Ben

Ben slurped his Coke, and Janet looked at him with a disgusted expression. He shot her a look as if to say what? and went back to slowly chewing his sandwich, grimacing at the taste. He'd told his grandmother a hundred times at least that he hated corned beef. Then again, maybe she'd packed it specifically to teach him a lesson for getting detention again.

Next to him, Janet poked at her salad. Ben wondered idly if the girl ever ate anything else, and whether it was possible to survive on plants alone. Surely it was, some people were vegetarian, and there were animals that were herbivorous, but Ben remembered learning in elementary school about the food pyramid as well, and how important it was to have a balanced diet. He was sure that Janet's diet was definitely too vegetable-heavy. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember ever seeing her eat anything that wasn't mostly green. Then again, Ben had never bothered to pay attention to what other people ate in the cafeteria. He was usually too busy throwing food at the nerds.

Too bad there weren't any here. Of course there weren't. Nerds didn't get detention, that was for dumb jocks like him. That being said, Ben was getting pretty sick of his sandwich, and bored too. He needed an outlet, as his friend Andrew from the wrestling team had once put it. Then again, that guy had actually been friends with a nerd, before they graduated.

Ben considered starting a food fight with the asshole sitting behind him, but dismissed the idea. It would probably just set the guy off again, and he'd go back to insulting Ben, and that was a road he'd rather not go down. Arguing with other people never worked out for Ben, most people were just smarter than he was and he usually ended up looking stupid.

Not to mention, the guy wasn't even in his seat, but had gone to the back row to sit with the blonde chick who'd brought the drinks. Ben wondered why. The girl was kinda cute, once you actually noticed her, which was hard considering that she was as silent as a mouse, but what the heck did the guy want with her? Quiet nobodies like her usually wanted to be left alone. Ben had tried making small talk with a nobody once, out of boredom. The tall, skinny guy had just stared at him without answering, and eventually he'd given up, feeling like he was just bothering him.

Then again, the jackass, what was his name? Perry? He seemed to thrive on needling others. He was probably having a laugh at the quiet girl's expense, just like he'd been making fun of Ben earlier.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Janet poked Ben's shoulder, making him start. He realized that he'd been staring at the table in the back. "You're unusually quiet today."

"Just thinking." Ben grunted. "And don't ask whether I can think, I'm just slow, not brainless."

"I wasn't going to say that." Janet protested. "What're you thinking about?"

"Nothing much." Ben shook his head. "Hey, you ever tried talking to nobodies?"

"Who?" Janet looked confused.

"Nobodies." Ben repeated. "Your friends don't use that word? Guys and girls who're really quiet, not really nerds or dorks, but definitely not with our crowd. Matter of fact, I don't think they really belong to any group, they just exist on their own."

"Oh, you mean wallflowers." Janet nodded. "Of course I have, I'm on Student Council. I have to communicate with all students, not just the popular ones."

So how come everything you guys do only benefit the popular crowd? Not that I'm complaining but... Ben wondered to himself if Janet really believed the line she was spouting, but that was besides the point. "Really. You and him must have something in common then, because I've never been able to talk with one." He pointed back with his thumb to the two sitting in the very back row.

Janet

Janet turned to look at what Ben was pointing at, and saw the irritatingly arrogant Percy sitting next to the quiet wallflower girl again. She scowled at Ben. "I doubt I have anything in common with that- that person."

"Just call him an asshole." Ben shrugged. "No one cares if you cuss."

Janet ignored the football player and stood up.

"What're you doing?"

"Putting a stop to this nonsense." Janet snapped. "I don't care who he thinks he is, he has no right to bother people the way he's been doing."

She strode over to the back row of desks, where the blonde girl was drawing a picture on a sketchpad, and Percy was watching over her shoulder. "Hey, that's not bad." The boy said, and the wallflower smiled, making Janet even more annoyed.

"Leave her alone, Percy." Janet's voice came out as cold as ice. "None of us have done anything to you, leave us out of your stupid mind games."

"Mind games?" Percy had the nerve to look confused. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Don't play coy." Janet hissed. "You're so fake, trying to win her over by complimenting her art."

"Hey now, I'm not lying, her drawing is really good." Percy waved a hand at the girl's sketch, and Janet had to admit that it certainly was praiseworthy. "And besides, I might be a jackass a lot of the time, but I'm certainly not as fake as you and your friends."

"Excuse me?!" Janet's temper began to ignite, and her voice rose higher than intended.

"I mean, do you even know her name?" Percy pointed at the wallflower, and Janet blinked. She racked her brain, trying to recall the girl's name, and Percy smirked. "Janet Williams, meet Alice Kent."

"I can't be expected to remember everyone's name immediately." Janet crossed her arms over her chest.

Percy's smirk grew even wider, if that was even possible. "True, at least you make the effort though, Ms. Student Council. Better than most of your friends."

"You don't know anything about my friends!" Janet growled. "You don't know anything about any of us! How dare you judge-"

"Don't I?" Percy's eyebrows shot up. "I know a lot of stuff, you know. Like how you volunteer at the hospital on the weekends, or how you think you're doing Alice here a favor by standing up for her."

Janet's jaw dropped. How the hell had he found out about that? Only her friends knew about her volunteer hours, she didn't really think of it as something to brag about. "How-"

"Your buddy Ben is here for the third time this semester, for doing dumb shit like throwing a football at a teacher. Now I appreciate a good prank myself, but have some finesse, man." He directed that last sentence at Ben, who was watching them with narrowed eyes. "Shannon over there spends an unusual amount of time in the music room, even though she's not in band or orchestra. Kenneth's favorite football team is the Detroit Lions. Shall I go on?"

"How do you know all this?" Kenneth interrupted. He and the girl in the leather jacket had turned around to listen to the argument, and had identical looks of surprise and shock on their faces.

"Yeah. You stalking us or something?" Ben asked, drawing himself up to his full height, which was truly impressive.

"Nah, get over yourself." Percy snorted. "You're not interesting enough to spend that much time on. Anyone could find out that stuff, if they just listened."

"Maybe, but normal people wouldn't stick their noses in others' business like that." Janet tossed her hair back.

"You expect me to believe that coming from you, when you and your clique are the gossip mongers of this town?" Percy said with disbelief. "Oh sure, you might not be the one spreading rumors, but you certainly don't do anything to stop Mel or Beth when they do."

Janet opened her mouth to reply but realized something else. "Hold on, how do you know Beth? She doesn't go here."

Percy gave her a disdainful look. "You, Beth, and I have been going to the same church for almost seven years, along with the jockstrap over there. That's how I know Beth. Maybe if you took your own head out of your ass for once, you'd remember that." And with that he got up and walked out of the library.