Friend Fiction (UNFINISHED NOVEL)

**THIS IS OLD!**
This page may contain outdated information that is irrelevant to the current series.
Do not take what you read as canon.

> This is for the unfinished novel adaptation of Friend Fiction. For episode 1 of the 2020 animatic series, go here
>
>

## Friend Fiction

### Featured Characters

Mark Reed, Benjamin Washington, Kenny Peterson, Jonathon Washington, Ash Powyrs

### Number of Chapters

1 before being cancelled

Friend Fiction was initially written to be the first story in a series of novels telling the story of TMS, before initially being cancelled. The entire novel series was cancelled solely because of Friend Fiction. When writing the story, Saveraedae had written far more than what is shown, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the progress was lost and Saveraedae lost the motivation to continue.

# Story

It was a sunny and warm summer morning in Ohwell, Texas, the sun shining its bright beams all across the town. There was still traces of water droplets left on the ground despite it being late morning. The only sound that could be heard was the faint whoosh of the breeze occurring, along with the tapping sound of footsteps coming from some people walking down the sidewalk and the few cars that were making their way down the seemingly empty street. The warmness and calmness of a nice summer morning would usually be quite pleasing to some, but despite the nice weather, there were some who would fondly disagree. Making their way down the sidewalk went sixteen year old Mark Reed, along with his six year old brother Leon, who was seemingly mature for his age, accompanied by his three friends. But Mark and Leon were a bit ahead of the others, the both of them not looking particularly happy. Mark was glaring intensely at his brother, whom he had always seemed to despise. But Leon had never done anything to provoke Mark's overly harsh attitude towards him. In fact, he didn't know what his issue was. He had always wondered what it was about him that bothered his older brother so much, but yet... he could never determine the answer. Leon would always stop and think to himself, never once thinking of even the slightest of clues as to why Mark didn't like him. It really did hurt him, but he did not let his brother's negative outlook on him define his behavior towards Mark. In fact, he cared very much for Mark, and in no circumstance whatsoever would he replicate his attitude. Leon had nothing against Mark, and he wished he could say that Mark's feelings for him were mutual to his. He heard Mark mumbling something to himself, not being able to make out what he was saying, or even if it was directed towards him. Leon glanced over at Mark, who had been looking at him the whole time. Mark turned his head the other direction, a dark and deep feeling of hatred engulfing him, giving his stomach a heavy, unpleasant feeling. He continued on his useless mumbling, Leon finally able to make out what was being said.

"Why couldn't he just stay home? Why does he have to follow me everywhere?"

Leon was silent for a few seconds, processing what he was hearing. He heard very similar things come from his brother's mouth every single day, this complaint not being any different. He decided to speak up a little. "Why can't you deal with the fact that I'm walking with you, Mark?"

Mark's head shot up, surprised Leon had been listening to what he was saying. He kept his head turned away, barely knowing what to say as a reply. "Well— because you're following me!" He moved his hands down into the pockets of his jeans. His face heating up a bit from the sudden mention of his name.

"Well, yeah," Leon said, looking over at Mark, "we're going to the same place, it's pretty inevitable..." Mark remained silent, his hands still buried deep into his pockets tensely.

"Listen Mark," Leon said, doing his best to reassure him, "I'll leave you alone. You don't have to worry about that. I'm just meeting my friends there and then that'll be the end of you seeing me until we leave."

"Yeah Mark," Benjamin, one of his friends told him from behind, "just cut it out."

Mark looked behind him, a bit annoyed that someone other than himself was getting involved with his drama he had with his younger brother. He looked the other boy in the eyes. "Don't get involved Benjy," he said, trying his best to stay calm while saying so as he didn't want any more input from him or the other two. "I'm mad right now."

This didn't go exactly as he desired, as one of the others, Kenny, had something to say about it as well. "You aren't even arguing about something important."

"Exactly," Benjamin added, "and besides, you follow us everywhere."

Mark turned his head a bit, responding without any single doubt in his mind. "That's because I'm you guys' friend."

Ben's eyes met Mark's, the both of them obviously having different thoughts on the matter. He tilted his head a little, a bit unsure if he should say what he wanted to say. "Who said that?"

Mark's lifted his hands up out of his pockets, the both of them going to his hips in a disapproving fashion. He was beginning to a get a little more angry than he already was, a bit of uneasiness mixing in with the present feeling of hatred. The new feeling felt absolutely dreadful. "What do you mean 'who said that,' you're all my friends, right!?" He frantically moved his hands back down against his torso, turning back to see where he was walking.

Ben noticed how Mark was beginning to make unnecessary movements, something that happened frequently when the hateful teen was beginning to get angry. He sighed, giving in a little, but not wanting to lie. Ben knew that any answer that didn't please Mark enough would most definitely result in him throwing some sort of fit. He decided to word his answer simply. He knew Mark barely ever looked into the deeper meanings of words. "Whatever shuts you up..." He kept walking slowly, keeping his distance.

"Oh good," Mark said, much to Ben's pleasure, "I was worried for a minute." Mark calmed himself, pleased with Ben's answer. He managed to slightly lesser the tension he had been feeling, that is, until he looked over next to him. His little brother was still walking alongside him, doing just as Benjamin was doing and keeping his distance, but for a much different reason. Mark glared down at him, just as he had been doing prior. He moved his head the other direction, slightly going up next to him just to nudge him out of pure hatred, as despite his hateful attitude towards his brother, he could never bring himself to actually physically hurt him, or anybody for that matter, or at least he could never hurt him too bad. He himself hated to think about any type of abuse, as the thought of it made his stomach churn with dread. He flinched a little, feeling a returning nudge soon after.

"Wow..." Leon said to himself, getting yet again another nudge from Mark, this time a bit harder than the other.

"Don't talk to me." Mark warned Leon. The slight breeze picked up a bit, now turning into a light wind. It rustled the branches of the many trees that were down the place they were walking through, along with causing each of the boys' hair to flow slightly in the wind's path. A car was beginning to appear from the opposite direction of the boys, as it would soon pass them. Mark turned his head back over to Leon, his hair starting to slightly cover his face. Mark brought his hand up to his head, pushing it back, his hair now messier than it normally was. Mark then was met with another slight nudge from his brother, which did nothing to help with Mark's anger. Mark extended his arms, his hands rapidly coming into contact with Leon's shoulders. Leon, who was not particularly expecting such a rapid impact, was pushed forward as he toppled over, the silence soon ending when the screech of the thought to be passing car coming to a sudden stop was heard. Leon looked up at Mark with a look of pure confusion and innocence; all of that had happened so intensely fast. Did Mark even mean to push him that hard? What happened? As soon as the car had stopped itself, it was as if everyone started to yell at once, all of the screaming being directed towards Mark.

"What the fuck, dude!?" Ben had shouted, rushing over to help Leon up, checking to see if he was ok, which he miraculously was. It was an extremely close call.

"Yeah," Kenny chimed in, "What were you trying to do, kill him?"

"Of course not!" Mark replied forcefully, it not sounding as sincere as he had attempted to be. He turned around reluctantly, then facing the driver, who he recognized in an instant as Clyde, who he only knew as someone who worked for his father. Mark stood there, wondering if he would say anything about what just happened.

"I'm sure you noticed a car coming!" Kenny said, holding onto Jonathon, the boy who had been silent the entire time. Mark crossed his arms, waiting for someone to say something else to him.

From the inside of the car, Clyde was staring intensely at Mark, which Mark could clearly tell since the windows were crystal clear. Without saying a single word and turning his head back forward to face the road, he slowly and carefully drove forward. And that was that.

Jonathon finally spoke up. "Uh, you... ok, Leon?" he asked, looking in the young boy's eyes. Leon was still in the embrace of Jonathon's brother Benjamin, as that appeared to be the only safe place for him at the time. Leon simply nodded, not saying a word. In fact he had no words, he was speechless you could say. Mark was making no effort to sympathize with his brother, whom he had just almost killed. He showed no signs of regret whatsoever. His feelings were easily sensed by the other boys, who passed Mark up and continued on to their destination. Mark was suddenly snapped out of his behavior just as the others passed him, his head shooting up in surprise as they made their way past him.

"Wait for me!" he yelled, catching up to the others.

Ben held his hand out, stopping Mark. "Don't talk to us, you dick." He didn't even bother to turn around to face Mark. Mark didn't deserve it.

"Wh— what? Why not?" Mark asked, continuing to disobey Ben's wishes.

"Do you even feel bad that you could've almost killed him?" asked Kenny, he himself not bothering to turn around either.

"Uh, of course I do," Mark replied rubbing his head. "I—"

"Quit lying." Ben snapped, bringing his hand back down to his side. He averted his attention back down to the poor kid that had almost gotten killed. "Come on, Leon," he told him calmly, "I'll bring you home later. You deserve to at least have a little bit of fun at the park with your friends." Leon simply nodded again as he promptly turned his head to look behind at Mark. Their eyes met. Leon could tell by Mark's expression. He wasn't sorry about what he had just done, not sorry for what he could have caused to happen. The only thing Leon could draw from Mark's obviously forced 'sadness' was that he only felt the slightest bit of pity solely because he was losing his friends, which to no surprise were the only friends he had. Mark started to slow down, obviously feeling a bit defeated, and Leon turned back around to focus on walking with the three other boys.

"Just go home, Mark!" Kenny shouted, triggering Mark to pick up his pace once more.

"You don't own the sidewalk! I can walk on it if I want to!" Mark replied rudely, crossing his arms. Benjamin stopped, the others halting along with him. Ben turned to face Mark.

"Fuck. Off." He told him, obviously trying not to go completely off on Mark. Mark blinked.

"...Don't you guys care about me?" he asked, his eyes beginning to fill up with tears. "You can't just leave me here!"

Benjamin was done. "I'm sure I can speak for all of us when I say this, but we want to care, Mark, we do," he started, trying his hardest to tone down the rage he was feeling, "but you make it too damn hard for us to even consider it! Now stop following us, and leave us all alone." he turned back around. "I personally never want to talk to you again." he added.

"I—" Mark started, tears beginning to roll down his face at the sight of the boy whom he had deeply fallen for telling him the harsh reality of the situation. "You guys just don't care about me!" he tried to assume, covering his face with his arm as he began to cry audibly.

Benjamin shrugged it off as attention bait. "Grow up Mark." he said, his back still turned to him. He wasn't even bothering to raise his voice anymore. This was it for him. He didn't even care if Mark was going to take that quote to heart or not. If he did, then possibly, just possibly he would at least consider befriending him again.

Mark stood there, heartbroken and lost. The feeling of hatred he had been feeling prior was gone, now nowhere to be found. It was yet again replaced with another emotion. He felt guilt. A feeling he had never felt before. He turned his head a little, looking at all of the people he had just lost within a matter of minutes, his chest beginning to feel heavy and filled to the brim with guilt. Pure guilt. His hands shook as he brought them back down to his sides, the both of them beginning to feel cold and motionless despite the sun's continuous summer warmth. Mark couldn't bare to look at them. He promptly turned away, doing as Ben had told him and indeed did go home. Though he knew he would dread it. He felt limited safety in the first place, but now? He knew he would come to feel absolutely hellish. There was no way he could keep silent about this to his parents. As much as he wanted to not tell any other soul about this, he needed to punish himself, more than he already had been punished that is. This was it for Mark. It was time for a change. But was he entirely up for it?

* + - * + - * + - * + - * +

Pure silence filled the dark room. It would happen any minute now; his alarm clock would ring. He knew it, and he was correct, as the once peaceful silence was interrupted by the sound of a loud alarm blaring its unpleasant noise, only to be stopped abruptly as Mark's hand slammed down onto the obnoxious device. A faint moan escaped his mouth as he brought his arm back over to his comfortable bed, settling himself back into a relaxing position. He was as tired as he could be, but despite how much he absolutely longed that the night would gift him a good night's sleep, he was given the opposite, as he could truly not even go as far as to even get a meagre amount of shuteye. He had spent the night lifelessly staring into the lonesome darkness that he had undoubtedly brought upon himself, and as the newly formed feeling he had been cursed with that summer had foretold, he was regretting it. All night he had gone, and many before that one, lying there with honest, regretful tears in his eyes, unable to sleep, and the bags under his eyes were a heavy indication. He settled himself finally, taking a deep sigh of relief as he tried to assure himself that he would in fact get some rest. His attempted self-encouragement proved no help however, as his door was opened, brightness overriding the darkness. He pulled his covers over his head in attempt to block out the blinding, fulgid light.

"Mark, wake up!" a woman's voice instructed. "Starting today, you'll be a sophomore!" The auburn haired lady was none other than Darcy Reed, Mark's mother. She seemed to be the only person in existence that had at least a little patience with him. Right now though, that patience was not present.

"God damnit," Mark replied wearily, his voice being muffled by his covers. "I don't want to g—" his eyes began to shut themselves. As unideal as it was, he went with it. Why did school have to be on this exact day? The only day where he had at least a chance at rest? Before he could even get in a simple few seconds of needed sleep, Darcy went over to him, pulling the covers back off of him. He shivered a bit, fearing the day that was to come. He slowly opened his eyes again, giving his mother a depressing glare. He hoped to at least get a small amount of pity, but as Darcy's eyes met Mark's, the feeling was less than shared.

"Mark, you have to go to school. If you can't wake up, you're going to have to start going to bed earlier."

Mark managed to sit up, groaning a bit as he stretched, though it helped very little to wake him. He put his hands to his face, covering it up. The tears that he had been trying his absolute best to hold in would eventually escape sooner or later. A single one rolled down his check. 'That's not what's wrong with me at all... I know I have to make things right. I fucked up again. Badly.' He wiped it away as he moved his hands back down. He then tilted his head up, beginning to stare at the ceiling. An overbearing feeling of remorse rushed back through him, making him clench his fists tensely in painful, brutal mental agony. "I-I'll get up..." he replied quietly.

Darcy seemed to be content with this. "Alright," she responded with a smile, heading back over to the door. "Now get ready for school."

And with that, she was gone, and Mark was once again by himself in his lonesome room. Another slight moan was heard as he lifted himself up out of his bed and the warm comfort of his pillow no longer supported him. 'Alright,' he began to ponder in his mind as he approached his dresser. 'Today's going to be absolutely painful. Great...' his hand came into contact with the drawer handle and he opened it, taking out a faded red shirt. Mark pulled it over his head, and pushed his arms through the sleeves as he opened another drawer. 'But maybe Benjy and Jon will let me apologize? They just wanted time, right...?' As he slipped on a pair of jeans and stepped into his shoes, he picked up his hoodie from off the floor. Holding it in his hands, he pondered whether or not he should wear it. It was already quite hot out, the hoodie would just make it worse. 'Perfect...' He put the hoodie on him, attempting to pull the oversized sleeves up to no avail. 'Whatever.' He huffed, grabbing his violet colored backpack and opening his door. As he made his way down the stairs carefully, he glanced at the window and noticed Benjamin and Jonathon starting to leave. He picked up his pace, nearly tripping.

Leon was standing quite close to Mark as he did so. "You ok?" he asked.

Mark simply nodded in reply, his eyes still fixated on Benjamin and Jonathon. "Mom?" he started, already making his way to the door, "Can I skip breakfast? I want to walk with Benjy and his brother."

His mother simply looked at him, noticing the impatience in his eyes. He looked quite desperate to get going, which Darcy found odd since it took so long to wake him up. "Are you sure? You usually need extra breakfast. You won't be hungry?"

"I'll be fine." Mark replied, beginning to turn the handle. Before he could open the door, he heard a voice; it was a voice that he absolutely dreaded. Samuel Reed— his father.

"Wait, he's leaving already?" Samuel questioned from the top of the stairs

Darcy nodded. "He wants to walk with a few of his friends."

The word 'friends' struck Mark like a sharp arrow. They weren't his friends. At least not anymore. He loosened his grip on the doorknob, his entire body trembling in despicably intense agony. He bit his lip as he continued to hold back his tear flow, the task becoming more and more immensely painful.

"Mark," Samuel said sternly, Mark flinching at the sudden mention of his name, "you better behave yoursel—"

Mark didn't even bother to catch the rest of what his father had to say. He didn't care. He had much more important things to do. He didn't have to listen to whatever his father had to say, or even cry for that matter. All that was on his mind at this point was catching up to Ben and Jon. He spotted the two continuing to make their way to school. They weren't entirely too far away, but if he didn't start moving sooner, they would eventually be out of sight.

"WAIT!" he shouted loud and enough to wake the entire neighborhood, and possibly the whole town. He began to make a straight dash to the two brothers in desperate attempt to catch up with them. Mark was considered a very slow runner, but his desperation to catch up with them gave him a bit of a boost.

Just as he was halfway to them, Ben shouted back to him. "FUCK OFF!"

"No really, please! I need to tell you something!" Mark pleaded through a gasp of air. "It's important!"

Ben scoffed, putting his palm onto his face in frustration. "Fine. What?" He turned to look at Mark, who looked terribly sleep deprived. His eyes had the tired, depressed look of someone who had defeated themself.

Mark's eyes met his. "I came to say I'm sorry." he told Benjamin, his eyes beginning to light up a little as he spoke to him. "I— I really, really missed you..." he added, trying his best to sound genuine. He managed a slight smile, attempting to hug Ben, but Benjamin stepped back before he could.

"Hm. Ok. That was all?" He crossed his arms, tilting his head a bit to the left. "Alright then." His eyes focused on his brother. "Jon, should we forgive him?"

Jon jumped at the sudden chance to be heard by his brother. "Y-yeah!" he answered, "I think that everyone deserves a second chance!" This made Mark's smile widen, his eyes beginning to glimmer with hope.

"Well fine then." Ben decided. "I know you came here to walk with us, so you can do that. But when we get to school, leave us alone. Got it?"

Mark sank down in disappointment. "What? Why?"

"Got it?" Ben said again, this time more serious.

Mark's hands went into the pockets of his hoodie. "Ok..." he replied.

Ben grabbed his brother's hand and started to walk forward, Jon following. Mark sighed as he walked along with them.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Mark asked, his eyes focusing on the ground.

Benjamin glanced at Mark before looking away quickly. "No..." he answered reluctantly, expecting Mark to go into a depressive fit.

"Oh..." Mark replied, still looking down. "I see..." he stayed as silent as possible, his eyes beginning to close. He knew Benjamin wouldn't forgive him. He knew Jon wouldn't speak for himself, even if he did somehow forgive him. Everything that was happening, he knew it would happen. Suddenly, he was hit was a sharp pain in his head as he came into contact with a cold, metal light pole. His eyes immediately opened as he was snapped out of his sulking.

Before he could do anything else, he was given a snarky remark from Benjamin. "Look where you're going."

Mark thought that was it for him. Rubbing his head, he saw the two brothers passing him up, continuing to make their way to school. Tensing up as he felt his tears continuing to build up inside of him, a fluctuation of thoughts rolled through his head. He moaned a bit in both mental and physical agony as he continued to rub his head. 'God damnit. Why doesn't he believe me... I haven't slept peacefully since the beginning of summer... All I need is some reassurance. I want him to start to care about me again...' He didn't notice that the two had turned around.

"...Are you coming...?" Ben asked in an impatient tone. His eyes focused on Mark, who immediately glanced back. Mark only managed to stutter a bit, not seeming to form an answer that pleased Ben enough. "Yes or no?"

Without any hesitation, Mark rushed over to them, starting to proceed alongside them. "I'm sorry." he muttered again to no avail.

Ben continued on his stroll, not paying much attention to Mark's apology. "Ok."

Mark only grew more impatient. "Why won't you listen to me?!" He whined anxiously, tugging on Benjamin's arm in desperation.

Ben pulled his arm away. "How do I really know if you're sorry or not? You always do this."

"I— don't know..." Mark replied. He looked down sadly, feeling intensely defeated.

Jon finally decided to speak up a little. He pulled his brother close to him and whispered, "Give him a chance. Please. Look, it doesn't look like he's slept well at all lately. Just look at him... please...?"

"Jon, are you really falling into another one of his guilt trips?!" Ben asked, giving his brother a serious glance. "He's trying to make us feel sorry for him."

"No... he's—" Jon started. He looked down sadly, knowing that Ben wouldn't understand. "Never mind... sorry I even tried to convince you..." He began to walk ahead of him.

"Jon!" Ben called out to no avail, reaching an arm out for Jonathon. His brother continued to walk ahead of him, looking a bit defeated, but not nearly as defeated as Mark looked. Ben turned his head to look at the sad boy, who he began to examine. 'He's not flirting with me... He's not staring at me... he's not doing anything. What's wrong with him? Is this all part of his plan? What's he plotting?' Mark met eyes with him, then immediately turned his head the other direction, giving Ben the strong feeling that he was avoiding something. 'What was that?! Is he reading my mind? That's it. I'm convinced. He's plotting something. And it can't be anything good.'

* + - * + - * + - * + - * +

Soon enough, the three boys arrived at school. Mark vividly remembered Benjamin's warning, but continued to hang around him anyway. He wanted to see how long it would last. He turned his head left and then right as he looked at each person, both the strangers and the acquainted. Each time he passed up another person he knew, it gave him a terrible feeling, a feeling of remorse. He knew that each and every person he recognized had something against him, whether it was for an intense reason or not. He also knew that some people just hated him because of other people's encounters with him. He wasn't exactly considered 'likable' at school. In fact, he only people who allowed him to be with them were the three that he'd always stuck around with; Until recently that is. Sticking his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, he was promptly taken out of his distracting thoughts with the sound of Ben's voice.

"Oh hey, there's Kenny!" Ben remarked, taking his brother's hand and making his way down the hall over to him. Mark followed, wanting to take this chance to apologize to Kenny.

Kenny looked next to him and noticed the three arriving beside him, smiling as he greeted them. "Hey Benjamin, Jonathon," he looked a bit closer and saw Mark along with them, a bit confused as to why. "...Mark...?"

He turned to Ben, who barely had much of an explanation as to why he was there with them. "Just deal with it..." he whispered in response to Kenny's confusion. Luckily enough, Kenny accepted that answer, and didn't question anymore, but Ben could tell that Kenny wasn't exactly amused about Mark still being around.

Kenny glanced at Mark, who seemed to be acting a bit timid at the moment, as if he was avoiding something. He decided to speak up. "So... what have you been up to, Mark...?" Kenny asked, hoping that at least Mark would somehow miraculously act the opposite of how he used to act. He did notice the sleeplessness in his eyes, but he didn't want to bring it up directly. Had Mark been ok? What had a couple months done to him?

"Nothing," Mark replied, avoiding what was asked. He was ready to apologize to Kenny. He had to. Looking down at him shamefully, he approached him reluctantly. "I uh... about pretty much everything I've ever done; Kenny, I'm—"

"Oh hey guys I found Ash!" Benjamin interrupted, Kenny then giving his attention to him. Before Mark could even finish his apology, the three boys had already started taking off in the direction of the person whom Mark was not familiar with at all.

Angered at the interruption, but still desperate to keep up with them, Mark followed, asking the only question he could think of. "Who's that?" His tone portrayed him as intensely irritated, which he was, and he was sure to let his voice show it.

"Why do you care?" Ben answered before reaching the unacquainted person.

Mark faced the stranger, examining him. The others apparently were quite familiar with him judging by how happy they were to see him. Was he new? He'd never seen him before. The thing that stood out to Mark the most was the fact that 'Ash' was wearing a scarf, despite it clearly being August. He tilted his head, still angry.

"Hey Ash!" Ben greeted, smiling. "So what classes do you have?"

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Mark shouted before the boy in the scarf could even form a reply.

"Stop being rude," Benjamin ordered, "Remember what I told you?"

"But I—"

"Oh, it's fine Benjamin, don't worry about it." Ash assured him. "I'm guessing this is Mark?"

Mark was quick to shout back at him once more, using the same tone he had used prior. "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!"

"They... told me...?" Ash answered, rubbing the back of his head a bit.

"Alright then? Who the fuck are YOU!?" Mark responded forcefully as Benjamin then pushed him away from Ash.

Ben sighed, knowing that it was a terrible idea from the start to forgive Mark. "Mark, this is Ash, we met him over the Summer and anyway, as I was SAYING—"

Mark interrupted him with a gasp. "ARE YOU TRYING TO REPLACE ME?"

Enraged to the point of ultimate frustration, Ben kicked Mark in the leg as hard as he could, Mark then changing his mood again. "NO," Ben told him yet again, "NOW FUCK OFF!"

Mark winced at the sudden outburst from the angry blonde boy. His head darted to the opposite direction of Ben as he looked down at his leg. 'Man... how am I supposed to get closer to them if there's somebody in my way!? What can I do!? I can't just ignore this!' He moaned a bit as he got more and more lost in his thoughts.

"Shut up." he heard Ben say quietly.

Mark turned back to him, determined to not get angry about the current circumstances. He crossed his arms, his expression becoming a bit less serious.

"He just seems like he's upset about something," Ash observed, "give him some time."

"Time?!" Ben sneered, turning around and making eye contact with Mark. "All we ever gave him was time, and he wasted it."

All of Ben's prejudice against him was really hurting Mark. Why did Benjamin still see him as a worthless, good for nothing asshole? He was trying his best, wasn't that enough? "All I ever wanted was to hang out with you guys!" he told him, his hands going behind his back.

"Let him." Ash insisted to Mark's surprise.

"But Ash, you don't know him like we do. He's just going to have to put up with it."

Mark couldn't take it. All of the ignoring and bashing was hitting him very hard, he wasn't sure how longer he'd be able to maintain himself. "Please," he begged, latching himself onto Benjamin. "I'll do anything!"

"Stop!" Ben ordered, wiggling out of the handsy teenager's grasp. He smoothed down his shirt with his hands. "Why are you so desperate anyway?"

"Because I love—"

Mark was interrupted by the sudden ringing of the school bell. Over the summer, he had forgotten how ear-splittingly painful it was to hear. He impatiently waited for it to stop ringing. Luckily, just as soon as it seemed to start, the loud annoyance was over.