Breaking Benny

All of the adults at the school Bonnie Glass currently attended spoke very highly of the 4th grader. Teachers raved about her intellectual and creative abilities, and school system employees from the Principal's office through the cafeteria and janitorial staff commented regularly on her politeness and manners. Many also mentioned her maturity, and there was no doubt Bonnie was mature for her age, both in body and in mind. She had hit puberty very early, first girl in her small town to do so, at least the first that she and the school nurse Ms. Charles, who had helped her through that very scary day, knew about. Bonnie's period had come on suddenly, ironically during first period, on only her second day in the 4th grade. She was caught completely unprepared and unawares. Her parents had not even begun to broach the topic of puberty or sex, thinking they had several years still of innocence before those awkward conversations would become necessary. Bonnie herself was as naïve as every other 4th grade girl and had heard only whispers of "monthly visitors" and other mysterious happenings from some of the older girls she sometimes overhead talking amongst themselves during recess. She had made it through that day without completely breaking down only thanks to Ms. Charles and her very supportive mother. Mrs. Glass had arrived at the school within minutes of receiving a distressing call from the Principal telling her that her daughter had started bleeding during class and been sent to the Nurse's office.

Puberty changed Bonnie, and not for the better. Bonnie's graduation to adolescence had done nothing to reduce the admiration for her among the adults in her life. In fact, the high regard in which she was held may have even grown thanks to how well she had handled her period that day. However, for the children in her school, particularly those in her 4th grade class, Bonnie's ascent to womanhood, had stripped them of a classmate, and turned her from friend to stranger seemingly overnight. Before her first period, mostly still in the third grade, Bonnie had been kind and funny and well liked by all her classmates. Now, though she remained envied by the other girls for her looks and smarts and popularity among the boys, she had become feared by both girls and boys for a streak of cruelty that had appeared seemingly from out of nowhere. As the 4th grade year wore on, her cruelty grew as did her adeptness at hiding it from the adults in her life.

There was one young boy in the 4th grade who remained enamored of Bonnie no matter how badly she might mistreat him or any of his classmates. His name was Benny Duncan and he had been head infatuated with Bonnie from the first time he saw her. That had been over two years ago when she first arrived at his school as a new student recently moved to his city from across the country. The second grade infatuation had morphed into a 4th grade obsession. Benny would do anything for Bonnie, and she never failed to take advantage of his dedication by having him perform menial tasks like sharpening her pencils or saving her a seat in the lunchroom. The seat was only for her and she would not allow him to sit next to her, or even at the same table, but she would smile and say "thank you Benny" as she sat. It was worth it for the smile alone Benny thought, but the fact that she actually spoke to him was icing on the cake. Though they were sometimes mildly embarrassing, the small things Bonnie asked of Benny were never humiliating or degrading or in any way risky to him or anyone else. They certainly were not intentionally hurtful. After her period however that began to change. Where previously Bonnie would ask Benny to go get her a pencil from the classroom supply cabinet, now she would order him to steal it from a classmate or even a teacher. Saving a seat for her at lunch became pulling a chair out from under one of the other girls in her class that she viewed had wronged her in some way. Benny had been lucky that he had not yet been caught, but he knew what he was doing was wrong, and knew it would only be a matter of time before she asked something of him that could get him in serious trouble. Maybe even land him in the principals office or detention or in the worst case, suspension from school. However, his infatuation and obsession with Bonnie had not diminished, and he also knew he would do whatever she asked of him, no matter the potential consequences to himself.

He was not at all surprised when Bonnie told him he must pull the fire alarm at the school on Wednesday just before their upcoming Math test. When he dared weakly protest and ask pleadingly why, she told him that she did not feel like studying and needed an extra day or two to prepare. He suspected that was a lie. Bonnie was by far the smartest kid in 4th grade and math was her best subject. Math homework that took Benny and the other kids an hour to complete, Bonnie would finish in minutes. She never needed to study, and she aced every exam, seemingly with little to no effort. Meanwhile he struggled mightily and was happy if he could get an 80% on any test. What Benny did not realize was that Bonnie was bound and determined to break him. Previously she had found his puppy dog looks and strange obsession mildly amusing if a bit weird. After her period however that had morphed into annoyance and then disgust. She loathed Benny, hated him for reasons she probably could not explain and did not ever consider, she just knew she wanted to hurt him, and hurt him badly. She wanted to make him cry, wet his pants, bleed even. She would not go so far as to kill him, though she had considered options that might result in that outcome, but quickly dismissed them. This was not because of any great guilt about his fate, but rather because of fear of the consequences were she to get caught. The fire alarm was small potatoes, it was only the beginning and she smiled and laughed softly to herself as she considered the next job she had in mind for young Benny Duncan. She needed to move fast as the school year was quickly coming to a close, but she was dedicated, and patient, and very smart. She made a promise to herself that Benny would be broken before summer break, and she intended to keep that promise. The end of the 4th grade was shaping up to be a very fun time for Bonnie Glass. Very fun time indeed.