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Post by Bri on May 20, 2024 22:03:14 GMT -6
Ben raised and eyebrow as he glanced up at her, expecting her to brush him off and leave but he surprised her when she said she'd be back. "Huh." He said to himself, looking around the cafeteria, seeing that none of the adults were paying attention so he slid from the booth and over to the soda machine where he grabbed a cup, filled it with ice then brought it back to his table, emptying his soda into it by the time Winnie come back. He looked over at her, tilting his head. "Do you usually avoid the cafeteria?"
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Post by Kiersten on May 21, 2024 19:02:42 GMT -6
Winnie poked at a piece of carrots on her plate, thinking about how to reply. "I don't, avoid it, I just don't eat here." She said, taking a bite out of the carrot, wondering if this was a mistake to stay and eat with him. She couldn't help herself as she looked around the cafeteria at all the other students there, wishing she was just back at her room, but she stayed and poked at another carrot. a
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Post by Bri on May 21, 2024 20:23:48 GMT -6
Ben glanced down at her carrots then took a bite of his fries, feeling like his choice was better. "I usually eat outside," he shrugged, "it's quieter out there." He added, knowing he could go back to his dorm and eat there but he felt like he'd go stir crazy if he spent too much time in there.
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Post by Kiersten on May 21, 2024 21:10:52 GMT -6
"So, why are you eating in here then?" Winnie asked, looking outside, not a cloud in the sky. It was a little chilly, but the sun was shining to make it warm enough. She poked around her veggies once more before moving onto some potatoes, always loving how they tasted when she smashed them and sprinkled salt and pepper. "I never thought about eating outside honestly." Still too many people to deal with.
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Post by Bri on May 21, 2024 22:35:04 GMT -6
Ben shrugged at her question, "uh...I don't know I just...sat here." He said with a slight frown before glancing outside then looked back at Winnie. "Then let's go outside." He said, getting up from the table and grabbing his food tray and drink. "It's probably quieter anyway."
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Post by Kiersten on May 22, 2024 13:13:42 GMT -6
Winnie frowned, wondering why he had decided to sit down if he normally didn’t, then the frown turned into shock when he stood up suddenly, saying for them to go outside. “What? Right now?” she asked, feeling panicked suddenly as she stared down at her meal, and unsure if she should follow him. Winnie looked around the cafeteria, barely anyone looked their way still, even when Ben stood up. “Okay.” She said quietly, figuring if she didn’t want to stay outside she could just head for the dorms, but as she grabbed her tray she didn’t really want to carry all that to her room.
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Post by Bri on May 22, 2024 16:32:22 GMT -6
"Yeah, right now, why wait?" Ben asked her with a grin, feeling a bout of energy and the need to expell it by doing something. She could either follow him or not, sure he told her she could sit with him but he wasn't going to deny himself simple pleasure. When she agreed to go outside he turned and headed out of the cafeteria through a set of double doors. He looked around, spotting a tree and walked over, sitting underneath it.
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Post by Kiersten on May 22, 2024 19:51:21 GMT -6
For a second Winnie didn't move to follow him until he was halfway across the cafeteria. She didn't run after him, instead choosing to power walk to the exit, easily able to follow him as he headed out the double doors, spotting him headed for what she assumed was a specific spot, and slowed her pace. She looked around at the few students milling about before taking a seat across from him, sitting criss cross and setting the tray on her lap. She eyed Ben before breaking the silence, "Where did you get the bag?" She asked, having gone to the library enough to know they didn't have these bags anywhere.
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Post by Bri on May 22, 2024 23:05:08 GMT -6
Ben looked up at Winnie with a fry half way to his mouth. Part of him still surprised that she was putting up with him but wasn't that surprised when she asked about the bag. "The librarian?" He replied before eating the fry and grabbing another, not seeing what the big deal was about where the bag came from.
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Post by Kiersten on May 22, 2024 23:40:47 GMT -6
Winnie narrowed her eyes at him, "I've been to that library multiple times, she's never given me a bag like that before." She said, taking a bite out of her potatoes. Either he took it from where else, or he took it from the Librarian without her know, though thinking about it, did it really matter? He asked for it back, so maybe he was going to give it back.
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Post by Bri on May 23, 2024 0:01:37 GMT -6
Ben narrowed his eyes back at her but it was more as a joke to match her energy. "Well maybe she likes me more." He said and sipped from his soda but then cleared his throat. "The Librarian is my sister so I asked to borrow it." He explained to her.
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Post by Kiersten on May 23, 2024 12:10:04 GMT -6
Winnie stared at him, not letting up even when he returned her gaze, though one corner of her lips curled up slightly. She wasn't sure what felt funny about the situation, but her brain obviously thought he was funny. She rolled her eyes when he said the librarian liked him more, which seemed out of the question since she'd never seen him spend more than five minutes in the room, but when he finally explained she slowly nodded her head, "So you just borrowed her bag then?" she wondered if he told her the reason or just went and took it, figuring she'd let him anyways. Her mind went to her two older brothers, wondering if they would do the same for her.
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Post by Bri on May 23, 2024 22:29:57 GMT -6
Ben stared back at her, feeling like he was in some kind of contest-which he wasn't going to allow himself to lose. "Borrowed, walked in and told her I was taking it as I dumped out lunch, same thing." He shrugged, still finding his sisters bewilder look hilarious. She'd either been too busy or shocked to respond or busy but his bet was on the former.
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Post by Kiersten on May 24, 2024 10:52:48 GMT -6
Winnie smirked before breaking the stare and taking a bite of food, feeling a little more comfortable around this random person. “Borrowed… Stole. Same thing, right?” She teased, wondering if his sister was going to get upset with him later about taking it before she could say anything. She didn’t think he needed to dump her lunch out though, seemed aggressive.
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Post by Bri on May 24, 2024 22:50:03 GMT -6
Ben mentally cheered for himself, in his mind he was the winner of his made up contest. He took a bite for his pizza, drawing out the chewing process after she asked her question, letting the silence stand between them until he was down and smirked. "Yup, the point is, she got it back eventually."
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Post by Kiersten on May 25, 2024 12:29:06 GMT -6
"Maybe I should give it back to her myself." Winnie figured his sister might get it back faster than if she did it rather than wait for him to. "I also feel like I owe her lunch." She teased, feeling like Ben probably deserved the thanks more, though she was still trying to understand why he'd done it in the first place.
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Post by Bri on May 25, 2024 16:10:29 GMT -6
Ben looked at Winnie with a bit of surprise, his mind automatically jumping to guess what would happen if Winnie did something like that. Eva would take one look at her and assume that Ben had a crush on her or something because that would be the only realistic reason to her that he'd help someone out, especially a girl. "Uhhhhhh, no," he laughed a little, "I got it covered, scouts honor." He said, holding up his fingers like it was some kind of scout sign but he had no idea if it was accurate or not, his fingers more or less doing a weird peace sign.
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Post by Kiersten on May 25, 2024 16:45:21 GMT -6
Winnie raised an eyebrow, trying to think of why she couldn't, but when she thought if she had done the same and it was her brother, she panicked a little at the teasing she'd receive at Christmas. "Um… I don't think you did that right." She laughed, giving him a concerned puzzled look and shaking her head. "But alright." She agreed, smiling a little as she picked up another forkful of potatoes.
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Post by Bri on May 25, 2024 22:07:03 GMT -6
Ben looked over at his hand then shrugged, "close enough." He laughed as he lowered his hand and continued to eat but then glanced around. He didn't see anyone else paying them any attention but he leaned in a little, a smile pulling at his lips. "Did you like my art work today?"
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Post by Kiersten on May 25, 2024 23:30:10 GMT -6
"Artwork, you mean the permanent marker on the whiteboard?" Winnie asked, now wondering if he was the one who had done the other one in English the other week. "It was funny, she was too quick to accuse you though." She didn't want to admit she thought about being an alibi, since he had spent a several minutes before class with her.
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Post by Bri on May 26, 2024 0:02:12 GMT -6
"Hey, it was a work of art." Ben grinned, almost admitting that it had taken him a long time, almost the entire break period, to get the whole thing drawn and he thought it looked pretty fantastic. "That's why I got pissed, I did it, but she didn't have any proof." He scoffed with a shake of his head. "I swear that sub has it out for me though."
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Post by Kiersten on May 26, 2024 11:47:11 GMT -6
"I don't disagree with that, just the end result…" Winnie pointed out, thinking if he hadn't done that part he probably wouldn't have gotten in trouble. She was a little disappointed she hadn't snapped a photo before it was erased, but she had a feeling it someone did, and it would spread through the school like wildfire. "Kind of impressive you can draw that well." She admitted, wishing she had that talent, but her talents were unfortunately dealt in math and science. She narrowed her eyes at him, "You know, if you act chill about it, and not pissed. It would piss them off more than getting pissed about it." It was a lesson she learned watching her parents get upset when her brothers were still teenagers, and acting out. Grant was often doing some prank on Michael, then acted like he had no idea what was going on. Her parents were livid at his response, and she had picked up the same, though she often responded like that even when it was over great news. "I think you could also make it a game too…" She thought about how her forum friends often did that to each other, finding new ways to mess with each other on the site itself, and making their website the best because of what they learned.
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Post by Bri on May 26, 2024 13:59:46 GMT -6
Ben was quiet for a moment as his brain worked through processing everything that she had just said. "Well...thanks, I like to draw, sometimes." He shrugged, thinking he really wasn't that good, there were people way better than he was and he could hear his parents scoffing at their failure of a son being an artist or claim to be one. "I guess you have a point but sometimes I just get mad and I can't keep my mouth shut." It was almost like he saw red and there was no way for him to ignore it, he'd always been like that growing up. "A game?" Now that got his attention and his gaze flickered up to her again.
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Post by Kiersten on May 26, 2024 14:48:01 GMT -6
"I can't draw to save my life." Winnie admitted with a grimace on her face, remembering Mr. Noah's face when he saw her stick figured drawing. It reminded her of all the drawings she'd make as a kid, just for them to be ignored. Her tests, and papers, and homework made the fridge at home. Art was just a hobby she hadn't picked up. "Do people call you Bull?" She joked, wondering if he'd been nicknamed something that supposedly got angry at red things, when it was only because of movement. She nodded her head, "Well, more of setting up a secret social media account and just posting the before and after picture." She was sure it'd get a few views, kind of like some of the tik toks she watched.
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Post by Bri on May 26, 2024 15:30:09 GMT -6
"I'm just okay with cartoons." Ben shrugged, there was no way he could draw a realistic portrait of somebody or even an animal, they never looked right but when he did cartoon versions they always seemed to work out. "Bull?" He raised an eyebrow but his lips quirked into a slight smile. "No, but I've definitely been compared to one." He said, mainly his sister Eva, the only sibling he really connected with, compared him to one but she was always teasing him....or trying to talk some sense into him. "A secret social media account?" He asked with a tilt of is head, "would that really work?"
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Post by Kiersten on May 26, 2024 17:00:32 GMT -6
"So, doesn't have to be anything but cartoons." Though Winnie hadn't said the part about leaving out the permanent marker part. She wasn't sure if that should be a part of the joke or not. "That makes a lot of sense," She agreed, smirking as she set aside her tray, finished with her dinner. At least now all she had to do was go back to the cafeteria and drop it off, not keep it in her dorm room for so long. She shrugged again, "You'd have to be really good at hacking." She wasn't the one to ask, but she did know someone who could.
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Post by Bri on May 26, 2024 18:56:03 GMT -6
Ben nodded, figuring that she was right, if it was his own thing he could draw however he wanted, "I guess so." He agreed and finished off his dinner but glanced at her when she brought up hacking, shaking his head. "I can't do that, I know nothing about hacking." He said, barely able to focus in general and especially not in front of a computer, let alone his inability to keep the words in a sensible order when trying to read or write.
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Post by Kiersten on May 26, 2024 19:46:50 GMT -6
"Well, then forget it. I can't hack either." Winnie smiled, feeling a little giddy about giving up on something so quickly, finding it easy to laugh about it. Her parents wouldn't care though, it wasn't something that would make her a doctor or important. "I'm sure someone took a picture, it'll circulate a little on its own." She wasn't sure how it got around, but things just did.
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Post by Bri on May 26, 2024 20:33:17 GMT -6
"What were we even talking about?" Ben smirked at her, if people really liked whatever he did they could do the busy work of making posts or whatever, he jus wanted to have fun and do his thing. "If it gets popular then it does and if not..." He shrugged, he didn't care much unless someone tried to claim his work for their own.
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Post by Kiersten on May 26, 2024 23:07:13 GMT -6
Winnie thought back to seeing the artwork on the whiteboard, rewinding further to when her books were tossed to the floor. "Did you run into… Me in the hallway after finishing it?" She asked, not wanting to think about how she was being bullied in the hallway, but she realized he must have just finished it before he intervened.
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