Chapter 8

Ben got to school early on Tuesday morning and claimed a locker close to his first period math class. Once he put away his bag and jacket, he grabbed a notepad and a pen as well an article on investing in mom and pop expansions before putting his combination lock on the locker.

Moving down the hall to the math room, he leaned on the wall just outside the door and started to read the article he had printed out yesterday. It was several pages long and filled with technical terms he had to look up on the internet via his phone. The halls started filling with students from all grades but he was engrossed in the reading until Jim Thomas and Tom Witt, good friends of his, came up to him.

"Got a Penthouse hiding under there Ben?" Jim asked. "You're missing all the cute new girls, man."

"Hey guys," Ben said, looking up with a grin. "Just reading an article for an assignment I have."

"You have homework already?" Tom asked, obviously puzzled.

"Not for school, I started interning at the company headquarters a couple days a week," Ben explained as he put the article back into the notepad. "So, how were your holidays?"

The friends discussed each other's time away from school for a bit before Tom asked about Ben's physical changes. Ben noted that a group of girls from their class were standing close enough to hear what they were saying so he made light of it.

"Spinach," Ben stated, looking serious.

"What about spinach?" Jim asked.

"I ate lots of spinach and voila, instant height and weight gain," Ben told him. "You should try it."

"Yeah right," Tom responded. "More like steroids."

"Nope, all natural," Ben insisted. "You two look taller as well."

"Maybe a bit, not inches like you," Jim stated. "Shit, you could probably be a jock now."

"I've got no time for that; what with homework, interning, driving lessons and taking care of the house, there's not much time left in the day," Ben explained.

He spotted Madison as she came walking up to the classroom. She joined Laura and Peggy on the other side of the hallway and he admired her slim figure in simple skinny jeans and a tee shirt. He looked over at her from time to time and liked that she kept herself somewhat apart when the jocks joined their group. Mr. James, their teacher, came soon after to open the door to the classroom. The students followed him in and Ben and his friends grabbed seats over by the window in a group.

After the usual signing in on a seating chart, getting a course outline and a textbook, the teacher went through the first chapter, basically a review of the minimum knowledge required to continue on with the course.

"Ok, time for a quiz to see where everyone is at," Mr. James announced with twenty minutes to go. "If you don't do well, you'll have to put in a lot of extra effort to catch up or decide to move to the lower math class. You have fifteen minutes, starting as soon as everyone has a copy."

He handed out a bundle to the head of each row and waited until everyone in the back received one before saying, "Begin."

Ben and his friends had no trouble with the quiz, finishing it in less than ten minutes. Ben looked it over and waited quietly until the teacher called time and passed it forward.

"Ok, I'll mark them tonight and tomorrow I'll discuss options with those who didn't do well," he said just before the buzzer rang. "Do questions one through seven at the end of the first chapter for tomorrow."

Most of the class moved on as a group to English, as it was a required class with only a couple of the jocks going to a different class. As poetry and Shakespeare weren't his cup of tea, English was the yearly bane of his high school career. Public speaking wasn't high of his list of happy things to do either but he hoped his new found confidence would help in that regard. The teacher handed out copies of the class outline and a copy of Romeo and Juliet.

He was thinking about his assignment for work when Mrs. Hungler called upon him to answer a question about Romeo and Juliet.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hungler, can you repeat the question?" Ben asked politely.

"Perhaps you should pay better attention, rather than daydreaming about the girls in the class?" she asked.

"While the girls in the class are certainly deserving of my daydreams, I was unfortunately thinking about an assignment for work," Ben said. "Again I apologize and it won't happen again. Could you repeat your question please?"

"You have an assignment on how to better flip burgers perhaps?" she snidely asked, garnering much laughter from the class.

Ben stayed outwardly calm while steaming inside. He kept quiet rather than telling her where he worked, though he wanted to rub it in so bad.

"No witty comment or comeback?" she asked when he stayed quiet.

"No Mrs. Hungler," he replied.

"Pay attention in my class, boys and girls," she said before moving on.

After class let out, Jim and Tom caught up with him in the hallway.

"What a bitch," Tom said angrily.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell her off," Jim added.

"It's a battle I'd never win," Ben told them. "Unfortunately I need the class to graduate so I have to let it slide. It's not worth the effort to get her back as much as I'd like to."

"We'll have to come up with a way, but for now we have to head to chess club so we'll see you in biology," Tom told him.

"See ya later," Ben replied and they split up.

Ben joined the line in the cafeteria and eventually came out with a burger and fries with gravy. Most of the tables were taken but he found a seat in the back and quickly downed the meal while doing his math homework. He got most of it finished before heading to history class.

The door was locked so he leaned on the wall and pulled out the article to continue reading it. From time to time he looked up and discretely admired some of the girls as they walked past. On one of his quick looks he noticed Madison coming down the hall, surprisingly free from the rest of the popular pack.

"Hi Madison," Ben said when she stopped close enough to be greeted.

"Hi," she replied, obviously surprised he greeted her.

"Did you have a good summer?" he asked, determined to take advantage of the absence of her friends.

"I had to take care of my little sisters so not really," she admitted. "You?"

"It was ok, nothing exciting either," Ben replied. "You seem to have lost your groupies."

"Laura and Penny have French this period," she told him. "Your posse is missing as well."

"I don't have a posse, but Jim and Tom have Chemistry this period," he informed her. "I don't have that until next semester."

The traffic in the hall got too much to talk to each other across the hall but the teacher, Miss Murray, came along about then to open the classroom and let them in. Ben sat in the desk beside Madison and while she didn't make a big deal about it, she didn't seem perturbed either. He caught her looking at the article that he had been reading as he had left it on top of his notepad until class began.

Miss Murray was in her mid-twenties and still not jaded which showed in her enthusiasm for her subject and how she presented history to them. After handing out the outline and the textbook, she used lots of visual slides from a laptop attached to a projector to begin the lesson on the War of 1812 as it was the two hundredth anniversary of the war. The combination of her cheerful and witty lecturing with the slides illustrating her point made the dry material come to life and kept the students' interest. They hardly groaned when she gave out the homework. Without making a big deal about it, Ben walked beside Madison to their biology class.

"She's a good teacher, she makes it interesting," Ben remarked.

"For sure, I usually fall asleep in classes where it's all about memorizing and regurgitating dates and names," she agreed. "I don't need a repeat of what Mrs. Hungler did to you in English class."

She grinned at him while he rolled his eyes and replied, "Yeah, she made me look like a fool. Shakespeare and poetry make my eyes glaze over especially as she's no Miss Murray in her teaching style."

"I thought you were going to get angry but you were very polite," she noted. "I would have been mad at what she said and at the class for laughing but you looked very calm."

"Oh, I wanted to say something but the class is required so I controlled myself, barely," Ben told her. "I hired a hit squad at lunch so I'm expecting we'll have a substitute starting tomorrow."

"I wish," was all she said in reply.

They turned the corner and he heard her mutter 'damn' when she saw Brad, Lance and Peter Vasily standing with Laura and Penny outside the biology class.

"Oh look, someone has plans to be your lab partner," Ben said quietly, taking a chance that she wasn't enthralled with the jocks.

She stopped out of listening range and turned to look at him.

"Just because they hang out with Laura and Penny doesn't mean I enjoy their company," Madison insisted.

"I'm glad to hear it, because I'd like to enjoy your company," Ben said.

She looked at him, clearly shocked.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with the shy Ben Stone who's been staring at me for the past two years?" she asked.

"I just matured a bit over the summer," Ben answered with a shrug.

"Maybe you can be my lab partner rather than one of them," she offered.

"Deal," he agreed quickly.

"That was quick," she noted.

"It's all part of my plan," he said with a grin. "First lab partners, next its help with Romeo and Juliet."

"Ah, now I know how devious you are," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not sure if I'm getting an even return in this deal."

"Remember that while one of them drools on you while you're dissecting a frog," Ben told her.

"Fine, we have a deal," she said with a frown. "This should get interesting."

Without waiting for a response, she started walking again as everyone started filing into the classroom. Ben followed her into the classroom and found a desk next to her away from her group. Jim and Tom were giving him impressed looks from nearby but Ben just ignored them and put his books underneath his chair.

"What was that you were reading anyway?" she asked, seeing him slip the article to the back of a textbook.

"Just an article on investing," he replied quietly.

She just arched an eyebrow at him rather than ask the obvious question.

"I'm interning at a company and have an assignment," he explained.

The teacher, Mr. Purcell, handed out the textbook and the obligatory course outline. After explaining some of the things they would be doing as hands-on work, he bade the class to choose partners, showing them the sign-up sheet on the side wall. He let them know it had better be done for next class or he would assign partners to those without.

The rest of the class was a lecture on single cell organisms with accompanying slides on the projector. He promised they would all get a look at them under a microscope in tomorrow's class. After assigning reading in the textbook and answering questions in the back of the first chapter, they were dismissed.

Madison walked over to the signup sheet and wrote down their names before leaving the room. Ben didn't have a chance to talk to her as she had disappeared from view when he finally made it out of the room.

"Dude, what's up with you and the goddess?" Jim asked.

"I agreed to be her lab partner to keep the Cro-Magnon boys away from her and she helps me with English," Ben told them.

"Right on!" Tom enthused. "She is by far the best looking girl in school."

"She certainly is," Ben agreed. "Listen, I have to head out for driving lessons so I'll talk to you two tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure, see you in math," Jim replied.

Ben grabbed the rest of his books and left the school, heading towards the CAA office on Lawrence Avenue west on the other side of Yonge Street. It took him fifteen minutes to get there but his lesson didn't start until three so he was still early. Once inside, the secretary had him fill out some paperwork and then sent him down the hall.

The first day was a review of the safety rules of the road in a classroom and only a short lesson sitting in the car to learn all the operating instructions and how to adjust the seats, mirrors, wipers and even the climate and radio controls. The instructor, a middle aged man named Hank, let him drive around the small course set up in the parking lot and also showed him how to park the car a couple of times before the time was up.

Ben tackled his homework when he got home, quickly finishing math before moving on to history and then biology. He then made a couple toasted egg sandwiches before continuing with Veronica's assignment. It took him another hour to draft something up that had looked presentable and had enough substance not to embarrass him. He sent both the pro/con list and his presentation to her company email to review in the morning.

After a workout, he took a shower and got through the first Act of Romeo and Juliet while in bed until he fell asleep.

Wednesday morning he was reading the next chapter in the math textbook while leaning on the wall next to the classroom when Jim and Tom joined him.

"So, how did you start talking to the goddess in the first place?" Jim asked.

"I just said hi and then asked her how her summer was," Ben told them. "Nothing special but then we started talking and I sat beside her in history and biology."

"You are the man!" Tom said.

"No, I just talked to her like she's a normal person," Ben corrected him. "She took off right after class without saying goodbye so don't read anything into it."

The popular clique, minus Madison arrived and the looks they threw at Ben weren't friendly to say the least. The teacher arrived before Madison did so neither the group or Ben could talk to her when she slipped into class just before the buzzer.

"Ok, I marked the quizzes and anyone who didn't get over seventy come see me while everyone is working on some questions later in class," Mr. James told them. "And while I'm handing these out, you can give me your homework."

Ben pulled out his completed homework and passed it over when the teacher handed him his quiz.

"Very good, Mr. Stone," Mr. James said quietly as he handed over the test and moved on.

Ben had a quick look at the mark and say he earned a ninety-eight percent on the quiz. He slipped it into his notebook and looked around to see that his friends had done just as well while the jocks weren't very pleased with their results. When everyone had their test, Mr. James continued on with the next chapter and with twenty minutes to go, let the class start their homework while he met with the students who didn't do well. Ben was happy to see that Madison wasn't one of them and then concentrated on completing the questions so he didn't have to do math homework after getting home late from the office.

Laura and Peggy bracketed Madison on the way to English so there was no chance to speak to her in between classes. In English, Mrs. Hungler tried to catch him napping by asking him several questions but he made sure that he was paying attention. He was glad he had read ahead last night but he was going to have to do some research so he would understand what Shakespeare was actually trying to say. Mrs. Hungler assigned the rest of the first act to be read plus a one page essay on it due tomorrow.

Jim and Tom sat with him at lunch and went on about the bitchiness of Mrs. Hungler before pestering Ben about Madison.

"Guys, all I did was talk to her, it's not as if I'm going out with her," Ben protested. "She didn't even say goodbye and hasn't looked at me let alone talk to me today. Would I like to go out with her? Of course, but don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen."

"If anyone can do it, it has to be you," Tom stated. "You're tall enough and much better off than anyone else."

"If she wants to go out with me because I live in a decent house in Lawrence Park, then I don't want to go out with her," Ben said.

"If any of the girls knew your dad was the owner of Stone Inc., you would have a dozen of them vying for your attention." Jim said.

"All the more reason to keep that quiet," Ben said with a scowl.

"Relax, no one can hear us," Jim told him.

"No need to bring it up either," Ben persisted.

"Fine, mums the word," Jim agreed.

They talked about other things before the two left for chemistry while he headed to history. Madison had beaten him to the classroom and was leaning on the wall beside the door, reading a textbook.

"Hi Madison," Ben said.

"Hey Ben," she replied, looking up from her book for a second and then returning to her reading.

Ben was puzzled about her behaviour, to say the least. Her quick departure after school and now basically ignoring him made him wonder about her. He pulled out the history textbook and started reading the next chapter until Miss Murray came to let the class in. Ben sat beside Madison but she acted as if he didn't exist, just like the last two years. He shrugged internally and paid attention to the teacher.

At the end of class, he took longer to pack up and she headed out of the room without waiting for him. He enjoyed watching her lovely derriere in her tight jeans as he trailed her to the biology class. She joined her friends and went inside, the guys following the three girls. Ben just shrugged at Jim and Tom as they entered soon after.

After collecting the homework, Mr. Purcell had them find their partners and pick a workstation which would become their station for the duration of the semester.

Ben was surprised when Madison said to him, "Let's pick one over there."

She pointed to one closest to the front of the room, consequently farthest away from her friends. Ben shrugged and followed her over to the workstation.

"So we're still going to be partners?" he asked.

"Sure, didn't we agree yesterday?" Madison asked, obviously puzzled.

"Other than saying hi after lunch, you haven't acknowledged my existence all day," Ben pointed out. "Are you sure you don't want to work with one of your friends instead?"

"I need to get a good grade in this class so I'd rather work with you," Madison replied in a whisper. "I told them that was why I picked you so they would stop bugging me and not harass you. We just have to be seen not talking outside of this class for a bit and they'll leave us alone."

"Jesus, some friends you have there," Ben told her, shaking his head.

"There are pros and cons to everything," she said before the teacher had everyone quiet down.

They worked on the assignment, cataloguing the various organisms on slides under the microscope, comparing them to pictures in their textbook. They finished fairly quickly and handed in their paper with their results. As it was the last class of the day, the teacher let them out of the class when they were done.

"I have five minutes to talk before I have to go pick up my sisters," Madison said when they were down the hall enough not to be heard. "Walk with me to my locker and I'll explain."

Ben just continued to walk beside her.

"Look, I don't have the luxury of just breezing through school and just squeaking into university," she began. "My mom barely makes enough to keep the debt collectors from coming to the door every month. So I need to earn a scholarship or I go to college at night while working for minimum wage. I'm doing well in most subjects but math and science aren't my strong points. So, you help me with science and I'll help you with English. Do we have a deal?"

"How about I include some help with math and you talk to me like a friend during school," Ben proposed.

"Look Ben, I've got nothing against you but the rest of my friends don't want me hanging out with you," Madison explained.

"So are we going to meet like spies after school to do our homework?" Ben asked sarcastically.

"I leave school right after the bell rings so I can walk to my sisters' school and bring them home," she informed him. "My mom works late five nights a week and on Saturdays so I handle feeding them, help them do their homework, make sure they take a bath and go to bed on time. Then I get to do my homework."

"So we can't meet after school, are you proposing doing it at lunch?" Ben asked. "That doesn't leave much time to work on three subjects."

"I thought we could do it over the phone at night," she replied as she opened her locker and started packing her bag with her books.

"It would work for some things but it certainly won't be as good as being right beside each other so I can show you how to do some of the math," he responded. "I guess we can give it a shot but I think you'll find we'll need to actually meet once in a while."

They exchanged contact information and spent a minute adding each other as a contact in their phones.

"Ok, I'll call you when I'm available," she said. "Is there any time your parents won't want me to call?"

"No, there's only my dad and he's in Europe for a couple of weeks," Ben said. "Call me anytime, even if you get a few minutes during the evening to work on something."

"I might do that," Madison told him. "Thanks for this Ben; I know it's not the best but I swear I'm not trying to take advantage of you. I'm not like the others, really."

"We'll see," Ben replied. "I'm not going to pretend not to know you while we're all in four classes together this semester. If you're going to ignore me then don't bother calling; I can muddle through English by myself."

She sighed as she put on her jacket and then shut the door.

"Fine, we can talk to each other but you know how they are, I'm sure the guys will be warning you to keep your distance if they see us getting friendly," she told him.

"I'll deal with that when it happens," Ben said. "I'm no longer the short, skinny nerd they love to target. I don't know why you think they are so special anyway. If they don't make it playing hockey, they'll be hard pressed to get into university."

She looked around before whispering, "Don't you think I know that? Why do you think I've stayed away from them as much as I could? There are pros and cons with everything. I have to go; I'll call you tonight."

"I won't be home until later on Wednesdays as I go downtown for my internship," he told her. "I can still help you over the phone but not as much."

"Fine, call me when you're home then," she said before turning away.

She walked away and Ben stood there for a minute watching her until she turned exited out the doors at the end of the hall.