When Benjamin and JMONEY emerged outside MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, it was already sunset. JMONEY glanced at his watch a few times. He had missed his bus, and the Uni dorms were a long walk of 2km in the opposite direction."There's one more thing I need to ask you." he told Benjamin."No, I'm not interested in, joining the rotary club. You've asked like a gazillion times." said Benjamin. "Not that, idiot." JMONEY paused. "There's no way, but, did you know Joaquin was going to stab himself in the ear like in that?"Benjamin looked at JMONEY with a puzzled expression. "How in blazes would I know that?" he threw the question back at him."Right right," muttered JMONEY. "Well, this is me. Tell Claire I said hi, wouldn't you?" said JMONEY.Benjamin kept walking without turning his head. "Actually, Claire and I…." he trailed off. JMONEY understood from his tone. To be honest, it was surprising it was only happening now. Benjamin's worlds and hers were too different. Eventually, a rift would've
JMONEY's room was a small studio apartment where the tiny corridor to the bed served as the kitchen and an entrance to the bathroom on the left. The actual bedroom consisted of one small single-sized sofa closed in by the wardrobe and a study desk.JMONEY pulled out an extra duvet from the wardrobe."If I extend this from the head of the bed, all the way to the opposite wall. We get a longer bed basically." he explained, and clapped his hands. "So choose, the bed or the floor?" he asked.Benjamin looked around the apartment. If he had been here two days ago, he would've chosen the floor."Whatever happened to that guy, Brooks?" Benjamin asked JMONEY. "Brooks? The guy with the only 3 3-bedroom apartment in this dorm?" asked JMONEY.Benjamin nodded."I don't know. He should be where he always is. Why?" pressed JMONEY. Benjamin raised an eyebrow. Soon, they were knocking on Brooks' Door.It took a few good raps in for someone inside to bustle angrily towards the door."What?!!" snarled Brook
JMONEY awoke to the sound of someone banging on the apartment door. He grudgingly opened it to the Dorm Supervisor, who was red-faced. "I've been knocking on everyone's doors. There is no way in hell, but I'll ask anyway. Do you anything about the Mclaren downstairs parked in my spot?" she asked.The Dorm supervisor was an older woman of about 36. JMONEY smiled to himself ."No, I don't. Like you said, how in the hell should someone like me know about that?" answered JMONEY. The woman blew even hotter and slammed the door shut.Meanwhile, Benjamin was waking up to a message from PAYTON: "Good Morning Master. You have 1 Missed Call, and Zero Messages.""I didn't know you could wake me up, PAYTON. Can we turn that off?" ordered Benjamin. "I am synced to your daily alarm clock," remarked PAYTON."Yeah, but it's different when the alarm is inside my head." Benjamin said and checked his phone for who had been calling him. When he saw it was Amber, his heart floated a little bit. But then s
JMONEY was struggling to fit into the McLaren again. It took him about 5 whole minutes."Come on. We're wasting time" groaned Benjamin."I'm not the one that insists on driving a spaceship to class. Couldn't we have just taken the Bus?" asked JMONEY. "Can't," replied Benjamin."Why? You already paid off the Dorm Supervisor." reminded JMONEY. "It's not that. I need it as a bargaining chip," said Benjamin."For what exactly?" asked JMONEY. Benjamin groaned. "It's too complicated to explain. Are you set? Let's just go"The dorms were a short distance from the University, but it was a tussle commuting with other cars on the double-lane road with the Mclaren's wide body. It certainly wasn't built for driving short distances. JMONEY was right, they should've just taken the bus.When they arrived, Professor Tergiz approached them in the common hall downstairs. "This is about to become a really big deal," JMONEY whispered.The Professor took them to the teaching hospital nearby, where Joaquin w
“Guess the more things changed, the more they stay the same” lamented JMONEY. “Is this ideal?” asked Benjamin to himself, stroking his chin, and silently musing a million different things."Benjamin?" asked JMONEY. "Jonathan," replied Benjamin. "What are you planning this time?" asked JMONEY. "Do you think there are others like us?" asked Benjamin."Like us?" repeated JMONEY. "That hate Michael Duboir." clarified Benjamin. "Are you kidding me? There's gotta be tons" answered JMONEY."No, I mean, it has to be from this department specifically. And the same year as him. I know we don't take all our classes together, but there should be, right?" wondered Benjamin."I'm sure of it." replied JMONEY."How long do you think it'll take to find a list?" asked Benjamin."I dunno. Probably a day or two," answered JMONEY."No, that'll mean it'll take even more time to register a complaint." thought Benjamin."What in hell are you talking about?" JMONEY asked. Benjamin placed a hand on his shoulder. "
"There. That's about everything." retired Joaquin. "That's about three incidents. You guys have been up to some naughty businesses. And you're sure you're not holding out on me?" asked Benjamin."What more do you want, huh? The boys will literally stab me if they heard me saying any of it out loud." wheezed Joaquin.Without the aid of Bow Down To Me, this was as pristine of an interrogation as Benjamin was going to get. He checked his watch. At least an hour had passed. 15 more to go. How was JMONEY fairing? "Alright. That'll do. One last thing." said Benjamin."And that is?""What do you guys call yourselves?" Benjamin asked. "What?" retorted Joaquin."Come on, when you're all together. You guys must call yourselves something. The Rowdy Buys, The Tough Bunch, The Growling Grifters??" Benjamin pondered."This isn't some high-school Netflix drama, Benjamin." Joaquin clarified. "We just hang out around Michael. And we're all adults. Who's going to start thinking of names like that?"Ben
Benjamin rapped on the door to the Director of Mechanical Engineering. A low deep voice boomed from within: "Come in." Benjamin stepped in to face the director, an overbearing man who looked slightly above 40, with hard eyes, dark tan skin and a luscious beard of black and grey.He was dressed in a casual grey blazer over a white shirt, arranging and scrutinizing his folders unsatisfactorily."Like no one knows how to file an attendance sheet nowadays" he grumbled. Then looked to Benjamin."What are you standing there for? Take a seat and tell me what you want."Benjamin took the seat nearest to the window. He had forgotten the director's name and looked for something nearby to remember. He found it in a plaque that hung above his university diploma. "Hello Sir, I've come to report the actions of a particular student in the department."The Director scoffed."Aren't you a little too old to be tattle-taling?" he asked. "How about you go settle your differences as an adult?""No can do, Si
Michael didn't slow down even when he was only 10 feet away from Benjamin. Benjamin backed up into the McLaren."You fucker!" Michael screamed."You should know that a single gorilla glass pane on this car costs about $3000, and an extra $600 for the man hours to repair it" said Benjamin, who just looked it up a few minutes ago, "So do with that information what you will."Michael spun his hips and still swung anyway. Benjamin activated Martial Arts in the nick of time, but his instincts reverted to blocking the punch rather than countering it. Michael's arm slid across Benjamins, his fist finding the top right corner of the driver's seat window, where a small crack sprung into sight."Shit. Why didn't I counter that?" Benjamin whispered to PAYTON."Need I remind you that the Martial Arts skill is only at Level 1 still?" replied PAYTON. Michael shook his fist. The blow to the double-paned glass had been excruciating."Great. Now you owe me $3600" said Benjamin."You think I'm just going