Chapter 47 – Concern

"Let's go to the infirmary now, Ben."

Julian stood next to him, ready to escort him. Nathan soon followed, from the other side. Still reluctant to go, Benjamin protested.

"No need, this is nothing, it will be gone in a swift..."

However, he was interrupted by Nathan.

"Ben?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Benjamin smiled wryly. It seemed that it was his loss this time. The two boys asked the rest of the class to tell the teacher for the next class that they went to the infirmary and the three of them headed there. Julian knocked on the door and entered. The infirmary was empty except for Sasha, who was seated at her desk and turned in their direction when she heard them coming in. She looked surprised when she recognized Benjamin and shocked when she saw the wounds on his arm.

"Ah! What happened to your arm, dear?"

Benjamin tried to answer but Nathan was faster.

"A girl did that to him, Miss. Could you please treat him so that it doesn't leave a mark afterward?"

"A girl you say? Who is that? Why would she do that to him? Did she get punished? That sort of treatment toward a boy is definitely not acceptable!"

Sasha was getting agitated, pushing Benjamin to intervene.

"We took care of everything already, Miss. You don't need to worry."

Nathan and Julian looked at him with reproving eyes but didn't contradict him. On the other hand, it seemed that being called 'Miss' by Benjamin calmed the upset nurse, who frowned for a few seconds before starting to treat him quickly. Funnily enough, it was the first time for him to witness her doing her job the way she was supposed to. She disinfected the wounds and put some cream on them before bandaging him, with fast and precise movements, full of experience. It was a small treatment but one could still notice that she knew what she was doing, as well as her competency. No more than a few minutes later, she was done and Benjamin thanked her.

"Thank you very much, Miss. That was very quick and neat."

"You are welcome, dear. You should take care of yourself more. And be careful about girls, I can't believe someone would do this to you. Teenager girls are so impulsive."

"Yes, Miss. I will be careful."

Benjamin smiled sweetly and Sasha couldn't help smiling back a little, despite still being somewhat upset. The three boys bid goodbye to the nurse and left the infirmary, after thanking her one last time. Once they were out of the door, Benjamin said to his two friends.

"Oh wait for a second, I have something more to tell the nurse."

They nodded and he went back in, closing the door. Sasha was surprised to see him come back and started to open her mouth to ask him a question, but, before she could vocalize anything, he plugged it with a deep tongue kiss. Her eyes widened but she rapidly accepted his affection, returning his kiss with passion. A few seconds later, Benjamin separated from her and whispered in her ear.

"I am grateful for the treatment. I will thank you a lot the next time we meet."

She blushed a bit but her expression showed that she was already looking forward to it. He gave her one last peck and left the infirmary again, joining Nathan and Julian to go back to his class. The first period in the afternoon had already started and the teacher, aware that they went to the infirmary, allowed them to attend the class without any trouble. His classmates seemed to have calmed down a bit and the rest of the classes continued normally.

When the last period ended, Benjamin prepared himself to go back home when he saw Nova waiting for him at his classroom door. He excused himself to his friends before going to her. She saw his bandaged arm and frowned but only let out a simple sentence.

"Come with me."

Benjamin, who already had a bad day, sighed mentally but nodded anyway. She quickly led him around the corridors and buildings, before eventually reaching a room in an isolated part of the school. She opened it and asked him to come inside, followed by locking it. It seemed that she wanted to talk without being disturbed. She turned toward him, looked at his arm, and told him.

"I heard someone hurt you. Are you alright, Ben?"

He wasn't sure how she could have heard about it so fast but smiled with reassurance and answered her.

"You don't need to worry, it's just a scratch. They made a big deal out of nothing."

His nonchalant attitude didn't please her, though, and she shouted.

"It's not nothing! Tell me what happened exactly and who did that to you!"

Her shouting didn't help his mood, which was already quite low, but he forced himself to respond, believing that she was only worried about him.

"Don't shout. It's nothing big, a girl confessed to me, and..."

"What!? I hope you rejected her!"

Benjamin frowned at the interruption and replied.

"I did."

Nova, completely ignoring his mood, let out a sigh of satisfaction and said.

"That's good."

That was the final straw for Benjamin. He was naturally kind but the combination of the events of the day and his nagging and oblivious sister finally managed to annoy him. He asked, in a low tone containing his irritation.

"That's "good"? What is "good" about it, exactly?"

At long last, Nova noticed her mistake and his exasperation. She was startled and answered, more prudently.

"That's... Because all the girls your age are perverts. You can't trust them. They're only after your body!"

"Really now? You said girls my age, meaning older ones are better? Then, until when should I wait if I want to date someone?"

"It's way too early for you to date anyone! You have to wait until you are older, much older!"

"How much older?"

"At least... five, no, ten years. Yes, that's right. Ten years is good."