Chapter 93: Invader
My friends were waiting for me just inside the main school door, as usual, though it only took me a moment to realize Pain wasn't with them.
"Feeling better?" Beth's brown eyes shone with concern. "My mom gets migraines. They're awful."
Right. "Yeah, thanks," I said, feeling the heat rise to my face as I reinforced the lie. "I'll be okay."
"By the way," Alison hooked her arm in mine and started leading me to our lockers, "Benjamin says hi." She winked at me with a smirk.
I groaned. "Did he bug you guys?"
Alison shrugged. "Not so much," she said. "He actually seems nice."
"Really smart, too." Simon grinned at me, pushing his glasses up his narrow nose, skinny shoulders hunched forward under the weight of his overloaded backpack. "Knows a ton about chemistry."
Tell me my friends weren't falling for this guy? That would really, really suck.
"I don't like him at all." I was so shocked by the angry grunt from Blood I stopped in my tracks. Gone was his usual smooth and laid back attitude. Even through the thick black makeup I could tell he was angry about something. I almost asked, but Alison pinched me and drew my attention back to her.
"We're going to be late." She rolled her eyes toward Blood and back to me. Okay, so a conversation for just us. Fair enough. Still, as I rubbed at my arm where it still stung I wished she hadn't pinched me so hard.
We went our separate ways to class, my worry about Benjamin and why Blood was in such a bad mood about the guy at the surface of my mind.
It wasn't long before I had my own answer without Alison's help. There in front of my first period class, heads bent together as they talked, were Benjamin and a certain Goth girl I called a friend.
No wonder Blood was pissed. From the look of the animated conversation they were having, Pain was really into this guy.
She laughed just as I walked up to them. It was lovely, full of warmth and not too high pitched. It was then I realized I'd never heard her laugh before, let alone seen her with her head thrown back, teeth flashing as she did.
What the hell was he doing to her?
Her black-circled eyes met mine and her laughter turned to a gigantic smile.
"Syd!" She grabbed my hand and held it between her own. "Benjamin was just telling me the funniest story."
I scowled at him as he smiled his flashy smile at me. "I bet."
Her happiness faded a little. "I invited Benjamin to join us for lunch." Great, just great. My creep meter climbed another notch as her hands dropped mine and took one of his.
"Okay." Not much I could say, really. But her smile came back so I figured it was the right thing, at least in her eyes. I could sit on the end away from him and maybe it would be fine.
Did he just wink at me? Ickle.
Even creepier was the fact their eyes were the exact same color of perfect clear blue. It was like looking at a dark angel and a light angel only they were both so freaky all the coolness was lost to pure shudders.
I slunk into my seat and tried to ignore the two of them. The more I saw, the worse I felt for Blood and myself. This guy was relentless and Pain lapped it up.
By the time I landed on the bench of our table in the cafeteria, I was in a decidedly pissy mood. Alison tried a few times to talk to me but my occasional grunt wasn't enough to keep her occupied.
Which, unfortunately, left her wide open to Benjamin's influence. How could they miss the mask he wore? He played the lot of them with his charm one second and oddness the next.
His lack of knowledge about the latest in the media made Alison giggle.
"I'm sorry," he said in the proper way he had, "but what is this fascination with what other people are doing?"
She rolled her eyes at him, toying with her pudding cup. "Because," she said with heavy sarcasm, "their lives are so much more interesting than ours."
"Even though you know who they appear to be is a lie?" His blue eyes tried to connect with mine but I refused to let it happen.
"Whose isn't?" Alison shoved aside her plastic spoon and cup. Simon's eyes lit up behind his glasses. She grinned and shoved it toward him. I shook my head. That kid could eat his own body weight every day and still stay short and scrawny.
"We missed you at Johnny's last night, Sydlynn." Benjamin was talking to me. To me. I wanted to squash him for daring to address me directly even as I struggled with the dislike that would not go away.
"Migraine," I muttered.
"Ah," he said. "They can be horrid, certainly."
His sympathy meant nothing to me. Instead of answering, I tore my sandwich apart rather than eating it, wanting nothing more than to stuff it down his face and maybe let my demon take a shot at his ever-present smile.
I caught a look at Blood's scowl and it snapped me out of my own sullenness for a moment. What was wrong with me? Benjamin was just a guy, like us. A little weird, with no friends, who just wanted a place to belong. And here I was resenting him for it.
I kicked Blood under the table. His eyes lifted to mine. I'd never seen him so sad and angry all at the same time.
What came next seemed way worse. Blood stood up, gathered his stuff and went to stand behind Pain. It took her almost a minute to even acknowledge he waited there. A very long, very uncomfortable minute. After all, Benjamin was in the middle of one of his stories and even had Alison laughing.
When Pain finally looked back at Blood, a flicker of annoyance crossed her face.
"I'm going out to hang for a bit," Blood said. "Coming?"
Pain turned away from him, eyes locking on Benjamin's. "No thanks," she said. "I'm busy."
My jaw dropped. Even Alison looked shocked. But Pain just leaned forward and took Benjamin's hand like we weren't even there. Beth shifted in her seat, blushing and obviously uncomfortable while Simon looked back and forth between Pain and Blood, eyes huge behind his thick lenses.
"But, we always do on nice days." My gut twisted for Blood, embarrassed at how pathetic he sounded, how desperate. Alison's eyes caught mine and dropped a moment later. Everyone fell totally silent.
Pain actually sighed like he was bothering her or something. I wanted to slap her for that.
"I said I was busy." She waved one hand at him over her shoulder in dismissal.
He stood there for a long time while Pain and Benjamin whispered to each other, giggling despite the growing discomfort at the rest of the table. He wavered on his feet, as though wanting to reach out to her and touch her, say something, anything to make her change her mind.
I almost sighed in relief when he finally gave up, head hanging, and slunk away.
That was worse than any bullying I'd ever endured or witnessed. Without caring or even noticing, Pain casually and completely broke her boyfriend's heart.
Not her boyfriend anymore, I guessed. Someone new filled that role.
My anger and resentment flared back to life.
"I'm out." I tried not to slam things or make a scene, but I was so pissed at Pain and Benjamin for hurting Blood I barely had the willpower to keep from throwing my stuff at them.
I was very hurt when no one else stood up. Oh really? Wow.
How nice. Some friends.
The rest of the day passed in a swirl of darkness and self-pity. How could they choose Benjamin over Blood? Or me for that matter? What was wrong with them? The guy was obviously some manipulative jerk. Anyone could see he leeched all over Pain. Why didn't they?
I was stomping my way home when I spotted Benjamin hanging around the park down the street from my place. He moved forward the moment I came close, that smile still plastered to his face.
"Hi, Syd."
Did he have the nerve to just talk to me? I brushed past him with a snarky, "Whatever."
"I don't understand." His tone made me stop. Turn around. He wasn't smiling anymore. He looked sad. So what?
"Sorry?" What was there to understand?
"Why you don't like me?" He didn't move, hands shoved in his pockets, enough sincerity shining in his eyes to light up a house. Yeah, real genuine.
"Hmm, let's see," I said. "Maybe it has something to do with you hurting Blood. He loves Pain, you know."
Benjamin shrugged. "I can't help it if we have a deeper connection. But that's not it, is it? That's simply an excuse."
Why did he talk like he was giving a lecture?
"Look," I said, "I don't have to like you. It's not a prerequisite to life or school or anything else. So find some of your own friends and leave me and mine alone."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said, smile returning. "They really like me. And I like them. I think I'll keep them."
My demon howled for me to act. To throw his skinny ass down on the pavement and pound the smile off of his face. It shocked me. I wasn't a violent person, not unless my life was at risk. But this wave of hate and anger almost overwhelmed me.
"We'll see." It was the best come back I could muster under the circumstances, spit out through a jaw clenched so tight I was sure I'd shatter a few teeth.
I turned and walked away from him, feeling his eyes boring into the back of my head all the way home.
What was his problem? Why did he have to have my friends? And why didn't I like him? There was something there, more than his smile, his attitude. Something sat underneath the façade of who Benjamin appeared to be and who he really was. Maybe he did this at every school he went to. Find a vulnerable group and take them over.
A sociopath. No empathy, just a controlling creep who did this kind of stuff for kicks. I hoped Alison and the others would see through his crap soon. It had only just started and was already getting old.
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