you sat across from ben, paying absolutely no mind to him as you spun his sister around. it was infuriating.

ben despised you. seeing you made him believe that you were the bane of his existence. he had once caught you pushing someone and it escalated into a fist fight. he thought you were picking on them, since they seemed more weak and fragile. he almost interfered, before a counselor had done it first. but ever since then he made an effort to avoid you. you reminded him too much of shane.

yet here you were, acting sweet and innocent with naive lily. you resided next to ben and aiden, so while lily was visiting her brother and cousin, she bumped into you and ended up dropping a stuffed plushie in a muddy puddle from the earlier rain. it got ruined from the specks of dirt and the sticky mud. you offered her a replacement though, handing lily your own favorite stuffed bear. as nice as the gesture was, ben was convinced it was an act. but he couldn’t bare to force lily away from you, she adored you.

soft, classical music played from your phone per lily’s request and you pranced with her around the living room, the both of you giggling softly. the mute sibling just watched with a harsh glare towards you.

the younger girl paused and said she would be back in a few minutes. lily told you that you should talk to ben, ranting about how you both were her favorite people and she deeply wanted you to get along.

your eyes landed on ben for a moment and you reluctantly agreed for her sake. which led to you plopping back across from ben in awkward tension. of course he wouldn’t speak to you, he couldn’t since he was mute, but he could at least try not to glare. ben didn’t know, but he was unaware that you had only fought that boy because you were standing up for your friends.