Just a Boy Who Loves Theater

Ben was reading the book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. When Ben finished the book he yelled, “Only three more books to read!”

Ben had a little health problem called asthma. Every time Ben ran as little as two minutes he would cough. He was afraid people would make fun of him because this was middle school, which was called New High Middle School. He was afraid of starting because he thought people would laugh and make fun of him for his asthma problem.

But Ben wasn’t worried about that right now. He was going to get ice cream with his mom and stepdad, Steven. Ben was an only child and had never met his real dad.

Ben’s mom had dark black hair like a black foggy night. Ben had the same dark hair. She wore glasses as well. Steven had blonde hair and it moved in the air like a breezy day. He likes the color blue, and in fact he wore it almost every day. Ben’s mom liked purple, but she never argued with Steven. Well, Ben has never seen them fight before because they were a good couple and they would make up every time.

“Benny, ready to get ice cream?” asked Ben’s mom.

“Coming mom. Putting Harry Potter away,” replied Ben.

“Who is ready for ice cream?!!??” his mom asked again.

“WE ARE!!” yelled Ben and Steven when they got in the car.

Ben’s favorite flavor of ice cream was strawberry. Mom and Steven loved chocolate. The place they went to was called Kate’s Ice Cream Parlor.

“Last time I got strawberry flavor but today I am getting a Runny Rainforest!” exclaimed Ben happily.

“Okay Benny,” Steven chuckled.

Ben was okay with Steven calling him Benny but it did feel weird. Ben’s dad, George, used to call him Benny. That’s why it felt weird. Ben didn’t know his real dad, George, but when Ben was about three months old, he heard a song his mom and dad used to sing. It was called Tomorrow is a Brand New Day. It helped him fall asleep when he would cry.

Ben’s dad used to play guitar and he was in a band with his college friends. They were going to California to play in a concert. It was raining really hard and about three miles ahead of them there was a car crash. The driver of the car that George was in was not paying attention to the road when they got to the spot where the car crash was. Another car was texting and driving and crashed into the band’s car! The crash killed everyone in both cars immediately. The police found them in the middle of the road and saw the name tag on George’s guitar case. They called Molly, Ben’s mom. When she found out that her husband died, Molly was devastated. She cried inconsolably for at least two hours straight.

“Twelve minutes till we are there,”  Steven sang awkwardly while Ben was thinking that sadly about that deep, dark thought.

“Okay,” murmured Ben.

“You ok Benny?” asked Steven.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” yelled Ben. “Just thinking,” Ben sighed.

Twelve minutes went by quietly until the phone rang. BRinG. Molly picked up the phone and it was Molly’s mom. Ben’s grandma.

“Hello,” a croaky voice said. “Who is it?”

“Mom, it’s me. You called,” explained Molly

“Oh okay. Then I must get going now. Bye, bye”

“Bye mom,” Molly hung up the phone.

“Well, that was unexpected,” laughed Steven as he leaned into Molly for a kiss.

Ben thought that he would never like anyone ever. Ben thought “Ewwwwww. So not used to that and I never will.”

Finally, they arrived at Kate’s Ice Cream Parlor. When they got there Ben ran out of the car. He got in line before anyone could get in front of them. Ben ran fast and they were the first ones in line. It was only 10 am and the shop opened at 10:30.

“Ben, come back in the car. It doesn’t open for another 30 minutes,” said Molly

“But mom, I want to be first in line,” Ben explained.

“Ben, it’s really hot, come back in the car with air conditioning,” Molly told Ben.

“Fine……” Ben moaned as he got in the car.

Ben watched the manager get inside the building and change the sign to, “Yes we are open.” The shop was green with blue stripes and once Ben heard that it has been there since 1965. Well, that’s what Steven said.

When the manager changed the sign Ben jumped out the car and ran. Ben ran really fast. Ben wanted to be first because he has never been first. But there was a group of ninth graders waiting outside and they got in line ahead of Ben. There were at least 20 people in the group. The store was so far away from the car Ben had to stop running two times.

Ben yelled tiredly, “Hey,” pant, “I was first.”

“No you weren’t,” said a boy from the group.

Molly and Steven got out of the car just as Ben was shoved to the ground. Ben was crying. He was so scared that he just got pushed down on concrete. He could have had a concussion. When Molly saw this, she noticed those kids go to the middle school that she teaches at! She knew every single one of them. Molly was a math teacher.

Molly ran out of the car and yelled, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY CHILD!!!”

It took three seconds and then one of the boys looked at Ben’s face and said, “Guys, this is Ben and Steven.”

“Wait a minute, you know me and Steven?” asked Ben

“Yeah. Your mom talks about you all the time in class,” said a boy.

“You boys will get detention tomorrow,” scolded Molly

The boys walked away because when Molly gets mad, she is really, really, mad, so they got their ice cream and drove home. It was late and Ben wanted to go to sleep. He had school tomorrow.

Ben woke up early the next morning because he had to get everything ready for the day. Ben did his daily routine. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth and got dressed. Ben went downstairs to have breakfast.

“Who’s excited for school?” asked Steven happily.

“Me,” said Ben quietly.

“What’s wrong Benny?” Steven asked.

“I’m scared,” Ben replied.

“About what?” Steven said with a frown.

“I’m scared that I will get bullied like yesterday. And Ken moved to another school,” murmured Ben.

Ken was Ben’s best friend since elementary school. They would be partners every time their teacher gave an assignment.

“Well I have pancakes,” Steven explained, trying to make Ben feel better.

Ben ate his pancakes and got his backpack and his school lunch.

“Bye sweetie,” said Molly and gave a kiss to Steven.

“Yuck,” said Ben.

“You will get used to it,” said Molly.

Ben was thinking “No, I won’t.” Ben got his seat belt on. Molly got in and they were off. Molly was talking to Ben, but Ben was not paying attention. He was wondering what middle school would be like.

“Ben! Are you listening to me?” asked Molly.

“No, sorry mom. I was thinking about school,” Ben murmured.

“No hard feelings love,” Molly replied.

When Ben and Molly arrived, Ben saw a lot of people older than him. He was only 11 years old.

Molly said, “See you later in math. Love you.”

“Bye mom,” said Ben.

Ben went to the school doors and was amazed by all the people there. He stopped at his locker and then went to his home room. His home room number was 231. Ben got to his class and the day started. Ben tried to pay attention, but he would doodle a lot. When he got to his mom’s room, he never saw her this irritated. She looked exhausted.

“Mom, are you okay?” asked Ben.

“Yes. I’m fine, just tired,” Molly said.

Ben felt bad for his mom, but he was glad he was in her class.

“All right. Hi, I’m Mrs. Smith. I will be your math teacher for the year. So for today’s lesson we are going to be paired up with a classmate for division.” But Ben didn’t get to have a partner because his friend Ken was his only friend.

Then a boy from another group went to Ben and said, “Hi, I’m Conner. Will you be my partner?”

Ben was so happy. He said, “Yes of course!” After that Ben and Conner were best friends.

The next day Ben and Conner figured out  they have the same schedule, so they would be together in all their classes. Out of the corner of Ben’s eyes, he noticed a beautiful girl. “Who’s that?” asked Ben and puffed up his chest.

“Oh, that’s Becky Johnsin. She went to my school last year. I think she is pretty…. ugly.”

Ben looked at Becky the whole lunch. “I think I like Becky,” said Ben.

“Of course you should. You have been looking at her all day.”

All night Ben was thinking about Becky. The next day Ben tried to look for Becky, but unfortunately Becky was sick that day. Later that day people were gathering around a sign. It was a picture of someone singing, and Ben knew what it was. Theater!

“I might want to try out for theater,” said Ben.

“Um, okay…” said Conner.

They went to check it out and found out it was for Harry Potter! Ben loved Harry Potter. So Ben tried out the part of Harry Potter. When Ben had to go to sleep he only thought about theater. The next day the people who got parts were posted on the sheet. Ben and Conner looked and at the top for Harry to be played by … Ben Smith.

Ben was thrilled and since Ben read the books, he knew that there was a romantic scene. When he looked for who would be playing Hermione it was Becky! Ben would have to kiss Becky!!

When Ben showed this to Conner he said, “Awww. Ben and Becky sitting in a tree.”

The school day was good but when Ben got home he was thinking about kissing Becky. He had so many questions. Did Becky like him? When was rehearsal? Who got the part for Ron Weasley? So many questions were swirling around in his mind. Ben was a little stressed but felt good at the same time.

Rehearsal day

Ben was so scared because today was the day Ben had to kiss Becky. The moment Ben saw Becky she looked beautiful as Hermione. The actors did their thing and Ben was out there the whole time because he was Harry Potter, which was the main character. Finally, it was time for Harry (Ben) to kiss Hermione (Becky).

“Ugh let’s just get this over with,” complained Becky.

Ben could not believe it. He thought that Becky liked him. But guess not. Ben went out there and was acting the part where he destroys the locket. Becky came out and Becky and Ben kissed!!! Ben was having the best time of his life and you could see it. You could also tell that Becky was not. When it was over Becky pushed her mouth away from Ben’s. Ben was in love with Becky.

“Ew. That’s nasty,” said Becky, grossed out.

A few weeks passed and Ben was getting more stressed than usual. He had theater, asthma and was missing Ken. He was getting to know Conner well and Conner liked Harry Potter too!  When they had hung out for the first time outside of school, they had it at Ben’s house and that’s when Conner saw all the Harry Potter stuff in Ben’s room, he was stunned!

Rehearsal after rehearsal Ben could tell that Becky was starting to think that kissing Ben was not so bad. Later that day Ben had gym class. He was excited at first because Ben liked gym class. But then, written on the board, was what he feared the most. Today was Ben’s seventeen minute poster run. Ben checked his pocket and realized he forgot his inhaler at home!

“Oh no. No no no no no,” Ben said in his head. Ben shot his hand in the air to tell Mr. H. “Mr. H, uh I forgot my inhaler at home and you know that when I run a lot it gets hard to breathe.”

“I’m sorry about your inhaler Ben, but we must get this run done today. All the other classes have already done the run. So you have to participate in this run like everybody else,” said Mr. H in sorrow.

Ben was mad and scared. He had only made the five minute run and the twelve, but he had his inhaler those days. Another bad thing was that Conner was absent so no one would be there to cheer him on. They started to walk until Ben heard a high pitched SQUEAK. Ben knew that that was the red whistle Mr. H blew when it’s time to start.

Ben started to jog. Three minutes of running, doing good. Six minutes. Face getting red. Ten minutes. Ben wanted to stop like some classmates had but he kept going. He was not a wimp. Thirteen minutes and Ben’s face was boiling. Sixteen minutes. The rest of the class was done and sitting out, and Ben was the last one still running. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 0!!! Ben did it! He ran for seventeen minutes straight.

“Oh my gosh!!!!!!!! I ran the whole time!” Ben yelled tiredly.

All of the girls were impressed and so was Becky.

“You did really well Ben. That was really good. See you at practice,” said Becky

Ben was blushing a lot after Becky said that.

Theater day at school

It was the day of the play and Ben was so nervous. Ben’s parents would be there and his grandparents and aunt and uncle. There were a lot of families that thought of Ben as a failure. Well of course not his mom and Steven. His aunt was the meanest in the family, and her husband was not very far behind. His granny was okay, but his grandpa was meaner than Ben’s aunt.

Ben remembers stories his mom shared about when she was young and got in trouble with her sister, they had to clean the floor with their toothbrushes. But today was about Ben!

The cast had to arrive two hours before school and school started at nine. Ben was there at seven. Ben was so scared that he would mess up and that his family would be disappointed. Ben was jumping up and down nervously.

Becky saw him and said, “When I am scared I take deep breaths in. Try it. It helps.”

Ben tried it and it helped him calm down. And then he went out and started acting. Ben was really good at it.

“All right, after eight weeks of practicing it is time to go on and work our magic. Ok Ben you’re up,” said the director.

And Ben went out and started. It was good until the kiss. When it was time Ben leaned in and then heard someone yell, “Ow la la. Who’s your girlfriend?”

Obviously it was his grandpa because he was a total jerk, so Ben just rolled with it. At the end the cast bowed. Ben was very proud of himself, and so was his mom and Steven. When he got home from school there was a big celebration.

“How was your day at school?” asked Steven

“It was fine,” said Ben. Ben went to bed and was wondering if he disappointed his family. That’s all he could think of last night. And then he fell asleep.

The last day of school

Ben was getting a lot of good grades and was becoming more popular from the seventeen minute run. However, the year was quickly wrapping up. Ben was sad but he was glad it was summer in six hours. Ben saw Becky and smiled.

“Hey, I have to ask you a question. Um I know that we are friends, but would you go on a date with me?” asked Becky, secretly so no one would know.

“Sure,” said Ben with a smile.

RINNNNNNNNNNNNGGG. That was the bell. They had to get to class.

“We should go to class,” said Ben

“Indeed,” said Becky. They went to class and they were caught holding hands by Conner.

“Looks like you finally made a move on Becky.” said Conner

“Sorry. See you later,” said Ben to Becky.

“Okay, bye,” said Becky.

“How did you do that?” asked Conner.

“Luck,” said Ben looking back at Becky. Becky smiled at Ben

The day went quickly for Ben. Finally, it was summer break!

“I will see you this summer won’t I?” asked Becky.

“Of course. Here this is my phone number. Bye,” said Ben.

“Bye,” said Becky.

Molly and Steven picked up Ben from school. When they asked how his last day was, he just smiled. The family drove off into the sunset.