Ben is hungry.
This morning during breakfast, he had told the server to reduce the portion because at that time, he wasn't that hungry. But now he is so hungry that he couldn't understand what Mr Sam was teaching.
'Verbs? Reproduction? But wasn't Mr Sam the math teacher?' Ben thought.
He couldn't help but count down the hours to lunch. Lunch wasn't served during the week so students had to buy snacks. Immediately the bell rang, Ben packed his books inside his bags about to rush out when he heard Mr Sam's call.
"Ben could you come here for a minute?" He said with a smile. Ben doesn't like Mr Sam for many reasons.
Ben doesn't get why he always smile when talking to him. He doesn't do that when talking to other students. Was it because of his background?
Ben knew what this was about. He walked towards Mr Sam and stood in front of him. "Yes sir?"
"Could you help me drop this at the head office?" He said giving him a textbook.
This was another reason why Ben didn't like Mr Sam. He always sends him on errands everytime he comes to teach. At first Ben thought it was just one errand, then another, and another. This has been happening since he was in 10th grade.
"Okay. Who would I give it to specifically?" Ben wasn't going to refuse. Mr Sam was a teacher after all. He would just deliver it and go buy some snacks.
"Give it to the Miss Riley." Mr Sam said still with that smile. Was Ben rude to think he's smile was creepy?
Ben nodded and left. This wasn't how he planned his lunch break. He wanted to get food past his throat so bad and Mr Sam was ruining it.
'But it's fine, I'll drop it and go eat' Ben couldn't help but say to himself. He walked fast, dodging students as they went about their business.
Uhmph! Ben crashed into someone, causing him to fall on the ground. He looks up at the person. Chloe. She didn't even fall at the collision. Ben mentally cursed the fact that he hasn't eaten.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." The girl ,Chloe, said picking up the textbook and dusting it.
Ben stood up and dusted his clothes. "It's fine, I wasn't any better." he finally noticed the guy beside her, Eric.
Chloe gave the textbook back to Ben. "You're in our class right?"
Ben's grumbling stomach stopped him from answering the question. He just had to eat first before lunch break was over. Ben gave a little bow before walking away.
Not even looking back once to see Chloe's puzzled face. Chloe looked at Eric, the latter knowing what was going on in her head. "Maybe he's in a rush. I bet you can still find a way to speak to him." Chloe nodded at his words.
Ben hasn't processed the interaction he had with Chloe. His stomach was a good distraction. Ben finally gave Miss Riley the textbook and head to the cafeteria to buy his snacks. He was happy the queue wasn't long so he stood in line.
"This is the most I've heard 'four words' talk. Maybe I should stalk him whenever it's lunch break to hear him speak more." Ben heard behind him.
"No you're onto something because me too. Honestly, he's popular because of his face. He never talks to anyone besides his best friend and that bitch Chloe." Both girls laughed.
Ben knew who they were talking about. It was the boy infront of him who is walking away as he has paid for his snacks.
It was Ben's turn to order. "Oh Ben, we're out of hotdogs. That boy just bought the last four." the lunch lady said pointing in the direction where the boy left.
Of course the lunch lady knew him. The owner of the school was his grandparents, but that wasn't the only reason the lunch lady knew him. It was because everytime Ben came to buy snacks, it was always one hotdog and his favourite peach soda. That was his favourite combo.
The lunch lady brought the peach soda. "Would you prefer burger instead?" Burger? He didn't like burgers, he hasn't eaten one in years!
He thought of an idea. "Okay. I'll have that." He said and paid for it. Ben took the snacks and walked five steps before he froze. What was he going to do?
The 'idea' Ben thought of was that he would kindly ask 'four words' to exchange one of his hotdogs with the burger. Now that he thinks about it again, the idea is stupid.
They were strangers to each other. 'Four words' wouldn't want to exchange his hotdog for a stranger's burger. Should he try? Or just eat the burger and count down the hours to dinner.
Ben's stomach grumbled again, urging him to make a fast decision. He would just try. What's the worst that could happen?
He saw 'four words' sitting alone in the cafeteria, eating one of the hotdogs. He has eaten up to half of it, taking a sip of his drink and looking around a bit. Ben approached him.
"Hi, uh, would you mind exchanging one of your hotdogs with this burger?" Ben asked.
The boys stopped chewing, he looked up at Ben and continued chewing his food till he swallowed it. "What?"
'Did I sound rude?' Ben thought and tried again. "Can you please exchange one of your hotdogs with this burger?" Ben said stretching the burger out to him.
The boy looked at the burger, then at the hotdog, back at Ben before he started laughing.
Ben was taken aback. 'Four words' reaction caught him off guard. What was funny? He just asked a simple question. A no or yes would do, not laugh at his face?
When the boy saw the frown on Ben's face, he stopped laughing. Took a bite from his hotdog before saying, "No."
Ben had an ugly frown on his face. Not that he was feeling entitled to the other boy's hotdog, he couldn't help but feel offended by the boy's laughter.
"The laughter wasn't necessary, just a simple no would've been okay." Ben said, ignoring how his stomach grumbled. Unfortunately for him, 'four words' heard it.
"I don't think your stomach would care if it's a burger or a hotdog that got in." the boys said taking a bite again from his food.
Ben felt angry and embarrassed. Why was today going so horribly for him?
Two people came to the table. "Sorry, we're late...." Ben turned towards them. It was Eric and Chloe.
"What's wrong?" Chloe asked after seeing the ugly frown that was still on Ben's face.
'Four words' laughed again. "Tell them what you asked me to do." He said with a small laugh.
The way he keeps laughing at what he asked made Ben feel embarrassed. Was his request that stupid?
Deciding this was a huge mistake, Ben hurriedly left them and went back to class. He opened his bag and dumped the snacks in there, zipping it forcefully and crossing his arms. Why didn't he just eat the burger?
Today was ruined, all because of Hotdogs and Burgers.