The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 30: Love is Irrational

Part 3/6

Ben just stood there for a moment, and Samuel would have thought he’d give up doing whatever he wanted to do, and then just walk away, until finally Ben spoke again.

“How are you feeling?” Ben asked, “Is there… Anything on your mind?”

“What a weird question to ask.”

“It’s not weird,” Ben replied honestly, “They say it all the time. To make sure you’re okay. And it seems like you need a question like that right about now.”

“Yeah. Yeah I’m doing fine. Thanks for asking,” Samuel bluntly replied as he turned his head away. Ben smirked, then crossed his arms.

“You know that when someone says they’re doing fine they’re not really fine, right?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know that?”

Samuel groaned, then rubbed his forehead.

“Okay, you know what? Fine, I’m not doing so great myself,” Samuel replied, “There’s too much on my mind right now. I don’t even know where to start…”

“Don’t worry about it, take your time,” Ben replied hastily. A head-scratching moment later, and Samuel finally responded.

“You know what? I just don’t get it,” Samuel said as looked up and saw Neddy and Ruby chatting, “I don’t get why Aurora is acting this way toward me. I don’t know if she likes me or what, but it’s scaring me. It just doesn’t make sense, I didn’t even do anything for her to feel this way!”

Ben’s face lit up, and he looked at the hut Aurora was residing in with an internal chuckle.

“So, you don’t get why Aurora is acting weird around you?”

“No. No I don’t!” Samuel shouted back. Ben thought for a second, then opened his mouth to speak.

“Are you worried that she likes you?” Ben asked. Samuel nodded hesitantly.

“Yeah. Yeah I do.”

“Well. You two aren’t friends, so why would you worry?” Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah. Yeah we aren’t. We’re just allies,” Samuel replied.

“So. Why are you worried?”

Samuel bit his lower lip, and then asked another question to deflect his statement.

“But why? Why does she-”

“There is no why to love,” Ben replied with swiftness, “Love is irrational, Samuel. It ain’t supposed to make sense. You feel certain ways toward someone because of their qualities. Their character.”

“And how do you even KNOW any of this?”

“I…” Ben shrugged lazily, looking off into the distance with a grin, “Had a friend who experienced the exact same thing. So I’ve witnessed it before and it’s not pretty.”

“So what do you suggest I do?” Samuel retorted with confusion.

“I dunno. That’s up for you to decide,” Ben replied, “But, before you act, look in your heart. And ask yourself, who do you love? If you don’t know the answer, move onto the next question. What type of person do I want to love?”

“Then… then you’ll know the answer.”

Ben turned around to walk away, when Samuel called out, “Wait!”

Ben paused in his tracks and turned around again.

“I’ve told you how I feel,” Samuel said with a grin, “Now you need to tell me how you feel. Specifically, what do you think of Skyler? Anything that she believes in that ticks you off?”

The spark from Ben’s eyes faded away, and he let out a huff of annoyance.

“Yeah. Yeah it does. She thinks the Book Club shouldn’t focus on writing, they should focus on reading,” Ben replied, “Instead of focusing on what we desire we should analyze little snippets of text from books and rant about how good they are when they can become so much more than that. I don’t get it, but at least she doesn’t force us to just read, that much I’m grateful for.”

“Oh.”

Samuel didn’t really know what to say about that, that wasn’t much help to giving him information, but at least he now knew that Ben wasn’t so fond of Skyler.