The Way I Am

5. The One With Extra Detentions

"God dammit!" the principal's voice made Mara open her eyes quickly. He entered the library angrily.

"Why is that door closed?" he asked, demanding an answer. No one said anything.

"Why is that door closed?" Vernon repeated loudly.

"How are we supposed to know? We are not supposed to move, right?" Bender spoke. Vernon ignored his comment and looked at Claire. "Why?" he yelled, pointing towards the door.

Mara had a feeling that Claire was going to tell Vernon the truth. She shook her head in disbelief, but then, the princess surprised her by saying, "We were just sitting here like we were supposed to."

Vernon walked closer to Bender's table. "Who closed that door?" he demanded.

"Probably the wind," Mara joked. When the principal was about to say something about Mara's comments, Bender spoke, "I think a screw fell out of it."

She was glad that he managed to distract Vernon, because she once again spoke without thinking, and she had a feeling that Vernon was going to give her another detention just for that comment.

"It just closed, Sir," Andrew said, trying to ease the tension the principal radiated. Thinking about how she blurted out things, she remembered what her mother spoke to her about many times before. There was always a time and place for everything. She could almost hear her mother's voice express.

Being a smart mouth was part of who she was. She didn't have a filter. She always said the first thing that came out, without thinking, which caused her many problems in school, so no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't change.

She missed most of the conversation Vernon and the rest of the students were having. She snapped from her thoughts, when a loud noise was heard from the entrance. She looked towards that direction and saw that Vernon was trying to fix the door. Putting a chair to hold the door was failing, since it was too heavy, which Bender reminded.

The principal didn't take his comment into consideration and continued to put the chair in the middle. Failing miserably only gained the laugh of the children in the room.

"Andrew Clark! Get up here, come on!" Richard Vernon ordered, making him stand up from his chair.

"Hey, how come Andrew gets to get up?" Bender debated.

"If he gets up, we all get up. There will be anarchy!" John continued.

Andrew tried to block the door with a heavy magazine shelf. Looking that it was also a failure on Vernon's part, Mara laughed.

"That's very clever, Sir, but what if there's a fire? I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children would be unwise at this junction in your career," John questioned, surprising Mara for his analysis. She laughed, knowing what John was doing.

She had to handle it to him, he was a great actor. She thought that not having Vernon check up on them constantly might give them time to breathe, which is why she decided to help out John.

"That's a big lawsuit waiting to happen, Sir," Mara expressed, gaining the attention of the bad boy. She winked at him which he returned with a genuine smile instead of a smirk.

As Vernon scolded Andrew for not doing the right job, Johnson reminded Bender that the school was equipped with the necessary fire exits to use in case of emergencies. The comment gained the demand of Bender to show respect to the principal. It was obvious a front.

Vernon ordered the wrestler to sit back in his chair as he walked closer to the group.

"I expected more from a varsity lineman," the principal told Andrew.

"You are not fooling anybody, Bender. The next screw that falls out is going to be you," he addressed to John. Richard Vernon was a bully. Even though he was the authority of the school, he treated the students like crap. He was more hated than Bender, and it was obvious he had a thing for John. The hate radiated all over, and that was something Mara found irritating.

"Eat my shorts," John whispered, getting the undivided attention from the principal.

"What was that?" Vernon questioned, walking towards Bender's table.

"Eat-my-shorts!" Bender repeated loudly as he pause each syllable. Mara opened her eyes wide, because she was certain that was going to get him another Saturday detention, or something worst.

"You just bought yourself another Saturday," the principal fumed.

"Ugh, I am crushed!" Bender retorted, not caring about what Vernon was saying.

"You just bought one more right there," Vernon expressed, pointing his finger towards Bender. Mara was getting angry, and when she was about to say something John heard her make a noise and stared at her. He shook his head. It was obvious that he didn't want her to get in trouble as well.

"I am free the Saturday after that, beyond that I have to check my calendar," John yelled, making Mara look at him in disbelief. She was one to be a smart mouth herself, but she didn't like that he was getting screwed over because Vernon was bully him around. That's what the principal wanted. He wanted to get in Bender's skin.

"Good because it's going to be filled. We'll keep going. You want another one?" Vernon questioned.

Bender didn't respond. "Say the word, just say the word, instead of going to prison, you'll come here," Vernon added.

"John, no," Mara whispered. John looked at her and saw the worried expression on her face. She mouthed the words "stop" and he winked at her.

"Are you through?" Vernon seethed as Bender folded his arms in front of his chest.

Mara couldn't listen anymore. She made the argument a blur within her mind. She hated to see Bender get screw over like that. She hated that Vernon was a bully who instead of helping John, he insisted on pushing him to the edge. She wanted to defend him. Something was pulling at her to make him stop, but watching Bender's warning stare made her retract from her plans.

She felt secure at that point. It felt like John was protecting her, which attained the knowledge of her feelings for him. Her thoughts were soon cut in by Bender's loud voice as he yelled, "Fuck you!" to the principal who had left the library.

Mara saw Bender's back since he was in front of her. Not liking that he wasn't moving, and knowing that Vernon said hateful things to him, she stood up from her chair. She walked closer to the table he was sitting, and sat down in a chair next to him. Without looking at him, she could sense that he was looking at her. She turned her vision towards John and saw some sort of unfamiliar yet good radiation coming from his eyes.

"Since we are spending next Saturday together in detention, we might as well make the most of it today, huh?" she joked, earning a smirk from the bad boy.

She had a feeling that it was going to be a good Saturday after all, once she got lost in John's brown eyes as they stared at her hazel ones.