Well, part two is on. Have fun!

Spelling: I'm not a native speaker so my story is far from perfect. If somebody likes to correct my chapters you're welcome!

|Part Two of the 'Hating Monday' series|

Losing Wednesday.

Brian

"James, Carrie?"

"Present."

"Johnson, Brian?"

"Present."

"Kingston, Hector?"

Technically it was a completely normal Tuesday for Brian Johnson. His timetable consisted of Math, Economics, a double period biology and physical education. After school he planned on meeting the other members of the latin club and they would probably start translating an excerpt from one of Seneca's works. Lunch time had been over for three minutes now (where he'd eaten a very nutritious lunch, Brian thought with a surprisingly wry smirk which immediately disappeared when he remembered that Brian Johnson didn't smirk) only to learn that Mr Winston-Navarro had called ill and was replaced by a young woman with a nervous smile. Clearly unsure of herself she started the class with the mandatory attendance check that the regular teachers hadn't bothered with for ages. Brian's class mates didn't care of course. Every minute not spend learning (or pretending to be) was a treasure in and for itself at least in their mind.

He resisted rolling his eyes. Because Brian Johnson didn't roll his eyes, especially not at a person of authority or his class mates, no matter how immature they acted. But while he could control his body reactions to a certain extent he couldn't stop his mind to wander back to the people he had met an eternity and a half ago. The people he tried his hardest to forget because remembering just hurt too much. They were an irregularity, a change from the usual everyday life. Like this substitute. And as soon as Mr Winston-Navarro was healthy again, they would never see her again and everything would go back to how it had been.

"Randell, Haley?"

Her voice shook lightly. This woman was lucky Bender wasn't in this class. She would have had no chance. No chance at all.

"Present."

Still, for some reason the disturbance in his routine unnerved Brian. Maybe his uneasiness came from the fact that the last time he didn't follow the flow he ended up in detention and got to know four of the most complicated people in the entire world. It hadn't happened even a week ago and yet it already felt like years had passed since that strange moment they all shared in the school library on that technically completely ordinary saturday. That day he had gained four awesome friends. And while he hadn't exactly lost them the coming Monday it sure felt like he had sometimes.

Brian sighed.

Claire had been right after all. Bender had been a hypocrite that afternoon. They all were.

"-son?"

Last weekend something inside him had changed. An (admittedly small) part of him had felt something new. Something completely foreign. Something that wasn't part of the plan of Brian Johnson's life. For a few precious hours Brian Johnson had felt alive. Yet when he returned to school not even forty-eight hours later he started to second-guess himself. Or maybe these doubts had always been there, lingering in the background and he had just been lying to himself. Because that Monday morning, mere minutes before the beginning of the first lesson Brian had a sudden and equally painful realization: He never believed that The Breakfast Club would make it past that one magical saturday. This detention had been a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity. Nothing more and nothing less.

So he didn't try and acknowledge Claire standing next to her cheerleader friends. He didn't smile at Andrew when they ran into each other during lunch time. He ducked away hastily when he saw Bender making his way down the corridor shortly after his fifth lesson. And by the time school was over he didn't turn around to wave at Allison. But he was still disappointed when none of them tried to approach him themselves even though it didn't make any sense. Even though he wasn't sure how he would have reacted.

It would have been a divergence from the plan. Both, in the positive and in the negative way.

Suddenly Brian became aware of the deafening silence around him. He looked up to see the students around him exchange funny glances. The silence went on. Brian frowned, confused. The substitute teacher smiled tightly and repeated the question with a desperate edge clinging to her voice. Yes, she definitely wouldn't have handled Bender. Curiously enough Brian - for just a second - wished he shared this class with the senior.

"Reynolds, Allison?"

Brian's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't even known that he shared a class with Allison of all people. He had never noticed her before. Why hadn't she said something? Brian turned around in his seat, his gaze searching though he wasn't sure for whom. Was he expecting a girl with wild hair and shabby clothes or the breathtaking beauty hiding underneath? Well, whichever side he chose, his expectations remained unfulfilled. Allison had a special talent to take all of them off guard. Even Bender.

As his eyes roamed over the familiar faces of his thoroughly uninterested class mates Brian realized that really, he didn't share this class with the crazy girl. Because Allison wasn't there. And for this strange, unexplainable reason he felt disappointed once again. When really Allison didn't owe him anything. Had she even been in this class once? Because Brain couldn't pinpoint a single instance where he had seen her in this room. Then again they went to the same school and until last saturday he didn't even know she existed. Which said quite a lot about his awareness of his surroundings. Or his interest in the life of those around him.

The teacher grinned shakily and made a note on her paper before she moved on but Brian's eyes didn't stop searching for the girl that once was his friend a short long time ago. He didn't even know why he was looking for her or what he would do if he found her. In the end it didn't matter. Allison wasn't there. And it sort of surprised him. Sure, her appearance made her seem like a slob and she probably didn't care much for school but he wouldn't have taken her for one to skip lessons. After all she had come to the hell that was Saturday detention, simply because she had nothing better to do. Back than it had been funny but now remembering her careless words Brian felt strangely sad.

But as Brian turned his head back to the front and listened to the substitute's explanation of the basic functions of analysis he stopped wondering in favor of concentrating on the lesson of the day.

There was no other disturbance of the plan that day. Technically there had not even been one.

Tomorrow would be Wednesday already, Brian mused later on, as he left the last class room for the day. Another day over, another day lost. Larry Lester shot him a grin as they met at his locker. He told him about a car crash from the night before. Seeing his friend now - and remembering the tears of another blond, blue-eyed teen - the air tasted bittersweet.

Technically all was well.

Bah. For some reason I don't like this one. It turned out just like planned but somehow ... Anyway. Maybe the next one turns out better.

Love Schlangenkind