At the knock on the door, Bender practically lept up out of his seat, surprising two of his fellows, while the last merely smiled. He stopped short at the dark, wooden portal to the library and pushed it open, leaning against the door and gesturing gentlemanly towards the inner room. With a big smile, the ginger girl slipped in, her pink blouse bright and pretty against her pale features, her vibrant red hair peeking out from under a cream hat. She took it off and clasped it in her hands, Bender following behind, shoving his hands in his pockets, that unending smile once more returned to his face. Claire smiled at Alice, who stood and gave the girl a grin and a hug in greeting.
"How are ya?" she asked, as if they hadn't just seen each other the day before.
"Good. Yourself?"
"Bored." The two giggled, and Bender glowed with pride, looking over at the other two with a smirk, completely confused as they were.
"Hey, who's she?" one of them asked. He stood to show how much he cared, and he looked genuinely irate.
"It's my girlfriend," Bender replied with more than a little satisfaction. He looked over at her. "Her name's Claire."
The fellow nodded impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, very cute. I didn't know they let you take your girls into detention with you. Really nice."
"He's a chatterbox," Alice supplied.
"Oh…" Claire grinned. It was always interesting to see who all did what to get brought into detention. She totally understood Alice's habit, but 7 was a bit early for her… not to mention her parents didn't quite approve with the idea of detention. Them getting along on one topic was rare enough.
"Yeah, yeah, just disregard me. Okay! I can deal with that." With a dramatic, overly done sniff, he plopped back into his chair, looking off into the magazine rack at the front, depositing a hat on his head.
Bender rolled his eyes and planted a kiss on Claire's neck, which she took with a soft smile. "Let's get you settled, shall we?" he purred, and they took their places at a table; Claire sat in the middle, while Alice and Bender sat on either side. The chatty one drummed his fingers impatiently on the table, still staring off into the distance, while the last student – a girl with light blonde hair watched them with slight interest.
"So, Dick's being himself, as usual. I've got detention until..." Bender looked up at the ceiling. "I think, three semesters from now." He smiled at her. "By my last tally, that is. I don't know how he's going to do that, exactly, but you can take that as you will."
Claire rolled her eyes. "You always have to make a comment. You let him get to you, you know."
Bender shrugged. "I don't really care. I'll be out of here eventually, and I could care less about that sorry bastard."
"Yeah, you talk a lot of shit, man," the other boy retorted from his spot, his foot by now tapping in addition.
"Say that to my face!" Bender snapped back with a glare.
"John…" Claire cooed, touching his breast.
The other one whipped around. "You're a disgrace of a human being! You talk a lot of shit, but for all the shit you talk, I've not ONCE seen you hurt a frickin' fly! I know you, man! And you don't fool me." He even stood up, his small frame shaking with some kind of unfulfilled fury. His eyes were wild, and the grimace on his face was so badly contorted, one wondered if perhaps he'd not quite used the expression much before.
With concern, Claire looked from him to John, who seemed almost a little stunned by the outburst. And then a shadow of a smile crossed his face. "Hey, you're Duckie, aincha?"
The fellow froze for a moment, and then gave a curt nod. "Phillip, actually." His grimace descends to a cold stare, when he adds, "Only my friends call me Duck."
Bender nodded, his grin widening. "I think I know where you live. You bike, right?"
He glanced about nervously, then nodded, this time less harshly. "Yeah. I bike."
"I know this kid!" he said, turning to Claire. "He's always fawning over that Walsh chick…"
"Andie," Duckie cut in, his harsh tone back. "Her name is Andie." With a growl, he looked away again. "She has a name."
Bender smirked. "Right…"
Claire gave a soft smile. "That's sweet. She your girlfriend?"
Duckie hesitated, sitting on the edge of the table, taking off his hat and turning it in his hands. "I'm… not quite too sure, actually." Nervous, he stuck it back on his head, but it didn't satisfy. He stuck his hands in his pocket and stalked to the front of the class.
Claire turned to Bender, who shrugged.
"They've always hung out together, but it's gotten a bit less mutual over the years," he supplied quietly.
In the front of the room, the Duck gave a humourless laugh. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He turned back to them and then returned to the table in front of them, sitting backwards in a chair. "You ever had a girl – heck, not even have to be a girl, anybody – you ever had anybody that you cared about so much, you'd, like, give your life for them, you know? – and then they go and throw themselves away on garbage! Like, like punks and bastards who are totally bad for them, y'know?"
Claire gave him an odd look. His words were rushed and smashed together, like they a hive of bees that had been crammed into a jar and shaken, but he daren't let out but a couple of them at a time, lest he lose all control. His leg bounced wildly and he kneaded a hand through his hair, still a bundle of something. This Andie girl seemed a reasonable cause for it.
"How you know they're bad for them?" Bender retorted. "Who are you to judge people?"
Duckie glared at him. "Sometimes you just know, y'know? I mean, who is this guy, anyway? Always passes her by every day, and then, out of nowhere, BAM. Suddenly it's like frickin' love at first sight and shit. It's not right! You know what I'm saying?" With desperation, he looked between the two of them as Claire and Bender looked at each other.
"I don't know, man. We weren't exactly your typical couple," he said, gesturing to Claire. "But we do quite alright. Balance out a bit. I'm her 'creative outlet', she's like my conscience."
Claire blushed. "I said that once! You always use my words against me!" Although she was protesting, there was a huge grin on her face.
Duckie gave them a cheeky grin. "Oh, you're the cutest couple of the year." He rolled his eyes in impatience and turned to Alice. "What about you?"
Alice smiled and shrugged. "I dunno. I don't really have that kind of problem."
Duckie gave an exasperated hand gesture. "Come on!" He looked about and spotted the last member of the group. "What about you?" he asked. "Help me out here. Am I right, or am I right?"
The girl blushed. "I'm not really too experienced in that kind of thing, either."
Duckie gave a scoff and leaned back against the table. "Thanks. You're all a bundle of help."
Claire smiled. "So… Andie's dating someone else, then?"
Duckie looked back up at her. "Thank you. Someone with sense." He leaned forward again, repositioning himself, crossing his arms on the back of the chair and resting his chin on it. "I've always been there for her, you know? I've been there for years, and over time – I know her, alright? I know her inside and out! I know her favourite movies, her favourite foods, her little habits, her vices, her haunts, EVERYTHING. I could write books on this girl, but it doesn't seem to matter. All the time, I fell more and more in love with her, but to her, I'm still just… Duckie." His eyes fell to the ground, and Claire felt her heart break. "I try to be hers, but…" He buried his head in his arms with a sigh.
Alice got up and gave him a hug, surprising him. Claire smiled at the genuinely kind motion. Duckie looked a little confused, but eventually let her do it.
"Better?" Alice peeped.
"I…I guess," Duckie replied. "He looked up at Claire and Bender with questioning eyes. Bender chuckled, while Claire just smiled.
"You need a hug," Alice said, rising. Duckie looked up at her curiously. "Sometimes that's just all it is. A hug."
Duckie grinned and shook his head. "Yeah, and they call me weird. Who are you, Ms. Affection and Sunshine?"
"That's Alice," Claire said. "She's an artist."
Alice smiled at him as she returned to her seat. Duckie smirked.
"Artist, eh? Nah." He shook his head. "You want an artist, you should see Andie. She does her own wardrobe, you know, and it's… it's hot, let me tell you."
Bender smirked. "You are a smitten one, ain'cha?"
Duckie glared softly, but there was no animosity in it. "Oh, come on. You say that like it's a bad thing." He looked at Claire. "And it's exceptionally hypocritical to say such a thing when you smuggle your girlfriend into detention for Christ's sake."
Claire laughed, and Bender leered in a similar fashion. "Touché."
The blonde girl quietly moved to join them, taking the seat next to Duckie, but sitting in it sideways rather than backwards as he had. Claire and Alice smiled at her while Bender indulged in his hypocrisy and gave his girl a kiss on the cheek.
"Seriously, man, you're breaking my heart, here," Duckie joked. "I swear, you two start necking it, I'm running for the computer lab," he added, thumbing behind him.
"I think it's cute," replied the other girl.
Duckie turned to her. "Oh yeah. Cute if you're them. If you're single like me, it's disgusting. Actually, when suffering from unrequited love like me, it's absolutely horrendous and torturesome. Torturesome, I say! I try that kind of thing on Andie, I swear, she'd smack me. I don't even try."
Alice smiled. "Sounds like you really like this girl."
"Like her? Hell, I'd die for her. Kill for her." He grimaced. "Well, I don't know if I could really kill someone, but if it would make her happy, hell, I'd jump at it. I'd find me a knife and be the next fucking…" He fought for a good example. "Jack the Ripper or somebody, I dunno."
"The Killer Duck?" Alice suggested.
Duckie gave her a look. "Clever. Points for relevance, not so much for originality. I mean, honestly, that'd strike fear into the hearts of the populace, wouldn't it? 'Beware the Killer Duck'. I might as well retire early. How in the world would that help me?"
"Well, if you had a good enough publicist, you could do quite well," the timid girl suggested.
Duckie turned to her, considering it. "You know, that's a good point. You know, that always made me wonder, who's in charge of naming these serial killers, anyway? I mean, the Zodiac guy? Seriously, who names themselves the Zodiac Killer? I mean, sure, it's exotic, but it's not really terrifying. Hell, even Jack isn't all that terrible, although 'Ripper' – I mean, that's something you can start an enterprise on."
"An enterprise of killing people," Alice smiled. "I wonder how that kind of business would do."
"Oh dear, I've started something terrible," Duckie moaned, hiding in his arms again. The girl beside him giggled.
"So, what's your name, dearie?" Claire asked, touching Bender's face as he went for her neck. He gave a small, impatient growl and returned to the conversation.
"Julie," she answered.
"And what's a lovely young lady like you doing in a penitentiary sichiation such as this?" Duckie asked, turning to her with genuine curiousity.
"One of my friends got into some trouble. I covered for her. She'd have been suspended otherwise, and it's kind of unfair to do that to her, so close to graduation."
"Wow! That's got to be one of the best reasons ever to get into detention. No offense," he added, looking to Bender. "But honestly!" He turned back to Julie. "That's a pretty sweet thing to do. Seriously, I'm touched." He looked at her with kindness. "If I had a friend like that – man, I tell ya, I'd count myself blessed."
"Yeah, that's pretty cool," Bender replied.
Claire smiled. "That reminds me of Brian."
The three of them laughed, Duckie and Julie left out of the loop. Duckie cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy, his eyebrows raising in interest.
"Well. A most fascinating tale, if ever I spotted an instance. Do tell." Both he and Julie had their attentions on the trio, Duckie in particular glancing between them to see who would spill the beans first.
Bender grinned. "Ah, that was a good Saturday. The day of the Breakfast Club…"