The Apple Blossom Tree

It was the beginning of a new Spring, birds chirped, the sun shined, grass grew green, flowers blossomed. Ben loved the month of April, it was the most beautiful in his town of EversBurg. Apple Blossom Trees could be found everywhere, sprinkling the earth with their life filled flowers. Light showers in the morning left a sparkling dew on the grass in his yard and hydrated his garden for him. Ben lowered his mug of coffee from his lips, peering out his long, wide windows in his living room. He only had on a pair of jeans, too eager for coffee to wait to put on the rest of his clothes. His hair was still wet from his shower. Checking his watch, Ben put his mug on the coffee table and went back into his room. He decided on a white tee shirt and a gray wool sweater with a white chevron design. It was his favorite sweater. It wasn't too feminine, it was comfortable, and could be warn as dressy or casual. He found that he often wore it more than anything else in his wardrobe. In fact, the only reason he wore anything else was so that people wouldn't think he was gross.
Satisfied with his clothes and hair, Ben dumped and refilled his coffee mug with a warmer brew. He grabbed his bag and ukelele, slipped on a pair of shoes, and left, making sure to lock up the house. It took him about five minutes to walk to his college building, heading straight for the English and Social Studies hall for his first class. Once in a seat, Ben slung his ukelele case over his back, placing his bag on his desk and pulling out his notebook and his essays that were due next week. He figured because he had time last night he'd get them done.
All the other students started pouring into the class. It was a small number of people, only about fifteen. The class was an English prerequisite that most students, due to pure laziness, took later in the day. Ben, however, preferred to take the boring classes first and finish his day out with the most interesting... like psychology. Ben loved psychology. The mind was a brilliant thing and he loved learning about it. Especially with one like his.
Ben has been called many things in his life, some good, some not so good. Most of them related to his capability of holding in every single detail. His memory was fascinatingly quick and never forgot a single thing. Ben was extremely intelligent and therefore graduated high school at the age of 14. A lot of parents, even his own, gave him grief for it. They said he was too young and his life could be ruined if not guided properly. But Ben was more than happy to get out of that school. A lot of his classmates didn't appreciate him and made sure he knew it. Ben was smart, almost too smart, and it made him socially awkward and detached when he couldn't associate with those of his age. He was always correcting them and telling them the consequences of their behavior and it drove them crazy. It didn't help that he was gay either, which they also made sure to tease him about. Because of this, his parents finally agreed to allow him to graduate and got him prepared for college, buying him a small flat close to campus, which they visited often to check up on him. Ben could never thank his parents enough for it, even though the visiting was a bit annoying sometimes. They never made sure it was okay before they dropped by. But Ben figured he could deal with that after all they have done for him.
Once his teacher came into the room, the rest of the students quieted down. Ben liked Mrs. Leege. She was fun, but expectant of her students and he always made sure to deliver. Mrs. Leege noticed Ben's daily smile at her and she smiled back, picking up the papers she noticed on his desk.
“Thank you, Ben.” She held up his papers. “This is an example of motivation,” Mrs. Leege announced to the rest of the class. They all groaned in response, rolling their eyes.
Ben blushed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ben went home that night feeling extra spirited. He fiddled with his ukelele, playing any tune that came to his head, sometimes they were actual songs, but most of the time it was something random he came up with on the spot. Usually, he would be at the local clinic for the people with Alzheimer's Disease, but he had tonight off. When Ben had first started attending the college a year and a half ago, he had found an ad in the newspaper looking for volunteers. Motivated by some subconscious desire, he had called the number at the bottom of the ad and has worked for the clinic ever since. He loved it there, he loved the patients, the co workers, even his boss. Ben had never been so happy with one of his impulsive decisions, which he made a lot of.
Ben stopped his ukelele playing abruptly when he heard the sound of his ringtone going off. Embarrassingly, it was a tune from one his favorite movies Avatar.
“Ah, hello?” Ben answered, figuring it was one of his parents.
“Hey, Ben, it's Kasie!”
Ben smiled. Kasie was one of his only, if not best, friend. They had met when he moved here and he liked how weird she was. She liked how smart he was. They didn't hang out a lot, but then again, Ben was somewhat of a loner.
“So, it's James's birthday today and we're going down to the club in town if you want to join us. You can use that fake I.D. I got made for you and you never used.” Ben smiled at the teasing tone in her voice.
“I don't know, Kas. I'm not one for clubbing... or drinking.”
“You don't have to drink, silly. We're only going to club because they give us free cake for someone's birthday.”
Ben laughed. “Alright. What time?”
“Say 8?”
“Sounds good. I'll be there.”

8:00
“You made it!”
Ben turned when he heard Kasie's voice. He didn't see her before he felt her slim arms wrap around his body. He smiled and hugged her back.
“Of course.”
“Birthday boy is over here.” She dragged him to a table in the back where a couple of people he didn't know sat along with James, who was surrounded by beer, confetti, and cake.
Ben extended his hand to him and James shook hit. “Congratulations on being born,” Ben said. “You know you're conception was a one in 400 trillion chance. Count yourself a miracle.”
James smiled awkwardly. “Thanks, haha.” The other people around them looked away, trying hard not to laugh. Ben's smile slowly turned into a frown. He knew he shouldn't have come out tonight.
“You want anything to drink?” Kasie asked him, saving the awkward silence.
“A coke, thank you Kasie.”
“Just a pop, Ben? Come on, drink up a little.”
“No thank you. Alcohol is poison to the body. I plan to live past the age of 45.” He smiled up at the moron with a mug of beer the size of his head. The guy just scoffed and took another disgusting swig of that caramel colored drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Kasie returned fast with his coke and he sipped at it, frowning at the odd, bitter taste of it. He opened his mouth to ask Kasie if it really was just coke, but she had already skittered off to talk to one of her girl friends. Ben just sighed and took a seat next to one of the guys he didn't know, already regretting leaving the comfort of his home and ukelele for this.
After a few hours of listening to the stupid small talk of Kasie and James's friends, Ben stood with the excuse to get a drink and headed towards the bar. Before he was out of earshot he heard someone say “Thank God. That guy is so weird. Why do you even hang out with him?” Ben didn't hear the answer to that, nor did he care to. Honestly, he wasn't surprised. He wouldn't have come if he had known it was going to be more than just him, Kasie, and James. But then again, he should have known that it wasn't. James was a pretty popular guy around here, getting along with almost everyone. Even Ben. The downside to James was that he never stood up for his friends, especially Ben.
With a sigh, Ben took a seat on one of the bar stools, ordering another coke when the bartender asked. He leaned his head on one of his hands and closed his eyes. The blaring music had just about deafened him by now. He wanted to go home more than anything, but he knew Kasie would be upset if he did. So, he just sat there, sipping at his drink and thinking up a tune he could play on his ukelele.
“I'll have a vodka and diet coke.”
Ben glanced up when he suddenly heard a deep voice next to him. A man stood there in jeans and a black button shirt with a black tie, the sleeves rolled up to his elbow. He was clean shaven and his hair was relatively short, but still finger runnable. The man thanked the bartender as he was handed his drink, taking a sip and leaning on the bar with one of his elbows. The man caught Ben staring and smiled. Ben blushed heavily and looked down.
“Like what you see?” The man asked, a certain look about him that made Ben's chest tighten.
“Maybe,” Ben smiled. He was surprised at his confidence to flirt with such a handsome man. “It's really just my natural instinct to seek out a possible mate.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Ben cursed himself for being so weird. He was sure he'd scared the man off.
But the man laughed, extending his hand for Ben to shake. “I like you. The name is Adam.”
“Ben.”
“So, Ben, you live around here?”
“Yeah. I'm here for a birthday party. My... friends are over there.” He nodded his head in their direction, purposefully skating around the man's actual question. He didn't like revealing information like that... just in case.
“You're not with them?” Adam asked, his brows furrowed as he took another sip of his drink.
“I'm not one for... groups. People, really.”
Adam smiled at him. “Same here.”
It was quiet for a moment. It wasn't awkward, Ben realized with a smile. It was actually rather comfortable.
Adam glanced at Ben. “You wanna get out of here?”
Ben looked into his eyes. Without truly realizing why, he agreed.