rockin' chair. (john bender).

Chapter Four: Breaking Down Barriers

It was around half-past eleven when Beth was tying Bender's scarf around his head while he whistled Colonel Bogie's March. Soon enough, everyone began whistling along with him (out of tune, of course). Then, Vernon came into the library, and everyone stopped whistling, except for Bender, who had started whistling Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

"Alright, girls, that's thirty minutes for lunch," Vernon announced.

"Finally," Beth huffed in annoyance; the blonde would become very agitated if she was hungry.

"Here?" Andrew questioned.

"Here," Vernon confirmed.

"Well, I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable place for us to eat lunch, sir," Andrew pointed out.

"Well, I don't care what you think, Andrew," Vernon sneered.

"I have to say I agree with you on that one, Dick," Beth nodded at Vernon.

"Me too!" Bender admitted enthusiastically as he turned to Beth.

"Quiet, both of you," Vernon snapped.

"Uh, Dick?" Bender called out. "Excuse me, Rich. Will milk be available to us?"

"We're extremely thirsty," Andrew added.

"I have a really low tolerance for dehydration," Claire interjected.

"I've seen her dehydrate, sir. It's pretty gross," Andrew implied.

"Yeah, that's something I don't ever want to see, if I'm being honest," Beth said.

"Relax, we'll get it," Bender proposed, grabbing Beth's hand and pulling her up with him.

"Ah, ah, ah. Grab some wood there, bub," Vernon said as they slowly sat back down. "What, do you think I was born yesterday? You think I'm going to have you two roaming these halls?"

"He has a point," Beth said, and Bender silently agreed with a nod.

"You." Vernon pointed at Andrew, trying to get him to pick Claire to go with him, but it didn't work. "And you," he pointed at Allison.

"Hey!" Vernon shouted when he realized she wasn't paying attention. "What's her name? Wake her up. Hey! On your feet, missy. Let's go. This is no rest home. There's a soft drink machine in the teachers' lounge. Let's go!"

Once again, everyone had moved to different places in the library. Claire was standing near the statue, Brian was on the railings, Bender was sitting on the table next to Brian, and Beth was sitting on the edge of the table Bender was on, with her back to him.

"Claire..." Bender began, "you want to see a picture of a guy with elephantiasis of the nuts? It's pretty tasty."

"No, thank you," she declined.

"How do you think he rides a bike? Oh, Claire, would you ever consider dating a guy like this?" Bender questioned.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Claire complained.

"I mean, if he had a great personality, was a good dancer, and had a cool car, although you'd probably have to ride in the back seat because his nuts would ride shotgun," Bender continued, but Claire rolled her eyes and turned away.

"You know what I wish I was doing?" Claire asked no one in particular.

"Oh, watch what you say. Brian here is a cherry," Bender informed.

"A cherry?" Brian questioned.

"I wish I were on a plane to France," Claire confessed.

"Me too, actually. France is one of my favorite countries," Beth told her.