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#Post#: 3102--------------------------------------------------
[10] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 22, 2022, 5:59 pm
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Rey tried to correct him when he had called her a colonist after
she had done so to him, trying to say that he had meant
colonizer unless he thought Britan was a British colony, making
a jab at him and the American education system. She said that
traitor was a more fitting word for an American. “No, I meant
colonist," he assured her. “The original thirteen colonies
weren’t called the Thirteen British Colonies for nothing,
treasonous or not," he argued, not letting Rey take the win.
“But I agree that this nation was built on traitors," he added,
letting her have that. He wasn't exactly one to be patriotic,
per se. They focused on the matter at hand after that, and Rey
read the prologue to Romeo and Juliet, giving him a brief
summary of it when prompted. She left out a few details, but Ben
had to refrain from pointing that out right away as he explained
why Shakespeare had spiled Romeo and Juliet's death at the very
beginning, having a conversation about why tragedies didn't
appeal to Rey since she thought there was already enough sadness
in the world, calling Shakespeare Billy Shakes. Ben raised a
brow, but told her that the American education system didn't
care about what appealed to her. There were a million other
books that Ben would have rather read than Night one year in
English, or The Great Gatsby. Rey shrugged and conceded before
Ben then warned her that she'd have to find someone willing to
waste their time tutoring her if she called Shakespeare
something as silly as Billy Shakes again. Rey questioned his
willingness to be here, asking if was implying that he was here
by choice rather than part of a prison sentence, saying she
believed that was a first for him as if she knew him. He rolled
his eyes. Really, he knew that he didn't have to tutor Rey.
After all, it wasn't really his job, but he had agreed to do so
solely because he knew Luke would have made him feel guilty
about it if he hadn't. Rey added that his point was taken,
confessing that her nickname for Shakespeare had been a bit
much, smiling. He had to look away from her briefly, always
caught a bit off-guard whenever she smiled. Then, he asked her
what else she might have gotten from the prologue, leading to
him explaining the parts that she had missed, reading over the
section she had gotten confused on. She told him that she
understood it better then, wanting to confirm that Romeo and
Juliet's death hadn't been completely in vain. He confirmed that
it hadn't, assuring her that the family's feud had ended
afterward. Of course, it had only cost them the lives of two
children. Rey told him that had been the only part that had
confused her, but she had it now, thanking him gently. Once
again, he had to avoid making eye contact, his face feeling a
little warm from how genuine she had sounded. He flipped to the
next page in the book, urging Rey to continue reading. They took
their turns reading their parts throughout the first scene of
act one, and Rey didn't seem to struggle with any words like she
had the last session, getting through everything rather quickly,
to his relief. She began summarizing what they had read without
even being prompted, making note of almost every detail from the
reading as he listened, glad that she wasn't struggling as much.
Perhaps he should challenge her more. Or maybe he should just
stick with this since it would help her get ahead of the class.
Or maybe he should do both. He wanted her to keep actually
learning things during these tutoring sessions or else he really
would be wasting his time. When Rey was finished giving her
summary, she asked him if she had gotten everything right. He
nodded. "That's good enough," he told her, checking the time on
his phone to see how much time they had left before he needed to
go to work. “If you can keep this up, maybe it won’t take us the
majority of the school year to finish this," he said with a
smirk, sliding his phone back into his pocket before nodding at
the book in her hands. “Let’s read the next scene and then call
it a day," he instructed. “And don’t lose that book while you
have it," he added as an afterthought. Though he knew he could
more easily get out of trouble when it came to losing a library
book since he worked there, he still didn't want anything
happening to it.
The rest of Rey's tutoring session that Tuesday had gone pretty
well, and Ben was glad that she didn't seem to be as lost when
it came to Romeo and Juliet as they both might have feared. Of
course, they hadn't gotten very far into it, but still, it was
something. Ben wasn't dumb enough to suspect that she wouldn't
end up disappointing him again at some point, though, especially
since he didn't plan on them reading Shakespeare every session.
Wednesday came and went, and Ben noticed that Rey was now trying
to acknowledge him outside of tutoring, waving at him in the
hall and saying hi to him as she walked with her friends who
didn't seem nearly as enthused to see him. Ben had just stared
at her when she had done that, watching her go by and continue
to chat with her friends. Honestly, he had been surprised that
she acknowledged him, thinking that she might have been too
afraid to around her friends, despite what she had once told
him. Hux had teased him right afterward, asking him if he didn't
find the new girl to be as annoying as he let on, to which he
had denied. However, he knew that Hux was somewhat right -- he
didn't find Rey to be as aggravating as he pretended. In fact,
he was starting to like her, despite her challenges when it came
to reading or her snarky responses to him. The crush that he had
didn't seem to be going away. When Thursday came around and
class ended, Ben planned on immediately heading to the
bleachers, just as he had done Tuesday and the Thursday before
that. He planned on having Rey work on some of her English
homework today, just to see if he could identify any more of her
weak spots when it came to the class. But his plans on going
right to the bleachers were interrupted when Hux approached him,
saying that he didn't have to work that day, wanting to tag
along with him for Rey's tutoring session. Ben could tell what
Hux really wanted. He knew his friend just wanted to sit in on a
tutoring session just so he could make fun of Rey either to her
face or later, and Ben couldn't exactly blame him for thinking
he could do that. After all, Ben had done nothing but complain
about Rey to Hux, and he hadn't exactly been nice to Rey
whenever he had spoken to her. However, he told his friend that
he could come along, but on the condition that he would actually
let Ben tutor and not make fun of him, reminding Hux that he was
having to do this to keep Luke happy. Hux agreed and they made
their way to the bleachers, Ben ended up being a couple of
minutes later than usual, meaning that Rey had beaten him there
this time. "Hux is going to be joining us today, but feel free
to ignore him," he told her as they approached, pulling out his
box of cigarettes and getting one for himself before handing one
to Hux. "He doesn't exactly have a life, so he's got to always
follow me around," he added, lighting their cigarettes and
smirking while Hux scowled, rolling his eyes. "That's not true,"
he snapped before looking at Rey. "I came for the
entertainment," he explained, smirking a bit himself. Ben put
his lighter away, taking a drag. "Well, you're going to end up
sorely disappointed," he mumbled, gesturing for them to get a
move on as he began leading everyone up the bleachers. He chose
the same row he always did, letting Hux in first so that he'd be
in the middle. "I want you to work on your English homework a
bit today and see if you have any questions. If you don't, by
some miracle, than we can pick up where we left off with Romeo
and Juliet," he told her, setting his things down before taking
a seat.[/center]
#Post#: 3105--------------------------------------------------
REY [11]
By: winterssmary Date: September 23, 2022, 12:33 am
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Rey felt pretty good about their last tutoring session, even if
Ben was rather short with her and never really let her have
anything. She did a decent job reading through everything and
even got a scene ahead of where she thought they would end up.
She was rather pleased with it so far, happy that she hadn't
missed anything too big in all of the weird details and
Shakespearean slang. In the meantime, she went to her second
soccer practice, finding herself already fitting in with some of
the other players. The girls in particular seemed happy to have
her on the tame, taking their total number of female players up
to five out of the nineteen-member team. Coach Dijarin fully
believed in having at least two girls on the field at a time --
out of the eleven players -- to try and make as much use of them
for his co-ed team as possible. It was nice to be able to play
that often, but it meant that the girls didn't have as many
breaks as the boys during gameplay. Rey found herself most
commonly playing left forward, which was fine. That was her
usual position back in England, and Coach Dijarin made it very
clear that he was impressed with her, wanting her to be a
starter once the season really kicked off. She was excited about
that, feeling good about herself and her athletic ability.
Though, if she were being honest, she knew it was just because
she had been playing the sport since she could walk. Football
was a huge deal in Hammersmith. She was also settling into her
classes pretty well, liking most of her teachers and doing
exceptionally well in her chemistry and maths courses. She was
really enjoying her time with her new friends. Finn was by far
one of the sweetest, most genuine people she had ever met in her
life. He was a kind soul, a total goofball, and a down-to-Earth
person who deserved the best. She was really glad that he
decided to adopt her into his friend group on the first day. She
was enjoying Finn's boyfriend, Poe, as well, but she found that
he could often be a bit much. Poe was also not afraid to get
combative for no reason, but he was a jovial, good-hearted
person as well. And he was hilarious and fearless. Then there
was Rose, whom Rey was glad to have in her corner. The girl was
fierce and loyal and sharp. She was quick on her feet and knew
what she wanted. She admired the girl for that and felt much
safer in her presence. However, it seemed that they weren't a
big fan of her tutor. They constantly talked about how Ben
spiraled out of control. They could acknowledge that he had been
treated poorly by some of his classmates when he was younger --
something Rey hadn't known before -- but that it didn't excuse
how he treated people today. People were mean to him now because
he deserved it, according to Rose. Rey didn't think that was
completely fair. She could understand Ben being guarded if he
was bullied. She was bullied for her braces when she was
younger. And she was bullied her whole life by Simon. But she
did agree that Ben had no need to be so nasty without giving
anyone a chance to be kind to him. Still, it didn't stop her
from trying her best to make the man soften up to her. She waved
at him and greeted him in the hallways, even as her friends
looked on in disapproval. She wanted this to work, since she
would be depending on him for her English grade. And since he
was so damn pretty. But Ben never responded to her, which always
hurt a little bit. She got the normal I told you sos from Rose
and Poe, but she didn't want to be discouraged. She just had to
be more stubborn than him, right? Or would he eventually snap
and - No. He was a high school student. He wasn't like the
people who cared for her during her childhood. This wasn't one
of those situations where asking for attention and expecting
kindness resulted in her having her face smacked or her wrist
bruised. This was just a moody teenage boy being difficult. When
the final bell rang to release them from class that Thursday
afternoon, Rey went straight to the bleachers, determined not to
leave Ben waiting this time. If she showed initiative, maybe he
would respond better to her. However, this time, she found that
she was waiting, not Ben. He didn't show up when he normally did
-- or when she assumed he normally did. He was late. She tried
not to think too much of it, knowing that he could just be
caught up in something or in the bathroom. He hadn't forgotten,
had he? Or had he decided to leave her on her own? No, that
didn't seem right. She pulled out her phone after a few minutes,
about to text him, but then she saw him up ahead. But he wasn't
alone. "There you are. I was beginning to think you'd ditched,"
she said with a little smile once he approached, his pale,
red-headed friend in tow. Hux. His name was Hux. Poe hated him.
More than he hated Ben. Ben said that Hux would be joining them
today and she nodded. "That's fine. Hi, Hux," she said with a
little wave. Ben then teased Hux, claiming that he had no life
so he had no choice but to follow Ben around. She snickered a
bit, but Hux defended himself, instead claiming he was here for
the entertainment. Rey quirked a brow. "Entertainment?" she
questioned. Ben and Hux each had a smoke at that, which Rey
wasn't surprised by, but definitely wasn't thrilled about. Ben
said that Hux was going to be disappointed and she just sorta
blinked, looking between the pair, not sure what to say. Ben
gestured for them to start moving and she did, following the
pair up the bleachers and onto the row they normally sat at. Hux
sat on the other side of Ben. Ben said that, instead of going
straight into reading, he wanted her to work on her English
homework. She nodded. He said that, if by a miracle, she didn't
have any trouble, they would move onto the next scene of Romeo
and Juliet. "Uhm... alright. Yeah. It's... it's annotations, I
think, and I've never really done those before," she said,
reaching into her backpack and pulling out her binder for her
English classes. Mr. Skywalker had printed out an essay about
Henry David Thoreau that was about four pages long. She wasn't
even entirely sure what it meant to annotate something. "But Mr.
Skywalker said it was just highlighting and note-taking, right?"
she asked, hoping that was all it was. And either way, she would
still need help. What was she supposed to take notes on? She
pulled out her pencil and a green highlighter, setting the essay
on top of her binder so that she had a sturdy writing surface.
"So, I just read the article and... take notes?"[/center]
#Post#: 3108--------------------------------------------------
[11] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 23, 2022, 3:59 pm
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While Rey had certainly done much better during their last
tutoring session, Ben was still conflicted about how he felt
about tutoring her. On one hand, it was never something that he
had wanted to do, and he still didn't, but on the other hand,
Rey was turning out to be a lot nicer to him than he would have
expected her to be. Though she didn't hesitate to snap back at
him whenever he was snarky with her, she also didn't stop trying
to be friendly with him. It was... sort of infuriating, not only
because he definitely had a crush on her, but because he wanted
her to just hate him or not. No one at the school liked him
other than Hux, and even then things were complicated, so why
the hell would Rey like him? He wanted her to just stop trying
to be friendly and realize that he just wasn't the type of
person she could ever actually like. He thought that he had made
it clear that he didn't want to be friends with her, especially
since he still believed she was just going to wind up hating him
anyway, but that didn't stop her from waving at him in the
hallway, offering him a smile and a hello right in front of her
friends. When she had done that, he had been surprised, unable
to do more than just stare at her as she walked by, most of her
friends looking rather displeased with the interaction, except
perhaps Finn. Porter had always been the nicest to him out of
that group, but that didn't mean that Ben didn't still hear him
occasionally talking to his boyfriend and Tico about him. When
it came time for their next tutoring session, Ben put all of his
books that he didn't need for that night away in his locker,
getting ready to go meet Rey at the bleachers before Hux stopped
him, asking if he could come along since he didn't have to work
for his father that day. Ben told him he could tag along, but
only if he didn't interrupt Rey's tutoring, though he didn't
believe Hux was going to actually stick to that promise. He knew
there was no logical reason as to why Hux would want to sit in
on one of Rey's tutoring sessions unless it was just because he
wanted to judge her, and Ben knew he was mostly to blame for
that. After all, he complained about having to tutor Rey quite a
bit and had perhaps exaggerated a few details about Rey's
struggle with English just because he knew Hux was catching onto
the fact that he had a crush on the girl. They walked to the
bleachers together, Hux having made him be a few minutes late
this time, meaning Rey was already there waiting for him when he
arrived. She smiled at him when he approached, always looking so
sweet, and she admitted that she had started to believe that he
had ditched her for the day. Ben pointed a thumb in Hux's
direction. "He held me up," he explained shortly, adding that
Hux would be joining them today, but that she could ignore him.
Rey nodded, assuring him that she didn't mind Hux's presence,
greeting his friend. Hux looked her up and down in return, a
frown on his face that Ben sometimes feared would get stuck
there. The man hardly ever smiled, except to smirk. "New girl,"
Hux said in greeting. Getting out two cigarettes -- one for him
and one for Hux, assuming Rey didn't want one -- he teased that
Hux didn't have a life, which was why he followed him around.
Hux rolled his eyes while Ben lit their cigarettes, saying that
wasn't true before he looked at Rey, explaining that he had come
to the tutoring session for the entertainment. Ben knew exactly
what he meant, but Rey, of course, was clueless, questioning
him. Hux smirked and nodded. "Yes. Ben has told me all about
your little tutoring sessions," he said to her. Ben took a drag,
telling Hux that he was going to be disappointed, which, really,
he hoped would be true. As much as he enjoyed teasing Rey, he
didn't necessarily want Hux doing the same. He knew his friend
was a lot harsher than he was, as well as more serious when he
said something hurtful. He wasn't sure how Rey was going to
react if Hux said something to her. Ben led them all up the
bleachers, letting Hux sit down first so that he wouldn't come
between himself and Rey. After they were all seated, Ben told
Rey that he wanted her to work on her homework today, and if
she, by some miracle, didn't have any questions, then they could
continue reading Romeo and Juliet. She agreed to go along with
his plan, saying that her English homework was annotations,
which Ben already knew since they had the same English class.
However, she admitted that she had never had to annotate
anything before, asking if Luke had been correct when he had
said it was just highlighting and note-taking, wanting to know
if she was supposed to just read the article and take notes.
God, was she serious? She never had to annotate anything at her
old school? No wonder she struggled more with English than
others. Hux huffed out a laugh. “She might be a lost cause,
Solo," he commented, causing Ben to have to fight off a grin
before he just ignored his friend, talking to Rey. "Yes, it's
probably the easiest thing you could be assigned to do," he told
her. “You’ll want to highlight key concepts and phrases, as well
as anything you might have questions on, or that stands out to
you," he instructed her before Hux spoke up again. “You’ve
really never done this before? Are you sure you're not supposed
to be in the third grade?"[/center]
#Post#: 3111--------------------------------------------------
REY [12]
By: winterssmary Date: September 24, 2022, 6:36 am
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Ben was running late, which wasn't like him. Or, at least, Rey
didn't think it was like him. Realistically, she didn't know for
sure. Maybe he actually had a vendetta against punctuality like
he seemed to have a vendetta against everything else. But that
didn't feel right. Still, she knew better than to make any rash
decisions and snap judgments. Any number of things could have
held him up. Maybe he was in the washroom or grabbing a quick
snack at the vending machines. Maybe he had to talk to a teacher
or maybe he got caught chatting with someone. She highly doubted
that last one, but she supposed she couldn't know for sure. What
she hadn't taken into consideration was the idea that Ben's
sidekick, Armitage Hux, would be the reason he was late. She
wasn't expecting to see the extremely pale man and his bright
red hair approaching them. She didn't know much about Hux --
save for the fact that he was also a Brit -- but she knew that
her friends hated him more than they hated Ben, which was saying
something. Rose in particular seemed to want the young man to
suffer, finding him pompous and cruel. Poe simply used the word
asshat over and over again when talking about him, occasionally
adding pasty bitch to the mix. Rey didn't know him, but she knew
to expect some... rude remarks. But, given her history with
handling Ben's attitude, she figured she would be up for it,
even if it presented her with a new challenge. God, if this all
kept up, she might have to talk to Mr. Skywalker herself about
getting a new tutor. Her self-esteem was fragile as is. She
couldn't take too many more hits, even if Ben was one of the
best tutors she had. She greeted the both of them, trying to be
playful and nonchalant in saying that she worried Ben might have
abandoned her. He blamed his tardiness on Hux, which she would
accept. He explained that Hux would be joining them for the
whole session today, which she tried to say was fine. She
greeted the man with a smile, to which he frowned, eyeing her up
and down, as if sizing her up. She knew she was smaller than
him, but she was sure she could kick his ass if that was what he
was worried about. He merely said new girl in response, not even
caring to use her name. She rolled her eyes at that, listening
to the mild banter between the two of them, Ben implying that
Hux had no life and following him around like a lost puppy
before Hux said that he was here for the entertainment. She
questioned that, feeling like there was something sinister
behind it. He then explained that Ben had told him all about
their tutoring sessions. Her stomach dropped as if she'd just
taken the first drop of a large roller coaster, her heart
feeling like it shot up to her throat. Her entire demeanor
changed, from confident and optimistic to hurt. "I see," was all
she said, giving Ben a look that was something between a glare
and a pained look of regret. He knew she was insecure. He knew
that she was embarrassed all the time. He knew how much it would
hurt her and now he was gossiping about her to his friend,
making fun of her, and letting his friend tag along to see it
all for himself. She was tempted to just leave right then and
there and head to work early, but she needed help and was
already following Ben up the bleachers. When they sat down, Ben
said that he wanted her to work on her homework for the moment,
saying they could take up the next scene of Romeo and Juliet if
she finished without much trouble. She agreed, pulling out the
article that Mr. Skywalker had assigned to them and briefly
explaining that she knew she was supposed to annotate this, but
that she had never done that before and wasn't entirely sure
how. She tried to go over what Mr. Skywalker said about it in
class, but was asking for clarification, hoping that Ben could
shed some light on it and give her more detailed instructions.
Hux laughed, saying that she was a lost cause. She saw the
corner of Ben's lips twitch upward, as if he was trying to fight
grinning at that. She could already feel the heat behind her
eyes, the redness in her face as her anger began to build. "Well
that's pretty fucking rude, innit?" she snapped. Ben said that
annotating was probably the easiest thing she would be asked to
do for the class. "Great. Then it shouldn't take me too long
then," she said flatly. He explained that she would need to
highlight key concepts, things she had questions on, and
anything that really stood out to her. "Alright. Doesn't seem so
bad at all," she said, feeling a little more confident. She
wasn't sure what she was supposed to take notes on, but maybe
she could just summarize things that were difficult for her to
read in the margins? That seemed like a smart approach. Hux
opened his big stupid mouth again, asking if she had really
never done this before. "Excu-," but then he asked if she was
sure she shouldn't be in the third grade. Her face went bright
red at that, already feeling humiliated. If she were a more
violent person, she would have shoved him right off of his
bleacher seat and kicked him in the stomach or something. No
wonder people picked on this guy. He was nothing but a big,
stupid bully himself. And if he was Ben's friend, did that make
Ben any better? "Are you sure you're not supposed to be shut up
in a dark bunker somewhere so you don't get melanoma, you pasty
bitch?" she bit back. [/center]
#Post#: 3114--------------------------------------------------
[12] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 25, 2022, 9:24 am
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Ben tried to hurry to the bleachers after Hux made him late,
knowing that it probably wouldn't take much for Rey to assume he
had ditched her if she had even shown up herself. She was there,
though, confessing that she had thought that he might have
abandoned her, to which he explained that Hux had held him up.
He added that his friend would be joining them today, though she
was welcome to ignore him. Rey greeted Hux, being as friendly as
ever, but Hux didn't respond in kind, just looking her up and
down and calling her new girl. Ben thought it was better than
nothing, and he told Rey that Hux didn't have a life, which was
why he followed him around. Hux argued with that,
unsurprisingly, and stated that he was just here for the
entertainment. Ben didn't like where this was going, especially
when Rey questioned what Hux meant. Hux answered that Ben had
told him all about their tutoring sessions and he looked to Rey,
watching as she looked back at him, looking betrayed and angry.
Quickly, he looked away, suddenly feeling guilty. Hux wasn't
supposed to throw him under the bus like that. He had just been
venting to his friend... and exaggerating, wanting Hux to stop
teasing him about having a crush on her. She didn't have to look
so hurt, especially when he was sure she said plenty of awful
things about him behind his back. Ben told Hux that he was going
to be disappointed, starting to lead everyone up the bleachers.
"And it’s not like you don’t talk about me to your friends,” he
mumbled to Rey. When they all sat down, he told Rey that he
wanted her to work on her homework today first, and if she
didn't have a lot of questions, they could move on to Romeo and
Juliet. Rey pulled out their English homework, saying she knew
she was supposed to annotate an essay, but she had never
annotated anything. Great. She explained everything Luke had
told her to do, but asked for confirmation. Ben was about to
give it to her before Hux laughed, telling him that Rey might be
a lost cause. He tried not to grin, attempting to just ignore
the man, but Rey called him out on how rude that had been,
saying innut, which made Hux rolls his eyes. "Innut?" he
repeated, mocking her and snickering. Ben tried to move things
along, telling Rey that annotation was one of the easiest things
she could be assigned to do. Rey flatly said that it shouldn't
take her long in that case. "Hopefully not," he said in
response. He explained to her what she'd need to do, and she
didn't seem too worried, saying that annotating didn't sound too
bad. “It’s not. And just make notes about whatever you
highlighted," he added. Hux then took that moment to speak up
again, asking if Rey had really never annotated anything before,
asking with a smirk if she was sure that she wasn't supposed to
be in the third grade. Ben shot Hux a quick glare, wanting his
friend to keep his mouth shut so that Rey could work and they
could all go home or to work. However, Rey snapped back at Hux,
asking if he was sure he wasn't supposed to be in a darker
bunker so that he didn't get melanoma, calling him a pasty
bitch. Ben's eyes widened briefly in surprise at her comeback
before bursting into laughter, unable to stop himself. No one
except himself usually came up with such witty insults for Hux,
not that he usually enjoyed when his friend got picked on, but
in this case, he deserved it. He was being a total ass to Rey
when he had promised to mind his own business. Hux looked both
offended as well as shocked, and it was hard to tell if he was
shocked at Rey's comeback, Ben's laughter, or both, but he
quickly recovered. “Are you sure you’re not supposed to be in a
special needs program, you illiterate twi—“ Ben elbowed his
friend in the chest, almost pushing him off the bleacher with
the amount of force he used. He hadn't brought his friend here
to insult Rey, though he knew that he wasn't much better. “Just
shut up. I thought I told you not to interrupt us, fuckwad,” he
reminded Hux lowly before sighing and looking back at Rey. "Do
you have highlighters or do you need to borrow some?" he asked
her tiredly, already wishing he hadn't allowed his friend to tag
along with him today. It was one thing to talk about Rey behind
her back, but it was another to insult her so harshly to her
face.[/center]
#Post#: 3117--------------------------------------------------
REY [13]
By: winterssmary Date: September 26, 2022, 3:50 am
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Initially, Rey was fine with having Hux here for the tutoring
session. She hadn't heard anything good about the man, but she
hoped that everything Poe and Rose said was exaggerated. He
couldn't be that bad, could he? But Rey was quick to change her
mind about all of this, suddenly disheartened and hurt when she
found out that Hux and Ben gossiped about her and how poorly she
did with her reading. They made fun of her behind her back. That
felt so wrong to her. Ben knew she was insecure about her
reading level and knew that she was trying her best to get help.
This was just mean-spirited and cruel, a betrayal of the
confidence she had that Ben might have secretly been a good
person. Hux was referring to her as entertainment, as if he
thought it would be funny to watch her do poorly and Ben was
alright with it. She shot him a look, unable to help showing how
he had hurt her. Ben mumbled that he was sure that she talked
about him to her friends. She scoffed, shaking her head. She
listened to her friend's rumors, sure, but she didn't give them
any merit. She told them that he was a great tutor and that he
had a softer side that she was delving into. She talked about
how attracted to him he was, despite him being mean to her
sometimes. She didn't rip apart all of his insecurities and
fears and weaknesses in order to tear him down. "You really have
no idea what you're talking about. And you don't know a thing
about me," she grumbled. When they sat on the bleachers, Ben
said that he wanted her to do homework and read Romeo and Juliet
if they had time leftover. She said that they were supposed to
be doing annotations, but she admitted that she had never done
something like that before. She asked for some clarification,
wanting to make sure that what Mr. Skywalker told them was
accurate and that he didn't leave anything out, since it was
apparently a common assignment here in America. It was
highlighting and note-taking, apparently. Hux then called her a
lost cause and she told him that he was rude. Hux rolled his
eyes, mocking her use of the term Innut, something she didn't
realize wouldn't go over well here. She was especially confused
to hear another Brit mock her for it. Ben tried to move things
along, confirming that annotating as just as easy as it sounded.
She spoke flatly, unamused with either of them and not wanting
to sugar coat anything. She said that it shouldn't take her long
then and he agreed. He explained that she needed to specifically
highlight main ideas, things she questioned, and anything that
stood out to her. She nodded, saying that didn't sound bad. He
assured her that it wasn't bad at all, asking her to make notes
on whatever she highlighted. "Alright. I can do that. If I would
have thought of this sooner, maybe I wouldn't have had such a
tough time with English," she admitted. Needing to translate
some of the thicker, more complex citizens into
easy-to-understand bits would have saved her a lot of trouble
back in England. Hux spoke again, asking her if she was sure she
shouldn't be in the third grade. She didn't hold back this time,
asking him if he should be in a dark bunker to hide from the
sun, calling him a pasty bitch. Ben laughed at her comment,
which caught her by surprise. She worried he might get angry at
her and lash out, but that didn't seem to be the case. Hux then
started his own comeback after wiping the shock of his face. He
tried to imply that she belonged in the special education
program, which made her face turn bright red in anger. "I'm in
the right class, Carrottop," she snapped, about to throw out
more before Ben shoved the man with his elbow, silencing him,
saying that he asked that Hux not interrupt them. Rey took a
deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. Her eyes
burned, but she was fine. She wouldn't give Hux -- Or Ben -- the
satisfactions of seeing her break, no matter how mean they were.
Ben sighed, turning to Rey and asking if she had her own
highlighters or if she needed to borrow them. She shook her
head. "I have my own, thanks," she said, showing him her green
highlighter for good measure. She looked down at the article Mr.
Skywalker had assigned them, reading through the very beginning
of it in her head. The wording was a little much, but doable,
she thought. Nothing like Shakespeare. But, she stopped short
after a moment, looking up at Ben, suddenly scared that he
wanted her to read aloud for him. If he invited Hux to be an
onlooker so that they could mock her, that was what he wanted,
right? And would she lose him as a tutor forever if she didn't
oblige? Was it worth the humiliation? "D-do I have to read
aloud?"[/center]
#Post#: 3120--------------------------------------------------
[13] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 26, 2022, 5:50 pm
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Ben had thought that maybe, just maybe, Hux would actually
somewhat behave himself during Rey's tutoring sessions and keep
any comments that he had until they were alone again. However,
he had been sorely mistaken, and it hadn't taken Hux long at all
to open his stupid mouth. Almost immediately, he threw Ben under
the bus, telling Rey that he had told him all about their
tutoring sessions, and Ben hated the way Rey's whole demeanor
changed at that. She looked hurt, even as she glared at him, and
Ben knew that he probably shouldn't have been making Rey out to
be some annoying idiot to his friend... He just hadn't thought
that she'd find out about it. Ben diverted his gaze, telling Hux
he was going to be disappointed if he was looking for
entertainment. He then addressed Rey, calling her out on the
fact that he strongly believed that she talked to her friends
about him behind his back. He knew her friends said shit about
him all the time, just like a lot of the student body did, so
why would she be any different? Rey scoffed, telling him that he
had no idea what he was talking about as he led them up the
bleachers. He quirked a brow before she added that he didn't
know a single thing about her. He stopped walking at that,
turning around to face her again. “And you don’t know a thing
about me," he accused, pointing at her and then himself. Was she
right in her assumption that he had said bad things about her to
Hux? Yes, but they were still just assumptions. He continued
taking them up the bleachers, sitting on the same row as usual
and making sure he sat between Hux and Rey. He instructed Rey to
work on her homework today, and then they could continue Romeo
and Juliet if they had the time. She had no complaints about
that, pulling out their English homework and going over what
Luke had told her to do, confessing she had never annotated
anything before. Ben was a little surprised to hear that, but at
the same time, he didn’t know much about the United Kingdom’s
education system. She asked for clarification on the
instructions she had been given, but before Ben could say
anything, Hux was calling her a lost cause. Ben did his best to
ignore him, but he couldn’t help but find a little humor in his
friend's words since Rey seemed to need a lot more help than he
had originally thought. She called Hux out on his rude behavior,
but he did nothing but mock her in return, not seeming to care
at all whether or not he was rude. Ben tried to get things back
on track, telling Rey that annotating was one of the easiest
things she could be assigned. She spoke flatly, clearly not
happy as she said that it shouldn’t take her long in that case.
He said it hopefully wouldn’t, going over everything she’d need
to do in order to annotate and assuring her it wasn’t that bad,
adding that she needed to take notes on everything she
highlighted. She confidently told him that she could handle the
assignment, saying that if she had thought of annotating sooner,
she might have been better at English. Once again, Hux beat him
to a response. “I highly doubt that,” Hux mumbled before asking
her if she was sure she wasn’t supposed to be in the third
grade. Ben glared at Hux, ready to snap at him, but there was no
need. Rey defended herself, asking if he was sure he wasn't
supposed to be in a dark bunker so that he didn't get melanoma,
and calling him a pasty bitch. Ben bursted out laughing, unable
to hold it back, leaning back as he laughed. Hux had definitely
deserved to be put in his place, and he was glad that it was Rey
who was doing it, not letting Hux get the best of her. She was a
very determined girl, and Ben liked that. She was also rather
funny, as it turned out. Hux, of course, was not amused, and
tried biting back at Rey, but both he and Rey stopped him by her
calling him Carrottop and Ben elbowing him hard in the chest.
Hux let out a high-pitched ow as Ben told him to shut up,
reminding him of his promise to not interrupt Rey's tutoring.
That seemed to be enough to silence him for a few minutes,
hopefully. Ben sighed as Hux rubbed where he had been jabbed,
looking back at Rey and asking her if she needed to borrow any
highlighters. She shook her head, saying she had her own as she
showed him her green highlighter. He smiled a bit in amusement.
"That's great, but you're going to want to use more than just
one color. Try to keep your annotations organized," he
instructed before letting Rey get to work. She started to read
to herself, which was fine, as long as she wasn't having any
issues. He pulled out the book he had been reading in his spare
time, Sycamore Row by John Grisham, and silenced Hux again when
his friend tried asking what he was supposed to do. If Hux had
been worried about getting bored, then he shouldn't have shown
up to a tutoring session that wasn't for him. Ben had warned him
that he wasn't going to be very entertained. However, about a
minute later Rey was speaking up again, stammering as she asked
if she had to read the article Luke had given them aloud. Ben
shrugged. "Go ahead, if you think you should," he told her with
a little sigh, setting his book aside before really even getting
to open it. He was giving her the option since he wasn't sure if
she was asking because she thought he wanted her to read it
aloud or because she needed to. "Yes, please read aloud," Hux
smirked. Ben rolled his eyes, lightly backhanding Hux's arm.
“Fucking shut up!" he told his friend, exasperated. Hux rubbed
his arm, glaring at Ben. "Come on, you talk about how she reads
like a dyslexic chi—" Ben's gaze narrowed as Hux spoke, getting
angry that his friend kept repeatedly throwing him under the bus
in front of Rey. He didn't want her thinking that he hated her
or that she was stupid, even if that might have been how he
acted sometimes, so he cut Hux off. "Just fucking forget about
everything I've said and keep your mouth shut or go home," Ben
growled, looking back to Rey, nervous of how she was going to
react.[/center]
#Post#: 3123--------------------------------------------------
REY [14]
By: winterssmary Date: September 27, 2022, 5:38 am
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Rey couldn't help but wince when Ben suddenly turned around
while they walked up the bleachers, his movements so quick and
there being so much tension in his muscles. When he raised his
hand to point, she thought he might hit her. Simon might have.
She felt really humiliated when the smack never came though,
like she was a scared little girl who was letting these two men
bully her. What else was new? They took their seats on the
bleachers, Ben instructing her to work on her English homework
instead of reading Romeo and Juliet for now. She was alright
with that, explaining that she had to annotate something for the
first time. She asked for some information about the
instructions, wanting to make sure she didn't miss something
when Mr. Skywalker explained it during class. Everyone else had
experience with this sort of thing, but she had no idea what was
expected of her. Hux decided to open his stupid mouth when she
started asking questions, saying that she was a lost cause. She
caught the look on Ben's face as he fought to keep from smiling
at that comment. It hurt. All of this hurt. She had been stupid
to trust him with her struggles. She had been stupid to ask
questions and accept help. She was just stupid. She should talk
to Mr. Skywalker. It wasn't worth continuing to have her
self-esteem torn down, was it? She snapped at Hux, telling him
that he was rude, but he proceeded to just continue to mock her
as if it were natural to him. Ben tried to move them in the
right direction, explaining the assignment to Rey and giving her
all the clarification that she needed. It seemed like a
relatively easy assignment, just time consuming and tedious.
Still, highlighting main ideas and taking notes on what she
highlighted was easy enough. It would probably hepl her work
through a text more effectively and she pointed that out. Maybe
her English grades wouldn't have suffered so much if she had
been taught to do this earlier. Hux said that he doubted that
though. She scowled at him, but he asked if she was sure she
didn't belong in the third grade instead of her senior year in
high school. Did he not get bored of being an ass? She bit back
at him, asking if he belonged in a bunker to avoid melanoma,
calling him a pasty bitch, using Poe's go-to insult. At least,
the go-to insult that wasn't something like twink, but Rey
wouldn't use that word like that. Ben laughed, which made Rey
feel a little proud. But Hux was obviously offended. He tried to
imply that she belonged in the special needs classes, but Ben
cut him off, shoving him. Rey flatly said that she was in the
right class, calling him Carrottop, which was just the easiest
insult at the moment. She turned back to her paper, feeling more
and more hopeless about this interaction. She hated this. She
hated every second of this. Ben asked if she needed to borrow
highlighters, or if she had her own. She showed him the green
one she pulled out and he smiled, obviously amused. She was a
little confused. What was amusing about this? He explained that
she would need more colors, needing to keep her annotations
organized and potentially color-coded. Well now she felt stupid,
a little pink rushing to her cheeks. "Oh. Okay. So... what...
two or three colors?" she asked, pulling out the other
highlighters that came in the pack she had bought for school.
She grabbed the yellow and the blue ones. She started to read on
her own after a moment, finding that looking through the first
bit wasn't too hard. It was an article, so it was written in
modern-day English. However, it was still academic writing,
which was a little bit to dissect. After a few moments -- and
getting through the first paragraph -- she stopped, looking up
and asking if he was going to make her read aloud or if that was
what she expected. She was obviously scared to. Ben shrugged,
saying that she could if she wanted. She immediately shook her
head. "No, I really don't wa-," but Hux spoke up, smirking and
practically begging her to, obviously wanting to make fun of
her. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. No, this was
exactly why she didn't want to. Ben rolled his eyes, smacking
Hux once more and telling him to shut up. Hux glared at Ben,
saying that he had told the man that Rey like a dyslexic
something before Ben cut him off. "You said what?" she asked,
obviously more hurt than angry. She knew he talked about her and
made fun of her to Hux. She knew that she was nothing more than
just a big joke to him, but this was all very, very hurtful. Ben
demanded that Hux either shut up or go home. Rey was shaking her
head, unable to even look Ben in the eye after all of. "If I'm
such a burden and I'm so stupid-," but she stopped. She didn't
want to get emotional. She didn't want to throw away this
tutoring just yet, especially when she needed the help.
Desperately. She just had to get through this session with Hux.
She'd been through worse. Her adoptive father hit her. She could
handle a piece of shit like Hux. "Forget it. I just want to
finish this and go to work," she said quietly, dejected and
defeated. [/center]
#Post#: 3124--------------------------------------------------
[14] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 27, 2022, 6:11 pm
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Ben regretted ever letting Hux sit in on Rey's tutoring session.
All he was doing was stirring up trouble by letting Rey know
that Ben spoke about her outside of tutoring, calling her names,
and treating her like an idiot. Of course, Rey wasn't just
rolling over and letting his friend insult her as she snapped
back at him, even making Ben laugh with one of her comebacks.
Hux wasn't amused, obviously, implying that she belonged in a
special needs program, about to call her an illiterate twit
before Ben stopped him by elbowing him in the chest and telling
him to shut up. Hux making these comments behind Rey's back was
one thing, but having him say them to her face was another. He
tried keeping things on track, asking Rey if she needed to
borrow any highlighters for her annotation, but she assured him
that she had some of her own, holding up a single green
highlighter. He smiled in amusement at the highlighter before
warning her that she'd need more in order to keep her
annotations organized. She blushed at that, which Ben thought
was a rather pretty sight that drew his attention to her
freckled cheeks. She asked if she needed two or three colors,
pulling out some more highlighters. "Three should be fine," he
said, feeling Hux's eyes on him. He knew his friend wasn't very
happy with him right now. In fact, Hux had probably expected him
to egg him on when it came to his insults for Rey, but he had
tried to warn him that this tutoring session wouldn't be fun for
him. Rey started to read over the article Luke had assigned
them, and Ben pulled out a book to read in the meantime,
shushing Hux when he asked what he was supposed to do. Honestly,
Ben kind of hoped he would just leave, though he doubted that he
would since that would mean he'd have to go home. After a few
moments, though, Rey looked up at him, asking if she needed to
read aloud. Ben sighed and shrugged, closing his book before he
even really got a chance to get back into it, telling Rey to go
ahead if she felt as though she should. He wasn't sure if she
was struggling with the reading or not, but he trusted her to
tell her if she was... maybe. She seemed a lot less certain with
Hux around. She shook her head, starting to say something before
Hux interrupted, begging her to go ahead and read aloud, making
it clear that he wanted to continue making fun of her. Ben
rolled his eyes and smacked his friend, telling him again to
shut up, but Hux wasn't having it this time, starting to remind
Ben how he had told Hux that Rey read as well as a dyslexic
child, which he might have said once. Quickly, Ben cut him off,
but it was too late as Rey asked what he had said, sounding hurt
once again. Great. Ben growled at Hux to just forget about
everything he had told him and either shut up or go home, but
the damage was done. Rey shook her head, starting to say
something about him finding her to be a burden and stupid,
cutting herself off and telling him to forget it and that she
just wanted to finish this assignment and go to work. Ben's
heart sank, feeling awful that Rey was so upset by the things he
had said to Hux. It wasn't like he had wanted her to hear all of
this. That's why he had said it behind her back. And he hadn't
said it to really be mean, he had said it more to get Hux to
stop teasing him about his little crush on her that he didn't
want anyone knowing about. Sure, he had been annoyed by her at
first, and sure, he kind of viewed her as a bit of an
inconvenience here and there, but he was senior who was stuck
tutoring a foreign transfer student. How was he not supposed to
feel like she had a bit of a burden? It wasn't like they were
friends or anything. Still, he didn't want to make Rey too
upset. “Look, don’t listen to him, alright? He’s a fucking moron
who needs to keep his mouth shut," Ben said, glaring at Hux for
the last bit, watching his friend roll his eyes. “I don’t think
you’re stupid," he confessed to her quietly, looking back at
her. “Just… read aloud if you think it’ll help and I’ll check
over your work once you’re finished annotating," he instructed
her, wanting to just ignore Hux and everything he said. “And if
you open your mouth I’ll beat the shit out of you, got it?” he
warned Hux lowly. Hux rolled his eyes once again, crossing his
arms. “Whatever you say, Romeo," Hux grumbled, clearly trying to
call him out on his crush on Rey. Ben's eyes widened before he
quickly tried to recover, turning his back towards his friend
and staring at the bit of bleacher between himself and Rey. “I
don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he mumbled,
lying.[/center]
#Post#: 3129--------------------------------------------------
REY [15]
By: winterssmary Date: September 28, 2022, 4:20 pm
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"He's lucky you're the one hitting him. I would have broken his
jaw," Rey caught herself saying, glaring at Hux, still having a
hard time looking Ben in the eye. To pretend that she wasn't
hurt would be foolish. Of course she was hurt. She found out
that someone she just met -- someone who was assigned to help
her -- despised her so much that he like to make fun of her and
trash her behind her back. She found out that, to someone she
found to be highly intelligent, she was a joke, a laughing
stock. She found out that her only value here was to be a
punching bag. Her insecurities were something that she rarely
ever hid. She wore them on her sleeve and always had. People
knew she had body issues and they knew she had issues with
families and talking about her parents. And, most of all, people
who spent more than five minutes with her knew that she had a
fear of public speaking, of reading aloud. Reading in general
was a huge source of insecurity for her. English was the only
class that she truly struggled with and no one had ever taken
the time to help her. Now, when she thought she might be finally
getting someone, she found out that her tutor thought she was a
complete idiot, a waste of time, and a lost cause. It hurt. And
the fact that he used this in order to score points with his
friends hurt more. Her insecurities shouldn't be the butt of his
jokes, but there seemed to be nothing she could do about it. And
Hux, who should never be allowed near Rey again, was doing
everything in his power to hurt her and make her feel awful.
Threatening him with mild violence only seemed fair. Ben
insisted that he didn't think she was stupid, but she knew
better than to believe him. She knew better than to ever trust
someone who so flippantly stabs you in the back. "I really am
trying," was all she managed to say. Maybe she was stupid. Ben
asked that she read aloud if she thought it would help her,
offering to check over her work once she was done with her
annotations. "No, I don't want to. The reading's not too hard
this time," she insisted, desperately wanting to avoid further
humiliating herself. Ben warned Hux to stay quiet, threatening
to beat the shit out of him otherwise. All Hux did was roll his
eyes, calling Ben Romeo, as if he had somehow been valiant and
coming to her aid. That... that was absurd. Ben not being cruel
to her for thirty seconds -- after openly mocking her, betraying
her, and being nothing but mean to her since they met -- meant
nothing. He and Hux were both bullies. Period. But, it didn't
stop her from biting back at Hux for being stupid about it. "So,
if he's not openly mean to me, he must be in love with me?
Really? Is that really how dimwitted and shallow your worldview
is?" she asked. It was an honest question, but also a jab.
"That's... that's so sad. I feel sorry for you, Hux," she said,
shaking her head before getting back to her work.
Ben did not get easier to deal with over the next few weeks. In
fact, he got progressively more and more harsh and cruel with
her. He was sounding more like Hux with every tutoring session.
He chastised her for mispronouncing words, insulted her for
stumbling over sentences, mocked and berated her for asking too
many questions. He was good at explaining things when he decided
that he was in the mood for it, but she found that it was
becoming less and less common. It was as if, after their
tutoring session with Hux, he decided that he hated Rey and he
wanted to see just how far he could push her before she
exploded. Maybe he wanted to see her cry. Maybe he just didn't
have the balls to tell Mr. Skywalker -- who was apparently Ben's
uncle -- that he was a shit who would rather do anything besides
help someone so he wanted Rey to call everything off herself.
Maybe he wanted her to seem crazy and overemotional, letting the
loner that no one liked get to her so easily. She didn't know
what his motivation was, but she knew that going to tutoring
twice a week was getting more and more difficult. In the next
three sessions, she found herself on the verge of tears as she
walked to work at the end of every single day. She seriously
considered calling out of school that day just to avoid tutoring
with Ben afterward, not wanting to just ditch him and let him
have a victory, but not knowing if she had the strength to deal
with the abuse for much longer. Wasn't it bad enough that she
was berated and manipulated and mistreated every time she walked
into her apartment at night? Did she really deserve to endure
the same treatment at school from a boy she was still attracted
to? And all of her friends were saying "I told you so," about
it, which definitely made things worse. It only made Rey want to
double down and stick by this tutoring. It made her want to dig
in her heels and insist that she wasn't an idiot and that she
didn't deserve their ridicule, but she was starting to believe
that she did deserve it. And maybe she deserved Ben's abuse too.
After all, she was dumb and desperate enough to keep coming back
to him. School was not fun anymore. At least, not on Tuesdays
and Thursdays. Soccer practice after school was fine and,
despite their relentless teasing, she loved all of her friends.
But knowing that, twice a week, she had to stay behind and be
made to feel like a hopeless failure to a half hour made going
to school more dreadful than it should have been. She wondered
how Ben was going to make her feel like a waste of space this
time? How deeply would he hit her? How would he accidentally
touch on sensitive subjects today? Just how cruel was this man
willing to be? The cheerful smiles and waves that she used to
give had faded into a civil nod and a lazy swipe of her hand.
Her voice, once filled with the friendly tone she used for
everyone, now fell flat as she spoke to him, trying to hide how
nervous she was to be around Ben. This was unhealthy and Ben had
to know that something was wrong, but maybe he liked that. Maybe
that was his goal. She approached him, dragging her feet as she
walked to the bleachers, their usual meeting spot. "So, what's
on the agenda today?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
Being friendly would make him angry. [/center]
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