The Brooder - Andrew Clark

Chapter Two

The six kids sat around in relative silence for five minutes before Bender sniffed and started up again. He leaned towards Brian and said, "Hey, home boy, why don't you go close that door?" he suggested. "We'll get the prom queen and mousey next to you impregnated." Kayla's gasped softly, but only Brian heard her. He looked at her, his lips pursed as he watched his friend blush uncomfortably. She glared up and saw that Claire had turned to stare at Bender, but he just seemed amused. She started to lower her gaze again when she sheard Andrew say, "Hey. Hey!" She watched the events unfold as Bender looked back at Andrew. "What?!" He exclaimed. Kayla felt a nudge on her shoulder, and glanced over to see Brian staring at her, worriedly. He glanced over his shoulder at the two other boys before returning his gaze to hers. "Are you okay?" he whispered. "You just gotta ignore him." Kayla smiled at Brian and nodded. "I'm okay, I just wish I wasn't in here." Brian nodded and they both turned back to look at Andy who was threatening Bender. "If I lose my temper, you're totaled, man." She watched as Bender screwed up his face to make fun of Andrew. "Totally?" He mocked. Andrew ignored the mocking tone and kept his glare on him as he replied. "Totally."

Kayla and Brian both rolled their eyes when Claire spoke up. "Why don't you just shut up? Nobody here is interested." Bender scoffed and Andrew turned back around saying, "Really...buttface." Kayla let out an annoyed sigh but was glad when no one seemed to register it. Bender was never one to lose an argument, so he continued. "Well, hey sporto, what did you do to get in here?" he inquired. "Forget to wash your jock?" Brian leaned over slightly and interjected, causing Kayla to inhale deeply and turn back to look at Allison who just shrugged and watched on, fascinated. "Excuse me, fellas. I think we should just write our papers." Brian was completely ignored as Andrew turned back around and began to mock Bender again. "You know just because you live in here doesn't give you the right to be a pain in the ass, so knock it off!" Bender smirked and nodded and replied, "It's a free country." Kayla was still staring at Brian for his bold interjection when Claire addressed Andrew. "He's just doing it to get a rise out of you. Just ignore him."

Kayla was now engrossed in the three-way conversation, and she didn't know how it had happened. She watched as Bender looked between Andrew and Claire with a mischievous grin on his face. "Sweets?" he asked. "You couldn't ignore me if you tried." Kayla was shocked to see Claire blush and turn back around. Feeling like he'd won, Bender clapped his hands together and looked around the room. "So, are you guys like boyfriend-girlfriend?" he asked, still trying to get a rise out of the two. It made Kayla angry at herself that she actually cared about the answer. Meanwhile, Bender continued to press them. "Steady dates? Lovers? Come on, Sporto, level with me. Do you slip her the hot-beef injection?" Kayla's mouth dropped open at his question and Bender, seeing her, glanced over at her, and winked as both Andrew and Claire turned around. "Go to hell!" Claire screamed at the same time Andrew yelled "Enough!" They all jumped when they heard Vernon's voice.

"Hey! What's going on in there?!" Kayla was ripped out of the trance she'd been in, watching the three talk and put her gaze back on the table in front of her. She hated drawing attention to herself and focused her breathing on being as still as possible, hoping to be invisible again. Kayla kept her gaze steady as she heard Andrew mutter, "Scumbag." To himself. She heard jingling and assumed Bender had stood up and was walking around. "What do you say we close that door?" she heard him ask, refusing to look up again. "We can't have any kind of party with Vernon checking on us every few seconds." He finished. Kayla flinched when she listened to Brian's voice once again. He never usually spoke this much in groups, and she wondered why he felt the need to now. "Well, you know the doors are supposed to stay open." He said matter of factly. She raised her eyes again, unable to stop herself this time as Bender tilted his head and asked, "So what?" Everyone could tell that Andrew was getting more and more agitated as he retorted angrily. "So why don't you just shut up? There's five other people in here, you know."