Chapter 16

11/27/2054

School resumed as usual, with students rushing to their classes. Despite the fact that Ben's father weighed heavily on his mind, Ben focused on his studies. At lunch, Kadin noticed Ben forking through his lunch.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Are you still worried about your father?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Ben apologized. "I can't get it out of my head," he said.

"If you occupy your brain with other things, bad thoughts can't hurt you," Kadin said.

"Like what?" Ben asked. Under the table, Kadin lightly grasped Ben's hand.

"How about me liking you a lot?" Kadin confessed.

***cough cough***

Ben nearly choked on his fish sandwich. He rose from his seat, grabbed his school bag, and made a beeline for the bathroom. Kadin stared silently at the empty seat in front of him.

"Shit," Kadin mumbled, mentally slapping himself. He headed out of the cafeteria because it was almost time for PE. Kadin had just started dressing in his gym outfit when the door opened and Ben stepped through. His blue eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Ben grabbed his clothes and dressed on the opposite side of the locker room. With everyone in the gym awaiting orders, Ben kept his distance from Kadin by sitting on the upper bleachers.

"Hey man, what's up between you and Ben?" Andre asked, scooting next to him.

"I'm not sure," Kadin said, sighing sadly. The gym teacher entered and took names.

"Alright, pair up and do sit-ups," he said. Kadin stepped up to Ben and asked, "Do you want to pair up?"

"Not today," Ben said, shaking his head. "I'm pairing up with Sasha," he said, walking toward a redheaded female.

Andre paired up with Kadin and did their exercise. "Did you two have a fight or something?" Andre asked.

"No," Kadin said. "But I think I did something stupid," he said.

"What did you do?" Andre asked as they changed positions.

"We were talking at lunch, and I confessed my feelings for him," Kadin said. The boys stopped chatting when the teacher passed by.

The last part of the school day started and ended with an awkward silence between the two boys. On the way home, Alec noticed a change in Ben.

"How was school?" he asked.

"It was okay," Ben said. Alec had a feeling that something had happened.

"You're quiet today," Alec said. "Did something happen at school?" he asked when they entered the house.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ben said. Alec went into his office, while Ben entered his bedroom.

Ben laid on his bed and tried calming his mind by listening to music on the laptop. He glanced at the screen when a chat request popped up. He opened it up to see who it was from. He sighed in frustration when he noticed that it was from Kadin.

"I can't deal with him right now," Ben said, clicking the deny option. Ben shut down the laptop and laid down on his bed. After an hour of trying, he finally fell asleep. Ben woke to a light knock on his door that evening.

"Ben, there's a phone call for you," Deb said.

"Who is it?" Ben asked.

"It's your friend, Kadin," she said.

Ben sat up and sighed in irritation. "Tell him I'll see him Monday at school," he said. "I've got homework," he said. Deb knew that something was up because Ben never had homework.

"Alright, I'll tell him," she said. Ben received another chat request on Saturday morning, which he declined. He also ignored emails and phone calls. This worried his foster parents. While they sat at the table during lunch, Alec asked, "Did you and your friend have a fight?" "You've been avoiding him," he said.

Deb suddenly spoke up. "If something happened between you two, you can tell us," she said.

"He told me that he liked me," Ben mumbled. Alec, not sure if he heard him correctly, asked, "What was that?" Speaking louder, Ben said, "He told me that he liked me,"

"That's a good thing," Deb said.

"What if he was joking?" Ben asked. "What if his love is fake?" he asked.

"Is that why you're avoiding him?" Deb asked. "Because you're scared?" she asked. Ben lowered his gaze and nodded his head.

"Ben, by what I've seen, your friend cares a lot about you," Alec said. "If he confessed his feelings, he meant it," he said.

"You're young, but don't run away because you're scared," Deb said. "Do you like him?" she asked. After a few seconds of silence, Ben said, "Yes," nodding his head.

"Then stop avoiding him and talk to him," Alec said.

"I need to think over what I'm going to say," Ben said. "I need time to process all of this," he said.

"He'll understand," Deb said.

The weekend progressed, with Ben waking up Sunday morning to the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked. He wasn't sure what to say, but he couldn't keep avoiding Kadin. He went down to breakfast with what he could say to his friend on his mind.

"If it's alright, I'll ask Kadin over, because we need to talk," Ben said.

"That's fine if it's okay with his parents," Alec said. Ben ate his meal and helped with the cleanup. Once he got back to his room, Ben messaged Kadin.

Kadin,

If it's possible, can you come over today? We need to talk about what happened on Friday.

Ben

He pressed send and then waited for an answer. Ben had to wait only five minutes for a message to pop up.

Ben,

I'll be over in twenty minutes. Thanks for contacting me.

Kadin

Ben was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, when he heard a soft knock on his door.

"Ben, you've got company," Deb said.

"Coming," he said, rising from the bed. Ben stepped up to the door and opened it. In front of him, on the other side, stood Kadin.

"Hi there," the brunette said.

"Hello," Ben said. "Come in," he said.

The boys sat down on Ben's bed. There was an awkward silence between them.

"Kadin, I want to talk about what you said on Friday," Ben said.

"What about it?" Kadin asked.

"You told me that you liked me a lot," Ben stated. "Did you mean it?" "Or was it a joke?" he asked.

"I meant what I said," Kadin said. "People might say that we're too young to know what love is, but I love you," he said.

"Kadin, the prospects of being loved scare me," Ben said. "I've never been shown any kind of love," he said.

Kadin remembered what happened on Friday and figured out why Ben ran away that day.

"So, that's why you ran off at lunch," Kadin said. "And that's why you avoided me," he said.

"I was scared and was trying to process everything," Ben said.

"Do you feel the same?" Kadin asked.

"Yes," Ben said softly. "Kadin, what will happen if you find out that we're not mates when we turn 18?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter what anyone says," Kadin said. "I've wanted you as my mate since the day we met," he said.

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