess, Ben would say that they were somewhere around the age of seven or eight, but he was never good at guessing the age of children. If they were in between the age of five to twelve, they all looked the same to Ben.

"Oh, hey Benji," Braxton greeted, "figured I'd have to hop the fence again." Again?

"Hi," he managed to respond.

One of the Braxton's little sisters speaks up, but it all just sounded like gibberish to Benjamin. He figured that he couldn't understand the small blonde girl on account of her age, as sometimes children weren't the best speakers and were harder to understand, but Braxton answered back in the same kind of gibberish. 

Ben narrowed his eyes at them, and as he did so, Braxton picked up the small girl for a brief moment and quickly put her back down on the ground again.

"Was that, uh, another language?" Ben couldn't help but inquire.

"Ja, dat was een andere tall, ezel." His words were quick as he spoke to Benjamin in a language that clearly, Ben could not understand. There was something about it that was somehow intimidating, and Ben only felt himself grow more uncomfortable when the two little girls started giggling. It felt as though he was the center of a joke--but he wasn't sure exactly what the joke was. Then, Braxton began to speak some more, "yeah, it was another language. Can you give me my frisbee back now? Or are we going to stand here all day?"

"Yeah, sure, but you don't have to be a--" 

As Braxton's eyes angrily widened, Ben remembered that there were two young girls on the other end of the fence. So, Ben cut himself off there. He handed the frisbee back over the fence and got back to hanging out with Scar, but through the fence, he can still hear the two little sisters yelling and giggling and to Ben, it's almost shocking that Braxton could somehow manage to be a good older brother. Ben didn't suspect that someone as brass as Braxton would be able to act in such a caring manner. But Braxton was full of surprises, and Ben had only known him for a week.

"You heard that too, right?" Ben questioned as he returned back to sit beside his best friend.

"Yeah, that was, uh, odd?" Scar noted.

"Braxton knows a whole other language," Ben stated, "do you think he's secretly smart?"

"Hell no," Scar laughed.

"You know I can still hear you guys, right?" The two boys heard Braxton shout over the fence.

"Stop eavesdropping then!" Ben exclaimed.

"Then stop talking about me!"

"Fine!"

Scar looked to his best friend, laughing a little as he said, "it seems like you guys are becoming besties."

"Yeah, don't get too jealous, though."