Quick Author's Note

Hey again everyone...I've been having such writer's block since that last chapter, which by the way, I am not very proud of. So, I really tried to get some more inspiration and, behold! I had a dream! No seriously...I had a dream about it! Weird, but cool! Thanks once again to all the reviewers! Next chapters are going to be hopefully better than these few! Lots of excitement and DRAMA! 3 Carly

We all sat tiredly in silence, waiting for Vernon to dismiss us. It was a little weird. Normally, he would check in here every hour or less to make sure we weren't burning down the school or escaping. This wasn't like Dick. I shrugged it off, glancing at the clock. We still had about ten minutes left. The day had gone entirely too fast, but I was really anticipating dismissal.

"Hey Bender," I heard Brian say in a lazy voice. "Just out of curiosity...what happened with you and Claire?"

I could see Riley's brown eyes glimpse at me for a moment, but she went back to playing with her hair immediately. I didn't really want to bring it all up, but I had nothing better to do. I decided that I would play with his mind a bit.

"What, did you really think that me and Material Girl would hook up? Go on dates? Hold hands? Play kissy-kissy? Go in the back of her daddy's Porsche and have promiscuous sex?" I teased, staring at Brian with a sarcastic stare.

He shifted in his seat uneasily. "Um...well, I just thought that since–,"

"Well you freaking thought wrong, asshole."

Riley turned around in her seat, a few strands of hair braided in random places. She rocked back and forth in the chair and looked at me.

"You were with Claire Standish?" She asked, disbelief in her hoarse voice. "Isn't she like...prom queen?"

I looked at her with a cold, hard gaze and replied, "First of all, I wasn't with her. Ever. And secondly, what if I was? Is it a shock?"

"Well, um, YEAH. The notorious, rebellious John Bender with the popular, rich, insanely gorgeous Claire Standish? It sounds like a cheesy sitcom." Riley stated with conviction.

Straightening in my seat, I brought my arms to my chest and crossed them. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it? I mean, sure, me and Claire were from totally different backgrounds and social groups, but other than that...we weren't that strange together.

"Sounds to me like someone's got a little green-eyed monster on their shoulder." I spoke, keeping the same cold look while I tried to keep her from knowing what I was thinking on the inside.

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Jealous of a perfect redhead who could probably afford half of China? Maybe I would be for that reason, but if you're referring to the issue of your relationship with her, then you're horribly mistaken, Bender."

"You know," Brian began. "You do sound kind of jealous."

"See? Even the guy who won't ever get to hold hands with a chick knows it. You're a jealous little girl and you know it." I shot back, watching as Riley became frustrated. Brian had a look of slight hurt lingering in his eyes, but he just shook it off.

"I'm...I'm so totally not jealous. Really, I'm not. I mean, I do have a tendency to become jealous easily, but not now." Riley kicked the floor with her foot as she tried to defend herself. She narrowed her eyes at me. "Why are you ragging on me? It's like you want me to be jealous."

"Oh please," I responded, throwing my head back and closing my eyes. "Stop trying to change the subject. You know you're jealous, just admit it."

Finally, Vernon popped his head in the doorway. His beady eyes were targeting Riley with suspicion and a slight fear. Hell, I'd have been freaked out of my fucking mind too if she had gone mental on me. Riley shifted in her seat. When she saw the scared principal, she rolled her eyes and faced the front.

"It's alright, Mr. Vernon, I turned off the bitch switch. You're safe now." She muttered with the same sour attitude that she embodied only a few seconds ago.

Vernon looked at Brian and I, like he was waiting for our approval. Brian nodded solemnly, being the brownie he had grown up to be. But I wanted to have some fun. I wanted to seize the opportunity to mess with my archenemy's twisted, pathetic mind.

I kicked my feet off the table and rested my elbows on the desk.

"I don't know, sir. She's been saying that the whole time, but she almost tried to hang Johnson over here on the flagpole by his briefs." I lied, trying to be as serious as possible. Both Brian and Riley turned back to me with confused glares.

Vernon raised his eyebrows in spite and said, "Oh did she? Well, I hope you're comfortable in that seat, Miss Scott, because for that little number, you're back here next week. "

Riley's mouth dropped a little as she pointed to me, ready to oppose my comment. I was so ready for her to tell on me, I could already feel her words sinking in. To my surprise, though, her hand dropped to her side instead of singling me out. She crossed her legs, followed by her arms, and tilted her head to the side.

"I'm starting to feel a little closed in, Mr. Vernon." She began in a small voice. "I just can't deal with this any more!" She buried her head in her arms on the desk, faking a sob. Vernon's face became paler as he looked from Riley to me frantically.

"She's not going to go nuts again, is she? Because if she is–,"

"Calm down, Dick. She's like an animal with rabies. If you provoke her, you'll end up with one hell of a nasty bite." I told him, knowing that Riley was trying to fake him out in order for her name to be cleared for next week's Saturday detention.

Vernon ran a hand through his graying hair and groaned. "God damn it! Look, I'm sorry! Just keep cool, okay? I don't wanna make a scene, for Christ's sake!"

Riley just kept heaving sobs, ignoring the flustered principal. Brian was sitting in his seat casually watching the situation as though it were one of his dorky science television shows. He must've gotten the picture also because he glanced at me with a smirk.

"What–why is she crying? Damn it, what do you want out of me!" cried Vernon with absolutely no control. He was pacing around in thoughtless fear, treating the situation like Riley was a bomb he had to detonate.

Seeing as we only had three minutes before we could be dismissed, I decided to help out Dick with the problem.

"Excuse me, sir? I think you should exempt her from next week's Saturday detention. She's probably spiraling for that reason."

Vernon looked back up at me with a frazzled, pleading stare.

"That's what she wants? That's what it is?" He asked as Riley slowly lifted her head to justify herself. Vernon looked back down at her. "I can't do that! That's like freeing a fucking convict from jail!"

Riley dropped her head again, balling even harder. She balled her fists, her knuckles became white along with Vernon's face. He looked back to me.

I shrugged. "Fine, it's your life she's gonna take, not mine."

"Aw...shit. Fine. She's off the hook." It was hilarious to watch the scared man cave in. He focused on Riley once more. "Did you hear that? You're off the hook, no detention!"

In a flash, Riley looked up at him with wet cheeks and a smile. She clasped her hand to her chest and sniffled.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Vernon." Her voice was false and phony with apology. "I'm sorry, I just felt myself losing control. Thank you for excluding me from next week's detentions."

Vernon nodded and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Yeah, yeah. Just go. All of you morons, just go. Dear God, I need a drink." He left the library mumbling curses to himself. Riley turned around, took a bow, and picked up her messenger bag.

"Thank you, my dear audience. I'd like to thank the academy for acknowledging my performance, and all the little people who accused me of being a jealous bitch." She smiled with a sarcastic grin and began to leave the room. "It was nice doing time with you two. Au revoir."

As I exited the library, I thought that was the last Riley Scott would make an impact on me or Brian. The same thing that happened on March 24th would probably happen again. We would all leave the school with only memories, and then it would all fade soon enough. But it wouldn't be the last time Brian, Riley, and I would be reunited. In fact, we'd see each other in less than ten minutes.