rockin' chair. (john bender).

Chapter Three: Crossed Lines

The clock on the wall read 07:45, though no one knew it was wrong. Everyone had quickly grown bored and tried to entertain themselves. Bender was lighting his cigarette from his shoe, which he had set on fire. Claire was daydreaming about a million different places she could be right now. Brian was doing God knows what under the table, but it involved moving his hat onto his lap. Andrew was fiddling with the strings of his hoodie while Allison wrapped a piece of string around her finger. And Beth decided to put out the fire on Bender's shoe.

Beth then took the cigarette out of Bender's mouth and smoked it while he played air guitar. Bender froze, looking at Beth with raised eyebrows, which caused her to shrug innocently, acting as if she didn't understand his irritation.

Not long after, everyone was becoming tired and dozing off in their seats. Beth wanted to get more comfortable, so she moved her chair closer to Bender and used his chest as a pillow. He didn't seem to mind as he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer.

A few hours later, Vernon decided to check on the kids and rolled his eyes when he found them all sleeping. "Wake up!"

His booming voice woke Beth, but it didn't make her open her eyes or move from her comfortable position. She soon realized she was now, somehow, fully on Bender's lap, straddling him with his arms around her waist. At that moment, she was too tired to care, so she buried her head in the crook of his neck, hoping to tune out Vernon's voice. It didn't work.

"Who has to go to the lavatory?" Vernon asked sternly, and everyone raised their hands at the same time.

Beth slowly extricated herself from Bender's grasp, grabbing her bag as she did. As she stood up, Bender smirked and chuckled softly. "We should do that more often, sweets."

"In your dreams," Beth scoffed and then made her way to the restroom with the others. When Allison and Claire left, Beth decided to stay in there a little longer. She took out the silver flask from her bag and took a few sips; it seemed the whiskey was the only thing that was going to get her through this detention.

By the time Beth returned to the library, it was nearly half-past ten. Andrew was stretching his legs on the railing, Bender was ripping pages out of books, Brian was standing around them, and Claire and Allison were seated.

"Thought you pulled a runner," Bender said as soon as he noticed Beth.

"And not be able to see you for the rest of the day? Never," Beth replied with sarcasm while moving to sit next to him. Bender then threw half of the book he was ripping across the library.

"That's real intelligent," Andrew commented with annoyance.

"You're right; it's wrong to destroy literature. It's such fun to read. And," Bender paused to turn over the book he was holding, "Mo-lay really pumps my nads."

"Molière," Claire and Beth corrected in unison. Bender ignored Claire, who was twirling a piece of hair through her fingers, and instead looked at Beth with a weirded-out but slightly impressed expression.

"Didn't know you knew how to read." Bender smirked at her, chuckling.

"Charming." Beth rolled her eyes with a smile.

"I love his work," Brian commented, prompting Bender to throw some pages of the book at him.

"Big deal. Nothing to do while you're locked in a vacancy," Bender muttered while finding more things to dismantle.

"Speak for yourself," Andrew implied.

"Do you think l'd speak for you? I don't even know your language," Bender replied, causing Beth to crack a small laugh.