A/N: Originally written for Yuletide 2018 for Spatz.
It was that time of year again. The birds were singing. The flowers were blooming. Kids were finally getting ready to say goodbye to school and hello to summer vacation, which meant as such it was time for John Bender to clean out his cesspool of a locker. Things tended to accumulate over the course of a year, especially when he blatantly neglected most of it. Usually when locker clean out rolled around, Bender was content to take his dope and throw everything else into the garbage without so much as batting an eye or even just leaving everything for the next kid to deal with, but this year was different. Ever since that fateful Saturday detention, he had found himself checking his locker more than usual.
The first Monday after detention, he had passed the others in the hall without so much as a word. Why would he? Bender thought they were all kidding themselves if any of them thought that they were going to be best friends and hold hands and sing kumbaya in a circle. Life didn't work like that. The cold hard truth was that they were different. One Saturday wasn't going to change that… or so he thought.
By Thursday of that week, he was cornered in the hallway by Allison. She got into his personal space, backing him up against the wall.
"What's your damage? Why haven't you responded? You're the only one," She told him, tapping her foot as she looked at him expectantly. She was back to wearing her usual dark and baggy garb, but she had ditched the heavy eyeliner.
Bender was thoroughly confused. "Responded to what exactly?"
"You know what! The note!" She said to him.
"I never got a note," He dismissed, trying to get past her, but she again blocked his way.
"Yes, you did. He said he made you one."
"He? So this note isn't even from you?"
"No, Brian wrote them and put one in your locker."
"Why the hell is Johnson writing me love notes?" Bender asked her. He was a little disappointed that it hadn't been from Claire, though he'd never admit to it.
"Just check your locker today," She insisted to him before walking off in a huff.
That was how it had started. Bender had checked his locker later that day and had found the note, written in Brian's neat print on a lined piece of notebook paper. Really, Bender had been a little shocked it wasn't on professional stationary with a letterhead and all, but he figured maybe Brian saved the good stuff for his more professional endeavors. The gist of the note had been to meet on Saturday evening at a small restaurant on the outskirts of Shermer. Brian had been sure to schedule it after Bender's Saturday detention would have ended, but before any of the good parties would be happening for those that were cool enough to be invited to them. At the bottom of the note, there was a section lined off as a reply card that was to be returned to Brian's locker before the end of the school day on Friday, so he'd know how many of the group were coming.
Bender had nearly thrown the note away there and then, but he had remembered what Allison had said. He was the only one that hadn't responded yet, which meant that there was a good chance some of the others were going and expected him to go too. He ripped off the bottom of the note and marked the 'yes' box before slipping it in Johnson's locker at the end of the day when the hallway was devoid of other students.
When Saturday rolled around, Bender made his way from the school to the outskirts of Shermer to the little family restaurant the note had indicated. He'd felt a little ridiculous for even showing up and even more so when he had to tell them he was there for the 'Johnson party', so much so that he nearly turned to go then and there. Curiosity had him though and when he was led back to a literal party room downstairs and he saw the others there, he felt a little bit better about his decision.
Over the course of the night, the group had learned that the restaurant was owned by Brian's aunt and uncle and that the party room was theirs whenever they wanted it - along with food to go with it. Brian had offered to tutor his little cousins in math in exchange for it and of course his aunt had jumped at the chance.
And that was how it had started. Each week, a note came with the RSVP request and each week the group met at the restaurant secluded from everyone else. During any given school day, they hardly acknowledged each other's existence, but at their Saturday meetings they all felt more comfortable with each other and themselves than any would care to admit to. There was no pretense to be had - no one left to impress. They had already laid out their baggage before one another and that made it all easier. Though that wasn't to say that they were without their problems. They still had disagreements and fought, but somehow things always worked themselves out amongst them and they all still showed up like clockwork.
After a month, Claire had delivered her own note - on pink scented stationary, no less - and left it in Bender's locker for him to find. Her father was going out of town and she'd have the house to herself for the weekend. The pair had been growing closer over the course of their weekly dinners together and truth be told, the sneaking around aspect of their relationship had made it all the more fun. What Bender hadn't realized was that he wasn't the only one to get the note. That weekend, they all met up at Claire's and were able to indulge in things that certainly would have been frowned upon in Brian's aunt's restaurant - drinking and dancing and smoking into the night. Bender, however, had stayed later than the others.
After that weekend, things had changed at school. Andrew and Allison were no longer making a point of hiding their relationship and to everyone's surprise, they hadn't caught much hell about it from the other kids at school. That had opened the floodgates for the others to be a little more open in public with one another - though still not quite flaunting their friendships. A simple head nod in the hallways or stopping to chat for a second went a long way to breaking down the social hierarchy so prevalent in Shermer High.
Claire and Bender's first big social outing together had been prom. It was an event Bender had deemed stupid, but it was still important to Claire. She'd slipped the prom tickets in his locker much like the notes they'd so often passed and he'd initially responded by kissing her in the busy hallway without so much as a word. If she wanted to go public with whatever it was they were doing, he wasn't going to let her off easy. She'd been a little bewildered at first, but had kissed him back, making their hallway tryst the talk of the Shermer High gossip mill. When they'd showed up to prom together, it had still come as a surprise to most. Claire's normal social circle had been a little horrified that she was really slumming it with someone as classless as John Bender, but after a few choice words and an obscene gesture not really befitting the prom queen about the whole thing, she'd found herself feeling more free by Bender's side as they joined Andy and Allison on the dance floor, not caring who saw them or what anyone had to say about it. It was the most fun Claire had ever had at one of the school dances and even Bender had to admit the night wasn't entirely terrible.
Now, standing in front of his locker on the last day of school, Bender gathered the various notes from the past couple of months and shoved them in his jacket pocket before throwing out most everything else save for his dope. Some things never changed and the group was going to need it later anyway. They had another get together planned at Claire's house with Brian bringing the food from his aunt's restaurant. They were in for one hell of a night and Bender wouldn't have it any other way.