24 - For The Worst

*Two days later, Wednesday...*

"Pick up two."

I bit my lip to hide my smirk as I complied, picking up two cards from the deck with Benji watching me closely.

It was lunchtime and we were sitting outside in the lively courtyard, on a table towards the back, playing a competitive game of blackjack. Ever since I'd confided in Benji he'd practically been my shadow, being with me every moment he could. I wasn't complaining, I loved having the company and it was very flattering to know he cared about me that much. I'd expected to be down for the whole week so far, with memories of Australia filtering through my mind, but Benji being close to me prevented them from tormenting me.

I nodded towards Benji, indicating he should take his go. Just as I anticipated, he placed down a blackjack with a wicked gleam in his eyes. My smile broke out as I placed a blackjack and a two two's down, giggling at his stunned face.

"What... how?" He mumbled and I laughed.

"Pick up, then. That's... nine cards. Do you need me to help count them out?" I replied mischievously. He shot me a playful glare.

"You cheated." Benji declared and I offered a sly smile, leaning forward.

"Honestly, I get that you can't recognise skill because you don't posses any, but don't you think accusing me of cheating is a bit far-fetched? No-one likes a sore los-" I was cut off when Benji suddenly reached for me and I twisted away, squealing.

I quickly got off the wooden bench, holding my cards close to my chest while evading Benji. He stood on the opposite side of the bench, his strong arms propping him up as he leaned forward threatingly with laughter in his eyes.

"What is this behaviour, sir?" I questioned, giggling. A strand of brown hair fell into his face and he brushed it away lazily.

"Don't dish out what you can't take, Clo." He replied teasingly and I laughed loudly, my body titling forward.

"I should be saying that to you, Mr Blackjack-" I squealed when Benji darted around the table and grabbed me. I immediately struggled in his hold, wriggling around but he trapped me with his chest to my back. After a minute or so I relaxed, winded and felt vibrations from Benji's chest as he chuckled.

"Say sorry and I might let you go." He told me when I craned my neck to glare at him. I thought about it for a second before nodding.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Benji's grip relaxed slightly enough for me to turn in his arms to face him. "That you suck at playing cards." I used his surprise to break free and run back to our neighbouring table, where Cory, Elijah and Brock were sitting.

"Guys, help!" I shouted in a shrilly voice, knowing Benji was hot on my heels. I skidded to a stop, hiding behind Cory as Benji caught up.

"What's going on?" Elijah asked amused. I rolled my eyes.

"He's trying to murder me because I made him pick up nine cards..." they all whistled at that. "And the game isn't even over! How will he react when I actually beat him?" I cried and Brock reached over to pat Benji in the shoulder.

"It's okay man, we've all been there." He said comfortingly.

"There's a reason we don't play cards with Chloe anymore." Cory agreed and I rolled my eyes, stepping away from him.

"Yeah, cos you guys suck. I might have to go to the chess club members and befriend them, they're the real gamblers. They use money and everything." I said with slight awe in my voice. I had to get to their level one day.

Benji rolled his eyes, taking a seat next to Brock so I followed suit, squeezing myself between Elijah and Cory. "You guys done discussing football tactics?" I asked, stealing a fry from Elijah's plate.  Benji and I had moved away from the trio because they were boring us with their football talk about the game this Friday.

Cory stretched his arms, knocking me slightly in the shoulder. "Nah, not yet." I rolled my eyes, glancing at Benji.

"Let's go finish our game." I told him and he made a face.

"I'm good; I'd rather talk with the lads about soccer." He replied causing all of us to laugh louder and him to make an embarrassed face once he released his mistake.

"Come on, dum dum." I said fondly, gracefully getting up and pulling him along. As expected, I ended up winning the game just before the bell rang, signalling the end of lunchtime.

Benji attempted to storm off like the sore loser he was but I forcefully linked arms with him so he had to pull me along. He tried to act angry but I caught him sneaking looks at me as we walked to class.

"Oh, we have English don't we?" I asked feeling slightly dejected that we'd separate as we turned into another corridor. I was probably acting clingy but I couldn't help it, Benjamin had literally been my lifeline for the last two days.

Benji nodded, his grip on me loosening as we approached my English class. He looked down at me, slightly amused.

"I can drop you at home after school?" Benji offered and I sighed, shaking my head.

"I'm going to John's afterschool." I told him and his eyebrows furrowed, leaning against the wall behind him and crossing his arms.

"Really? Cool. What are you guys doing?" Benji asked in what I assumed was meant to be a causal tone but seemed a bit strained.

I shrugged, twisting my arms in front of me. "Just hanging out, we haven't spoken much this week so it would be nice to catch up." I explained and Benji nodded.

"Alright, text me though?" He said and I nodded with a small smile, my hand reaching upwards to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear but he beat me to it. I blushed when his hand lingered on my cheek slightly.

Benji cleared his throat awkwardly and dropped his hand. I heard my name being called and glanced behind him to see Brock waving me over.

"Um, I'll see you later." I told Benji, holding out my arms for a hug which he gladly accepted. Benji gave the best hugs. When encased in his arms I felt like nothing bad could happen to me, like I was safe and secure.

"Alright, lovebirds break it up." A voice obnoxiously said, I stepped away from Benji to see a teacher staring at us, unimpressed. A couple of students around us laughed, and I stared at the ground in embarrassment, my eyes wide.

"Sir, if you needed help with your love life you could just ask," Benji teased and the teachers eyes widened in fury. "There's no need to be jealous."

I gasped, smacking his arm slightly and trying to hide my smile. And they said I had an attitude.

The teacher spluttered, his cheeks turning red. "Go to class!" He finally managed to shout. I entered my English class laughing hysterically. I headed over to my seat, unsurprised to see Taylor sitting in it, next to Brock. They'd been inseparable for the last week.

I stood slightly next to them, waiting to be noticed. Taylor was too busy babbling about a conspiracy theory and Brock watching her with love hearts in his eyes to notice me. This was the third time she'd sat in my seat and Brock hadn't said anything until I had, and it was staring to annoy me. If, for whatever reason, he liked her that much, they could sit somewhere else.

I dropped my bag loudly on the floor next to Taylor, finally capturing their attention. I glared down at her, not in the mood. "Move." I said shortly, and she just raised an eyebrow, glancing at Brock.

Brock turned to me with a pleading look. "Is it alright if Taylor sits here this lesson?" He asked sheepishly, and I scoffed in disbelief.

"If you want to sit next to her so badly, you can move. I'm not giving up my seat for her." I replied disdainfully. Taylor rolled her eyes, collecting her things and shoving past me roughly. My fists clenched and I turned to her, completely fed up. A hand encasing my wrist stopped me, and I turned to see Brock holding me.

"Leave it, please. She's just in a bad mood today." He excused me and I frowned at him, shaking him off. Taylor was clearly joyful while speaking to him, so that debunked his excuse. And she was blatantly rude to me for no reason yet he took her side? Nice to see where his loyalties were.

I picked up my bag without a word, moving to sit at John's desk. It may seem silly but I was hurt by Brock's acceptance of how rude Taylor was, he couldn't even defend me, yet who was the one who helped his bullies back off in Middle school? Me.

I considered Brock my closest friend at the moment, with Maisie and Tobi bailing on me and John being weird at first, he was the only other person I knew from before I moved to Australia. I guess the feeling wasn't mutual, though.

Whatever, if I dwelled too much on it I would get myself angrier. I ignored Brock tapping me on the shoulder, and thankfully Miss Valencia began to teach so he went quiet. I glanced at the empty seat next to me, shaking my head. John was late again, as usual; even though he'd reassured me in the morning he would show up to school.

It was weird how different John was. During middle school he wouldn't dare to be late to anything, yet now he bunked school like it was nothing. Little things like that bothered me, because could we be as close as we were if we were both so different? I had no clue.

My thoughts were interrupted when Miss Valencia asked: "Was there a seating arrangement I wasn't aware of, Chloe and Brock?" I glanced up at her to see her looking between us with her hands on her hips and an amused look on her face.

I stayed quiet, deciding to let Brock answer. I rolled my eyes when a minute passed and he didn't respond, he was probably waiting for me to answer. Baby. I sighed, looking at my teacher.

"I can move if it's a problem." I told her in a tone that clearly indicated I didn't want to move. She waved me off.

"No worries, we're going to sit with our partners now anyway, so everyone move seats!" Miss Valencia replied and the sound of chairs scrapping and footsteps filled the room. I rolled my eyes, my partner was John but he wasn't present. Great.

I sighed, bringing out my phone to stealthy text the doofus.

I opened my notebook unenthusiastically. There was still work I could do by myself but it was more fun with company. I glanced to my right to see Elijah and Cory laughing together and Taylor giggling with Brock behind me. I rolled my eyes but got to work.

After about ten minutes later a knock on the door caught everyone's attention. The door opened, revealing Benji which his signature goofy smile on his face. My heart slightly stuttered at the sight of him and I sat up a little bit, and I noticed a few other girls doing so as well. I didn't blame them, with his curly dark brown hair, alluring brown eyes, tan skin and white smile that revealed adorable dimples, along with his muscular body he certainly more than handsome.

"How can I help you, Benjamin?" Miss Valencia asked. Benji strolled in like he owned the place.

"I got kicked out of my class because I was apparently disrupting," he told Miss smoothly. "So my teacher sent me here for the rest of this period and the next, is that cool?"

I looked down at my work so I wouldn't be caught starting but listened out for her response. "Sure, that's fine as long as you don't make any disruptions. Since both English classes are doing the same project, we can just pair you up with someone... Ah Chloe."

I looked up, feigning surprise and looking at my teacher. "Yeah, Miss?"

"Since John's not here, Benji and you can work on your project for just these periods, if that's alright?" She replied sweetly, and I nodded, glancing over at Benji whose expression had lit up.

I moved my things and he walked over, sitting next to me. I turned to him with a teasing smile. "I'm starting to think you're obsessed with me or something."

Benji leaned back in his seat, crossing his strong arms and looking at me directly. "I am."

I felt like my breath was knocked out of me as I stared back at him with wide eyes, his words affecting me. I awkwardly looked back at my notebook, not knowing how to respond and ignoring Benji smirking victoriously.

"So, what novels are you comparing?" Benji asked. I mentally shook off my embarrassment to answer him.

"Um, Frankenstein and A Handmaid's Tale." I answered. "You?"

"Dracula and Frankenstein." He grinned. "We're both doing Frankenstein so we can work on that. Maybe talk about the key themes and how they're presented."

I nodded, relaxing slightly and playing with a pencil. "You could say human nature. Victor Frankenstein's nature is power-hungry, extremely selfish and inconsiderate. He did things without thinking about how it would impact others, like ditching the Monster or not telling Elizabeth about the Monster's existence, which got her killed."

"But couldn't you argue its unfair to blame Elizabeth's death on Victor, since it was actually the Monster who killed her?" Benji interjected. I shook my head.

"Yes, that's a fair point, but who created the Monster? Who was aware of its murderous tendencies? Who knew it wanted to get revenge on him? Victor. Her blood is on his hands." I stated resolutely and Benji nodded, looking impressed.

We got to work, discussing and writing what we needed to do. Benji was a terrific partner, and we fed off each other's ideas and argued on certain points which were super fun for me.

When the first period ended I let out a breath, slouching in my seat. "I need a break, my hand hurts from writing." I informed Benji. He nodded in agreement, gently grabbing my right hand and massaging it. I nearly melted.

"How are you feeling now?" Benji asked after a moment of silence. I turned to him, meeting his warm brown eyes.

"Right now? Content." I answered truthfully. "And comfortable." He looked pleased with that.

"Why'd you get kicked out of class by the way?" I asked curiously. Benji rolled his eyes.

"Because some teachers can't take a joke. Our teacher was late so I decided, out of the goodness of my heart, to teach the class a bit of English. And he walks in and acts all outraged like he owns the place or something." Benji ranted and I bit my cheek to hold in my laugh.

"Well, it is his class so..."

"And?" Benji retorted. "No one likes him or his teaching anyway. Always bullying his students. If this is what you get for helping out then I'm good, to be honest." I had to laugh at that, shaking my head at his silliness.

Benji suddenly sat up with a mischievous smile. "Wanna play noughts and crosses? I'm a boss at it, I never lose."

I sat up as well, removing my hand from his and stretching my arms with a smug smile. "Well there's a first time for everything, Benji."

He won the first two games, and I won the one after that. We were about to start a fourth one when the classroom door opened.

Everyone looked up to see John lazily walk in, covering his mouth as he yawned. He was wearing a plain black tracksuit, and looked like he just rolled out of bed. Miss Valencia looked up from her desk and smiled.

"Nice of you to join us, John. Glad you made it before the end of the day." She teased. John just nodded at her, looking around and his eyes landed on me. Then he glanced at Benji and frowned, looking at Miss Valencia.

"Oh, Benjamin was helping Chloe with her project since you were absent." She explained. John nodded, walking towards us and pounding fists with Benji.

Benji got the hint and stood up. "I'll see if Sir wants me back, I know he's miserable about my absence." He joked and some of the class giggled. John waited rather impatiently as Benji collected his things. When Benji was done he turned to me.

"I'll see you later?" He said, his dimple showing as me gave me a smile. I nodded, smiling bashfully and waving. He bent down and gave me a quick side hug before leaving. I adjusted my shirt and John sat down.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked gently. He sighed, turning to look at me. Up close I could see how tired he was, the dark circles prominent under his eyes.

"Not really. You?"

"I'm okay." I answered, slightly worried. "What's wrong?"

John yawned again. "Long story. I'll tell you after school. You're still coming over, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, definitely. It's been ages since we hung out." John simply nodded, then dropped his head on the desk. I awkwardly patted his shoulder, before sighing and looking around. I was done with my work, and wanted someone to talk to, but John obviously wasn't in the mood.

I would have spoke to Brock but he had to go and piss me off, and Elijah, Cory and Melissa seemed to be actually doing their work. I slouched in my seat, bringing out my phone and texting Benji.

I let out a shocked laugh, keeping my phone away. He was so mean! I wasn't actually offended, cos if your guy friends weren't rude were they really your guy friends?

Whatever. He was definitely getting silent treatment. I'd texted him to entertain me and was treated this way? The audacity.

I spent the rest of the lesson playing Candy Crush and ignoring Brock's attempts to talk to me. Petty, but I was holding a grudge. When the bell finally rang I eagerly packed away my things, glancing at John who was still steadily asleep.

Suddenly I got an idea.

"Guys, guys!" I shouted at my remaining classmates about to leave the classroom. "Can we all start clapping, please? I want to see something."

A few of them shrugged and my friends nodded. We all started clapping very loudly, and I was watching John. He suddenly shot up and started clapping as well, his eyes still closed which caused all of us to burst out laughing.

"Hm, what?" He mumbled, his eyes opening at the sound of our laughter. I shook my head, waving to my classmates and helped him up.

"I hope you didn't drive to school this tired." I commented, waiting as he picked up his backpack. He shook his head.

"Nah, Cyrus gave me a ride cos he drops Maisie off every morning." John replied and I frowned slightly.

"How are we supposed to get to your house then?" I asked as we walked to our form classes. It was the last class of the day then we'd finally be free.

John peered at me curiously. "You can't drive?"

I shook my head. "No. I had no reason to learn, cos I didn't think I would come back here..." My words faltered slightly towards the end and sudden sadness overcame me. If John noticed he didn't comment, simply casually wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me along.

*****

"Maybe Cyrus can give us a lift?" I proposed as John and I stood outside in the parking lot, watching cars leave. John's expression darkened immediately.

"No. Defintely not. I don't want him around you." He replied and I sighed, hitching up my backpack.

"Well, what do you propose?"

"We can just walk." He shrugged and I gave him an incredulous look.

"The clouds are about to pee and you want us to walk?" I asked and he snorted lightly, turning to me with wide eyes.

"The clouds are about to what?"

"Pee." I said confidently. John shook his head.

"You mean rain." He corrected and I waved him off.

"Same difference." I replied and he chuckled, bringing out his phone and tapping on it.

"It says the rain will start at four, which is in like thirty minutes. We'll make it to my house by then." John informed me and I sighed.

"You really don't want us to go with Cyrus, huh?" I asked and he shook his head vehemently. "I've already met him though-"

"Chloe." The way he said my name silenced me, he was serious. I rolled my eyes, annoyed.

"Fine, but if I get wet John..." I pointed a threatening finger at him which he grabbed and twisted. I yelped, shoving him away, laughing.

"Let's just go. I'll buy us pizza and brownies, okay?" He said, pulling me along and we started walking on the sidewalk. I shot him a teasing look.

"Not pot brownies I hope, I'm not a crack head like you." I teased and he turned to me, surprised.

"How do you know I do drugs?"

"With the company you keep, I'd be surprised if you didn't." I shrugged, thinking back to what Tobi had told me about John and his friends.

"Whatever, I've stopped doing them now so don't worry." He told me and I nodded, not fully believing him.

I looked up at the sky, taking note of the dark clouds that had begun to gather. I glanced at John who was already looking at me reassuringly.

"We're going to make, it Clo."

*****

We didn't.

I glared at John where I stood in his hallway, dripping onto the mat and probably looking like a drowned rat. He just stared back at me sheepishly.

"Um, so... do you want the pizza then?" He asked, slightly nervously. I didn't say anything, just carried on glaring.

"Clo... I'm sorry?" He said uncertainly.

"I'm going to go home and change. By the time I come back the food should be here and a movie set up. Give me an umbrella." I told John slowly and calmly. He nodded, removing his soaked shoes and running upstairs.

I stood there, shivering. I hoped I didn't get a cold. If I did, I'd definitely sneeze on John.

I fiddled with my phone as I waited for John. What was taking him so long? Soon enough he came down, changed into dry clothes and holding an umbrella. The audacity!

"So you made me wait here, soaking wet, so you could change when it would take you thirty seconds to get me an umbrella?" I all but shouted. John looked at me like I was crazy.

"Chill, I didn't take that long, Clo." He replied causally, handing me the umbrella. My rage intensified and I shook my head. Why was everyone being jerks today?

Wordlessly, I opened the front door, stepping outside and opening the umbrella. The rain had ceased slightly, but it did nothing to calm me.

"I'll order the food now!" John called after me. I glanced at him over my shoulder.

"Don't bother, I'm not coming back." I spat, picking up my pace.

"What- Chloe!"

I ignored him as I walked furiously. I couldn't deny that I felt disappointed when I heard his front door close. He didn't even care enough to come after me.

Maybe I was being dramatic, but with thoughts of Australia roaming around in my head and the Brock incident I felt pretty betrayed and sad. Very sad.

I groaned as I tear slid down my face, aggressively wiping it off. I'd not allowed myself to cry since we'd returned to America, because I wanted to leave the past in the past. Why cry over spilt milk, right?

Maybe that was a bad, unhealthy idea because I couldn't stop the torrent of tears that followed. I was thankful it was raining so I could blame my wet face on the rain. Soon enough I entered my empty house, taking off my shoes at the door and leaving them to a side. I stripped down to my underwear, keeping my wet clothes in the washing machine and running upstairs, making sure the front door was locked.

After a warm, relaxing shower I changed into sweatpants and one of my dad's hoodies which practically drowned me, but I didn't mind. I dried my hair and braided it, then was about to order some food because I wasn't in the mood to cook when my doorbell rang.

I frowned. I wasn't expecting anyone?

I walked downstairs and cracked upon the door slightly. I peeked through; shocked to see a soaking wet John with a pleading expression on his face.

I opened the door a little wider but blocked the doorway. "Can I help?"

John wiped water off his face. "I'm here to say sorry. I did act like a jackass before; I invited you to my house yet made you wait as I got changed into clean clothes. It won't happen again, forgive me?"

I cracked a smile. This was the John I knew. I nodded, stepping backwards so he could enter.

I instructed him to remove his shoes on the mat, and took his soaked hoodie off him. "Why didn't you just drive?" I asked, knowing he had a car.

"You might now have accepted my apology if I came here dry and warm." He responded and I nodded approvingly. He was right.

"I hope you brought a change of clothes, at least. I have nothing here that would fit you." Apart from my dad's clothes and I wasn't comfortable with him wearing them.

John nodded, holding up his backpack. I smiled slightly. "Okay, strip so I can put your clothes in the dryer."

At his mischievous look I glared at him. "Don't make any jokes, I guarantee you they won't be funny."

John smirked, lifting his shirt over his head. I pointedly faced the other way.  "Moving a bit fast, don't you think Clo?"

I sighed, shaking my head at his immaturity and held my hand out. After a minute or two he handed me his wet clothes, and I hurriedly walked to the dryer and placed them inside. I waited in the laundry room for him to get changed.

"I'm decent, Chloe!" He called out so I entered the hallway, happy to see him fully-clothed and dry. Well, apart from his hair.

"Do you need a towel?" I asked, gesturing at his hair. John touched it as if surprised it was wet.

"Yeah, that'd be nice actually." He replied. "By the way, I ordered food to your house like twenty minutes ago so it should be arriving any minute."

"Pizza and brownies?" I asked happily and he smiled slightly.

"Course, what else?"

******

"So, why did you come late to school today?" I asked after swallowing my last bite of brownie. I was full two brownies ago, yet they were so good I just had to keep on eating.

John turned to me slightly, his carefree expression replaced with a troubled one. "My dad came home yesterday." I couldn't help but gasp.

With how little John spoke of his dad you'd think he was dead. That wasn't the case, he was just extremely absent from John's life. Not by choice, but because of John's controlling mother. From what I remembered she'd painted his Dad as a villain since he was young, letting their marital problems poison John's relationship with his dad. She barely allowed him to see him, but when they did see each other John cherished those moments.

"What happened?" I asked. John ran a hand over his face.

"He came over to visit during the evening, thinking my mum wouldn't be home but she was and got pissed. He explained he wanted to see me and I was old enough to make my own decisions but she wasn't having any of it. They argued and yelled at each other until about 11pm, so I left and went over to Cyrus's to relax. I ended up staying over and waking up late, around when English started." The way he said all this in a monotone voice worried me.

I placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly as he carried on. "I know she's my mother but sometimes I really do hate her. She's made my life hell for no reason. I wish I could live with my dad but she received legal custody over me after the divorce. Once I turn eighteen the first thing I'm doing is leaving that cage of a house and never speaking to her again."

"I bet she doesn't even love me," He carried on, seeming to get riled. "I bet she's forcing me to stay with her to be petty towards my dad. As if I'm some trophy she's showing off." John scoffed, his expression darkening and his fists clenching. "But when she's old and frail, I'll take care of her and love her as much as she loves me. Then she'll understand."

My eyes were wide and I was deeply concerned. I got their relationship was super rocky but she was still his mum. Even if she was as controlling and psychotic as he described, she still fed him and kept a roof over his head and clothes on his back. Surely that was enough to be thankful for?

"John, she's still your mum..." I trailed off when he shot me a furious look.

"She's the vessel that brought me into this world," John spat. "Not my mum in any other way apart from biologically."

"These years you were away were unbearable, Chloe." He told me softly after a moment of silence. "She got worse and I had no escape. I resented you for leaving."

All I felt at this revelation was guilt and sadness. I had no clue it was that bad for him, and felt wrong for leaving him, even though it wasn't in my hands. I was going to tell him this but he kept on talking, grabbing my hand a bit tightly.

"Well, now I have you back, right where I want you." His gentle tone contradicted his wild eyes and tight, almost painful grip on my hand. "And now I know you won't ever leave me again, you can be my escape." With that he pulled me into a hug.

As I was pressed against him many thoughts sounded in my head. The one that screamed the loudest and couldn't be ignored was the most alarming.

John really has changed, maybe for the worst.

*******

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