sincerely yours ⤇ john bender

four

THE NEXT LITTLE WHILE WAS SILENT AND MOSTLY UNEVENTFUL. John set his shoe on fire and used it to light a cigarette. Claire stared off into the distance, unaware of the nothing that was happening around her. Andrew was messing with the strings of his sweatshirt, pulling one to make the other shorter. Brian, bless the boy, put something in his lap and stared at Claire. Allison had found a thin piece of string around her pointer finger tightly, making her finger turn purple. Eisley, after fishing the screw out of her bra and tossing it over her shoulder towards the back of the library, had lied down on her desk on her back, staring up at the ceiling and quietly humming "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash. John leaned his head against her stomach after having lit his smoke, occasionally moving to do something weird like play air guitar for the music in his head. Eventually, having to wake up early got to Eisley and she drifted off.

"Wake up!"

Eisley stirred a little at the sound of Vernon's voice, but not enough to move or open her eyes. She was warm, much warmer than she had been before. When her mind came to a little bit more, she realized that at some point when she was asleep, John had gotten up on her table and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her back to his chest. Her entire back side was pressed flush against his front. She didn't mind; at least she wasn't cold. However, she could feel her cheeks burning ever so slightly.

"Who has to go to the lavatory?"

John's arm over her suddenly left from around her, so she used her newfound freedom to lift her arm as well.

After the bathroom break, everyone was back in the library. This time, Eisley found herself sitting with her legs crossed on Claire and Andrew's table, twisting the little silver ring on that she had on her left middle finger to keep herself occupied. Claire and Allison sat at their normal seats. Andrew was stretching, John was sitting up on a short shelf and ripping the pages out of a book, and Brian was standing behind a pillar a few feet to the left of John.

"That's real intelligent," Andrew said sarcastically to Bender.

Eisley sighed, murmuring, "Oh, God."

"You're right," Bender responded, "It's wrong to destroy literature and, I mean, it's such a fun read... and, " he stopped to examine the cover of the book, "Mo-let really pumps my nads!"

"Mol-yare," Eisley corrected, bringing Bender's attention to her. "That's how you pronounce it."

"I love his work," Brian added, and Eisley smiled pleasantly at him.

John threw a chunk of pages at the boy, making Brian hide behind the pillar. Eisley playfully rolled her eyes. "Big deal," John said, "Nothing to do when you're locked in a vacancy."

"Speak for yourself," Andrew said.

"Do you think I'd speak for you?" Bender snapped. "I don't even know your language."

Ignoring him, Andrew turned to look at Claire, "Hey, you grounded tonight?"

"I don't know," she said. "My mom said I was, but my dad told me to just blow her off."