Monster Hunters ch1

Ben Vinkenhut hated school. He was bullied every day, and he usually ended up in the trash can. Ben looked like your average 13-year-old boy. He had long, light brown hair and bright blue eyes. He always wore a light brown hoodie. But Ben was about to find out that he was no ordinary boy. One warm spring day in mid-March, Ben was waiting at the bus stop with his friend Johnny Maken. Johnny was identified as tall with brownish hair and freckles with long, skinny arms and brown eyes. He wore a light brown hoodie that looked two sizes too big. Ben suspected that it was his older brother Fred’s. “UUUGGGHHH…” groaned Johnny, “It sure is hot out today!” “Yeah, I guess,” said Ben. He wore the same expression as he did every school day, mad and grumpy. “Are you okay dude?” asked Johnny, “You seem… weird this morning.” ” Well,” Ben explained; “I promised someone a snickers bar today, and I forgot to get it.” “Who wanted it?” asked Johnny. “James Jones,” answered Ben. James was the bully at Mountain Range Middle School. He bullied most of the students, but Ben was always his biggest target. “He’s gonna kill you for that, dude!” exclaimed Johnny, “He loves his snickers bars!” The Bus gently pulled up to where the two boys were standing. “Great,” said Ben in a sarcastic tone, “Another fun day at middle school.” As the bus pulled up, Ben couldn’t stop thinking about how James Jones would wedgie him in front of the whole class. James somehow knew how to do mean things when the teachers weren’t looking. Ben always got in trouble for making loud noises when the noises were not his fault. Most of the time, they were James’s banging Ben’s head on the wall. Or sometimes they would be Ben screaming from James giving him a wedgie.They got onto the bus. Ben sat beside Johnny. One of the one thousand things that Ben hated about the pool was the bus ride. He found it long and boring with no entertainment. After a half an hour bus ride, they got to school. Just as Ben was getting off the bus, he heard a voice say, “Hey Vinkenhut, where’s my snickers?” It was James Jones and his gang of two other boys, Dike Hardmasher and Wendle Bloodlust. James’ henchman had names quite scarier than James Jones, but it did not interfere with his ruthless bullying. The evil trio was known to the school as the gruesome gang. Ben didn’t know what to say. He decided to lie. “Uh…sorry James, but as I was waiting for the bus, a raven swooped down and… took the snickers bar from my open backpack.” “Stop right there, Vinkenhut, why was your backpack open?” Ben scrambled for an excuse before saying; “Weeellll… when I was buying the snickers, the shopkeeper asked for two dollars. I reached into my backpack for the money, and forgot to close it,” explained Ben.”You’re not that dumb,” snorted James, “Or maybe you are.” Dike and Wendle laughed along with James. “Well, I’ll be off.” said Ben sprinting away while yelling back; “Nice talking to you guys!” He sped down the hall. “Get back here!” shouted James before perusing Ben’s wake with his sidekicks. Ben ran into a classroom and locked himself in. Just then, Ben heard a jingling outside the door 19. He looked toward the door and to his horror; the lock was being picked by James. James took a short break from lock picking to peer at Ben through the window. “Hey everyone!” he jeered, “Look what Vinkenhut’s wearing!” Ben looked down and saw that he was wearing a pink sweater that was about two sizes too small for him. It belonged to his mom. Ben had done a lot of growing over the summer and winter break and was currently taller than her. Students began to look through the window and laugh at Ben. He darted around the room finding refuge behind a desk in the corner of the room, out of sight range from the window. “I wish I didn’t have to wear this sweater.” He said angrily. As he said this, the most unexpected thing happened. His pink sweater grew. Moments later, it had grown to be a perfect fit. Then it turned a bright shade of red and fake flames appeared around the sleeves. But confusment turned to horror in a heartbeat. James had almost gotten the lock and taunted Ben; “Your dead meat, Vinkenhut!” Ben quickly hid behind a stack of books on the teacher’s desk preparing for the worst. Just seconds later, James Jones had completely picked the lock and opened the door. Come out, Vinkenhut.” He said with a creepy singsong voice and an evil grin. Right on queue, Wendel found Ben crouched behind the books and called Dike over. They picked Ben up by the arms and held him suspended in place. Please don’t wedgie me!” yelled Ben,”I forgot to get the snickers bar, I’ll buy you three tomorrow.” But James wasn’t mad. He was staring with his mouth wide at Ben’s hoodie.”Where did you get one of those?” He asked in disbelief.” I guess it just appeared on me.” Ben could not answer. The shock of his hoodie transforming and James nearly beating him was too much. “Dude,” continued James, “That’s a fire blaster hoodie! I’ve heard that they cost thousands of dollars! The most expensive clothing brand in the world!” Just then a huge mean voice said; “Oi!” All the kids who were standing behind James, Dike and Wedel panicked and started running. Ben turned around and a giant man about nine feet tall was standing in the doorway. He was wearing sunglasses, and a giant cloak that had the letters M.H on it.”Ben Vinkenhut!” he shouted, “Come here son, we need to talk!”