The Monday after

Disclaimer: If only I did own BC (cue forlorn sigh)

A/N: This will probably remain a one-shot unless people review and want more

Claire

Claire didn't sleep well Sunday night, so when her father shuffled into the kitchen Monday morning, he found her sitting on the couch at 6:00 a.m. She didn't appear to hear him come in, but just sat there, staring into space.

Mr. Standish was a bit worried about Claire, ever since he had picked her up from detention Saturday afternoon, she had seemed very distracted. It briefly came to him that he barely knew who his little girl was anymore. The past few years had mostly revolved around work and making sure his drunken wife didn't drive him to bankruptcy.

But being the kind of person he was, he just shook his head, turned back to his Mr. Coffee, and forgot the issue entirely.

And so he was only vaguely aware of Claire getting up and locking herself in the bathroom.

Claire inhaled deeply as she cradled her head in her lap and hands. She knew exactly what she had to do, but that didn't make the situation easier to face.

Her friends where vapid and shallow, she was aware of that, but they had been her social standing compass for years. Telling her what to wear, who to date, what to say, how to act, how to think…

Peer approval was an addiction, one that Claire knew she had to break.

She reminded herself of her new friends. All the ridicule, all the pain, all the estrangement and ostracism she was going to face. The Breakfast Club was all worth it.

Andy

A couple of neighborhoods over, Andrew was thinking right along the same line. Except Andy was way less pessimistic. In fact his mood bordered on excited. So what if his wrestling buddies thought he was lame? They where all jerks anyway. Saturday's detention had been the most fun thing he'd done in years. Hanging out with Allison, Brian, Claire, and John was gonna be a blast!

Even if the entire student body decided to hate them, he was assured in his optimism that if they stuck together things would turn out all right in the end. In the back of his mind Claire's words about them all being seen together bounced around more than he would like to admit, but he simply refused to think about that.

The same way he simply refused to think about how his dad would take it if he decided to quit wrestling. He didn't know. Maybe? He'd ask Allison. She's consistently level headed and almost always 100 firm in her opinions.

Yeah, Allison would know.

Brian

Down the road was a boy, who despite only growing up a couple of blocks from Andrew, had only recently become friends with him.

It had been a long weekend for Brian, he had told his parents about the F in shop right after returning home on Friday. His mom had gone ballistic, his father had gone "extremely disappointed" and his sister had been the complete pest she had been born to be.

Brian couldn't wait to get out of the house. It was like being smothered with a wool blanket. His family kept shooting these weary looks that said, "First the flare gun in the locker, now the F in shop, what has happened to our poor child?"

It was also clear his parents where bouncing around the old drug theory.

"It's because he's on drugs!"

"He's not on drugs."

"That would explain why he tried to kill himself with a flare gun, people who are on drugs do crazy things like that!"

"Our son is probably just extremely stressed, he is taking all those AP classes."

Sigh, "You're right honey, he's a good boy, he's probably not on drugs"

"Still," Pause, "an F in shop? Maybe he's skipping school to do drugs and that's why he's getting the F."

"Oh, honey our boy is not a druggie."

And so it went for a couple of hours.

It wasn't until Monday morning that he thought of his friends. In truth he had been waiting all weekend to get back to the warm circle of acceptance that was the Breakfast Club. But his friends, they might think that He thought He was to good for Them. But he was weary of worrying, so he decided not to think about it.

John

Across town, John Bender crept into his kitchen quietly. His mother was valiantly trying to heat something in the microwave, and his father was passed out on the couch.

As John started to dig around in the fridge for something to eat, Mrs. Bender opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, then thought better of it and turned back to her microwave battle.

Though he didn't let on, John had seen his mother's quickstop&reverse. He guessed that the reasons she didn't say anything where for mainly reasons.

She didn't want to wake his dad and

She was two hung over to care what he did

When in truth she was merely surprised that he was going to school that early on a Monday. Usually he slept through at least first and second periods.

So John quickly forced down his leftover casserole hot-dish and hustled out the door before his mom would change her mind about saying something or worse his dad would wake up.

Unlike Claire, Andrew, and Brian; John wasn't all that concerned with what his friends thought about him hanging out with the Breakfast Club. This was because before Saturday "friends" had translated to "people from whom you can score drugs" or sometimes laugh at his jokes. But really before this friends had always been expendable. So while he wasn't that worried about other people's opinion of him, he was a bit concerned about his opinion of himself. For there was that little voice in the back of his head whispering, "Are you seriously going to hang with those losers?"

But he forced it down. What plagued him the most was the habitual sense that Claire wasn't going to come through. Preps only care about who's dating who, their hair, and how they're gonna spend daddies money. Right?

But she had given him her earring and he had yet to take it off.

He wasn't too worried about the others walking away. Sporto and Crazy seemed to actually like each other. They'd probably have the weirdest kids ever. And Dweebie? Any friends would be better than the geeks he was currently hanging with.

But he couldn't keep his mind off princess. He knew it that it was because he was honestly attracted to her. He couldn't remember the last time he had kissed someone and the ulterior motive hadn't been to get them in bed. This "arrangement" was much more chaste, yet, he found himself enjoying it.

Allison

Actually not that far from where John lived, Allison was getting ready for school. She was struggling a bit with the various make-up containers but after a while she had the look down.

As she studied her reflection in the mirror, Allison wondered if Andy would like it. She straightened her new clothes then plopped into the backseat of the family car. Her parents weren't present yet, but she wanted to be sure they didn't forget her. Again.

Of all the members Allison figured she had the least to lose. She was invisible, no friends, and only a slight reputation, she weighed her options once again.

Worst case scenario, they ignore her and she's right back where she started. Best case scenario, she has some friends for the first time in years. It was simple, but for some reason she was still nervous.