sincerely yours ⤇ john bender

one

Saturday March 24, 1984

THERE WERE FIVE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE LIBRARY WHEN EISLEY WALKED IN. She cringed. She recognized them all, knew their names, she knew exactly who they were, stereotype-wise, anyways. There typically weren't so many people there in Saturday detention. Usually she and one or two other people that didn't know each other at all sat quietly and did absolutely nothing for nine hours and then left. Now, there were six people, and it seemed to her already that this Saturday wasn't going to be like every other Saturday she had been there.

Spotting an empty seat in the very back opposite some girl — Allison, she believed — that had turned herself away from the rest of the people in the room, Eisley shuffled past the rest of the students and quickly took the seat. She passed a boy she had seen in the hallways and detentions a few times before — John Bender, she thought to herself — and he threw her a smirk. The corner of her mouth turned up in a small smile in response as she passed him by. Shaking her coat off, she placed it on the back of her chair and proceeded to put her chin in her hand.

Not a moment later, Richard Vernon entered. "Well, well," he said slowly, looking vaguely pleased, "Here we are! I want to congratulate you for being on time."

Before he could say anything else, Claire, the red haired girl sitting in the front, raised her hand, "Excuse me, sir? I think there's been a mistake. I know it's detention, but, um, I don't think I belong here." Eisley snorted quietly.

Ignoring the girl, Vernon checked his watch, "It is now seven-oh-six. You have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to think about why you're here; to ponder the error of your ways." In front of Eisley, Bender spit and loogie into the air and caught it back in his mouth. Shuddering in disgust, she looked down at her nails. "You may not talk," Vernon continued, pointing at the red haired girl, "You will not move from these seats." The nerdy looking blond boy that she knew to be Brian had been trying to discreetly move to the chair next to him suddenly froze, then shifted back to his original seat awkwardly. "And you," Vernon said, approaching John and pulling away the chair he had placed his feet in, "You will not sleep." With both of Bender's feet back on the ground, Vernon moved to the back of the rows of tables and slid Allison a sheet of lined paper. "Alright, people. We're going to try something a little different today. We are going to write an essay, of no less than a thousand words, describing to me who you think you are."

Eisley groaned quietly and let her head fall to her table in despair. She heard him slide her a piece of paper.

"Is this a test?" Bender asked suddenly, voice even and faintly hostile.

Ignoring the teen, Vernon said, "When I say essay, I mean essay. I do not mean a single word repeated a thousand times. Is that clear, Mister Bender?"

Not looking at Vernon, Bender answered, "Crystal."

"Good. Maybe you'll learn a little something about yourself, Miss Tusie," Vernon said suddenly, making Eisley bring her head up to send him a sarcastic smile. Bender chuckled at her. "Maybe you'll even decide whether or not you care to return."

Unable to resist the urge to make a dig at the assistant principal, Eisley grinned, "Oh, you know it's a yes from me, sir. What can I say, you're irresistible."

"Perfect," he said, although his tone was very much not pleased and he sounded a bit uncomfortable. "You can come back next Saturday."

Raising a two fingered salute, she replied, "Terrific."

Brian raised his hand and stood up, "You know, I can answer that right now, sir. That'd be a no for me, 'cause-"

"Sit down, Johnson," Vernon snapped tiredly.