If you're a reader of my novel, Caught by the Bad Boys and sequel, Lights Out Boys, you are most likely familiar with the character named, Benny Neilson. He's a very complex character to write about so I thought it'd be a great idea for his enemies and fans to know the reason as to why he's important in the series.
If you haven't read my novel I suggest you give it a read, unless you're a fan of spoilers. My work can be seen on Wattpad and hopefully, very soon published!
Attention, spoilers ahead: Read at your own risk.
Benny Neilson
As we know in the beginning, Benny was portrayed as Lana Willson's bully and a person she'd never ever like. One of the first few conflicts in the story, involved Benny which took a drastic turn in Lana's life. It challenged and questioned her on everything she'd ever believed in. Since Benny was involved it sort of triggered him to open his eyes and see the clearer picture. In that situation, Lana felt as if she could only trust Benny when he apologised and that's where we learnt that Lana's weakness iss forgiveness. She's not only a character but a person, who forgives easily because she wants to move on in life and live in peace.
As the situation grew, so did Benny and Lana's friendship. Readers were shown a different side to Benny, rather than the cruel, horrible, jerk he was known for at the start of the novel. Another thing that developed their friendship would be when Lana got into arguments with other characters, Benny was always there. We began to realise how hard he tried to make things right between them.
In the second half of CBTBB, their friendship got intense and steamy as more characters arrived. Benny was suddenly hit with adrenaline to confess his feelings toward Lana. Since she's already been through a lot with bad people and noticed how Benny's changed, she realised that he might be good for her.
Now this was where the conflict came in with the readers. At first when Lana forgave him for the bullying, there were a few but now that they're in a relationship...the conflict increased.
I am not promoting their relationship and saying it's okay to just forgive your bullies but that's Lana's character and with the situation they're in, I wouldn't think they'd want to leave each other. Further on in the story, we realised how Benny had been beating himself up about it in his own way because he hurt the one he loves. He'll never get over it but pushed through and realised that Lana forgave him.
Their relationship ties with the plot on how they're covering up the murder. Every couple had to have their first fight and as shown in the story, their first didn't go so well. For neither of them, they were in a bad situation and needed each other. If they broke up then the story wouldn't flow and the truth would eventually come out from one of them out of jealousy or anger for the other person.
In no way, I am writing that it's fine and totally okay to date someone who's hurt you but characters are people too. For the readers who don't support Benny and Lana's relationship for that issue, there a characters who don't too. So I'm writing from both sides of the relationship, characters who support their relationship and others who don't.
Another fact is, deep inside, both characters (Lana and Benny) know what happened and will never forget what happened. However, they chose to ignore it and move on. Something can't be ignored forever and I'm not only talking about the bullying but the situation that brought them together too.
Readers do notice some change in Benny's character and I make it quite evident, however it's their choice to accept it and continue the story or be like the other characters and dislike their relationship. It's all part of the story and it's your decision to buckle up and see how it ends.