layers | john bender

[12] "I can make spaghetti!"

12. ᴍᴏᴍ's ᴘᴇɴᴅᴀɴᴛ

"I've already told you everything!"
I shook my head at Allison before asking her my question. "Nu-uh! Doesn't it bother you to sleep around without being in love? I mean don't you want any respect?" I felt a pinch on my arm and turned around seeing Bender with confused brows painted on his face. I wasn't sure what he was trying to tell me but I gave him the same look and looked back at Allison. "I don't screw to get respect that's the difference between you and me, Rhiannon."
Claire looked down at her lap, mumbling something about 'Not the only difference.'
"It's just a matter of self-respect and messing with someone you can trust."
Claire nodded her head at my thought. Bender looked at the both of us, Claire and I, going right along with the other's plot. "Face it, you're both teases."
I looked at Bender in annoyance. He had the biggest smirk plastered on his dumb face.
"I'm not a tease!" I didn't respond like the others wanted. Claire didn't know any better so of course she responded to everything.
"Sure you are! You agreed with Rhiannon that sex is a weapon, you use it to get respect!"
"Bender, we aren't filthy animals!"
Claire seemed like she was going to cry right on the spot. "I nodded my head but she twisted the words around!" Claire gestured to Al as she refrained herself from crying.
"Oh, then what do you use it for? Rhiannon said it , now you're turn." I scoffed at Bender. I couldn't believe this was happening right now.
"I don't use it period!"
"Oh, are you medically frigid or is it psychological?"
"We didn't mean it that way! You guys are putting words into our mouths!"
Soon, all three boys were pestering and pressuring Claire and I was about done with the whole thing. I actually wanted to go home. Claire looked like she was going to burst and Allison seemed to enjoy all of it. I groaned and laid on the floor, hoping to tune them all out but Claire screamed.
"No! I never did it!"
Everyone stood quiet for a bit until Allison spoke up once again after allowing the situation she created to unfold.
"I never did it either, I'm not a nymphomaniac. I'm a compulsive liar." I sat up again looking straight at Allison. Claire was practically fuming. If this was a cartoon, you'd see the steam coming from her ears.
"You are such a bitch! You did that on purpose just to fuck me over!"
"Al, you attention seeking bitch."
Allison just looked back at us, acting as if nothing happened. "I would do it though. If you love someone, it's okay."
"I agree." I replied to her quietly while looking down at my lap, playing with the zipper on my boots. Claire rambled about how Al didn't say a single word all day until now, just to 'unload tremendous lies' all over her.
"You're just pissed off because she got you to admit something you didn't want to admit to." Andrew pointed out the obvious and I looked up at Claire who shrugged. "Okay, fine, but that doesn't make it any less bizarre."

I continued to play with the zipper of my boot. I felt someone staring at me and I looked up again to find Bender looking over at me. I moved closer to him as I had moved away a bit when asking Allison the question. I grabbed a hold of his hand and messed with his glove, a common thing I did. I didn't know why but his gloves were interesting. Some loose strands of my hair came out of it's curl, he pushed it back behind my ear and took the chance to admire the earrings and jewelry I wore. "Where'd ya get that?" He pointed to the necklace I had on. It was different to the one I usually wore, the pedant was also hiding in my shirt so all he could see was the chain. I pulled it out to show him the silver necklace with a single jade gem in the middle. "It was my mom's." He didn't question which I admired about him.

Although he joked about a lot of personal things, touchy family subjects was one thing he understood. We had tuned out the conversation between Claire and Andrew until Allison told Claire that Andrew couldn't think for himself to which Andrew agreed and went on with his version of bizarre.
"She's right...do you guys know what, uh, what I did to get in here? Taped Larry Lester's buns together."
I laughed and so did Claire. Bender smiled lightly and Brian didn't even budge. "That was you?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
"Yeah, I know him." Brian sighed.
"Well then you know how hairy he is, right? Well, when they pulled the tape off, most of his hair came off and some, some skin too."
I cringed at the thought of that happening and leaned my head on Johnny.
"Oh god."
"And the bizarre thing is, is that I did it for my old man. I tortured this poor kid, because I wanted him to think I was cool." Andrew kept on about his incident in the locker room and his father. For the first time, I saw Andrew as nothing more than myself. I always saw him as the goody goody jock that had no reason to get himself into trouble. He's a smart kid, had something going for him but in reality, he was only down the same boat as I was. Trying to make father proud.
"You know, sometimes, I wish my knee would give... and I wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore. And he could forget all about me."
I nodded as I felt the same, not about the wrestling but my father forgetting all about me. "I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling."
"I think mine would have no problem with that. As long as one of them is paying for his beer."
Andrew let out a chuckle as Brian began to talk about his parents.
"It's like me, you know, with my grades.....like, when I, when I step outside myself kinda, and when I, when I look in at myself you know? And I see me and I don't like what I see, I really don't."
I looked at him confused and Claire shared the same look. She questioned him as to why he didn't like himself.
"'Cause I'm stupid... 'cause I'm failing shop." Brian continued to share about how he had an assignment where he made a ceramic elephant lamp where the trunk of the nose would turn the lightbulb on but when he tried to turn it on, his light wouldn't go on. He failed the assignment but never got an F in his life as he explained.
"Why'd you think it'd be easy?" Bender asked from next to me. I was hoping he didn't cause anything as poor Brian already seemed like he was on the verge of tears. "Have you seen some of the dopes that take shop?"
"I take shop. You must be a fuckin' idiot!" I looked up at Bender. "Bender, c'mon."
"I'm a fuckin' idiot because I can't make a lamp?"
"No, you're a genius because you can't make a lamp." Bender answered him sarcastically in a 'duh' tone. The two exchanged a few more words about Trigonometry before I decided to interrupt them. "Okay so neither one of you is any better than the other one. Quit your shit." Allison being an attention junkie, felt left out. She thought it was a conversation on what we can do.
"I can write with my toes! I can also eat, brush my teeth-"
"With your feet?" Claire and I asked in sync, I was curious as Claire sounded disgusted.
"...play Heart & Soul on the piano."
Brian seems to be in a better mood now that Allison changed the subject which I was relived about.
"I can make spaghetti!"
I clapped my hands, giving Brian a smile.