Bender woke up first, when the morning sunlight spilled through the windshield and into his eyes. He was leaned up against the back corner of Allison's van, his neck bent at an angle and his cheek pressed against the top of Andy's head. He lifted his head up and cracked the crick out of his neck. It was dim in the back of the van, but there was enough sunlight to see a few feet on either side. Bender noticed Claire was curled up on his left side, her head resting in the crook of his arm. She snored softly. Andy was on his other side, drooling on his shoulder. Brian slept with his knees pulled up tight into his chest, using Bender's stomach as a pillow, and Allison lay sprawled out across his legs. Bender sighed. His back hurt and he really needed to stretch, but having for people napping on top of you is like when there's a cat sitting on your lap. No matter what, even if your house is burning down, you do not get up. Nothing is worth betraying the trust of a cat. The same goes with people sleeping on you. So Bender got comfortable, because until at least Brian and Allison were up, he wasn't going anywhere.

Not too much time passed before Brian was woken up by a loud cough. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and sat up. He was calm for half a second before he realized where he was. There was a fluffy brown blanket draped over his lap and a pillow under his rear. He remembered he was in the back of Allison's van, and there was sunlight shining in through the front windows. He flung the blanket away and leapt to his feet, running towards the driver's seat.

"Oh my God, what time is it?" He cried.

"School hasn't started yet, dweeb, you're fine." Bender replied from the back corner. "Come get the basket case off my legs."

Brian lifted Allison off Bender's legs, careful not to wake her. Bender pushed Claire and Andy from his sides, stood up, and set them back down. Allison yawned and opened her eyes. Brian pulled her all the way to her feet.

"Morning, losers," She yawned.

"Care to join us for a smoke, Klepto?" Bender asked, stretching his back.

"Nah," Allison sat back down. "You have fun."

Bender shrugged, pulling a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He pulled open the back door, grabbed Brian, and stepped out of the van. Allison, not wanting to sit by herself, crawled across the floor and snuggled up next to the still fast-asleep Claire.

"What are we gonna do in the future, Bender?" Brian sat on one of the bottom bleachers of the football field, smoke evaporating from his mouth. "I doubt any of our parents would approve of polygamy. I don't think it's even legal."

"You're the smart one." Bender reminded him. "You figure it out."

"Well, there's five of us, so I guess two pairs will marry legally, one of us will appear single, and we'll all live together." Brian tugged on his shirt sleeve. "You'll probably marry Claire, and Allison will marry Andy."

"What if I don't want to marry Claire?"

"Allison, then. She'd seem more likely than Claire, anyway."

"And what if I wanted to marry you?"

Brian was silent for a minute. Then burst into laughter. Bender smirked, cigarette clenched in his teeth. Brian caught his breath after a minute and scratched his nose.

"Get real, man. Nobody wants to marry me."

"All of us wanted to date you, dipshit." Bender retorted. "You saying we made a bad choice?"

"I mean legally. Who'd want to be legally tied to Brian Johnson for the rest of their life? I don't even want to be Brian Johnson."

"Then whoever you marry, you take their last name. You've got plenty to choose from."

Brian sifted through the names in his head. Brian Standish. Brian Reynolds. Brian Clark. Brian Bender. They all sounded leagues better than Johnson, anyway. He sighed, letting out another puff of smoke. He looked down at the frost on the grass. He could see his breath rise and evaporate when he exhaled. It wasn't too cold, but it was cold enough. He scratched his nose.

"I hate my family," He muttered, the slightest twinge of a laugh hanging from his voice.

"Yeah, you've already joined that club." Bender scoffed.

"You know what my mom said when they found the flare gun in my locker?" He didn't look up. "She said, 'I can't believe you'd even consider ruining our chance to get into Stanford.' I wanted to kill myself and she was just worried I'd get expelled from school."

He smiled after a minute. He'd been brainwashed by his parents for so long that he'd agreed with his mom at first. He'd been stupid and selfish to even think about using that flare gun, right? Who was he to deny his family their connection to Stanford? They'd have nothing to brag about if he got expelled, and they'd certainly have nothing to brag about if he was dead. He deserved every ounce of punishment he got, right? Well, after that day in detention, something just kind of snapped inside of him. It was like the brainwashing had almost been switched of. In those next few months, Brian started to detect all the bullshit his parents had exposed him too all his life. He felt like his brain had really been turned on for the first time in his life.

"They wouldn't even miss me if I was gone..." Brian laughed, but tears still filled his eyes.

Suddenly he felt Bender's hand on his arm and he was yanked into the other boy's side.

"Shut the fuck up, you dipshit." He ordered. "We'd miss you."

Brian smiled softly and rested his head on Bender's shoulder, tears falling freely from his eyes. Bender kissed the side of Brian's forehead, then quickly turned away.

Meanwhile, back in the van, Claire woke up with her arms wrapped around Allison and her cheek pressed against Andy's shoulder. Feeling her stirring, Allison sat back up. She kept her hand folded in Claire's, not wanting to break contact. Claire sat up and the two girls stood together. They glanced back at Andy.

"Should we wake him?" Claire asked.

"No. He's got this internal clock. He'll wake up fine on his own." Allison pulled one of the blankets over him.

The girls stepped out of the van together and went into the school. They each retrieved their things from their respective lockers, never breaking contact. Even when the first bell rang and the halls were overrun with their peers, they kept their hands entwined and walked to their first hour class together. A small group of cheerleaders Claire once called friends filed into the classroom together, regarded the girls, and began whispering amongst themselves.

"Look at the dykes," One girl whispered.

Another girl, Jenna, who'd remained supportive of Claire's new friends, sat behind them and tapped Claire lightly on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Claire turned.

"Are you trying to like, make a statement, or something?" Jenna asked softly.

"No,"

"Well, um... You might still want to be a little less obvious about..." Jenna gestured to Allison. "All this."

Allison bit down on her lip and, letting go of Claire's hand, moved to a seat in the back. Claire watched her go, quickly trying to think of something to say, and glared at Jenna.

"What the hell was that for?" She demanded.

Jenna stared at the floor. The cheerleaders continued to giggle at Allison's expense. Claire felt her heart sink into her stomach. Bender had been right; she still had no backbone. These girls weren't even her friends anymore, why couldn't she stand up to them? Why couldn't she tell them it was none of their business who she held hands with? Of course, Claire knew the answer already. Defending your friends was one thing. Defending your girlfriend was a whole other ballgame, especially when you're a girl dating another girl. Hell, they probably would have take better to the three boyfriends than Claire fucking Standish holding hands with a girl in the hallway. Claire sighed and stiffened her back, trying not to cry.

At the back of the class, Allison had pulled up the hood of her parka and was nibbling on her fingernails. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She knew she shouldn't be mad at Claire, but she couldn't help it. Claire hadn't even done anything wrong. She'd held Allison's hand even when they were being laughed at. It was Allison who'd let go, not Claire. There was no reason to be mad, and yet, she was fuming. What could either of them have done anyway? Gay guys were ridiculed and shamed, but gay girls? They weren't even heard of. Allison pulled her hood down over her eyes.

When the period ended, Claire tried to wait for Allison only to be pushed past by the girl in question. Claire tried to chase after her, but she weaved through the crowd too fast. Both caught sight of Andy staggering sleepily through the front entrance. Allison made it to him first and slipped into his arms. Claire sighed, hung her head in shame, and continued towards her next class.

"What's with Claire?" Andy asked, noticing the redhead slink away. "Is she okay?"

Allison shrugged and kissed Andy's cheek in an attempt to distract him. Andy chose to forget the topic and walk Allison to her next class, despite Claire's attitude still puzzling him.