#lieutenantackland

When Ben pushed open the doors to the lunch room he was disappointed to find that the kid wasn’t there, but the guys who had helped him the day before were, along with a few others. And since not many kids showed up early at this school, every eye looked up when he walked through the door. He scowled and moved towards a corner table. Unfortunately James had other plans.

“Ben!” he called, hopping over one of the tables and coming towards Ben. “Hey man, you should come and hang with us.” He smiled at Ben.

“Fuck off,” said Ben, walking right past James.

“Come on man.” James moved in front of Ben and walked backwards. “You can’t sit by yourself all the time.”

Ben didn’t say anything just kept walking until he got the corner table and set his backpack down on it. This guy was seriously annoying. Ben could tell he was going to be a pain in the ass. He pulled out a chair and sat down, sulking. His mouth fell open slightly when James pulled out a chair and sat down next to him.

“Would you just leave me alone,” said Ben, glaring at him.

“Nope.”

Ben made a frustrated noise and laid his head on the table. If James wouldn’t leave him alone, then Ben would just pretend that he wasn’t there. He closed his eyes. Maybe James would leave and he could get a little more sleep before class.

“So you’re from Australia?”

Ben mentally rolled his eyes, but didn’t move.

“You ever get a kangaroo in your backyard?”

No response.

“Was Steve Irwin your hero?”

Ben turned his head to look at James, glaring up at him and ground his teeth together. “Mate, fuck off.”

James face split into a grin. “Aw man you called me mate. Does that mean we’re friends?”

“No.”

“I think it does.”

Ben groaned and pressed his face against the table. “Go away.”

“Nah.”

If Ben hadn’t been so damn tired he would have been angry at James's insistence on bugging him, as it was he could only muster up mild annoyance. It became more than mild, however, when he heard voices and more chairs pulled out around the table they were at. He lifted his head, frowning. Wes, Luke, Shane, along with a well dressed brunette girl, and a short little blonde girl had all come up to the table and sat down.

“This is Dani and Kaitlin. Ladies, this is Ben.”

“Hi.”

“Hello.”

Ben grunted.

“Ben’s our new friend.”

“I am not your friend,” Ben protested.

“Sorry, no refunds,” said James, grinning.

Ben started at James, brow furrowed and mouth open.

“Trust me, we’ve all tried,” said Dani dryly.

She had an accent, English most likely, and Ben shifted his attention to her. Both of the girls were really pretty. Dani was classy, well dressed, and Ben was sure her family was well off. Kaitlin was kind of a tomboy, but still cute, and Ben was pretty sure she was on the volley ball team.

“Don’t think you tried too hard,” teased Shane.

He and Luke were both dressed in heavy duty work pants, plaid shirts, and dirty baseball hats. And James and Wes were dressed in nice jeans and button up shirts. Ben was suddenly very aware of his ratty clothes. His jeans were frayed, his shirt was thin, his sneakers were falling apart, and his jacket was old and too big for him. Luke and Shane’s clothes might have been dirty, but Ben knew that those heavy duty work clothes weren’t cheap. All of these guys came from families that were much better off than Ben’s.

The despair he’d been feeling over his poor state suddenly turned to anger. They were probably using him as their project, their good deed to make themselves look good. Help out the poor and troubled kid, maybe throw some money at him, and then boast about how good of a person they were. Well he wasn’t anyone’s damn project. He wasn’t something on a list that you could check off so you could feel good about yourself or go to heaven or whatever.

Ben’s face twisted into a snarl and he stood up abruptly, the chair making a horrible noise as it scraped across the tile of the floor, interrupting the conversation they’d been having about how James had wrangled them all into being friends. He snatched his backpack off the table and threw it over his shoulder.

“Whoa, Ben where you going?” asked James.

“Fuck you,” Ben spat. He was so fucking angry, but there was also a crushing feeling of hopelessness that he didn’t want to acknowledge. “Fuck all ya cunts. Just leave me the fuck alone.” He turned and walked away.

“Ben wait!”

He could hear James scrambling to follow him and he walked faster towards the doors to the hall. He shouldn’t have come here; he should have turned around and walked away when he saw James and his friends. He slammed the doors open and hurried down the hall. There were more kids now as class time neared and he dodged between them, not even caring when he bumped into people. Most just cursed him out and he was used to that anyway.

“Ben!” James called. “Ben, come on man!”

He was sure he was putting distance between himself and James, but he was wrong, James’s hand wrapped around his arm, pressing against the bruises from his step dad from the night before. He jerked out of James’s grasp and turned and punched him, putting all his weight into it. The hit sent James to the floor, kids moving back to give them room and watching them. Ben stared down at him, hands clenched tight into fists, anger buzzing through his veins and fight, fight, fight, screaming in his head.

“The fuck was that for?” James asked, pushing himself up onto his feet.

Ben stepped up to James, grabbing his shirt in both hands and jerking him forward. He was stronger than he looked, having lifted weights since he was twelve. “I’m not your fucking project!” he yelled in James face.

“The fuck man,” said James, roughly knocking Ben’s hands away. “I never said you were!”

“Yeah, well that’s what all you fuckin’ rich kids ever think.” He shoved James, making him stumble back a step. “So you can check off ‘help the poor’ off your good deeds list,” he sneered.

“I was only trying to be your friend.”

“I don’t have friends.”

“No shit. Maybe if you weren’t such an ass to people who were trying to be your friend you’d actually have some.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“No,” said James, lifting his chin defiantly. “You pull this shit because you’re lonely. You need a friend and I’m going to–”

He was interrupted as Ben tackled him to the ground and punched him. “Shut up!” He was so fucking angry and James was right and it was just making him angrier. He hit James again, blood splattering across the tile as he gave him a bloody nose.

James was stronger than he looked though and he rolled them over, hands fisted in Ben’s shirt as he pinned him to the floor. Ben struggled and tried to hit James again, but he stayed out of Ben’s reach. James looked like he was going to hit Ben and Ben tensed, waiting for the hit.

“James!” Wes called; he and the others of their group shoving through the crowd that had gathered around them.

James looked up at his twin, giving Ben the opening he needed. He shoved James, dislodging him and backed away from him, pushing himself up to his feet as fast as he could.

“James, are you alright?” Wes asked, coming up to James and helping him to his feet.

“Fine,” he grunted, his attention still firmly on Ben. He looked frustrated but there was something else there that Ben couldn’t identify.

“Just leave me the fuck alone,” said Ben, his voice higher than he wanted it to be. The fear was almost as strong as the anger now. James’s family was well enough off that this was probably going to get Ben suspended and if he got suspended Jack would beat him until he couldn’t walk. The thought made his hands start to shake.

“I’m not going to do that.”

“James,” Wes protested.

“Just fuck off and leave me alone,” Ben repeated, walking past James and Wes. He pushed through the crowd and headed down the hall.

His heart was pounding in his chest, adrenaline, anger, and fear mixing like venom in his veins. He was going to be in so much trouble. Why couldn’t James just leave him alone? Why did he have to be so persistent? This was going to end horribly for everyone involved. Ben was violent, stupid, and worthless. He didn’t have friends, couldn’t even make friends if he tried. The sooner James realized all that, the better off he would be.

Ben had fucked up badly, so badly. Jack was going to be pissed when he found out. Ben griped the straps of his backpack a little tighter to keep his hands from shaking. Last year Jack had paid him back tit for tat for every fight he had gotten into, including a dislocated shoulder. He could still remember the sickening popping noise and the hellacious pain when Jack had pulled it out, could still remember the way he’d screamed. He’d only get a bloody nose for this one, but if he got suspended it would be worse. So much worse. And his grades were already shit; he couldn’t afford to be suspended this early in the year.

Again this is all unedited. It's about 860 words (short one this time) and it's kind of a glimpse into Ben's home life. Abuse is mentioned so if that's triggering, don't read.

LOVED this! You’re doing so well! Can’t wait to see more of it! Sorry if this was a delayed answer. Reminds me a lot of the beginning of Gears of War: Aspho Fields, one of my favorite books EVER

Ah thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! uwu Don't apologize! I'm always happy to get feedback no matter when it comes! :D

“Fuck off and leave me alone,” said Ben, shoving him back, though it didn’t do much as the kid was much bulkier than Ben.

Surrounded by five other guys, plus the one shoving him, Ben should have been at least a little nervous. But it wasn’t anything he hadn’t dealt with before. Different country, different city, different school, but still the same fights. Still the same assholes pissing him off.

Anger flared in the jock’s eyes at Ben’s words and he jerked his head at a couple of his friends. “Gotta put you in your place first, Aussie,” he said as the two boys each grabbed one of Ben’s arms and holding him tight.

Ben struggled and snarled, but he wasn’t surprised when the guy hit him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. A fist slammed into his face, splitting his lip and making his jaw ache.

“See, we run things around here. And you need to stop thinking you’re going to be anything. Because you won’t.”

Ben glared up at the kid, blood dripping from his mouth. As soon as he got out of these idiots's grips he was going to smash that kid’s face into the pavement. “Fuck you,” he spat. He stomped down as hard as he could on the foot of one of the guys holding him. The guy yelled in pain and his grip on Ben loosened enough that Ben wiggled free and slammed his elbow back into the guy’s gut. He pivoted bringing his fist up to hit the other guy still holding him, when one of the other guys kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling on the pavement. The jock planted his foot on Ben’s back, putting his weight on him to hold him down.

“Tough fucker, but it’s not going to get you anywhere.”

“Hey!” a shout caught their attentions.

Ben twisted his head to the side. Four more guys were coming up to them, or at least he hoped it was four as two of them looked exactly alike. He was pretty sure he hadn’t been hit hard enough to be seeing double. The other two were quarter backs with the football team. Awesome.

“Let him go, Kyle,” said one of the twins.

“Fuck off, James, this bastard is nothing but trouble and he needs a lesson.” Ben grunted as Kyle placed more weight on the foot on his back.

“You really want to deal with that?” asked James, moving up into Kyle’s personal space and staring him down.

“He’s a worthless criminal,” said Kyle. “Everyone knows that.”

“Yeah and you’re a prick and everyone knows it. What’s your point?”

The two football players moved up behind James, arms crossed over their chests highlighting just how built they were.

“This isn’t worth it,” said one of the other kids.

James stared steadily at Kyle. “You should listen to him.”

“Fine,” Kyle spat, he pressed harder against Ben’s back, making him wince, before moving his foot off it. He pointed threateningly down at Ben. “But if this shit face causes trouble on the field again, it won’t be pretty.”

“We’ll see,” said James.

Kyle turned and he and the others walked away. Ben pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

“You alright?” asked the kid that looked like James, kneeling down next to Ben and trying to help him up.

Ben froze for half a second. The guy had the bluest eyes Ben had ever seen and it was like looking at the sky. He snapped back and shoved him away. He hated people touching him. It made him angry. “Fuck off, ya cunt” he snarled.

The guy frowned, but let go of Ben. “We just saved your ass.”

“I don’t need anyone saving me,” he said, pushing himself to his feet. He wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand. His gut and back were kind of sore, but it wasn’t anything he hadn’t felt before.

“Everyone needs help sometimes,” said one of the football players. It was the kid that came to school smelling like a stock yard. Ben was sure he and the other one were farm kids.

“I can take care of myself.”

“Don’t be a jackass,” said James’s twin.

“Whatever,” Ben grumbled, picking up his backpack where he had dropped it when the guys had started shoving him around and turned to leave.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said James, coming to stand in front of Ben. “You can’t go anywhere yet.”

Ben bristled. So they’d saved him just so they could beat him up instead? How noble of them. “And why the fuck not?”

“Because we’re going for pizza and you’re coming with us.”

“James–”

James waved his brother’s protests off. Ben blinked at him, mouth slightly open. He hadn’t been expecting that at all. They didn’t even know him.

“No thanks,” said Ben stiffly. He began to walk away.

“Come on man, it’s pizza,” said James, catching up to Ben and grabbing his arm.

Anger flared through Ben and he turned and punched James in the jaw. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

James cradled his jaw, but he looked more surprised than anything.

“What the hell is your problem?” said James’s twin as he came up to make sure James was okay. “He was just–”

“Wes. It’s fine,” said James dropping his hand.

Ben was tense, waiting for the inevitable attack. But it never came. James just watched him with an odd look on his face, almost like curiosity, but not. Like he knew something about Ben that he shouldn’t. Ben didn’t like it; it made him uneasy.

“You really should come with us though,” said James.

“I-I have to get home,” said Ben, hunching his shoulders. It was partly true. He would have to be home by dinner or call, else he’d be in trouble, but he didn’t have to be home right now. And he had no intention of going home until dinner time. He tried to stay away as much as he could get away with and he’d probably just go downtown and wander around, he was still getting used to how this town was set up; it was different than anything back home. Maybe he’d go down to the library for a while and try to study, though that rarely ever worked.

James was watching him like he knew Ben was lying. “What’s your name?”

“Ben,” he said, voice wary.

“I’m James. This is my brother Wes. And this is Luke and Shane,” he gestured to the football players, who both gave Ben friendly smiles. It was weird. He was having a hard time processing why these guys were being nice to him, it made him suspicious.

“So… pizza next time, maybe?” James asked.

“Yeah, whatever,” said Ben. He turned and walked away, no one stopping him this time.

~~~~~~

Wes watched as Ben walked away, shoulders hunched and looking for all the world like a wet, pissed off cat. Wes wanted to help the outcasts as much as James did, but that kid was something else. Wes had heard that he’d moved here about two months ago and it was a little over a month into the school year and Ben had already had to stay after school almost every day, was failing some classes, and had beaten some kid’s face in. He wasn’t just an outcast, he was dangerous. Leave it to James to set his sights on Ben with laser focus. And no amount of talking would convince him to give up. Ben was going to become a new addition to their group whether anyone liked it or not; Ben included.

Wes shook his head. “He’s never going to hang out with us.”

“He will eventually. Besides,” he grinned and threw an arm over his brother’s shoulders, “we can just toss him in the back of Shane’s pickup. Then he can’t escape.”

Wes rolled his eyes. “You’re going to get more than a sore jaw for that.”

“Yeah, probably,” said James, rubbing at his jaw where Ben had hit him. It was already turning purple. “But the kid doesn’t have any friends and he needs them.”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Wes. He still wasn’t sure about the whole idea. He eyed the bruise on James’s face. “Mom’s gonna be pissed about that bruise.”

Rules Find out what characters share the same personality type as you here and list the characters that you find relevant below. Then tag five friends and let them know you tagged them.

Personality: INTJs are clever, analytical, pragmatic and logical, and are not scared to tell someone (or themselves) when they're being stupid. They emphasize efficiency, making them simultaneously loners and excellent leaders. Their natural talent for planning and system-building often makes them the perfect villains.

Hehe I really can’t I don’t know why! I fear going into the yard during summer cause they scare me so much! But they do have cute faces…I don’t know it’s the slithering that gets me

I have such a fear of snakes but oh my god that is adorable

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