Other possibilities
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Breakfast Club. I don't make any money off this, it's all in good fun and hopefully for good reading.
Sarah Dearing loved most parts of her job as an English teacher at Shermer High School. This was her second year teaching there, and there were definite pluses and minuses to the job. Her biggest problem with the school was Richard Vernon, vice principal. Sarah thought he was an arrogant prick with a chip on his shoulder. So she was not pleased when he came to her room one Friday afternoon in early February as she was grading papers.
"Afternoon Sarah," Vernon stated.
She looked up and put her pen down, "Mr. Vernon," she did not want him being familiar enough with her to use her first name. "What can I do for you?"
"Straight to the point, good, good. Well I need you to handle detention tomorrow." Vernon informed her.
Sarah shrugged, "Ok, how many students will be there?"
Vernon was ready to coerce her into it with subtle threats about her potential tenure and was quite surprised at her ready agreement. "Uhm, three or four, I think." He handed her a paper with three names on it and left without another word, much to Sarah's glee.
The next morning Sarah arrived a little bleary eyed at 7AM. She decided she shouldn't have finished off that bottle of Merlot the night before, but what was done was done. She looked at the list and then at the students. George Smithers was an average student who had the bad luck to be caught smoking in the bathroom. Tom Strickler, a relatively handsome football player; however, he was an arrogant bully. Finally John Bender, when he showed up to her class she could tell he was much smarter than he let on, but he didn't attend class for some reason. The other two were also in classes with her; she really liked two of the three of them.
While most teachers thought of George as a rich prep who was bright and smart; he was rarely ready for English class, and he didn't appear to care. John Bender was obviously hiding beneath his smart ass attitude. Sarah was pretty sure she knew why, but without his testament she had no way of proving her suspicions. And finally Tom Strickler, one of the few students she truly disliked. He was a star football player which meant teachers and students kissed his ass. Sarah had little patience for someone who believed he could get by on looks and sports, not to mention she was just a little afraid of him – he was a dangerous boy when he didn't get exactly what he wanted exactly when he demanded it. She knew most teachers and students alike made the assumption that Bender was the more dangerous of the two boys. Sarah had paid close attention to what happened in the halls and Bender generally didn't inflict physical harm unless he was pushed beyond provocation – Tom on the other hand just seemed a little sadistic.
She sat on the table putting her feet on the chair in front of her. "Good Morning Boys." They all stared at her a little since they'd all been expecting. "Vice principal Vernon will not be joining us today. However, I'll be here keeping an eye on things. Feel free to do as you like while remaining in your seats." She smiled at them and went to sit at the librarian's desk. She took a long drink of her coffee and pulled out a stack of papers to finish
All three of them stared at her for a moment and realized she wasn't going to leave like Vernon always did. Without looking up Sarah replied to George's raised hand, "Uh, Mrs. Dearing?"
"It's Miss Dearing I'm not married." She looked up, "yes George?"
Bender interrupted at that point, "How the hell do you do that?"
Sarah ignored John for the moment and continued waiting for George to speak. "uhm, can I do homework?"
The teacher arched an eyebrow and smirked just a little, "I don't know dear, can you? If you find you are capable of doing said work, feel free." She winked at him, which caused him to blush. He tried to cover it by diving for his backpack. Sarah turned her attention to Bender, "How the hell do I do what?"
Bender was a little taken back that she not only remembered he asked something and answered him, but that she used his exact words. "That whole answering shit without looking up to see that a person even had a question; you know all teachers do it."
Sarah's smirk came back, "we're psychic, didn't you know?" With that answer she returned to grading her papers.
Bender pulled out a cigarette and a match, he brought it up to his mouth to light it on his teeth when Sarah spoke, again never looking up from her papers, "I suggest you put your matches away Mr. Bender, and for the time being I would prefer you refrain from pyrotechnics; I dislike the smell of sulphur in the morning."
"yeah dickhead, put that shit away before I do it for you." Strickler whispered menacingly.
"Isn't being a threatening bully what got you here in the first place, Mr. Strickler?" Sarah asked loudly enough he could be certain she heard his comments.
For a while everything was quiet, Tom put his head down on his letterman jacket; John was drawing on his pant leg, and George was doing homework. Sarah stood up and stretched, she noticed John was watching her – she arched an eyebrow as if to ask him a question – one he didn't understand. She walked down the steps to stand in front of the library tables the students were sitting at. She cleared her throat loudly, hoping to wake Strickler without having to go anywhere near him. "Do any of you need a bathroom break?" Tom sat up quickly and raised his hand along with the other two. "Alright, you have 10 minutes."
They stared at her for a minute and George said, "you're just going to let us walk out?"
Sarah laughed, "I'm fairly certain you know the way to the men's bathroom better than I do. Or is there something you're not telling me?"
George and Tom got up quickly and hurried out the door, Bender sat there for a minute trying to figure something out about Sarah Dearing. "You aren't going to get to finish a cigarette if you don't scoot John." With that, she turned and walked out of the library, she passed the women's restroom and walked out the front door, holding it open for John; though he had no idea how she knew he was following her.
She walked far enough away to block the view from the doors, sat down on the steps, pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Taking a deep drag off of it, "Are you going to stare at me all day Mr. Bender? Have I grown a second head?"
John walked over and sat down on the same step, but not really close to her. "I didn't know you smoked."
"You still don't know I smoke." She gave him a sidelong glance to see if he understood.
He laughed, "gotcha, Miss Dearing. So, uh, how come you got stuck with us today?"
Sarah took another deep drag off her cigarette and blew out the smoke before answering, "Because Vernon asked me to. Are you missing him that much?"
John barked out a laugh, "hell no! He's a fuckin douchebag…" He stopped himself before he said any more assuming what he said would get him in trouble.
"I had no other plans for the day and it's an extra day's pay for me. I don't mind keeping an eye on you "delinquents"." She even used the fake quotes around delinquents, as though she didn't believe they were. John suddenly wondered if she were somehow different from the other adults at the school.
Sarah pitched her cigarette and stood up. "Let's go" she started walking to the door. John continued smoking his cigarette right up to the door following her through. "Thanks" he said quietly and quickly moved ahead of her to get to the library first.
Everyone had been settled for a little while when Sarah heard Strickler start again, "You are such a waste of fucking oxygen Bender. The fact that I have to sit in the same room as you all day makes me fucking sick. Just know I am going to kick the shit out of you when we get out of here today, just because I think it would be fun to beat you to a bloody fuckin pulp."
While Sarah heard every word, she waited to see Bender's reaction before she intervened.
Bender sounded bored as he replied, "Look man I wish you wouldn't, see I just washed my coat and getting your blood out of it would be a hassle."
Strickler grabbed John's hair and pulled him back, "What did you fucking say to me you pathetic nothing?"
As John went for his knife Sarah shouted, "Mr. Strickler let go of Bender NOW." She was pissed, and she sounded it. Strickler let go quickly, and in his best ass kissing voice said, "I was just trying to help him get something out of it."
"Do you think I am deaf or stupid Mr. Strickler? For the moment you are to move up to this desk." She pointed to the table at the very front and to her right. "I heard every word you said and between threatening another student and laying a hand on him, I am pretty sure you are going to find yourself suspended come Monday." She started to turn away when Tom replied with a strangled voice,
"You can't do that, the team needs me, and anyway it's just John Bender… who cares really? I mean Miss Dearing you know he's just a stupid burner who will never amount to anything… Nobody's gonna care what I said to him, even if we fight it'll still look like his fault." He sounded smug.
Sarah wasn't sure which pissed her off more, the fact that people were really such assholes or that they expected her to be one as well. "Mr. Bender has as much right to be left alone as Mr. Smithers, or you Mr. Strickler. He has the same potential, though now that I think about it, he might have more since you are apparently a moron. Unless you have a magical way of seeing into the future you cannot know what he will or will not amount to. To be such a colossal jerk is really a feat, and I do not tolerate disrespect of myself or anyone else in my presence. Do you understand Mr. Strickler?" Sarah struggled to keep her temper, she started to walk away. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the shocked look on John Bender's face, and that just pissed her off more.
She turned back to the students as she reached the door, "If I should find out that you or any of your little friends laid a finger on Bender for the rest of the year I will hold you personally accountable just because you pissed me off this morning. Now sit there and keep your fucking mouth shut Strickler." With that she turned and walked out of the library to calm herself down.
She walked down to the teacher's lounge, bought herself a soda, and proceeded to go back outside for another cigarette. She knew she shouldn't have lost her temper back there, but there was something about Tom Strickler that just rubbed her the wrong way. Though that was not even her biggest problem, it was more the stunned look on Bender's face, as though it was a total surprise that anyone, let alone an adult should take his side in anything. She remembered feeling that way and it sucked. She finished the cigarette feeling somewhat calmer, and decided she should probably head back inside. Heading back into the teacher's lounge she purchased three cans of coke for the student's lunch and went back to the library.
The rest of the day went by with relative speed and ease; at least there was nothing exciting that happened, unless you counted finishing her grading. In fact, the next few weeks were pretty tame, the winter continued to hold its grip on Shermer even though it seemed as though the entire school was winding up to prom and all the end of year activities. Sarah discovered she got the position teaching summer school which was a big relief; she hated having to find jobs for the summer.
Bender started attending her class on a fairly regular basis, and even appeared to pay attention; though, she had to laugh, not enough to ruin his reputation as a bad ass. He did, however, do his homework, which shocked Sarah to no end. One day in late in February he walked in looking stiff, walking with a slight limp that he was trying to cover with an exaggerated swagger and when he turned around he had one hell of a black eye. She turned to the board, took several deep breaths and willed herself to remain cool; he did not need her flipping out. She remembered the days she spent time putting makeup on to cover bruises and black eyes; it was a lifetime ago, but those memories never went away.
Once she calmed herself, she sat down at her desk, instead of going to the door like she usually did, and began writing. As the bell rang she folded the note and put it to the side. Class was relatively subdued; probably because only about half of them had read the chapter they were assigned. The bell rang and Sarah took a deep breath, she needed a break, for some reason the day was just hard to get through.
"Bender, can you hang back for a moment?" he gave her a peculiar look but stayed in his seat till all the students filed out. She had a break in her classes this period which was why she felt at least semi-comfortable doing what she was about to. He started to get up, but she motioned for him to stay put and walked over to him after shutting the door. She sat on the desk in front of him her feet on the chair, and handed him the note she'd written earlier. "Don't read that now, and you may feel free to disregard any information in it. I trust you to keep what is in the note to yourself." She took another deep breath as he continued to stare at her saying nothing. "All I want to say is this, others at this school might believe you get into random fights regularly." She stopped herself before she said something wrong, but was determined to get through it… "If I am correct about your life, which I know nothing particular about, I haven't read any file or asked any questions, but if I am… I've been there. What's in the note? No strings attached." She got up and walked quickly to her desk, pulled on a sweater, opened her desk drawer and put a pack of cigarettes in her pocket. "Thanks for sticking around and listening. This room is empty this period, feel free to stay as long as you like." She started to leave, then turned back, opened her desk and wrote out a hall pass, placed it on the desk she'd been sitting on, and left the room shutting the door behind her without another word.
Bender was floored. What did she mean she'd been there? He looked at the note in his hand it was a simple piece of folded paper. After another minute of looking at the paper he opened it to find Sarah Dearing's neat handwriting:
John, I don't know why you show up battered and bruised. It's probably none of my business, but if you ever need a place to stay my back door is always open, 3211 Northridge Ln. There is an extra bedroom- first door on the left in the hallway. The fridge always has food in it, always. So much I often end up throwing things away because I just don't eat that much. Thing is, I cannot help but make sure there is food because I can. All I can say is my door is always open to you.
Sarah Dearing
John didn't know what to think. He folded the paper back up and stuck it in his wallet. Someplace he couldn't accidently drop or forget it. Why would she do this? It didn't look like pity on her faced, it actually looked like she was pissed. John shook his head and started out of the room wondering about his English teacher.
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