The Wallflower [Andrew Clark]

Chapter 2

Kathleen P.O.V.
"Hey! What's going on in there?" I hear Vernon yell. My eyes widen and I look up at everyone else. They all look at each other. The jock turns away from John Bender. "Scumbag." He mutters to himself. Bender stands up and walks over to the railing. He sits on it. He's a funny guy, but if he keeps on, I'm gonna be stuck here every Saturday for the rest of my life.

"What do you say we close that door. We can't have any kind of party with Vernon checking us out every few seconds." He says. "Well, you know the door's s'posed to stay open..." The boy next to me says. I look at him. "So what?" Bender asks. "So why don't you just shut up! There's five other people in here you know." The jock says.

"God, you can count. See! I knew you had to be smart to be a...a wrestler." Bender says. "Who the hell are you to judge anybody anyway?" The jock says. "Really..." The redhead girl says snobbishly.

I regret voting for her for Prom Queen. "You know, Bender...you don't even count. I mean if you disappeared forever it wouldn't make any difference. You may as well not even exist at this school." The jock says to Bender. "You can't talk to him like that." I say quietly, but they all hear me. I'm usually a quiet person so I don't know what the hell drove me to say that.

The three all look at me. "Oh really and why not?" The jock says to me as if it was a challenge. All the blood rushes to my face and I mentally scold myself for opening my mouth in the first place. "Well...'cause you-you wouldn't l-like it if someone said that to you..." I stutter. Bender saves me from having to talk any further by saying, "Well...I'll just run right out and join the wrestling team." The jock and the redhead look at each other and laugh at Bender.

"Maybe the prep club too! Student council." Bender says. "No, they wouldn't take you." The jock says. "I'm hurt." Bender says. "You know why guys like you knock everything?" The redhead asks. "Oh, this should be stunning." Bender mutters to himself.

"It's 'cause you're afraid." She says. I raise my eyebrows slightly and listen in. You'd think I would've learned my lesson. "Oh, God! You ritchies are so smart, that's exactly why I'm not heavy in activities!" Bender says with so much sarcasm, I can't help but laugh.

The jock looks at me once more. "What? You think he's funny?" He asks. I stare at him in silence. "What's your deal?" He demands. "I don't have a deal. And it's not just him, this whole argument's been quite hysterical, really." I say quietly. He rolls his eyes and turns back to the argument.

"You're a big coward!" The redhead says. The boy next to me, feeling left out, says "I'm in the math club..." I look at him smile. "What's your name?" He asks me quietly. "Kathleen Love." I say shyly. "Brian Johnson." He says.

"See, you're afraid that they won't take you. You don't belong so you just have to dump all over it." I hear redhead say. "Well...it wouldn't have anything to do with you activities people being assholes...now would it?" Bender asks. "Well you wouldn't know. You don't even know any of us." She says.

"Well, I don't know any lepers either, but I'm not gonna run out and join one of their fucking clubs." Bender says. "Hey let's watch the mouth, huh?" The jock says. Brian again feels he needs to contribute.

"I'm in the physics club too..." He mutters. "S'cuse me a sec..." Bender says to the redhead and turns to Brian. "What are you babbling about?" He asks. "Well, what I said was...I'm in the math club, the Latin club and the physics club...physics club." Brian says. Bender nods and turns to the redhead.

"Hey...Cherry...do you belong to the physics club?" He asks her. "That's an academic club." She says. "So?" Bender asks. "So...academic clubs aren't the same as other kinds of clubs." The redhead says. "Oh, but to dorks like him." Bender points at Brian. "They are. What do you guys do in your club?" Bender asks Brian. I look at Brian as he explains.

"In physics, um, we ah, we talk about physics...about properties of physics." Brian says. I look back at Bender. "So it's sorta social...demented and sad, but social. Right?" He asks Brian. "Yeah, well, I guess you could consider it a social situation.

I mean there are other children in my club and uh, at the end of the year we have, um, you know, a big banquet, at the, uh, at the Hilton." Brian says. "You load up, you party..." Bender says. I furrow my eyebrows together in confusion.

"Well, no, we get dressed up...I mean, but, we don't...we don't get high." Brian says. "Only burners like you get high." The redhead says to Bender. "And, uh, I didn't have any shoes. So I had to borrow my dad's. It was kinda weird 'cause my mom doesn't like me to wear other people's shoes. And, uh, my cousin Kent...my cousin Kendall from, uh, Indiana... He got high once and you know, he started eating like really weird foods. And uh, and then he just felt like he didn't belong anywhere. You know, kinda like, you know Twilight Zone kinda." Brian continues.

The redhead laughs and says to Bender, "Sounds like you." The jock looks angry and says, "Look, you guys keep up your talking and Vernon's gonna come right in here...I got a meet this Saturday and I'm not gonna miss it on account of you boneheads." Really?

"Oh and wouldn't that be a bite." Bender says letting out a moan of fake agony. "Missing a whole wrestling meet!" He says. "Well you wouldn't know anything about it, faggot! You never competed in your whole life!" The jock says angrily to Bender.

"Oh, I know...I feel all empty inside because of it. I have such a deep admiration for guys that roll around on the floor with other guys!" I laugh when Bender says this earning a glare from the jock. "I'm sorry. It's funny." I say. "The girl's got a sense of humor. Sue her!" Bender says in my defense. "Don't worry, Toots. I got your back." He says.

"Whatever. You'd never miss it anyway." The jock says getting back to the previous conversation topic. "You don't have any goals." He says. "Oh, but I do!" Bender says. "Yeah?" The jock asks. "I wanna be just--like--you! I figure all I need's a labotamy and some tights!" Bender says. I become interested again.

"You wear tights?" I ask the jock giggling "No I don't wear tights, I wear the required uniform." He says. "Tights." I say, as if that was what he meant to say. "Shut up!" He says. We hear Vernon moving around out in the hall so Bender quickly comes and sits in the chair between the redhead and the jock.

He folds his hands on the table. Vernon goes back into his office. Bender laughs and gets up. He starts walking towards the double doors that separate the library from the hallway. "You know there's not s'posed to be any monkey business!" Brian says. Bender turns and points at Brian.

"Young man...have you finished your paper?" He says in a stern voice. Bender turns back away and goes to the door. He looks around cautiously and removes a screw from the door. "What are you gonna do?" The redhead demands. "Drop dead, I hope!" The jock says.