_I hate Mondays!_ Ben thought to himself as he hopped off the bus and began walking up the steps of St. Regis High School. He held the door open for a moment so it would not slam in the face of the person behind him. When he turned down the hall towards his first class of the day he nearly collided with the new kid. Kevin smiled at him and gave a brisk “Hello!” followed by a warm smile. Ben, the new kid, just stood there, staring. He felt as if his heart had stopped, and every coherent thought had evacuated itself from his brain. There was something about this boy standing before him which made his heart ache with familiarity. When Ben finally collected his wits he stammered out a raspy throated “Hi!” and then quickly turned and hurried down the hall towards Mr. Driscoll’s advanced geometry class. --- While Ben’s supremely awkward initiation of contact would have scared many others off, Kevin was not deterred. When the recess bell sounded Kevin strode into the cafeteria where he spotted Ben sitting by himself - this was Ben’s normal routine as not many people wanted to sit next to him. The reason for Ben being ostracized by his peers was not immediately apparent to Kevin. He was good looking, had a toned figure, dazzling white teeth, and luscious curly sandy blonde hair. Ben was also a straight A student and was already involved in many extracurricular activities at school.  “Can I sit here?” asked Kevin holding his tray of cafeteria food and motioning with his head towards the empty bench across the table from Ben. Ben just nodded an awkward yes, his face etched with shock because not only did someone want to sit next to him but this someone was gorgeous! “My name is Kevin. What’s yours?” He set the tray on the table and extended his hand. Ben shook his hand and was about to reply with his name when there was a commotion behind him which made him freeze. On most any given day the jocks would mercilessly torment and harass Ben. If he was lucky he could eat about half of his food before it ended up on the floor. The noise Ben heard was the ringleader's god-awful guffaw as he laughed at one of his cronies' bad jokes. Like most days the bullies were returning to their usual prey. “Hey you weirdo! How’s it going buddy?” the tall, lanky jock said with a snicker “Looks like you’re sitting in my seat. Why don’t you go find somewhere else to sit. OK?” When Ben did not instantly jump up in submission and scuttle to another table  the jock took Ben’s tray and slid it off the table onto the floor with a crash. Ben just sat there, his lip quivering, when suddenly, Kevin stood up. “You’re a big jerk!” Kevin hollered. Before the jock could say anything in return he shoved him backwards. When the jock wound back clenching his fist to throw a punch at his aggressor Kevin reacted with one swift kick and planted the tip of his steel-toed boot between the jocks legs. Deftly Kevin stepped out of the way and allowed the jock to crumple to the ground with a loud thud. Then from down the hall they heared the pitter patter of Mr. Driscoll’s feet as he ran towards the group. “Stop! Stop fighting!” he shouted as he closed the distance from the entryway to the table. The jock’s cronies suddenly without their ring leader turned and ran for the exits - their proverbial tails between their legs. A few kids laughed at them as they made their way to the door. “What’s this all about?” Mr. Driscoll asked when he arrived at the table slightly out of breath. Kevin and Ben looked at each other and said nothing. “Well, I guess I know what happened” replied Mr. Driscoll to his own question - it was a well-known fact the jock was a bully and honestly Mr. Driscoll knew he had finally gotten what he deserved. “Why don’t you go get some more food,” Mr. Driscoll said gently touching Ben’s shoulder “I’ll take this guy to the nurse’s office.” “All right get up,” said Mr. Driscoll, as he grabbed the jock under his arm and lifted him from the floor. “Let’s go see the nurse.” he continued as he roughly guided the jock down the hall of the cafeteria. Everyone had stopped talking and turned to watch Kevin take on the bully in stunned silence. When the teacher and the jock left, the cafeteria buzz returned. “You didn’t have to do that” Ben said as he walked back to the kitchen to retrieve another tray “A simple, thank you would suffice,” retorted, Kevin “I doubt that jerk will be bothering you again and if he does, I’ll hurt him worse than before. Besides, we are soulmates, just wait, you’ll see. I know I’m right.” Ben laughed ”You don’t even know my name” --- After the incident in the cafeteria Ben and Kevin became the best of friends. They went everywhere together - to the movies, to the local ice cream stand, they studied together. Ben even got up early so he could ride his bike to Kevin’s house so they could go to school together. Ben’s home life was pretty rough. His dad drank too much and would often fail to come home in the evenings. He was also very hard on him for a myriad of reasons which he was always happy to point out - when he was sober, which wasn’t very often. He wasn't tough enough. He didn’t love hunting. He didn’t like to eat meat. He didn’t like football, let alone know how to throw a football. He was too shy and unsure of himself. Ben’s parents fought a lot too (when his dad was home). Sometimes the fighting would get so loud the police would show up. Ben hated it at home. He tried to run away when he was a freshman but the police found him living in an abandoned rail car and brought him home. His dad beat him pretty bad when the police left. So, he didn’t try it again - even though he really wanted to. Kevin’s family on the other hand was sweet, kind, and loving. Kevin’s parents were Buddhist, something Ben found fascinating. The first time Kevin’s parents invited him over for dinner he was surprised to see they did not eat any meat either. Kevin’s mother Rayvin explained it to Ben the first night over dinner. “Well you see Ben - ‘Buddha stated since all sentient beings are equal to him as his only son, how could he approve anyone to eat the flesh of his son?’ Eating meat was strictly out of the question for Buddha. One of the main tenets of Buddhism is compassion. Our compassion should be directed towards all living things, our friends, our neighbors, even those who harm us. “Every living thing on this planet deserves compassion and love.” Kevin’s dad Devin emphasized with a smile as he handed Ben the platter of roasted broccoli. Ben had never heard anyone talk about such things before and the rest of the dinner was spent discussing this strange yet intriguing spiritual practice. Later after dinner Ben was riding his bicycle home when he spotted his father’s truck coming down the dark road. _He’s swerving all over the road… I bet you he’s drunk… again._ “I don’t want to go home.” Ben said out loud to himself as he turned his bike around and rode back to Kevin’s place. When he knocked on the door Devin answered. “Hi mister Devin.” Ben said a little sheepishly. “Hi ya Ben, did you forget something?” “No, not exactly - I was just um… well yea, I guess what I was thinking…” Ben stopped and stared at his feet. Devin who had seen the bruises, the way Ben flinched at sudden sounds had long suspected that Ben’s home life wasn’t safe took a step forward. With a smile he opened the screen door, and said “You know what? Kevin is up in his room -  you should go see if he needs any help with his math homework. He's been stuck on square roots ever since you left. It's getting pretty late too. I’ll call up your folks and see if you can stay the night. How’s that sound?” “Oh gosh really!?” Ben stammered. He was worried that he would appear weak but he really didn’t want to go home. “Of course,” Devin stepped to the side and ushered Ben inside “You’re always welcome here. Anytime.” “Thank you very much,” Ben replied slipping off his shoes and running upstairs to Kevin’s room. ![[asi-kevinAndBen.jpg]] Kevin and Ben lay on the floor next to each other while they both did their homework. In the room next to Kevin’s they could hear his younger sister snoring, which made studying pretty hard. “How can you study with that racket?” Ben exclaimed when Aarin let out a particularly loud snore. Kevin laughed “Ha. I guess I hardly notice it anymore. Gotten so used to it.” “Well I guess I am used to studying to the backdrop of screaming, breaking glass, and swearing.” Ben lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry your family’s such a mess,” Kevin replied. “I’ll never understand how people just allow their lives to get wrecked by anger and alcohol. I mean this is the only life we get - why waste it being miserable.” Without warning Ben leaned over and kissed Kevin on the cheek. Kevin who was in mid sentence stopped and looked directly at Ben. Ben suddenly realizing what he had just done began to stammer “I'm… I'm sorry, I mean I just...” “Shhh,” Kevin replied, holding his finger to his lips. “You missed.” Then Kevin leaned over and kissed Ben on the lips. The way their tongues danced was explosive, fascinating, amazing, magical, and ethereal. “Have you kissed anyone before?” Ben asked as they rolled onto their sides to get more comfortable on the scratchy carpet floor. “A girl named Sue in 6th grade. It was gross. She was a terrible kisser,” Kevin replied “How about you?” “Never.” Ben replied “I hope it wasn’t too bad for you then.” Kevin said abashedly. “Not at all. Not one bit - in fact it was really nice. I wasn’t sure how you felt about me. I knew how I felt about you. I just wasn’t sure if you felt the.” “Kevin!” Devin’s voice boomed from downstairs. “You still have to do the dishes and take out the trash.” “Okay dad, I’ll be right there.” Kevin said with a hint of dismay in his voice. “Hey Ben, why don’t you sleep in the guest room. You’ll be more comfortable than sleeping on the floor in Kevin’s room.” Devin called up the stairs. “Ummm okay I guess. Thank you Mr. Devin.” “Just call me Devin please.” he replied from the foot of the stairs as Kevin got up to go downstairs and finish his chores. --- Ben awoke with a start when Kevin flung open the guest room door and burst in. “You’re still asleep? Time to get up sleepy head. Mom made us breakfast!” “Okay. I’ll be right down.” Ben said excitedly - his mom never made him breakfast. He normally just ate stale cheerios.  “Here’s some of my clothes for you to wear… If you want.” Kevin tossed a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, socks, and underwear on the bed. “Thanks.” Ben called down the stairs as Kevin stampeded out of the room and into the kitchen. “How did you boys sleep?” Rayvin asked as she grabbed the drying towel and used it to prop open the waffle maker lid and pluck the golden waffle out. “I slept great!” the boys replied in unison, which made them both chuckle. “Did you get your math homework done too?” Rayvin asked. “Yea ma I did.” Kevin replied as he squirt half the bottle of maple syrup over his waffles. “Geez Kev!” Ben exclaimed “Would you like some waffles with your maple syrup?” “Hey what can I say - I am a sucker for sweet things.” Kevin replied, giving Ben a suggestive nudge with his foot under the table. Ben just laughed. “Here you go dear.” Rayvin handed Ben a steaming hot plate of waffles and fruit salad. “I see Kevin gave you some of his clothes. That was nice of him - don’t want you going to school wearing yesterday’s clothes.” “Yea, they actually fit pretty great.” Ben took a bite of his dry waffle. “What in the heck are you doing?” Kevin stammered a look of shock etched across his face. “What do you mean?” Ben replied putting his fork back down on the plate. “Who eats dry waffles? I mean it’s just bizarre…” Kevin retorted, shaking his head in disbelief. “There are a lot of weird things about me you don’t know yet.” Ben winked. “Geez, I don’t know if I can be friends with someone who eats dry waffles. It is sacrilegious!” Kevin shook his head sarcastically. “Oh come now Kev,” Rayvin chided, “there’s absolutely nothing wrong with eating dry waffles. Now quit making fun of Ben and finish your breakfast. You have to leave in five minutes or you’ll be late for school.” As the two boys walked to school together Kevin took Ben’s hand. A few kids stared but mostly no one noticed. Ben was a little taken aback by Kevin’s bravery in taking his hand - but he also really liked it. He also liked how Kevin stood up for him. It made him feel seen and made him feel special. With Kevin though he felt strong, he felt brave, and he felt loved. Classes went by quickly for both of them and before they knew it the bell rang signaling the end of the final period. It was Friday and Mr. Driscoll had not assigned any homework, which meant they had no responsibilities for the weekend.  “Say, why don’t you and me head down to the quarry?” Kevin asked as they walked down the school’s front steps. “Sure, I’ve always wanted to go. I heard some of the other kids talking about it.” Ben replied. “The water should be really nice right now - maybe a little chilly but there are some nice rocks where you can lay in the sun and warm up.” Ben could tell Kevin was excited by how fast he spoke. He had been there a few times and there were always kids kissing with one another. Sometimes they would go behind the big boulders and have sex too. Kevin was always a little jealous he didn’t have anyone to go behind the boulder with when he visited.  _Maybe this time will be different_ he thought to himself with a smirk. When they got to the quarry a few kids from school were already there, lounging on the rocks and blasting music.  “Hey it looks like someone has resurrected the old rope swing!” Kevin shouted with joy.  “Oh I don’t know. That rope doesn’t look very strong.”  “It’s fine trust me. You’ll love it!” When the sun dipped below the quarry walls it got too cold to swim so Kevin took Ben’s hand and whispered into his ear “Let’s get out of here, and go check out the sunset on top of the knoll over there.” Ben smiled and got up. They said goodbye to a few of the other kids, who had congregated over the afternoon (most of whom were now smoking weed), and then they set off, together for the knoll. ### Next Chapter: [[5 - The Knoll 🌅]] ### Previous Chapter: [[3 - Summer 🌻]]