As the class let out for afternoon recess, Binky and Buster left the room together. "It's time," Binky muttered to his friend.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" asked Buster quietly.

"Yeah," replied Binky. "You having second thoughts?"

"Nope," said Buster. "I just wanted to make sure you're not."

They encountered Alan, who was chatting idly with his sixth-grade classmates. "Hey, guys," the bear boy greeted them.

"Hi, Alan," said Buster. "Look, I know your mom doesn't want you talking to me, and I know you're sore because we got Petula and you didn't…"

"No, I'm not sore," Alan contradicted him. "In fact, I feel sorry for you."

Buster sighed in amazement. "Gosh, you're even sorer than I thought."

"I am not sore," said Alan, glaring impatiently at the rabbit boy.

"Yeah, whatever," said Buster obliviously. "Anyway, I wanted to warn you—watch out for Fern. I'm afraid she may come after you on the rebound."

"I'll watch out for her," said Alan, eager to end the conversation.

"Good," said Buster, and he departed with Binky at his side.

"What was that about?" Prunella asked Alan.

"Darned if I know," was the boy's response. "Maybe Fern wants to show me up at basketball."

At an appointed time, Fern and Molly ran into each other behind the gymnasium. The girls, each obviously not having expected to see the other, fidgeted and tried to make small talk.

"So," said Fern, "how's life?"

"My dad's still looking for a job," said Molly, a hint of pain in her hazel eyes. "My mom just applied for welfare. My little brother James bit the head off a live turtle. Same old, same old. And you?"

"I, uh, wrote a Shakespearean sonnet yesterday," said Fern, looking down at her shoes.

"That's the worst thing that happened to you?" Molly reflected. "Geez, I'd kill for your life."

A brief moment passed before Binky and Buster rounded the corner and hailed their girlfriends. "Hello, girls," they said in unison.

"Hello, boys," Fern and Molly responded in turn.

"You said you had a surprise for me," said Fern to Buster.

"And you said you had a surprise for me," Molly addressed Binky.

The two boys didn't answer, but only grimaced seriously and held their hands behind their backs.

"What a coincidence that you asked us to meet at the same time and same place," Fern remarked. "Is that the surprise, or is it something else?"

Buster cleared his throat. "We, uh, have something to tell you—something that may break your hearts, or possibly even kill you." Binky promptly elbowed his ribs.

"What is it?" asked Molly with concern.

Binky, fearing that Buster would embarrass him again, went straight to the point. "We've decided that at this stage in our lives, our time is better spent studying and learning than hanging out with girls. Therefore, we've chosen to swear off having girlfriends, and devote our time to studying, for a period of three years."

Fern smiled approvingly. "That's so noble, Binky. You're following in the footsteps of Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, and his three friends, Berowne, Longaville, and Dumaine, in Shakespeare's play Love's Labour's Lost."

"What's what's what now?" said Binky, confused.

Molly glowered at the poodle girl. "You doofus!" she exclaimed. "Don't you see? They're swearing off us!"

Fern's jaw fell, as did her heart. Buster's dumping me, she realized. Even worse, he's doing it through a surrogate.

Having nothing more to say, Binky and Buster walked off with self-satisfied grins on their faces. Fern and Molly stood motionlessly, stunned and downcast.

"I was under Tegan's influence when I got together with him," Fern recalled sadly. "When I became myself again, I stayed with him because I didn't want to hurt him. Now that we've split up, I…I can't help but feel that I really do love him."

"I don't know whether to cry, scream, or find a nerd to beat up," said Molly sullenly.

"I do," said Fern, and she burst into tears.

After several seconds of pushing down her emotions, Molly narrowed her eyes. The truth had become clear to her. "I know why they did it," she told Fern.

"Wh-why?" said the poodle girl, sniffling.

"You're pretty slow for someone who's read Shakespeare," said Molly. "Think about it. They asked us to come here…together. They showed up…together. They dumped us…together. Then they walked away…together. What's with all the togetherness? I'll tell you what's with it. There's something going on between those two. Do you catch my drift?"

"N-no," said Fern, sobbing.

"Then I'll spell it out for you," said Molly patronizingly. "G-E-A-Y. They're gay."

to be continued