rockin' chair. (john bender).

Chapter Six: Unspoken Truths

John and Beth were sitting comfortably at the back of the library, passing a rolled joint back and forth when Claire appeared and sat on one of the couches nearby.

"Can I...?" Claire asked, motioning to the spliff between John's lips. He shrugged and passed it to her, then picked up another joint he and Beth had previously rolled and lit it. Beth watched Claire as she brought the joint to her lips, only to end up coughing after inhaling it. John started laughing at her as the blonde lit a joint of her own.

Brian had joined the three in the midst of it all. Beth was too far gone to notice him. For some reason, he decided to try and eat the smoke he blew out of his lips.

"Chicks cannot hold their smoke, that's what it is," Brian said in a strange accent. John and Claire began to stare at each other, causing Beth to make a disgusted face at the sight.

"Do you know how popular I am?" Claire started babbling. "I am so popular. Everybody loves me so much at this school."

"Poor baby," Beth mockingly said as Brian held his right hand up to John. John leaned over to Brian and pushed him back, causing the group to laugh. Once they recovered, everyone's heads turned to watch Andrew come out of a room filled with thick clouds of smoke and music blasting from the speakers. Beth had no idea how Vernon hadn't heard it.

Andrew unzipped his jacket and took it off, then started dancing all over the place. He then took his sweatshirt off and threw it down at the group, making Brian wolf-whistle at him. Andrew continued dancing and went back into the foreign language room, slamming the door shut and screaming until the glass broke.

"Wow," Beth breathlessly chuckled.

Andrew and Brian went to a different area of the library, leaving John, Claire, and Beth all alone. Claire and John were going through each other's things while Beth was dazed and zoned out, lying on the armchair with her legs dangling off the edge.

"Are these all your girlfriends?" Claire questioned. That caught Beth's interest, so she cocked her head slightly to look at them. John was going through Claire's bag and messing around with her makeup, and Claire was looking through John's wallet and the pictures inside. All of the photos were of girls. That proved Beth's point: John Bender wasn't the type to settle down with someone.

"Some of 'em," John replied.

"What about the others?" Claire asked.

"Well, some I consider my girlfriends. And some I just consider," he vaguely explained.

"Consider what?" Claire inquired.

"Whether or not I want to hang out with them," John admitted.

"You don't believe in just one guy, one girl?" Claire quizzed.

"Do you?" John retorted with furrowed brows.

"Yeah," Claire said. "It's the way it should be."

"Well, not for me," he announced.

"Why not?" Beth questioned, sitting up properly in her seat.

"How come you have so much stuff in your purse?" John queried, a little angrily, completely ignoring Beth's question.

"How come you have so many girlfriends?" Claire argued calmly.

"I asked you first," John asserted.

"What are you, eight?" Beth sarcastically asked, which earned her a glare from John. It wasn't one of the many playful ones he'd sent her earlier, it was more harsher.

"I don't know," Claire answered and shrugged. "I guess I never throw anything away."

"Neither do I," John smugly replied.