Chapter 1

John Bender desperately tried to ignore the metallic clang of his alarm clock. He had been having a great dream about red hair, soft skin, and pink lip gloss. Groaning, he opened his eyes and slammed his hand down to silence the alarm. He let himself come to, looking up at the ceiling of his new apartment. Today was his first day and the University of Chicago. As soon as high school had ended, he had gotten himself a job and his own place. Life had all of a sudden been pretty good. Sure, he had to work long hours to make rent, and he had less time to spend with his then girlfriend, Claire, but it had been worth it.

He'd spent two years at the community college in Shermer and discovered that, away from his parents and that asshole Dick "don't mess with the bull" Vernon, he was actually a pretty smart guy. He'd gotten all A's, and had come out with a 3.9 GPA and an Associate's Degree in Architecture. It was his GPA that had earned him a scholarship at the UC, and his designs that had earned him a spot in their cut-throat Architectural Design program.

Of course, thinking about high school brought his mind right back to the dream he had been having. Just like every other night, Claire had come and taken over his sleeping hours. Since that was his only way to see her, now, he was alright with it.

He recalled the Monday after that fateful day in the detention hall, and that kiss in the closet, and the diamond earring that had been pressed into his palm. He had walked to school, head still reeling from an early morning "interaction" with his old man. He had held very little hope that Claire's looking at him, let alone touching him, had been anything more than a brief moment of teen daring. Things like getting her for a girlfriend simply didn't happen to him. But, against all odds, in spite of every word he'd thrown in her face, and every word she'd thrown back, there she'd been, leaning against his locker talking to Allison like it was the most normal thing in the world. When she had turned and smiled at him, his world had narrowed to simply watching the corner of her lips turn up, and concentrating on not tripping.

As expected, the princess and the burnout had been a completely huge deal. All of Claire's former "friends" abandoned her, celebrating her social death by letting slip every dirty little secret they knew. Granted, there weren't many, and they weren't all that dirty, but he had known it hurt her more than she let on.

He grunted, and shook himself. He needed to get her out of his head. It had been years, now. She was probably married to some rich, country club member, on her way to popping out their first little richie kid.

He showered quickly and grabbed his books before heading out the door. Hell, maybe today he'd even meet a girl who came close to measuring up to Claire, and he could try to start forgetting her.

Claire paced her living room floor, every now and then glancing up at the clock. Her class wasn't until 11:30, but she had gotten up early and hadn't had to work this morning, so all she'd had to do was pace, drink coffee, and worry. She was in her junior year, finally, and she and Alison had started drawing up financial plans to start their own fashion design company. No one had really been shocked when Claire had declared her interest in becoming a fashion design major, but a couple of jaws had dropped when Alison followed suit. Now, their styles had become so integrated that they regularly swapped and modified each other's clothes.

Today she was wearing a one-of-a-kind Ali design, and she let herself worry about that instead of the class she was kicking herself for signing up for. The long black sleeves hung in tatters around her wrists, clashing with the hot pink main body of the shirt. The long purple skirt that flowed out around her ankles flounced when she walked, and showed off her hand-painted Chuck Taylor's. Her old friends from high school would have immediately labeled her a social reject, if they hadn't done that years a go.

Claire smiled at that. At the time, it had killed her that almost no one in her "clique" was accepting of the fact that she was in a relationship with John, but as it turned out, that had been the best thing that could have happened to her.

Now, she had three of the greatest friends she could ask for, she laughed more, and she was eventually going to own her own label and business. Yup, life was pretty much good, except for that fact that, secretly, she knew her heart was still broken.

She and John had officially gotten together one week after their detention. They had stayed together through the end of the school year, and into the summer. Eventually, sweet gentle kisses had led to rough and sweet touches. Those rough and sweet touches had led to sweet, rough, gentle, and totally mind-blowing sex.

That had been the best night of her life. Granted, that had been the only night she'd been with a guy in her life, but she still thought it probably wasn't about to be topped anytime soon.

The next night, the whole of their little breakfast club had agreed to meet at a friend's part, the final big bash of the summer before everyone drifted away and went off to school. John was staying in Shermer, but the rest of them were off to Chicago. Claire hadn't been worried about the distance because she was in love with John, and he was in love with her. At least, she had thought so anyhow.

That night, getting ready, she had agonized over her outfit. Her first experience with John had made her want to be a little daring, and she ended up borrowing a rocker-chic black top from Alison to go with her brand new black jeans. Red tennis shoes and a cute little red bandanna around her neck completed her ensemble.

She still remembered like it was yesterday. She had practically bounced into the party, excited to see her friends, but more excited to see John. She had hoped he'd like the new outfit, though she was pretty sure he didn't really care in the long run.

Alison's instantly worried look, and her hand gripping Claire's, had been her only warning. Turning to look in the direction Alison faced, Claire felt her heart shatter. John was already at the party. With a girl. That girl's hands were…everywhere on him.

Claire had let out what felt like a scream, but would discover later that it sounded more like "meep" and run out of the house. Alison had followed, consoling her. She had spent the night at Claire's, and Andy and Brian had eventually joined them via the window. It was a mutual decision that, after that night, they would never talk about the incident again. The unspoken, nearly mutual, decision was that none of them would really be talking to John again.

So Claire had started her freshman year with major heart-ache and too many loose ends to tie up. The fresh 15 came and went, but she didn't much care either way. Then, Alison had suggested she do something creative to channel her hurt. She had sat down at a drafting board, picked up a pencil, and never looked back.

Which brought her back to the present, and the infuriatingly slow clock. Alison had left long before, off to a color theory class. This year, Claire had decided to be daring and step outside of her normal class purview. Today that daring was coming to fruition in the form of the Architectural Theory class she was dreading.

It was 10:45 now. If she drove, she would get to class in plenty of time to get a good seat. After looking at the required reading, she was pretty sure she'd need it.

She grabbed a last quick look in the mirror, absently noted that her blue highlights would need a touch-up, and smiled at herself. "You can do this, Claire Standish. You've been to Hell and back, and you came away with a t-shirt. This is just a class." A quick tug on her shirt, and she was out the door.

Brian waited outside the cafeteria for Alison to get out of class, They were supposed to have lunch together, since Claire and Andy were occupied, before he headed off to Organic Chem, and she headed off to work.

"Hey big Bri," he heard from behind him. The familiar, long unheard voice knocked him out of his thoughts. He turned and didn't bother to fight the smile that lit up his face.

"Hey, Bender! How's it hangin'? You go here now? Or are you just visiting the campus?"

John smirked. He couldn't believe that the cracked-voice geek he'd known in high school had turned into this hip, confident guy who said things like 'how's it hangin'.

"Yeah, I go here now. I'm in Architecture, got a scholarship 'cause my grades at SCC were so good." John couldn't help the tinge of pride that warmed his voice, and Brian discovered that he was happy for him.

They chatted for a few minutes, agreed they should hang out sometime, and Bender headed off for the design building.

Alison crept out from the bushes she had hidden behind once she recognized John's familiar walk.

"So…" she opened, "What was that?"

"Oh, John goes here now. Architecture. I guess he did really well at the community college and earned a scholarship."

Alison nodded, distracted. There was something important about John and architecture that had something to do with Claire. Brian was mumbling about how maybe they could hurry up since he was starving when Alison realized the problem here.

"Wait, Brian, did you say Architecture?" Brian nodded.

"Was John heading to Architectural Theory, by any chance?" Brian nodded again, and Alison watched understanding dawn on his face.

"Oh, shit! Claire!" they said simultaneously. The headed off to the design building at a run, both pretty sure they'd be too late to save her…them…from renewed heart-ache, but they would at least try.