Midnight approached. The band signalled the transition from up-tempo mayhem to what the kids in the school hall knew as 'the erection section' with the usual cheesy "We're gonna take it down a notch or two, so go find that…. special person…."

As if triggering a genetic impulse, tuxedo walked with ball-gown to the dance floor, or more often off to the darker recesses of the hall. Lights were dimmed, and under the unwanted gaze of school-teachers and 'helpful' parents, the soft sound of slow, traditional dance music did just enough to hide the rustle of taffeta and the occasional lowering of zippers.

Allison stood to one side, by the curtained alcove behind which gym equipment was normally hidden from view, and scanned the dance floor. She was dressed, unsurprisingly, in black, with a dark red corsage and bag. She had come with the group, all five of The Club having decided to go to the Prom together, rather than enter the cattle-market which signalled the pairing off of boy and girl, and the segregation of the loved and the lonely. Somehow, by opting out of the more accepted road to the end-of-year event, they felt they were cementing their reputation as a clique all of their own. In Allison's mind, it also gave her a degree of protection for when this time in the evening arrived.

She could see Andy, sipping slowly at his 'Coke', enhanced by too much bourbon. She knew that he would have liked to be her official 'date' for the night, but she'd gently steered him away from asking, not sure whether she was as eager as he obviously was to take their relationship any further than their infrequent and so-far chaste trips to the movie theatre and the drive-thru.

She spotted Brian, shyly dancing with the pretty blonde from science class. How ironic that of all of them, it was Brian who looked most settled. He was still nervous around girls, and the thought that any girl – let alone one as pretty and clever as Kate – was interested enough in him to make the first move still surprised Brian. Allison knew different, of course. When Kate had approached her in the hallway a week earlier and started asking about him, she'd been only too happy to help the course of what, for Brian at least, were the first steps towards being in love for the first time. Allison chuckled quietly to herself as she watched Kate slowly place her hand on the back of Brian's neck and gently pull his lips closer to hers.

She heard John, outside the door with the deadbeats and dropouts. He'd struggled to shake off the peer pressure from his old crowd, finding it harder than the others to break out of the persona he'd built around himself. Ironic really, seeing as he was the one Breakfast Club member who had actively and aggressively denied being in any clique. He'd berated Brian for being in the Math Club, Andy for his wrestling, Claire for the 'rich kids' she circulated with. Yet his was as much a society as any, and whilst the others had expanded their circle of friends to include people they would have dismissed mere months before as totally alien, John still struggled to make any real contact with people outside of his four newest friends.

But where was….

Suddenly a hand rested on her shoulder, another on her waist, and Allison found herself being pulled gently back behind the drapes.

Felling slightly nervous, Allison turned, and looked straight into Claire's beautiful eyes.

"I saw you watching for me" she whispered, pulling Allison closer. "And whilst it's traditional at midnight, at your High School Prom, it's way too public out there for this"

Claire paused for a second, the hand on Allison's shoulder slowly dropping, gently caressing her arm, and ending by her hand. Allison's eyes flicked down to her side, and she turned her hand, curling her fingers to mesh between those of her best friend. She looked up again, noticing not for the first time the sparkle in Claire's eyes, the soft line of her cheek, and the way her hair framed her beautiful face.

Claire slowly and purposefully licked her lips, and, with one final, confirming look into Allison's dark eyes, closed the gap between their bodies and moved in for that first, wonderful kiss.