Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
The following morning at 7am, the Yung’s doorbell began ringing uncontrollably. When no one got up to open the door, Ivy was forced to drag herself out of bed. Her blanket covering her head like a hood. Her eyes were barely open as she opened the door to find Ben in his jogging suit “Good Morning!” he announced.
“Morning?!” Ivy blurted out “It’s 7 am, morning would be like 12pm or something.” She let out a long uncovered yawn.
Ben was startled with disgust “Cover your mouth.” He glanced at his watch “Come on. We’ll go jogging and have a little breakfast. It’s cold out so change into something warmer.”
“Aww…come on!! Just give me three more hours of sleep.” Ivy whined as she gripped him on the arm “I promise daddy, I’ll be good. Please don’t make me exercise.”
He laughed, “In three hours, it will be 10am.”
“Well, glad you could count.” Ivy said sarcastically “Please…I’m begging you!” she went down on her knees.
Ben rolled his eyes as he pulled her up by the arm “Don’t be like that. You promised that you would do everything I want you to do.”
“I did?” Ivy frowned “You must have been dreaming. I didn’t promise anything.”
Suddenly, Tyler’s room door opened “Can you guys keep it down??” he asked looking extra annoyed “I’m trying to sleep!”
Ivy rose a brow at him “See, you woke up grumpy. It’s the only time when he acts like a man…and I hate it.” She whispered at Ben.
“I can still hear you!!!” Tyler slammed his door shut and returned to sleep.
“Crap, now I’m awake.” Ivy threw her hands up while Ben beamed “Oh shut up.” She groaned.
“I didn’t say anything.” Ben said in his defense.
“But you thought it!” she pointed threateningly before going to the restroom to freshen up. It only took her 5 minutes as she changed into a pair of sweats and a regular sweater. The two walked down the empty streets of the town as they reached the beach in no time. She had to admit, the morning sun and sky was very relaxing.
Ben was jogging when he caught her admiring the sky “Beautiful isn’t it?” she looked at him strangely “The sky, the morning air…”
She snickered with her eyes rolling “Didn’t you watch the news? They said it’s bad to breath in beach air. Our air is too polluted to breath in.”
“Why do you have to be so negative?” he asked with his hands on his hips.
“Why do you have to get on my nerves?” Ivy snapped as she took a seat on the sand.
He let out a sigh and sat next to her “Does this annoy you that bad?”
Ivy squirmed in her seat “Well…I…I don’t know.” She finalized.
Ben smiled “So you like all this pampering and attention.”
She shrugged her shoulders lightly “I guess. You know, in my whole entire life, I have never felt like a girl. But after meeting you…I guess you made me realize what a girl should be like. Sure, I think your mental and all…” he smiled at her comment “But I think you have a good point.”
“And?” he pressed.
Ivy turned to him strangely, wondering how he knew there was more “And I really want to do this for my dad.”
“Not your mom?” he asked curiously.
“No. For my dad…I know he’s very disappointed in me. I guess I just want to show him that I can be a girl…or worse, lady like.” She rolled her tongue around her mouth in disgust.
“What’s wrong?” Ben asked with genuine concern.
She wrinkled her nose “That word leaves a bad taste in my mouth.” Ivy suddenly shivered from the cold air. Then she noticed Ben was taking off his sweater to give to her “Ew…don’t give me your sweaty, stinky sweatshirt. I’m not THAT cold.”
He shook his head “We’ve only been jogging for 10 minutes, I don’t sweat that fast.” He wrapped the jacket around her shoulders.
“Thanks.” She mumbled.
“What?” He teased as he arched his ear at her.
Ivy reached out as she yanked his ear open “I said THANKS!!!!”
Ben whipped his head back as he held onto his ear “Ow…that hurt.”
“Oooh, poor baby. You want me kiss the boo boo?” she said in her sarcastic tone.
“No, you might infect it.” He replied with the same tone.
“Not bad, Benny…” Ivy nodded and then she saw his eyes narrowing “I mean Ben!!” she quickly covered herself up “Don’t hit me!”
He laughed “I don’t hit women.” She opened her mouth to say something but he quickly intervened “You are a woman!”
Ivy closed her mouth “Damn!” she laughed when he winced at her cursing “So tell me, why do you hate that name so much?”
“Can you guess?” he asked with a playful grin.
She instantly shot her hand up in the air “I know, I know!!”
Ben laughed, “Yes. You there in the darling blue sweatshirt.” He decided to amuse her.
Ivy cleared her throat “Because when you were small, people called you Benny the jolly green giant.”
He wrinkled his brows in confusion “Dear Lord, where you do get this stuff from?!” she cackled her laugh while he shook his head “Actually, it was a nickname an ex-fiance named for me.”
“Oh, so it’s off limits now because if someone says Benny, you will remember your broken hearted pain and crawl into your corner and cry your eyes out?” she teased “Oh puleese! Grow up, move on with your life. If you think about it, it’s just a word that someone made up.”
“But there’s a meaning behind every word or name. It gives it depth and not to mention the history behind it.” Ben argued.
Ivy rolled her eyes “It’s better than being called Poison Ivy? Come on, I was named after a freaking plant that makes people itch! You think that’s fun to grow up with? And stupid Tyler has got the cutest name in the world. I hate that boy!” she snarled.
He laughed at the irony “So you’re jealous of Ty?”
“Jealous?” Ivy asked with a snicker “No…more like envy. That boy…he’s got this charm that you can never have. He just needs to smile at any stranger and they’ll be comfortable enough to talk to him. He smiles at a girl and she throws herself on him. He smiles at my dad and it makes any problem with me go away. Shit…I don’t know how he does it.”
Ben smiled “Maybe because he doesn’t say ‘shit’ and ‘damn’.”
“OHH!!!” she pointed at him with wide eyes “You cursed!”
He rolled his eyes “You did it first.”
“Well, you’re older.” She said smugly.
“That’s an irrelevant answer.” He pointed out.
“Hey, hey…don’t be using big words on me.” Ivy warned, “Just because I never finished college gives you no right to say words that I don’t understand.”
Ben laughed “Okay, fair enough. Do you understand the word ‘hungry’?”
Ivy smiled “Are you kidding, it was the first word I learned when I was a kid.” She let him help her up as they walked towards a café shop by the beach.
“Really?” Ben asked. For some reason, he figured she wasn’t joking.
“No!” She laughed, “My first word was mommy.”
“You want to know what my first word was?” Ben asked.
Ivy shook her head “No, not really.” She laughed when he paused in his steps “I’m kidding!” she pulled him by the arm as they laughed and talked until they reached the restaurant.
**************
10:30am
Tyler was ready and up, he was supposed to wait for Tara to go to school together. He was getting a glass of juice when he heard the doorbell ring. He rushed to answer the door and found her wearing a ripped pair of sweats and an old white t-shirt that looked a little like his sisters. Her hair was balled up in a cap and she was chomping on a piece of gum “Ready?”
Tyler nodded with wide eyes “You know, you’ve got a hole in your pants.”
Tara looked down casually “Gee, your quick!” she said with sarcasm.
His lips quivered slightly “Why are you so mean?” he pouted.
“Oh crap, here comes the water works! I’ll alarm the neighbors!” she teased while laughing.
Tyler turned to walk towards the kitchen “Gee, if I didn’t know better, I’d say Ga Jei was giving you some poi—” he stopped dead in his tracks as he turned to Tara “Oh…my…God. How did I not see this?”
“See what?” Tara asked nervously, afraid her cover was blown.
“This freak that you turned into!” he pointed “Oh no…oooh, big sister’s been up to no good.”
Tara rushed over to Tyler “I’m sorry. I thought changing myself would help you to like me. I didn’t know it would upset you. I know it’s wrong to do this and I know you won’t forgive me…but please, don’t hate me…” she whimpered.
Tyler smiled “I didn’t want you to change. I like you just the way you are.” He nodded firmly.
“Really?” she asked with wide eyes “But then why did Ivy tell me…”
“What did I tell you the first day we met?” he asked with his head tilted.
“That I should stay far away from your sister.” She remembered specifically.
“Wow, you’ve got a good memory.” Tyler examined “I didn’t think you would remember. But that’s beside the point…the point is…” he lost his train of thought.
“That I shouldn’t listen to Ivy?” Tara tried unsurely.
“YES!” he pointed “You should be yourself…let me tell you a little secret.” He smiled.
Tara giggled “Sure, I love secrets!”
“I like you too…” he said while blushing.
“Really?” she asked, her eyes ready to cry.
Tyler nodded “Yeah…let’s go out to dinner tonight, just the two of us.”
“Okay!” She squealed with delight. She glanced at her watch “Oh man! We’re going to be late!” she was about to leave when she looked down at herself “Do I have time to change?”
“Get something from Ga Jei’s closet.” He said and then abruptly stopped “Wait…she doesn’t have anything nice.” He pointed to Tara’s outfit “That’s better looking.”
“Oh well.” She shrugged as the two headed off to class.