Morning came fast for young Ben, the light of the sun peeked into his window shining on his face. "Stupid Day Star..." He rolled over, grumbling in his sleep. Ben returned to his peaceful slumber, but for only a moment. "Oooo Yea El-Bow-Drop!" a young girl yelled out. The tiny girl jumped off the foot of Ben's bed landing her elbow straight into the sleeping male's solar plexus. Ben screamed out in pain, but was cut off by another voice. "Leg Drop Brother!!" This time a tiny boy jumped off of Ben's headboard landing a leg drop on his chest. The second of the two attacks did not hurt but still annoyed him. "What the Hell you two!" Ben jumped out of bed and started to chase the two young children around the room. The Children laughed as He attempted to catch the little assailants. "Haha we got him good this time Pete!" the girl practically sang. "We sure did Pat!! Look at big brother trying to catch.." Pete was caught by Ben midsentance. "Got you now Peter!" He placed his younger sibling in a bear hug type maneuver. "Ow ow ow let me go!" the young boy said, trying to squirm his way out of the hold. Pat stopped for a second and tapped her chin. "Should I save him?" she said, looking at her twin brother's predicament. "C'mon Pat don't just stand there! Help!" he cried out to her. "Hmm" she stood there looking around the room "Well I don't see any referees so this means no rules…" she said with a wicked smirk. The young girl dove at her older brother,and grabbed his leg. "Got you! Now it's time for my special attack, Doom Fang!!" she yelled out "Don't even think about it!!" Ben yelled, but it was too late. Pat bit down on her sibling's leg with a 'Nom'. "Ow, Goddammit!" Ben cried out trying to shake her off.
Suddenly Ben's door flew open. "Well you three seem to be lively this morning." an older woman with graying black hair walked in, scanning the scene before her. "Patricia, Peter, get off your brother please.." she said with a sigh. Pat released her 'Doom Fang' and smiled "yes mom" . Ben tossed Pete onto his bed. "You guys watch way too much wrestling with Valerie!" Ben said, rubbing the bite mark on his leg. The two looked at each other then to Ben. "Nope!" they both said before sticking their tongues out at him. Ben returned the childish gesture by sticking his tongue out at them. The twins ran out of the room as fast as they could. Ben's mother Janine or Jane as her friends called her, just watched the twins run off into the hallway. She turned to her eldest son, noticing a particular necklace he was wearing.. "Oh you are wearing it again, I thought you were done with jewelry? Well I'm glad, I always thought that it looked nice on you." she said with a smile "Yea I guess I am" he said remembering that he was wearing it. "Ok well breakfast is ready, get dressed and come down, you don't want to be late for school." she said leaving his room. "Ok Mom, thanks" he said, grabbing some clothes. "Oh, and Ben?" she stopped and looked at Ben with a serious look on her face. "No More fighting please...I know what happened and what you did was the right thing...But please, I don't want to see you get kicked out of school. Your father and I have high hopes for you" she said with a worried look on her face. Ben's mother worked very hard and was rarely home when her kids returned from school. So she felt that Ben's problems may have stemmed from her work schedule, and his father's absence. Ben's father worked out of state for a very important research facility. So he would return home only once or twice a month. "Sure Mom, I'll do my best," he replied. His mother smiled as she closed the door, leaving him to get ready for the day. Ben looked in the mirror at his reflection. He stared at the necklace for a moment. "Hmm maybe I should keep it on." he said before getting dressed.
Ben made his way down the stairs and into the dining room. "Oh, Good morning" Robin said looking up from her cup of tea. "Mornin" Ben said, taking his seat across from her. "I heard the commotion from your room, let me guess the twins decided to have an early morning handicap match against you?" Robin asked before taking a bite of her toast. He sighed and just nodded. The two ate in silence for a few moments while the twins bounced around the living room watching their early morning cartoons. The twins, as they are called, are their younger siblings. They were born 8 years apart from Robin, and are referred to as the "happy accident" by their mother. But that's another story for another time. Despite the age gap, the siblings all got along well and were quite close. In fact you could say that Ben was like a stand-in for their father, the twins looked up to him despite their earlier actions. Over the last few years Ben and his Older sister Valerie would take turns watching them while their mother worked.
Robin looked up at Ben, and sighed "Hey, so I heard from Ami that you're starting a Club?" she asked before taking another bite of her food. "Yea it's a stipulation...well more of an agreement between the Principal and I… and wait, Ami told you? I didn't know you two were so close." he said "I guess we are getting close, we exchanged phone numbers the other day, she texted me last night and told me what happened. What were those guys thinking?" she said in an aggravated tone. Ben shrugged. "No Idea" he thought about the situation, the whole thing was weird. It felt like they were planning on him to show up, it almost felt staged. 'Something is off,I can't explain it. But I have a bad feeling that this won't be the last incident.' he thought to himself. "Oh crap, look at the time, I better get going or I'll be late for morning activities.'' Robin said, getting up. Ben noticed that she hadn't finished her breakfast and tea. "Sit back down and finish your food, i'll drive you in today, I have to go in early anyways." He said pointing to his sister's food. "Oh, Ok. Thanks Ben!" she said happily. 'I might as well start going in early too, I don't want Robin to walk to school alone until I figure out what's going on. Hell maybe I'm just being paranoid but, just in case...' he thought as he finished his breakfast.
A young male with blonde hair made his way up to 226 West st. He sat on the stairs and looked at his watch. "It's still early…" he said quietly. A figure snuck up from behind the male. "FuFuFu Max, what are you doing here so early? Hmm?" Max practically jumped out of his skin, and turned around. It was Fiona, she was laughing hysterically holding her sides. "What the Hell Fi? You scared the crap out of me!" he said, scolding her. "Sorry, I saw you walking over here and decided to try to scare you haha" she said, still laughing, tears rolling down her cheeks. Max glared at her and crossed his arms. She wiped the tears from her eyes "So why are you here so early?" she asked, tilting her head "Well I…" Max began to explain, but Fiona could see him starting to blush and put two and two together. "Ohhh I see you were waiting for Robin! You wanted to walk her to school huh? Let me guess you were also planning on trying to hold her hand too...that's pretty lewd my dear Maxie I didn't know you could be so bold" she placed her hand over her mouth and gave him a mischievous look. Ben gave her a death stare, but this only added fuel to the fire. "Oh did I strike a nerve? Well if you would just ask her out I wouldn't pick on you so much!" she teased even further. "You know Fi…" Max clenched his fist. He wanted to punch her really bad, but he knew that would not solve anything. He wanted to tell Robin how he felt, but he was afraid that Ben wouldn't approve of his best friend dating his little sister. So he decided to play her game instead. "What about you? Why are you here so early? Trying to get Ben all alone? I know you had a crush on him when we were kids, hell you guys even dated for a while right?. What are you trying to play the childhood friend role and win him back?" he mocked her. Fiona began to laugh "Oh my god Max, haha! No way! You know he's more of a brother to me now haha" Max looked her over for a second in doubt. He knew she was lying. "Oh so you have a brother complex then? I love you Big Brother! Ben Oni-chan, I Wuv you!" he made a kissy face at her. This sent them into further insults and banter back and forth. Unbeknownst to the duo, Ben and Robin were at the front door the entire time watching this unfold. "Hey, are you morons done yet? You're causing a scene!" Ben yelled out. The comedic duo looked to the siblings, finally noticing them. Also that the twins and the mom were looking out the window at them. Embarrassed, both bowed their heads and apologized for the commotion. Ben looked at the duo and sighed "You guys coming too? We're leaving early." The duo nodded and followed Ben to his car, with a confused Robin in tow.
As the group sped down the street Fiona gave Ben a confused look. "So why are you going in so early?" she asked curiously. "Well, I have to go fill out the application for the Club, find a room not being used after school, and find an Advisor." Ben said, fishing a cigarette out of his pack. Robin snagged the cigarette from her brother "No, Bad!" She scolded him like a child. "Fun Police…" Ben grumbled at her, causing her to shoot him a glare. Max and Fiona sighed seeing the siblings go back and forth about his smoking. Robin was the only person in his family who knew he smoked, and she did everything she could to stop him. She's thrown out numerous packs, lighters and even took the lighter out of his car. Even going as far as disconnecting the power to the outlet. Max decided to change the subject, and get back to the topic of the club "Ben I have to say I'm impressed. You normally don't get this motivated, most of the time you put things off to the last minute." Max joked. Robin looked back at him, their eyes meeting for a brief moment. Both looked away from each other blushing "S-So Max are you in the c-club t-too?" she asked, stuttering a bit. "Yea, Ben called me l-last night." he replied, looking out the window. "That's good. To be honest, I'm not surprised you'd join, after all you love that kind of stuff huh?" She turned to him again and smiled. Max just nodded and smiled. Fiona watched them with a smile, while Ben ignored the two. "Well I'm more surprised that Fiona agreed, she is a big chicken after all!" Max laughed. "Yeah she's always been a bit of a scaredy cat huh?" Robin replied in a giggle. "Hey you two stop it, I am not!!" Fiona protested. Ben turned up his radio in hopes of drowning out their banter, but to no avail. Their banter continued the entire ride to school.
The group arrived at the school, and made their way up to the Student Council room. Robin went to go unlock the door, but to her surprise it was already unlocked. "Hmm that's strange.." she muttered to herself. "Hey can you guys wait out here for one moment? We aren't supposed to let regular students in here until Ami shows up. I thnk shes already here but I just want to check." Robin said before opening the door. When she entered the room the room was silent and felt a bit ominous to her. Robin started to feel a bit creeped out, nervous as she walked slowly. To her relief she found that Ami had already arrived and was doing work on her computer. "Oh Good Morning Robin." Ami said in a strange tone. There was something up with her voice and posture. "Uh Good Morning Ami. Uh, are you ok?" Robin walked over to Ami and started looking her over as if she was investigating her. Robin knew something was up. "H-Hey Robin what are you doing, why are you so close to my face." Robin's face was less than an inch away from Ami's. Upon further investigation Robin figured out what the issue was. Ami was tired, she had bags under her eyes that she attempted to cover up with makeup. Her hair which was normally perfect, not a hair out of place, looked like she just barely brushed it. "You Didn't sleep again did you?" Robin asked in a quiet but stern voice. "I-uh...yea…" Ami replied sadly. "I knew it...listen, we already have guests waiting for us. You might want to fix your make-up a bit first…" Robin said, pointing to the door. Ami looked confused for a moment "It's Ben and the others. They are here to fill out the paperwork for their Club." she continued. This made Ami jump up and run over to her purse. She quickly fixed her makeup and fixed her hair. A few moments later she sat back down practically glowing now. 'I knew that would get her up and to act normal, if it's anything to do with Ben she just lights up' Robin thought. "Ok send them in '' Ami said practically beaming now.
After Robin let the others in, they sat opposite Ami "Good morning everyone, I see you have three members now, that's good you only need one more." Ami said, smiling at Ben. "Yea I just need the Application, I'll fill it out here if that's ok with you?" Ben asked, looking around the room a bit. "Sure I got the paperwork right here" Ami pulled out a manilla folder and fished out a form handing it to Ben. Her hand shook a bit as she handed him the paperwork,Ben saw her hands tremble and looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Are you OK Miss Pre…" Ami cut him off "It's Ami remember? We agreed on you using my name yesterday, remember?." she said, pouting. "Yea, yea Ami sorry. But seriously, are you ok? You look tired." Ben asked, taking the paperwork from her hand. "Yes, I'm just a little tired." she replied quickly. The group could tell she definitely was not fine, but they decided not to press the matter any further. It wasn't that they weren't concerned, they just didn't know her well enough to call her out on it. Well with the exception of Robin of course, who seemed to be biting her tongue at the moment. Ben decided that he would ask her later. He couldn't explain it but he felt that it was more than that, he had never seen anyone tremble like that just from being tired. Something was terribly wrong. Ben tried to ignore the situation and started to fill out the paperwork while the others made small talk. "So have you guys thought of where you'd like the club room to be or what you guys are gonna do for the club?" Ami asked. Max explained the whole Idea behind the club, and their plans to find a room and advisor. Ben thought that this would concern her, an occult research and investigation club just sounded like trouble to the average person. But to his surprise Ami felt differently "That actually sounds like a lot of fun, I will have to come by sometime and visit. I love spooky stuff!" she said, smiling at them. "You are welcome anytime." Max said.
After Ben finished up the paperwork, other members of the Student Council started to show up and start their duties. He could tell by their stares that most were confused by their presence. This just further solidified his reasoning to not join the student council, it would be a square peg in a round hole. He handed the paperwork to Ami. She smiled, taking the document as their eyes met, he could really see the bags under her eyes. She looked over the paperwork quickly "Everything looks in order. I will personally deliver this to the Principal, and let him know that you guys are looking for a room and an Advisor. Maybe he can help with that." She said getting up. "Oh no I think we got it, thank you for your help" Fiona said. "Yes I agree with Fiona, plus you should rest up." Ben said, getting up.
"Miss President, I don't think you should be involving yourself with the likes of them." Before Ami could protest, a male's voice chimed in, one the group knew all too well. Ben turned to face the male "Look who it is guys, it's the guy who lost the election..what was his name again?" Ben asked with a smirk. "You know damn well what my name is Benjamin! Or are you all drugged out on whatever chemicals you take? Or is it that you're having withdrawals and it's affecting your memories?" The male said, laughing at him. Max quickly stood up from his chair, practically knocking it over. "What did you just say?!" Max yelled out. Ben laughed at his remark. "That's probably the worst accusation you've ever said to me. C'mon Roy why don't you get a bit more creative. After all you are the Student Council Prez...oh sorry you lost I forgot, Vice President Roy Pearson." Ben's comment made Roy's blood boil, you could see his face getting redder and redder. "Listen here you loser, you and those worthless friends of yours, will never amount to anything in this world. Let's start with you Ben. You'll probably end up on the streets or in some jail somewhere, Max here will be a Janitor somewhere and I'm sure we'll be able to catch Fiona here working in strip clubs, if she already isn't working the corner." Roy's words were harsh, but normal for him. He grew up in a wealthy family, and could get away with almost anything. Most of the student body was weary of him but did everything they could to appease him. Ben and Max theorized it was out of fear mostly.
Roy's comments sent Max over the edge "What did you just say? You better apologize right now!!" Max yelled at Roy, this shocked Ben and the others a bit. Normally he was the calm and rational one of the bunch. But he couldn't take Roy slandering Ben in front of Robin. He was always the quiet one of the group, and was used to Roy's harassment. In fact he was probably the one in the group that got the most of it. Roy hated Max the most, but that's a story we will get to another time. Max rushed over to grab Roy but Ben got between them. "Not now Max, there is a time and place...not here" Ben said to him attempting to calm his friend. Ben was pissed too but knew that Roy was baiting them. The others in the room watched the scene in disbelief, Ami couldn't believe what she was seeing and started to get angry. 'How could he say that about them? Especially Ben…' she clenched her fist. Robin was livid too but kept her composure, Fiona on the other hand…"Kick his ass Max, show that douchebag what's up!" She yelled, she was in tears.
Fiona's comments set Roy off again. He began to yell more obscenities at her, calling her a slut, among other things. Ben tried to hold back his friend, as Max frantically tried to get to Roy. "You bastard! I'll get you, Ben let me go!" Max yelled out in frustration. After a few minutes the show came to a halt. Max was exhausted and stopped his advance. "You know what Roy?" Max glared at him. "What is it? Did you give up? Are you done showing off in front of Robin?" He laughed. "No we're not done, it might not be today, but one of these days you'll get what's coming to you. I know you don't like to get your hands dirty, but you won't always have your cronies to do your dirty work or to protect you." Max said, grinning at him. This set off Roy " What are you saying you little shit?! Are you accusing me of something? If so, spit it out!" He yelled back at Max.
The two continued arguing for some time. It got to the point that other members started to help separate the two. "Alright you two cut the shit! I've heard enough. Roy get the fuck out of here!" A female voice yelled out. It was Ami. She stood on top of one of the tables,her face was red, and she was shaking a bit. Her exhaustion was clear and present now.The whole room went silent, no-one had ever heard her get this angry before, let alone curse at someone. "Ben, would you escort Max and the others out please? I will speak to you later. And as for the rest of you...everyone, no matter who they are, is welcome here. We are here to provide a service to the student body, not berate them. I would hope that our Vice President would be aware of that and not let his emotions get the better of him. I really don't care what your history is with them. What you did was inexcusable, I expect professionalism out of each and every member of this Council… especially you. I will be speaking with the Principal about this later...now get out!" She glared at him. Ben did as he was told and escorted Max and Fiona out of there. The trio stayed silent as they made their way to their homeroom. Roy glared at Ami on the way out. "I'll show that bitch one of these days, she'll kneel before me." he said under his breath as he stormed out of the room. Ami sighed to herself as she slumped down back into her chair. "What a morning..." she said sadly. Robin slumped down in her chair with tears in her eyes she turned to Ami "I am Really sorry for…" but Ami cut her off and placed a hand on Robin's shoulder "Don't apologize. It was Roy's fault. But hey, Max was pretty brave huh?" Ami comforted her classmate and threw a little tease in there to lighten the mood. Robin wiped her tears away and nodded "he was wasn't he…" she said smiling now. She was still a bit shaken up from the incident. Robin didn't do well with these kinds of situations.
After homeroom the trio set out to find Mr. Morrison, he was their science teacher and quite popular with the students. As far as they know he wasn't involved with any clubs and seemed to generally like them. So he seemed the perfect fit to be their advisor. The trio found him standing outside of the staff room reading a newspaper. "Hey Mr Morrison can we talk to you?" Fiona called out to him. The teacher was in his mid to late thirties, his long brown hair was slicked back with not a hair out of place. He was popular with the student for numerous reasons, one being his looks and also the way he treated the students. He was kind to a fault at times and this sometimes got him in trouble with the other staff. "you're too nice to these kids" or "you need to be firm with teenagers" are the usual criticisms he received. He usually just shrugged them off and continued teaching his way. "Oh, hey Fiona, how's my favorite pupil doing today? Oh I see Ben and Max are with you too. What's up?" He said looking up from his paper. Fiona smiled and began to explain their predicament. Fiona Idolized Mr. Morrison; she always wanted to be a teacher and looked to him as the kind of teacher she wanted to be. She had confided this to him her freshman year. He did everything he could to help her achieve her dream, though all he could do was give her advice and tutor her when he had free time.
Mr. Morrison stood there and thought for a few moments rubbing the scruff on his chin. "Hmm I believe I can help with both, I know an empty room that's not being used. 316 is an old science room that's mainly used for storing old textbooks and supplies. If you guys clean it up you can use it. I'll get you guys the key… oh and I'll fill out the paperwork needed to secure the room." He said putting his paper under his arm. "Thank you so much!!" Fiona said, smiling ear to ear. "It's not a problem. There's no need to thank me. After all It's what your adviser is supposed to do." Mr. Morrison turned to Ben "I'm assuming you'll be recruiting new members? Make some posters to advertise the club, that may help. I'll see you all after school, you should get the club room ready today. The sooner the better you know?" And with that they had the clubroom, and an adviser. The trio made their way to class after, promising to meet after school.
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Because of the morning incident and the fight in the parking lot yesterday, rumors began to spread like wildfire around the school. Most of them were about how Ben started the fight with the group from yesterday, and how he ordered Max to pick a fight with Roy. Some said Fiona led the boys to Ben's trap, and that he used a weapon to beat them to a bloody pulp. Some said that Ben was trying to seduce Ami, and the fight was really about the guys trying to protect her. As the day went on the rumors got wilder and wilder. Ben sat in class with his head on his desk, exhausted from it all. "Hey don't let it get to you, I'm pretty sure we know who started all this nonsense" Fiona said trying to cheer Ben up. "Yea trust me, people who actually know you guys don't believe a word of it." Jes chimed in. "Yeah don't sweat it, we got your back" Kitty added. Ben looked up from the desk at the girls "Thanks. Hey, wanna join my club? It's gonna be so fun" he asked sarcastically. "Nah we're good" Kitty and Jes said simultaneously. Ben just slumped back on his desk. Fiona gave him a pat on the head "there there" she said Ben just groaned in response.
The bell for lunch rang "Hey, you going to the cafeteria Ben?" Fiona asked "No, I'm all set. I think I'm gonna go for a walk, I seem to have lost my appetite…" he replied, getting up. "Ok, see you after school" Fiona waved him off. Ben made his way outside, he needed fresh air. It was pretty warm for a fall day, so it was perfect weather to go for a walk. He walked to the courtyard of the school, where during warmer days you could find students eating lunch outside with friends, or reading a book. On this day in particular he found a certain Student council president eating her lunch on one of the benches. Ami sat there in a daze slowly eating her sandwich, she looked as if she was going to pass out. 'The lack of sleep must have finally gotten to her' Ben thought watching the scene unfold. Ami then took a bite of her sandwich and slumped over with said sandwich still hanging out of her mouth. "Shit.." Ben sighed and walked over to her. Ami was fast asleep on the bench, completely out cold, her breathing soft and slow. "Jesus Ami, you know if it wasn't for the sandwich hanging out of your mouth, you would look pretty cute right now." he said aloud hoping to wake her, but no luck. "Ok Ami C'mon get up, I'm bringing you to the nurses office." he shook her gently awake. Ami practically jumped out, almost losing her sandwich. She looked up at Ben, shocked and embarrassed. "B-Ben? What are you doing here?" she asked. Ben explained what had happened. "But now I'm taking your butt to the nurse's office. C'mon, you can sleep there for a bit. I don't want you catching a cold. Robin would kick my ass if I didn't help you." He sighed offering her his hand. Ami decided not to put up a fight and took his hand to help her up. "Ok I'll go. Thank you" she said, blushing.
Ben walked Ami into the building and towards the nurses office, she walked side by side with him in silence. "So did you find a room yet and an advisor?" Ami asked, trying to break the silence. She already felt awkward with how he found her sleeping. "Yea we got one of the old science rooms ...316 I believe Mr. Morrison said, oh and he's gonna be our advisor." Ben replied casually. He could tell by her demeanor how she was feeling, he didn't want to make things awkward anymore. "Oh that is great I will have to visit you guys when you get settled in, after all it's part of my job to check in with new clubs." She said lying. It wasn't part of her Job that was another member of the council's job, she just wanted to visit. "Ok, sounds good." he replied before stopping for a second and turning to her. The hallway was empty and it was just the two of them. Ami stopped too and looked at him confused. He sighed for a moment and scratched the back of his head "Um so what is really going on with you...in the last few weeks I've never seen you act like this. I mean hell, you even yelled at us during the fight. I just want to let you know if you got something bothering you and you want to talk I'll listen." he said looking at her seriously Ami looked down at her feet "Why? Why do you want to help me?" she asked sadly "Listen, you've been really good to Robin since the beginning of the year and she considers you a close friend, or that is what she had told me. And as her stupid big brother I feel that I owe you for that. Plus any friend of hers I consider a friend too." he said, smiling at her. This was out of character for him and shocked her a bit, but it made her smile. "Thank you Ben, I'll keep that in mind...So I'll be honest, my home life isn't very great and there are a few issues going on at the moment that's making it hard to sleep. But you don't need to worry, this happens every so often. I will be ok" she said with a smile and began to walk. Ben just nodded, knowing better than to push the issue any further.
They made their way to the nurses office shortly after. Nurse White greeted them at the door. She was in her mid to late twenties, maybe thirty. No one really knew. Between her looks and warm personality, no one could tell her actual age. She was so gorgeous that some of the senior boys had confessed their love to her a few times over the years. But to their dismay she was happily married. There were even rumors of a fan club dedicated to her in the school. Ben and Max had both heard rumors that it was called "Our Goddess Nurse White Worship Society" Ben sighed at the thought of the club. "Oh Ami, what brings you here?" the nurse asked. Before Ami could speak Ben cut her off and explained what happened. "What did I tell you about getting a proper night's sleep...If you can't sleep there, come to my house, you know you are always welcome anytime of the night. Hell, I even gave you and Charlotte keys to my place!!" Nurse White glared at Ami. Ben looked at the two confused. Ami apologized to her "I'm sorry I'll keep that in mind next time." The Nurse sighed and looked over at Ben with a smirk "Well if anything I'm glad you finally got yourself a boyfriend" Ami began to get flustered now "B-Ben is not my B-Boyfriend Aunt Cass!!" Ben almost fell over 'Now it makes sense..Nurse white is Ami's Aunt' he thought ignoring the boyfriend comment. Ami and her aunt went back and forth a few times before finally clearing things up, but not without some more teasing. "Ok well I'm off. Rest up Ami, I'll talk to you later" Ben said leaving the scene behind. Ami thanked him again before entering the nurse's office to lay down for a bit. Ben decided to shoot Robin a text message to let her know what happened to Ami. before returning to class.
Later that day Ben and the others entered the science room after school. Ben opened the door using the Key Mr. Morrison gave them, they looked around the room. It was caked in dust and the room was cluttered with supplies, paperwork and books. "Ok let's get to it. This shit hole isn't going to clean itself." Ben spoke up, breaking the silence. Fiona and Max sighed entering the room 'what did I get myself into' they thought simultaneously. It took the trio several trash runs and a few hours, but the room was cleaned and almost spotless. Fiona and Max began to work on the recruitment posters immediately. "Well looks like you guys did a pretty damn good job" Mr. Morrison said entering the room. He looked around quite impressed. "I should hire you guys to clean my house" he joked. "Not a chance" the three replied, glaring at their teacher. With help from their advisor they quickly finished the recruitment posters, and began to hang them up in key spots around the school. This is what they said:
The Newly Formed Occult Research and Investigation Club Wants You!!
Interested in the supernatural and the unexplainable? Believe in ghosts? Believe in life after death?
Then come on down to room 316 and join our already popular club! Or contact Ben Morell at [email protected]
The Trio decide to pack things up for the day after all that work. It started to get dark and most of the clubs were wrapping things up for the day. "Alright guys, I gotta head out and go shopping for dinner. Val is cooking tonight" Ben said to the others. "Who's Val? Your girlfriend? Your older sister...oh is she single?" Mr. Morrison asked, teasing Ben. "Quit while you're ahead, old man, she is my sister and no I'm not going to give you her number" Ben said coldly. The teacher frowned. "Oh well. Anyways, see you kids tomorrow. Try to stay out of trouble Ben" their teacher said jokingly. "No promises…" Ben replied with a chuckle. The trio and teacher went their separate ways, all having their own things to do. They were proud of their accomplishments of the day and felt pretty good about the future of the club. Little did they know that their posters would cause even more rumors to spread.
Meanwhile in the nurse's office: Ami finally woke up. The poor girl rubbed her eyes and looked around the room a bit confused. "ah you're finally awake, good." Nurse White said looking up from her book. She had sat next to the bed the entire time while Ami slept. As usually she was reading one of her romance novels, Ami squinted to look at the cover "Boy Love? Really Aunt Cass, we are in school…" she said with a deadpan expression on her face. "Oh hush you, little miss president. It's after school. Now get your butt up and get your things. You are spending the night at my place. No ands, ifs, or buts about it missy, or I'll call your dad and tell him you passed out in school again" she said in a stern tone. "Yes Ma'am" Ami replied, she was still too exhausted to fight her on this. "Oh and Charlotte is going to be there too, I made sure to call the Geezers and let them know. They didn't answer as per usual so I just left them a voice mail." she clicked her tongue in aggravation. "Ok" Ami replied, getting up and getting her things. Ami and her aunt got into her car a little bit after that. "So I just wanted to let you know David and I are looking at a few houses in town. After we get settled in I'd like you and Charlotte to move in." Ami looked up at her aunt "oh that's great, sure if it's ok with dad" Ami replied with a bit of hesitation in her voice. She didn't want to be a bother to her aunt, they had a great relationship. In fact her aunt was always like a mother to her, even more so than her actual mom. That is why she always declined her aunt's kindness. "Oh also...was that Him?" she asked with a mischievous smile on her face. "Yes…" Ami replied in almost a whisper. Her aunt laughed a bit at her reply. "Well it was nice to finally put a face to the name."
Max made his way out of the school he pulled out his phone to check the time "I wonder if she went home for the day...I wanted to apologize to her for making a scene earlier' he thought to himself sadly. He deeply regretted going off in the council room, but he just couldn't take anymore of Roy's bullying. "Oh Max y-you're still here?" Robin appeared behind him. "Uh yea I was actually going to text you, listen.." Max began to apologize to Robin but she cut him off, with a hug. "It's ok Max don't apologize,you finally stood up to him. I think it was brave of you" she hugged him tight. Max was shocked, she actually hugged him. This was something she had never done before. He began to get flustered. "Uh-uh t-thank you R-Robin" he didn't know what to do, 'should I hug her back?' he thought in a panic. His body decided to act on its own now, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. The two stood there for a moment enjoying the hug, until they realized what they were doing finally. "S-Sorry Max I don't know what came over me.." Robin said letting go, Max followed suit "I-It's ok Robin, thank you..it means a lot." The two just stood there blushing and looking down. "So, um, are you heading home?" Max finally broke the silence after a few minutes. "Y-Yea, do you want to walk home together?" she asked in a shaky voice. Max just nodded and the two made their way home, unknown to them, a certain reddish brown haired female was keeled over in laughter. "Oh my god that was hilarious," She had caught the whole thing. "I wonder how much longer till we get to the finale of this soap opera. Hopefully soon, as funny as they are, I just want them to be happy." Fiona said smiling. "Hell maybe I'll get to tell the person I love how I feel....But I'll have to do it before the end of the year...no pressure Fiona" she spoke to herself. She decided to keep her distance on the way home watching them from a distance with a big smile on her face.
Ben drove home slowly from the grocery store in town. He wanted to finish the cigarette he was working on before he got to his street. He tossed the spent cigarette out the window, disposing of the evidence. After parking his car Ben pulled out his spray deodorant and hosed himself down to hide the scent. He walked in his house carrying numerous bags of groceries. "I'm home" he said in a tired tone. As he placed the bag on the counter he was attacked by two small demons. "Get 'em!!" Pat and Peter yelled in unison. Each of the twins grabbed one of Ben's legs. "Will you two knock it off?" Ben sighed. He attempted to walk down the hall dragging the two along with every step. The twins just giggled as he dragged them down the hall. "Well, looks like they got you again. Good job guys" a voice came from behind Ben. Before him stood a woman with blue eyes,black hair in a messy bun. She stood about the same height as Ben, her tight tank top and leggings left little to the imagination, completely showing off her athletic body. "Oh, you're home Val." Ben said uninterested. Valerie, or Val as she was called, is Ben's Older sister. She was a college student and an aspiring professional wrestler. Valerie lived at her dorm during the week and came home mainly on the weekends to help out. Sometimes she would come home during the week to help their mom out. "Yea I texted you earlier, remember dummy?" Valerie replied with a sigh. "I knew that but I didn't think you were home yet. Oh, and can you do me a favor?" Ben asked. Valerie tilted her head."Sure what do you need?" Ben gave her an aggravated look. "Can you stop encouraging these two? This is getting ridiculous" Valerie just laughed and waved it off. "Nah" she laughed, walking into the living room. After a bit of a battle with the twins, Ben finally got them off of him. He sat down on the couch, practically collapsing. "You look tired Ben. What's the matter little brother, girl problems again?" Valerie teased. Ben gave her an exhausted look and began to explain what had been going on. Valerie just chuckled "That Ami girl sounds fun. I'd like to meet her." Ben just sighed "ask Robin, they are close" as he said that Robin walked through the door "I'm home!" She said with glee. Robin had a smile that went ear to ear and was slightly blushing. She started to hum to herself as she made her way to her room. "What's up with her?" Valerie asked, confused. "She probably walked home with Max '' Ben replied. "Max huh? I'm gonna grill her about it later" she said with an evil grin on her face. Ben didnt want to even think about the torture that Robin would be going through later on. Robin entered her room practically ignoring her siblings, she closed and locked it behind her. "Ok, now I have new material!! Maxine and Robert walking home, hand in hand" she practically sang out. She made her way to her laptop and started typing away happily with a hum.
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The next few weeks went by quickly, and uneventfully. The trio continued to meet up in the club room, but not one single person stopped by or emailed Ben. "What the hell is the deal…" Fiona groaned, slamming her head against the desk. "Quit being so dramatic" Ben said looking up from a magazine. "Yeah Fi, Don't be so down. We still have a few weeks till the deadline" Max said, flipping through an old book. "What's that?" Fiona asked, looking up from the desk at his book. The book itself didn't look like anything special, but by the look of excitement on Max's face, Fiona could tell it was something that was club related, unlike Ben. "It's about a few groups of mages back about a few hundred years ago, they practiced a form of blood magic and were obsessed with rituals involving blood and sacrifice." he said gushing over the book. "It sounds better than this crap, this Magazine is all about ghost hunting techniques and current technology...it's pretty damn boring...Here Fi why don't you read this" Ben said tossing the magazine at her, landing on her head. "Hey what the hell was that for?!" she snarled at him. Fiona threw the Magazine at him "You know Ben, I thought you were looking at some dumb car magazine or something. Why did you pick up that magazine?." Max asked, still thumbing through the book. Ben began to explain that Mr. Morrison had given him the magazine. It had been given to him by one of his students for the club. "Yeah, that's weird. Why would they want to give us something on ghost hunting? Don't people know that's not what we do, we don't go to people's houses and 'speak' to the dead or try to get evidence" Fiona chimed in.
"Well that's probably because there's a rumor that you guys do that, along with many other rumors about this club's activities. You always seem to attract this kind of attention don't you?" Ami said with a giggle. Robin and Ami had walked in a few moments earlier and saw the whole magazine incident. "Yea I'm pretty sure we know who started those rumors…" Robin said with a sigh. The trio turned to the girls "Really?…" they said in unison. Robin and Ami took turns explaining the rumors that had started over the last few weeks. It all started with the misunderstanding about the club itself. People thought they weren't just into the occult, and wanted people to join a cult they were starting. Some thought they were really investigating ghosts, others thought it was just a front for a delinquent hangout. One rumor was that Ben was selling drugs out of the club room. The group could guess who started that one. But the one that was the most common was that they would help people who had supernatural sightings and investigate, kind of like a supernatural detective agency. Fiona slammed her head off the desk again in aggravation. "Will you seriously stop that, how are you gonna become a teacher if you kill the last remaining brain cells you have left?" Ben said half serious, half teasing. "Shuddup asshole…" Fiona replied in a muffled tone. "Well that explains the lack of new members" Max said with a sigh returning to his book."Yea I guess so" Robin replied with a weary smile.
"Anyways What brings you two here?" Ben asked, Ami had only visited the club once since they started and that was just a formality and to check the room over, Robin on the other hand had been there a few times. "Just to visit and I think I have a solution to your membership problem" Ami said with a wink. "Let me guess you're gonna absorb the club into the student council." Ben said jokingly. Ami sighed and sat in the seat next to him. "No unfortunately I can't do that...But that being said I am still not giving up on you joining. But that is not my idea. I think you should have Robin join." Max and Fiona looked up and over to Robin who looked as confused as they did. "Wait, that's why you had me come too? I mean I'm not against it, but I have the council too..." Robin was concerned for her brother, but they had already agreed that they wouldn't ask her. To Ben, her duties in the Student Council were way more important, plus at the time Ben was confident they could at least get one more new member. "But don't you need her? I mean I don't mind her coming here but won't that take away from her duties?" Ben asked "No it will be fine, we can make it work, as long as she can participate here part time." Ami had already worked out all the details without telling Robin. She continued "You see, originally I was gonna join, but that would not work out unfortunately. They apparently need me more now that Roy has been skipping out more and more." Ben thought for a second then turned to his sister "you good with this? I can promise to only use you when we need to." Robin thought for a second 'This could work out...plus I can spend some more time with Max' she thought as she started to blush. Ben and Fiona could practically see what she was thinking. "I'll take that as a yes then," Ben said, turning to Ami. "awesome now we have four, welcome aboard Robin!" Fiona jumped up from the desk and ran at Robin for a diving tackle hug. Robin snapped out of her daydream "Huh, wait, what?!" she said before being loved to death by Fiona. "Ok I guess all we need is for her to fill out the paperwork…" Ben said, watching the scene unfold. "That's not necessary. I already filled out the paperwork for her and submitted it." Ami whispered to Ben, in the end Robin didn't have a choice in the matter. Ben just shook his head and laughed "You're pretty sneaky, you know that?" Ami smiled at Ben "Aww, you called me pretty, thank you Ben" she teased him. The five sat and talked for the rest of the afternoon, and thus the Club and Ben's high school career was saved by an unknowing Robin, with the help of Ami.
The rest of the week went by quickly for the members, the trio would sit and just joke around most of the time. Occasionally Max would get overly excited about some random book he found, and go on about its contents for a while. This would cause Fiona to fall asleep sitting up, which would prompt their fearless leader to pummel the poor girl with a magazine or whatever he could find on hand. Ami would stop by with Robin which would incite more teasing by Fiona, leaving Max and Robin blushing. And this would continue for most of the week until the weekend. Saturday and Sunday they were off from school. Ben normally spent his weekends working on his car or just lazing around the house watching his younger siblings. Valerie and Ben would take turns with this duty, since she was home most weekends and their mom always worked the weekend. But this weekend was a bit different. "Hey I'll watch the twins if you want, Mom said she'll be home early anyways." Robin explained during breakfast. Ben was relieved he wanted to do some work to his car, and maybe catch up on his shows. But to his dismay, his demon of an older sister had other plans for him. Valerie gave Ben a wicked smile "Good, that means you can bring me to the mall. I have a bit of shopping I need to do." Ben furrowed his brow "Take the bus, that's how you get back and forth to school, or call a taxi. I'm not your personal limo service." Ben sighed, going back to his food. "No way Little Brother, you are going too. Whether you like it or not." she said mischievously. "Make me" Ben retorted. Robin and the twins quickly ate, trying to get out of there before the fireworks started. "If you don't take me to the mall, I am going to your school on Monday, and tell the whole school that you had a crush on your big sister until you were in middle school. 'I wuv you Big Sis! When I grow up I am gonna marry you Big Sis!'I'll even get a Mega phone." she said with an evil look on her face. "You wouldn't dare spew that nonsense. I have never had a crush on you, that's just wrong!" Ben shouted back at her. "Yes I would, I'll even dig out the pictures you used to make for me, and I'll even get the twins to make cute love letters and show them to every girl in school." The twins looked at each other confused and just scurried away from the table as fast as they could, leaving poor Robin alone.
After a while of back and forth, Valerie finally won, forcing Ben to drive her to the mall. "Oh come on this will be fun I promise, I will even buy you lunch, promise!" she said, trying to cheer him up. "First you black mail me with an utter lie, and now you're trying to bribe and or reward me? Make up your mind.'' he said, still pissed off. They made their way to the local mall which was about a ten minute drive from their house. The mall itself was massive and actually was built between two towns Shallow Bay and Redville. Certain parts of the mall had a line with a sign that showed the town line. The Mall itself was a collaboration between the two towns, and hosted many events, department stores and restaurants. The siblings found parking and made their way into the mall. Ben hated this place, it was always too crowded for his liking, and it reminded him of a recent heart break. "Hmm you really don't look happy to be here. Oh, wait...I forgot. You two used to meet up here every weekend huh?" Valerie asked her brother. "Yes we did." Ben replied coldly. He had been in a relationship with a classmate up until the end of last year. They had been together for a while too, but that story is for another time. "Listen…" Valerie began to say "I'm sorry I dragged you here today, but try to cheer up a bit ok?" she said, trying to act like a kind older sister. "Yea yea" Ben shrugged her off. "I'm gonna head up and do some shopping. Why don't we meet in the food court in a few hours and I'll buy lunch ok?" Valerie said, running off to the department store section of the mall. Ben sighed and decided to browse some music stores and comic book shops.
About an hour or so later Ben decided to just hang out in the food court and read a book he found. "I really hate this place" Ben muttered underneath his breath. The food court was a bit crowded, but he tried to ignore the people around him and continued to read. "Ben? Is that you?" he heard a familiar voice. He looked up to find Ami smiling at him. She wore a pretty sundress and had a large brim hat on. She looked beautiful. It kinda shocked Ben, causing him to do a double take. "Oh H-Hey Ami" he stuttered in his reply. She noticed his confused expression, and smiled. "Didn't notice me at first, did you?" Ben blushed "Yea sorry about that, I've never really seen you outside of school." Ami giggled a bit "That's ok do you mind if I sit down?" She said pointing at the chair across from him. Ben gestured to her. "Go for it" She sat down, pushing the back of her dress down. "So what are you doing here on a Saturday? I never pegged you as the mall type" she asked curiously. "I used to come here a lot actually, but today I got dragged here" he replied with a bit of an exhausted tone. "Oh who dragged you here, Robin?" She asked curiously. "No, not today. Oh, actually I wanted to ask you something about her" Ben said, getting serious for a moment. He began to ask her how Robin was doing with the student council, he explained that he was worried that Roy was going to give her a hard time. Ami thought for a second "She's doing really well, I don't know what I would do without her. And no Roy stays away from her, I think he's afraid I'll get him kicked off the council. Or maybe he's afraid of you and Max haha." Ben laughed a bit. "Maybe. Who knows? Haha. Well I am glad that she has you there to watch her back. But seriously, thank you… Robin doesn't have a whole lot of friends, she's always been a bit socially awkward. Growing up she got picked on a lot by other girls for her quirks. I'm glad she has you now. She always seems to prefer to hang out with my friends, so it's nice to see her branch out. So again, I know I've said it a bunch, but thanks. Seriously…" Ben gave her a genuine smile. Ami had not seen him smile like that before, she was surprised but in a good way. She returned a smile and nodded "Always. I have to be honest, she and I are getting really close. In fact you'll probably be seeing more of me outside of school. She offered to have me come over and hang out sometime. I think I will soon" Ben just replied with a 'sounds good'. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of Ami coming to his house, but he didn't want to say anything.
"So, I have to ask you something…" Ami said, looking down at the table that separated them. "Sure what's up?" Ben replied curiously. "So what is up with you guys and Roy? There seems to be some history there. I've been in the same school as you guys since Middle School, and I've noticed that there is always animosity between you guys. I'm just curious. I know he's a bit of an asshole but I'm hopeful that you guys can bury the hatchet. I'd love to have you and the others visit sometime without fighting." She was sincere with her words, she genuinely wanted everyone to get along. Ami hated confrontation, and drama.
Ben let out a long sigh and looked away from Ami. "There is a lot of history between us, Roy and I grew up together, we were best friends until the second grade. That's when Max moved in and then a few years later Fiona moved in. I'm not sure you knew, but they are my neighbors. Roy lives a few streets over, so we didn't hang out as much after they came around. I guess Roy got jealous and decided to start picking on both of them. I was pissed and went to him to try to make amends between all of us. He got angry and we got into a fight, I gave him a black eye. Afterwards our parents made us makeup, and I thought everything was fine...well until 6 years ago." Ben stopped his story there. He was starting to get aggravated, the memories of what happened flashing through his head.
Ami listened to his story patiently, after he left her with that little cliffhanger she decided to speak up. "What happened 6 years ago? You can't leave a girl hanging like this Ben" she teased in an attempt to lighten the mood. Ben snapped back to reality "Oh sorry I forgot you started here in middle school huh? Ok well I'm sure you've heard of the Bradwell Manor incident?" He asked her in a solemn tone. "Yes I know the incident pretty well actually. That's when a few kids our age went into the manor, and one boy was gravely injured." She said, She didn't elaborate but she was in a different elementary school and had just moved to the area before the incident which is a story for another time. Ben nodded "Yes but what they left out was that kids were going missing after entering the house. There was an investigation going on at the time by Fiona's dad. He was told not to tell the public out of fear of panic. Only a few people knew about it, one of the people following the case was Roy's father. Roy came up to Max and I around Halloween and dared us to go into the haunted house. The little bastard made up some story about it being a test of courage that the Middle School kids were doing. But he knew what was happening there I'm sure of it. So Max, Fiona and I went to the house. Fiona backed out and ran off before she entered the house, so Max and I went in…" Ben stopped for a second. Ami just sat there not saying a word. She knew what came next. "You were the boy who got hurt, huh?" She said sadly. Ben just nodded "So I guess there is no repairing this huh? I'm so sorry Ben, I had no idea that you went through all of that." She lied, but her concern was genuine. Ben sighed "Yeah, sorry Ami, But some people can't and won't change. I'll never forget or forgive him. The others feel the same too. But hey, can we change the subject? I don't wanna talk about this anymore…" Ben said sadly. Ami decided to lighten the mood. "Ok, ok question two! Are you seeing anyone? If not, have you got a crush? C'mon gimme details" she reached over and started to poke his arm playfully. "Uh.." Ben started to reply but was cut off by the voice of a familiar demon.
Valerie walked over to the two with an evil grin on her face. It seemed that Ben's dear older sister had mischief on the brain. "Oh Ben, dear that is where you went, I was looking all over for you." She sat right next to Ben, Ignoring Ami for a moment. Valerie knew she was giving the wrong impression, but she loved to tease her younger brother. Ami's eyes went wide, she looked really confused and embarrassed. Before Ben could speak, Ami jumped up. "I am so sorry I didn't realize you were on a date! Hi my name is Ami, Ben and I are just classmates, I promise!" she said completely flustered. "I didn't realize you were dating such a beautiful older girl. Good for you Ben" she said, giving a cheesy thumbs up. Valerie could see through Ami's face, she was hurt. Valerie sighed, deciding that this wasn't as fun as she was hoping. "No, it's not what it looks like Ami '' Ben said, finally able to get the words out. Valerie smiled at Ami "Yea sorry, I thought it would be funny to make it seem like that, but my name is Valerie. I'm actually this lame guy's older sister. Nice to meet you." Ami stopped for a second. It seemed her brain had shut down momentarily. "V-Valerie, His older sister…" she muttered while still processing, until "Oh yea Robin has told me about you, I've heard so much about you! My name Is Ami, Your sister and I serve on the student council together, and Ben and I are in the same grade. It's nice to meet you too!" Her brain had finally finished its reboot and Ami was operating at normal capacity once again. Ben let out a sigh of relief 'disaster averted' he thought to himself.
Ami and Valerie continued to make small talk while Ben went to get food for him and Valerie. "How the hell did I end up paying again? You were the one who dragged me out here against my will." Ben said begrudgingly. "Oh quit being a stick in the mud, I'll buy next time" Valerie said, scarfing down her burger. "There won't be a next time Val.." Ben retorted. Ami giggled at the siblings banter. "By the way Ami, is he like this in school too? I hope not, I hoped after freshman year he'd lighten up a bit." Valerie said in between bites. "Don't talk with your mouth full, what are you two? And I happen to like the way I am, thank you very much." Ben glared at his older sister. Ami watched the scene before her with a big smile on her face. 'He's really close with his family' she thought before deciding to finally speak up "Yea he's still like this in school. Did you go to school with us?" Ami asked "Yea I graduated last year" she replied still talking with her mouth full. "Will you cut that out! Whatever happened to having manners? And aren't you 'trying to be more ladylike' so you can get a boyfriend?" Ben teased her. Valerie swallowed her food and glared at him, she was pissed at his comment. "Hey I told you that's a secret Benjamin...At least I'm trying, and not just moping around, and still heartbroken over some bitch!" Valerie said. But immediately regretted it. She could see on Ben's face she went a bit too far. The siblings looked away from each other. Ami looked at them confused 'what happened' she thought to herself. "I'm sorry, Ben. That was a low blow" Valerie said, apologizing."It's ok Val, I think we should get going though." Ben said getting up. "I'll see you at school, Ami." he said without looking at Ami. Before she could reply Valerie cut her off. "I'll catch up with you, I'll meet you at the car in a few minutes." Valerie said while making eye contact with Ami, she gave her a look as if to say don't move. Ben just waved and left, he didn't notice that Ami was still sitting with Val, he was too lost in thought. Valerie waited for Ben to leave to speak. "Do you mind if we have a little chat, woman to woman?" Valerie said with a serious look on her face. Ami had a worried look on her face but tried to keep her composure, she had a feeling where this was going. "Um sure," she said, a bit scared. "So…Ami" Valerie began with a smirk on her face. Ami tensed up even more now preparing herself but to no avail. She never stood a chance. On this day Ami would find out why Ben and Robin referred to Valerie as "their demon of a sister".
After Valerie was done grilling poor Ami into mental exhaustion. She hummed happily, as she entered Ben's car. Ben saw the sickening look of satisfaction on her face and grimaced for a moment. "What did you do to her?" he asked. Ben didn't realize till after that he had left her and Ami alone. He felt pretty guilty about it, and made a mental note to apologize to her at school on Monday. "Oh I didn't do anything to her, she's just, oh how do I put it? Freaking adorable!! She really is a nice person, I can see why Robin gets along with her so well, also.." she punched Ben in the arm. "What the hell was that for?!" Ben yelled at her. It wasn't that it hurt, he was just shocked that she hit him. "That's for having a big mouth, and for not telling me she was your student body president. Now I feel bad for what I said even more than I should." she hit him again "well if you feel so damn sorry then stop hitting me!'' Ben shouted now. "Nah not yet, I think I should beat some sense into you, you're so friggin oblivious" She said, cracking her knuckles. Ben was now really curious what happened between Ami and Valerie. The ride home Ben suffered the wrath of his demon sister, meanwhile poor Ami barely made it home exhausted from all the stress caused by the Demon Valerie.