Title: I'm Not Sure If You Remember Me
Summary: Brian hasn't been in contact with the rest of the Breakfast Club after high school. Then something happens that will bring back the memories.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, nor am I making any money out of this. I tried to make sure the band-name I used in this story is not really in use, but if it still is, it wasn't my intention to steal it.
Author's Notes: Hi! This plot bunny came to me a couple of weeks ago and now I finally found the time to finish writing it. There are parts of this story I'm not completely satisfied with, but I hope it's not that bad. I don't speak English as a first language and I don't know how I could find a beta, so I just hope the possible mistakes won't annoy you too much. Oh, and big thanks to those who answered my questions concerning the american study system in the forums!
Brian Johnson had been born as the first child of a perfectly ordinary Shermer suburban-family. Eight years later he had gotten a little sister. The family had lived in a nice, average-sized house with a big, neat garden in a nice neighbourhood, and they had all been reasonably content with their lives.
Brian had been a studious boy, who loved learning and knowledge. He had loved to play with children's chemistry sets and to read books that were meant for older people. First when he had started school, he had loved every minute of it. Most kids liked school during the first couple of years, but Brian's eagerness hadn't worn off after that. Then his parents had noticed his abilities, and they had started to demand more and more from him. Suddenly he had noticed it wasn't fun anymore.
Everyone had started to expect him to bring home perfect grades in every subject, and he had started to feel that he wouldn't be important to anyone if that didn't happen. He had tried harder and harder, because he hadn't wanted to dissapoint his mum and dad. His schoolmates had started to see him as a geek, and he had only gotten friends who were geeks as well. Year by year his stress level had soared to even more staggering heights when he had tried to survive all his schoolwork. Then one day he had failed a shop assignment, and it had been the breaking point.
Brian had never had any self-destructive thoughts before – he had thought that good kids like him couldn't even have them – but suddenly a suicide had looked like the only way out. He just couldn't face the reality of informing his parents about his failure, and see their disappointed faces. It had been his luck that the gun he had brought to school had been discovered, and he had been given his first and only detention.
That detention had ended up changing his life. While talking to the other students there, he had realised that he wasn't the only kid having problems, and also that he should live his life for himself, not for his parents.
Confessing his parents he had failed shop was one of the hardest things Brian had done, and although they had been furious, he had been proud that he had had the guts to do it. After that he had step by step started to think less about what his parents wanted and more about what he wanted. Surprisingly, he had started to feel the old love for learning again when he had stopped stressing about it so much, and his suicidal thoughts had soon started to fade.
That wasn't the only thing that had happened to Brian in that detention. He had also gotten new friends, friends who weren't geeks like him, but from completely different social circles. Brian the Geek, Claire the Princess, Allison the Basketcase, Andy the Jock and Bender the Criminal had made a connection in that detention, and they had become friends.Most of them had still spent time with their "own kind" as well, but the fivesome had become inseparable.
The first few months after that had been the best time of Brian's life. Never before had he been able to be his true self in front of others. The Breakfast Club had had very much fun together during the spring and the summer and Brian had spent most of the time that had been left after studying with them. Soon, though, he had started to feel that he was an outsider among his friends. Claire and Bender were a couple, and so were Andy and Allison. It hadn't bothered Brian at first, but gradually it had started to annoy him more and more. The couples had always had something going on, fights or troubles or some private jokes. Brian had started to feel he was the fifth wheel of the wagon.
During his last year in high school Brian had started dating a girl from the Math club – his first-ever girlfriend - and that had caused him to draw away from the Breakfast Club even more. The girl, Janice, had been very shy and he hadn't gotten along with Brian's friends that well, especially with Bender. She had actually been afraid of him. The moments when Brian had spent time with the rest of the Breakfast Club had become rarer and rarer.
After graduation Brian had gotten a scholarship to study physics in a top-level college. Andy had also gotten a scholarship, to a college in New York that excelled in sports. Allison had moved to New York as well, starting to study arts there. Claire and Bender had moved to Chigago, and they had rented an apartment together. Claire had started to study French while Bender had gotten some small-time job and formed a band with some of his mates.
Brian had quickly gotten completely absorbed in his studies and he had also gotten some new friends. He hadn't stayed in contact with the rest of the Breakfast Club. After a couple of years in college, he had stopped even sending Christmas cards to any of them.
When Brian had graduated from college, he had been at the top of his class, and had decided to continue his physics studies further. After that he had started doing some research, and had soon become a rather appreciated figure in the scientific circles in spite of his rather young age. In addition to his research, he had soon started teaching at the university. He had started to like it very much, and most of his students liked him as well.
Brian's first relationship with the shy Janice had ended soon after high school. Brian had dated women occasionally after that, most of them being of the intelligent and sceptical scientist -type. He hadn't met the love of his life, though, and had become rather accustomed to his bachelor-lifestyle. That was, until he had met Iris.
They had met while Christmas-shopping a year ago. Well, actually they had known each other before, but that was when they had really met. They had recognised one another and starded to talk about Christmas, and one thing had led to another. Iris was Brian's ex-student - one of the first he had ever taught – and she had graduated the previous summer. She had majored in biology, but she had also been interested in physics.
Iris was very different from the other women Brian had dated. She, too, was very intelligent, but she wasn't at all cold, calculating or sceptical. She had started to do research for Greenpeace after graduation, she believed in world-peace and took part in demonstrations. She had never stopped believing that she could make the world a better place. She was sort of pretty, although not a great beauty; she was very small, she had straight, naturally blonde hair that reached her bottom, she wore eyeglasses and had a small, heart-shaped face. She liked to dress in bright colours and of course, being the tree-hugger that she was, she bought most of her clothes second-hand.
Iris and Brian had gotten along very well from the start, in spite of being rather different and having a few years' age difference. Iris loved Brian's cleverness, the way he got cutely embarrased over stupid things and his respect towards women. Brian loved Iris's warm and world-loving attitude and the way she always teased him.They had recenly started to consider moving in together.
So, that was pretty much where Brian Johnson was in his life at the age of thirty-four.
Brian sat at the kitchen table, sipping tea and marking some student papers. He was dressed in worn-out, comfortable khaki trousers and a blue sweater, and his hair was messy from much ruffling.
Brian groaned and ruffled his hair once more. Sometimes he wondered how on earth people who were intelligent enough to get to a top-level university could come up with such abysmal answers. Usually he liked marking papers, but today he was too tired, because his girlfriend Iris had spent the previous night at his place, and they hadn't actually slept that much.
Suddenly there was loud, noisy music coming from the living room. Brian jumped from surprise, spilling tea on his trourers. He had almost forgotten about Scott. Scott was his 15-year-old cousin, who was currently staying at Brian's house since his parents were on a two-week holiday. The last time they had left Scott home alone, he had held a big party that had ended with the neighbours alerting the police, so there was no way Scott's parents would have left him alone this time, and they had asked if Brian could look after him
Luckily, thought Brian, Scott would leave in two days. There was nothing bad in him in small doses, but two weeks was not a small dose. Scott was the normal, angsty teenager, and besides, he was an ardent listener of heavy metal, which really wasn't Brian's favourite music.
"Could you turn the volume down, that music's annoying!" Brian yelled over the music when he reached the living room.
Scott, who was watching some music video, glared at Brian and turned the volume down so little, that the difference could hardly be heard.
"A bit more, please," said Brian, starting to get irritated.
"But that's my favourite band, The Cruel Rain," Scott protested.
"You still don't have to listen to it so loud."
"Yeah, I do."
"No you don't, at least in my house. I can't concentrate on the student papers with all this noise."
Scott sighed."Whatever," he said, finally turning the volume more down, and muttering something about annoying old farts.
Old fart? Brian raised his eyebrows. He didn't regard himself as old, he was only thirty-four. Well, he thought, perhaps he did seem a bit old through the eyes of a fifteen-year-old. Suddenly it occured to him that he had never actually tried to have a decent conversation with Scott, although the boy had lived in his house for almost two weeks. He sat on the couch next to Scott, trying to find something to say.
"So, which band was this, again?"
Scott glanced at him, obviously thinking he was completely dumb for not knowing that.
"It's The Cruel Rain. Honestly, where have you been the last fifteen years?"
"So... um... it's not a new band, then?"
"No. But they're really awesome."
Brian looked at the TV -screen. He noticed that the four long-haired men playing aggressively on the screen looked about the same age he was. Well, perhaps I'm a bit of an old fart, compared to them, he thought, smiling inwardly. He had never really gotten rock music, although Bender had tried to convert him to a rock-fan back in high school. No, Brian preferred classical; it was melodic and not at all disturbing.
Brian was just about to leave the couch – after all, Scott was completely absorbed in the music so it would be no use trying to talk to him – when he saw the band's guitarist shake his long, messy, dark brown hair away from his face. Brian noticed that the face looked very familiar. He yelped and almost dropped the mug of tea he was still holding in his hands.
"That's... that's Bender," he exclaimed.
Scott shot Brian a wondering look.
"How do you know his last name? You hadn't even heard of the band."
Brian hadn't heard the question. His eyes were fixed on the man on the screen, who was playing his guitar ferociously. Sure, the man looked older and a little different, but there was no way it could be anyone else than Bender.
"I can't believe it's him," Brian muttered in astonished voice. "I haven't heard anything from him in years!"
"What do you mean? Now wait a minute... do you actually know him?" Scott asked, starting to sound awed.
This time Brian heard him. "Yes, we were friends in high school," he answered.
"You've got to be kiddin' me! I've seen some of your school-pictures, and you look like the biggest possible geek! Surely you can't've had friends like him."
"Well I did, sort of. You see, I got a detention once..."
And so, Brian told his cousin about the detention that had led him to become friends with Bender and the rest of the Breakfast Club.
"So, you've smoked pot with John Bender?" Scott asked incredulously, finding it almost impossible to believe his geekish older cousin had done anything so cool.
"Yes, I did that. Although I now realise the pot-smoking -part wasn't that cool. Using drugs is stupid," Brian added hastily, not wanting to give Scott any bad examples. "But other than that, Bender was a nice friend, I certainly never got bored around him."
The next fifteen minutes or so, Brian entertained Scott by telling him of the numerous pranks Bender had pulled on people, espesially on Mr. Vernon. Scott laughed at the stories, and treated Brian far more respectfully now he knew he had been friends with a famous rock-star. But soon his expression turned confused and he asked Brian:
"But if you were such good friends with him, how come didn't you even know he was in a band?"
Brian looked a little uncomfortable, but answered anyway. "Well, these things happen when people grow up. There were five of us in the Breakfast Club, two couples and me. I guess... I guess I started to feel a bit left out. I grew apart from them, and when I moved away, it was just easier not to keep in touch. I kinda hope I would have, though, it would be nice to know what became of the rest of them. Like I said, I haven't heard from any of them in many years."
"If you wanna know what happened to your pals, why don't you just use the google, then?" Scott suggested. "You might come up with something interesting."
Brian did as Scott had suggested. He found many interesting bits of information about Bender. There were a number of fansites dedicated to him, so Brian could find pretty much his whole life-story from the net. Bender's band, The Cruel Rain, had gotten a record deal three years after graduation, and had made it big time when their second record had been released. Since then they had gathered millions of fans. However, along with the success had come the rock n' roll -lifestyle; Bender had become addicted to cocaine, and had battled with the addiction for years. Now he was apparently clean, though.
Brian was quite surprised when he read that after all this, Bender and Claire were still together. They were married and had three kids, the oldest being thirteen and the youngest two years old. Brian briefly wondered what had made Claire stay with Bender during his drug-addict years; it must not have been easy. Maybe they do really love each other, at least I hope they do, he then thought.
What Brian found out about Claire, except for that she was Mrs. Bender now, was that after finishing her French sudies, she had started translating fashion books and -magazines. That was something he could well picture her doing.
Next, Brian decided to look what he could find about Andy. There was quite much stuff about him as well. He had been a very promising young wrestler, and when he had been twenty-two, he had gotten his bit of sport-stardom. He had gotten to the World Championchips then, and had become fifth – an extremely good start for a first-timer. People had thought he would be the next big wrestling star of America, but his success hadn't lasted long.
Brian remembered how Andy had had troubles with his knee in high school already, and that was why he was very surprised to read that it hadn't been Andy's knee that had let him down, but his mind. Apparently, the pressure had been too much for him, and a few months after the Championships he had lost it. He had had to spend a few months in a mental hospital, and that had been the end of his sports career.
Brian noticed, that it was much more difficult to find out what had happened to Andy after that. Most websites only told about his sports career, and its tragic end. After some browsing, though, Brian noticed a site that mentioned that Andy had eventually gotten back on his feet, and had founded a sport shop in Boston. The site also mentioned that he was married and had now seven-year-old twin sons, but there was no more information about his personal life to be found. Brian wondered whether or not Allison could be his wife, and decided to try and search after her name next.
It wasn't that easy; Brian had to go through many pages of useless information before he found out that she owned a small art gallery - in Boston. It could mean she was still with Andy, but then again it could mean nothing at all. Brian didn't find out anything else about her, although he did try.
Startled, Brian noticed that it was well past midnight already. He had spent hours searching for information about his old friends, although he had planned to go to sleep early that night. When he finally made it to the bed, however, sleep avoided his eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about the Breakfast Club. Now that he thought of it, he found it actually quite weird he had never tried to find out what had happened to them. He had, after all, never forgotten them, although he hadn't kept in touch.
So, seeing Bender on TV had been a huge surprise to him. If someone had asked him back in high school which one of his friends he expected to become the most famous, he certainly wouldn't have placed his bet on Bender. He would probably have counted on Andy, becouse of his wrestling, or Allison, who was an excellent drawer. Brian had expected that Bender would either change his hellraising-ways and become a mechanic or a plumber or something like that, or then he wouldn't change his ways and would probably end up in prison. Well, that shows that life is full of surprises, he thought, finally drifting to sleep.
The next day, Brian had tried to do some research, but his thoughts had returned to the Breakfast Club all the time, so he really hadn't been able to concentrate. Luckily he hadn't had any lectures; God only knew what would he have talked to his students. Finally he gave up trying to work, and returned home nearly two hours earlier than usual. He was pleased to see Scott wasn't around – he felt he needed to be alone.
On coming inside, Brian glanced sideways at the phone. It would be easy, calling to a phone number inquiry service and asking for some of the other Breakfast Clubber's number. What would come after that, now that would be the hard part. Was Brian brave enough to make contact after nearly twenty years of silence? Bravery had never been one of his strongest traits, but sometime during that day he had realised that he truly wanted to see the others again.
But instead of grabbing the phone, Brian walked to the living room and pulled an old photo album out of the bookshelf. He had gotten his first camera for a sixteenth-birthday present from his Granny, so he had a considerable amount of photos of his friends. He started leafing through the pages, at first stopping at a group portrait that had been taken soon after the start of their friendship.
He didn't remember who had taken the picture, but he thought it reflected their personalities very accurately. Brian himself was at the back, trying to appear relaxed but still managing to look awkward. Claire was quite visible, her clothes arranged gracefully and a beautiful smile on her face. Bender was standing next to her, his arm carelessly over her shoulder and trying to look cool. Andy was standing upright at the left front corner, staring evenly at the camera, and Allison was hiding behind him, her hair obscuring her face – she had never liked being photographed.
Brian stared at the photo for a long time, and then proceeded to look at the others. He himself was not on many pictures, since he had taken most of them, and Allison had usually liked to avoid the camera as well. Still, the photos brought back memories Brian thought he had already forgotten.
There was the party where he had gotten drunk for the first time. He smiled at the photo where Bender was pouring everyone drinks while apparently telling some funny story, and at another one where Allison was dipping chips in her drink. Then there were pictures from Andy's birthday party, from the last weekend of the summer holidays and from many other occasions.
Brian stopped at a picture where Andy and Bender were in the middle of a heated argument; despite being friends, the two had always been at each others' throats. Probably they both had wanted to see themselves as the leader of the group, which had caused much tension between them.That, actually, had been one of the reasons why Brian had started to feel he was an outsider; he had never been of the alpha male -type, and had often felt that Andy and Bender treated him as one of the girls. Now Brian stared at the picture of the two lads, thinking they were more alike than they would probably ever have cared to admit. They had both had their share of success, but neither of them had handled it that well, Andy losing his mind and Bender turning to drugs.
Next, Brian turned the pages of the album to the last group-photo of the Breakfast Club. It had been taken on their high school -graduation day. They all looked hopeful and eager to find out what the future had in store for them. Looking at that picture, Brian realised that despite the courage it would take, he would have to make contact with them again. He wanted to know if they had become happy in their lives, and that wasn't something he could find out in the Internet. He wanted to see them, to talk about the "good, old times" with them and hear their thoughts about various things. Although Brian had had many other friends after them, the Breakfast Club was still something special to him.
His decision made, Brian put the photo album back to the bookshelf and picked up the phone. A few minutes later, he had found out the cell phone numbers of Andy, Allison and Claire. He stared at them, trying to decide whom to call first. Soon he realised it was far too difficult that way, so he simply closed his eyes and picked one number at random.
Brian opened his eyes and looked at the number he had chosen. Well, I guess it's as good as any of the others, he thought. He slowly picked up the phone again, suddenly starting to feel like an awkward schoolboy again. At that point, he really wanted to back up, but not wanting to give himself that chance, he dialled the number as quickly as possible. He waited for a while before a familiar, although more mature-sounding voice answered:
"Hi, Allison Reynolds speaking."
Brian tried to make his voice sound as steady as possible under the circumstances. "Hi, um... this is Brian Johnson. I'm not sure if you remember me, but..."
THE END
I couldn't make up my mind on whether or not I wanted Andy and Allison to stay together, so in the end I decided to leave it open. You can picture it any way you want. :) Anyway, I hope you liked the story and I'd be glad if you reviewed.
I have ideas for some other Breakfast Club stories as well, but it might take some time before I get around to writing them, since I have schoolwork to do and I'm also thinking of writing a Harry Potter fic soon.