Chapter One: Lonely There had been silence in the room for some time as the two men in the room simply exchanged glances while one worked. Ben typed away at his laptop and the clicking of the keys exaggerating the silence. Bart watched him do so while scratching his eye repeatedly on the dry patch of eczema on his eye.

Bart looked at Ben and pursed his lips. Ben focused on the screen. Ben paused and stared at the screen for a while and looked at Bart.

“Hey”, Ben said “I don’t think this is getting done today you, I can do it at home and send it to you later”.

“Sounds good” Bart nodded. “You want to get food? There’s this mukbang I watch that had some bomb looking tacos.”

“Sure” Ben agreed

“Let me just put out the video I want to know what she ordered” Bart took the laptop and pointed it towards him.

“A friend of mine was telling me that Mukbangs are for sad people so they don’t have to eat alone.” Ben frowned.

“I watch them when I’m hungry at night so I don’t go out and eat. I watch them I feel less hungry.” With this Ben nodded and checked his phone.

Bart pulled out the address and Ben raised an eye. “This is downtown.”

“Ya so” Bart looked blankly

“It’s a Sunday, I don’t normally travel on Sundays”

“Then I guess it’s gonna be a weird day for you.” Bart smiled, Ben gave a part smile back.

They slowly made there way out of the house, as Bart kept running back forgetting some of his things with each trip downstairs. They finally made it out of the house and took a moment to take in the sweltering heat. “This is bad” Ben said feeling the heat on his skin and touching his black messenger bag.

“Naw this is just the sun it’ll go away in a bit” Bart assured him

“You sure?”

“Ya” Said Bart and Ben nodded in response, “Do you mind if I invite someone to come eat with us?” Bart already had his phone not waiting for a response.

“That’s fine” They began walking and Bart stared at an old school building abandoned in the summertime. He pointed and said “It’s been 13 years since I left”.

Ben was confused “Highschool, it’s been 7 years for me, 6 years for you” Correting Bart

“No elementary school, it’s been 13 years” With that Bart was silent and Ben zoned out they kept walking forward, the bus ride happened, then the subway, then another walk and then they arrived. When they arrived Ben asked “What happened to your friend?”

“She’s not coming” Bart said sharply and Ben nodded.

The restaurant was a small hole in the wall mexican restaurant with packed tables and scrambling waiters. Around the restaurant was residential houses almost a stain on the rest of the area if it wasn’t so desired. They didn’t get a table so they ordered out and waited for 30 minutes for them to be given their order. When they went to check the order had been waiting for 20 minutes and was luke warm.

“That was unacceptable” Bart said as they walked away from the restaurant.

“They were busy and the waitress was probably overwhelmed.” Said with an expressionless face.

“How fucking hard is it to give someone an order. Any dumbass can do that” Bart and Ben stood their listening to their own breath. They sat down in a nearby park and ate. They shared the food and then it was gone. They sat there for a moment watching two men share loving glances to their left as both men piggybacked the seat the backless bench they were on. Another group to the right of them had an aggressive flamboyant man talking about money, fame and riches and how he would achieve them all. His friends seem to be pleased with this because they seemed to wowed by the performance.

A large fountain in the shape of a jug stood between them all, the water spilling from all sides in a most unusual manner. Almost as if rain was shooting out of the jug somehow. The couple to their left and the group to their right had picked up and went on. There was silence again with a few slow moving cars in the background. “Are you okay?” Ben asked recalling more lively conversations they have shared.

“Not really” Bart said with no tone just matter-of-factly. There was another lull that was shortcut by Bart “I’m lonely and nothing seems to change it. Everything feels empty: work, friends, …food. I’m just sad all the time and I want it to stop and I can’t figure it out. You know?”.

Ben nodded “Ya I know”

“The dreams we were told when we were kids: be a dad, get a house, have the cool group of friends, be happy. None of them have happened, I’m 24 nothings changed.” Bart sighed “That’s why I like filling up my time, working out and stuff. Speaking of which you want to try boxing with me?”

Ben instinctively reached for his wallet in this pocket almost as if to defend it. “Ya sure” he said with a small smile all the while clutching his wallet. They had agreed to check out the gym on Wednesday and went their separate ways.

Ben stared out the window on the bus while actually using the small reflection on the glass to look at people. A man stared back at him on the bus and Ben became slightly angry staring at the man until he looked away. The man did. The people were ugly and had the same baggy clothing in different, sometimes vibrant, colors. He arrived home his dog rushed to his feet with little yips of excitement and Ben held the dog for a moment brushing him reassuring the dog that he was in fact a “good boy”. Ben brushed the dog and stopped, the dog looked up. Ben noticed the dog didn’t seem all that excited that he was there anymore, just simply need someone to scratch his furry little back.

Ben stood said hello to his mother and went to the restroom. In the mirror he saw the growing number of white hairs on his head, he brushed his hand through his hair. He grabbed the small extra fatty skin on his gut kneading it in a motion as if he was lightly trying to rip it off. He paused there staring at himself, he didn’t stand out from the people on the bus.

In a hush low voice so no one could hear him he said, “Lonely”