As Claire shoved through people in the crowded hallways to try and escape school right after the bell rang, she felt someone tap her shoulder, a more deliberate movement than any of the previous kids who had bumped into her. She turned around and saw Brian. "Oh thank God you turned around" he sighed. "I was thinking you wouldn't, I mean that's what Bender said, because Andy ignored me earlier and Bender said you wouldn't talk to him so I thought you wouldn't want to talk to me."
Claire groaned but then cleared her throat and straightened up. "Sorry Brian, it's just been hell of a day, I really can't do this right now. We can talk tomorrow, alright? I really need to get home!" Brian gripped some of the fabric in Claire's blouse loosely.
"But Claire" mumbled Brian. "I just wanna know, I mean, why didn't you talk to him? I thought you two were dating, I saw you two kissing."
"I don't know what you saw Brian but we certainly weren't kissing and we are certainly not dating." Claire's face began glowing red as she spit lies through her teeth. "Now Brian if you don't mind I really oughta get home, just -"
"Claire wait, one more thing! I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out later this week, if you aren't too busy. You know, just as friends."
"I'll check my calendar" Claire hurriedly spat and strided away. She wanted to get out of school as quickly as possible, to avoid seeing Andy or John or Allison. Originally she wanted to avoid seeing Brian too but that hadn't worked out too well. She pushed through the groups of students until she got to the curb where her dad was parked.
"God, there are too many people on this planet" Claire muttered as she got in. Her dad smiled and she glared at him. He was definitely one of the overflow people that she could do without. However, with her luck, if she disbanded her family and pushed her argumental mother and father out of her sights, they might just find a way to get along.
"Claire dear, what's wrong? Everything alright?" Her father tried to console her. She gave him the evil eye and retorted.
"No, everything's not alright, now just take me home." He lifted his hands off the steering wheel momentarily to symbolize surrender, and then started the car.
When John Bender's worn out, tired feet finally carried him to the porch of his house, he shoved his fists deeper into his trench coat pocket, and kicked the ground. After flinging open the screen door to announce his arrival, his mother called. "John?"
"Yeah Mom" John answered. His Dad was sprawled on the couch with a cigarette burning a hole in his shirt, fast asleep. Bender walked over, picked it up, and stomped it out. His father's eyes fluttered open briefly, noticed John standing there, muttered something incoherent, and fell back asleep.
"Mom?" John breathed. She looked up from her station in the kitchen cleaning a singed pot that was a lost cause. "Can I borrow the car tonight?"
"Ha!" she snorted. "If you can get that thing running, it's yours." Bender rolled his eyes. He wanted to roll up in Janna's driveway in a car, a running one, and piss off her parents, making them think he was a richie, and then take their daughter away. Janna lived in the same shit side of town Bender did, just a few streets down.
John's Dad began to stir, yawning and stretching. When he sat up and focused on John, he grunted. "You have any cigarettes left, John?" he slurred. John shrugged. They were his, he bought them, he wasn't just going to give them away. "Whatda I even fucking keep you around for?" his Dad muttered, standing up and walking into the kitchen.
"For my extensive IQ and ceramics skills!" Bender called.
"You watch your goddamn mouth!" said his mother, turning towards him, a spatula in hand. He put his hands up in mock surrender and was tempted to fold two fingers on each side over, but didn't. His mother wasn't terrible...at least she tried. That counted for something. His mouth twisted into a deformed expression.
"I'm going out" he declared. There was no response, so he grabbed his coat at the door, patted his pockets to feel his eighth, matches, and cigs, and walked out the door. The air was thin and biting, and he rustled around with his coat, trying to pull it up over his next. "Goddammit" he muttered. There were some dead leaves on the sidewalk and John kicked at them as he went.
Janna's house stood tall in front of his, with shingles falling off the roof and the door hinges crooked, Bender felt right at home. He knocked on the door and heard a shout of, "JANNA GET THE DOOR!" Shuffling footsteps, and then the creaking sound of the door swinging open.
"Hey Bender" she greeted him. "Wanna come in?" John shrugged and walked right in. He sat down on a sagging couch in a family room set off to the left and Janna followed, sitting in an armchair across from him. "You got smokes?" she asked.
"Nah" he lied, hoping to con some from her. "My dad hit me up when I got home."
"That's the shits" Janna said, handing a cigarette to Bender. He took his matches out, ignited a flame on his shoe, and lit his cigarette. "You always do that" Janna observed. "Never like a normal person."
"Normality is subjective" Bender shrugged. "You look at a shit house like this one, and to you and me, it's normal, but bring a richie in here and they might burst into flames." Janna shrugged and twirled her hand around in the smoke. She brushed a lock of her short black hair out of her eyes and as she did she reminded me of Allison.
"I just can't wait to get out of Shermer" Janna blurted out. "I'm moving to a big city where no one will know me."
"No one knows you here" John snorted. He was openly rude, and that's what turned girls away. He wasn't just the sarcastic, flirty, inappropriate bad boy that girls love. He was the sarcastic, flirty, inappropriate, manipulative, attention-seeking, rude, honest kid from the slums. And everyone he knew hated it. Give Janna three to four more weeks of knowing him, and she's gonna hate it too.
"Too many people know me for my liking" Janna reasoned. "I've got a little over a year left. My eighteenth birthday is in about seven months, so legally I'll be able to live on my own. I'll probably move out and then just finish out senior year."
"That's dumb. It's a waste, finish high school with your parents still paying for your shit."
"John, you don't live in my house." He crinkled his nose. He didn't like it when she called him John. It was unnatural. She was a smoking buddy. They called him Bender.
"Don't do that" he said. "Just, don't call me John, it feels forced." Janna turned away. He had probably embarrassed her.
"You wanna get out of here?" she suggested. "Go for a walk or something, I feel like my mom is breathing down my neck right now."
"Yeah sure." I stretched and got up off the couch, stopping out my cigarette into the carpet. Janna didn't say anything.
The outside air now felt more relaxing, after a tense exchange between the two of us. We walked down the sidewalk with the wind whipping around us. Any other guy would put his arm around her at this point, or at least hold her hand… but God that was dumb.
"How old are you?" Janna suddenly said. Bender raised his eyebrows quickly but then recovered, not used to being asked that question.
"I'll be nineteen in April" he said flatly.
"And you're a junior?"
"Is there a problem?" Bender retorted. "I'm not smart." Janna shrugged.
"I dunno. I was just wondering 'cause I'm only seventeen." It took a minute for Bender to register what she was saying.
"Oh God. Wow no, I'm not in the mood right now, but that's very flattering." Janna looked hurt and Bender was about to lose it. He couldn't understand how to work with people. It just didn't seem to register with him that if something will hurt someone, you probably shouldn't say it. "You know what, I'm gonna go. It was fun and all, and thanks for the stack. I'll see you around school." And with that, he slipped his hands into his pockets and began pacing away.
The next day at school Allison showed up with combed out hair, and a black tank top. Normal Allison… to some degree. At her locker she tried again to open the kid's next to hers. She had been watching him open his lock for a few weeks now, trying to figure out his combination. She doubted he had anything good inside, but it was almost like a challenge. The lock refused to open and she squealed.
She doubted Andy would say hi to her today. She was a practical person, and Andy was kind of an asshole when you stripped away everything else. His first instinct was to be an asshole, but if he considered his actions beforehand, he ended up being a pretty nice guy. If he found someone who could teach him how to think, he would be alright. However, Allison wasn't an expert in thinking.
There was a thud and a hand slammed against her locker. Without bothering to turn around, she bit it. "OH GOD!" wailed a voice behind her, and she spun on her heels. "Jesus Christ woman, you bite too" Bender exclaimed, shaking the pain out of his hand. Allison narrowed her eyes at him.
"What are you doing here John?" she asked.
"Hey, hey, let's watch it with the first names okay. My parents call me John, I don't need other people to catch on our it'll be no different than at home." Allison fluttered her black eyelashes and rubbed her eye, getting black stuff all over the palm of her hand.
"Why are you at my locker?" she hissed. He shrugged.
"Claire is a bitch. Andy seems to be a bigger one. Brian is no where to be found, and I'm trying to stay out of trouble until I serve my detention sentence, so that rules out my friends." Allison clicked her tongue.
"What makes you think I'm no trouble?" she seethed. Bender shrugged.
"Prove to me that you're not."
"Well unless you've got your heart set on going to first period, you wanna get out of here?" Bender shrugged again.
"If you've got smokes I'm in."
"Ha, what makes you think I have money for that shit?" Allison laughed.
"Wishful thinking, my dear" Bender answered. He put his arm around Allison's shoulders and they began to journey to the edge of school property. There was a little field of trees behind the football fields where the two of them settled down. "You know Cherry let me down yesterday" Bender said, taking a cig out of his pocket.
"Does that even surprise you?" Allison spit. "She's a prude." She tasted the last word on her tongue as she said it and Bender smirked.
"She kisses like one two" he added and Allison collapsed into the grass, her thick choppy hair sprawled out. "I'm serious, it was the kiss of the year if we were twelve."
"How old are you anyway?" Allison asked. Bender picked up a handful of grass and thrust it back down.
"God, you know, that's the second time I've been asked that in the past day. I'm a junior."
"No, but how old are you?" Allison emphasized. Bender glared at her.
"Nineteen in April."
"So you were left back?"
"Twice. You?"
"I'm a freshman… a genuine freshman. I turned fifteen in November."
"What about Cherry?"
"She's either a junior or a sophmore, I don't know."
"Well that's great, finish out strong together, eh? It all looks like I'm on track to graduate this year. I only failed first quarter Algebra." Bender picked another piece of grass and rubbed it between his fingers. "A lot of times you see those dumb kids who fail, but are actually fucking geniuses when they apply themselves, and all they needed to do is care and put forth effort. But I'm not one of them. I'm just genuinely dumb. Both my parents are, my old man's never had a job outside manual labor and bartending… maybe a few 7-11 gigs in high school. The only subject I'm good at is English. Not reading, but vocabulary in general. The smarter the sound, the more sarcastic."
"Well" Allison sneered. "What do you want to do then? With your life, I mean? If you're not smart."
"Who cares" Bender scoffed. "I don't even want to think of having to sustain myself."
"Andy!" Mark called out, with Leo and Ricky traipsing behind him. "We couldn't find you in the locker room after practice man, what the hell?"
"Dylan came and picked me up real early" Andy said. "I didn't feel like sticking around."
"You know we have a meet this Saturday, right? So you better start feeling like sticking around fast. You've been off game lately, Clarke. Lucas poned you last practice and he weighs like 80 pounds. Get set, Clarke."
"Hey, you're not my coach, man" Andy called as Mark turned away. Mark slowly turned around.
"I'm just saying what Masterson doesn't have the balls to say. Shape up or you might as well get out. You're a sophmore, do you know how many sixteen year olds would kill to be on the Varsity team? You're replaceable, Clarke, so get over yourself."
"I'm replaceable?" Andy sputtered. "You're the fucking replaceable one, I'll tell you something. You're on your way down to becoming first alternate if you don't learn how to get a pin and that ain't a lie!"
"You're a prick!" hissed Mark.
"So what if I am?!" Andy spit back. "You're an asshole so it seems fair!"
"You're gonna regret that, Clarke!" Mark yelled, taking up his letterman jacket and rolling up the sleeves. Before he could act, Andy caught him by the collar, and slugged him, making contact with the piece of skull protecting the side of his eye. A wave of electric shock went through Andy's fist but he still pulled back and struck Mark again.
"ANDREW CLARKE!" rang down the halls, in a stern, cold manner. "LET GO OF HIM!"
Andy dropped Mark to the ground, who quickly regained balance, and wiped a spatter of blood off of his cheek. Mr. Libhart stood there looking appalled, his arms crossed in disdain. "We'll be taking a trip to Mr. Vernon's office young man. Mark, off to class, or the office if you need an icepack." Mark grabbed Ricky and Leo and dragged them down the hallway with him.
Andy followed Mr. Libhart silently to the all too familiar office of Mr. Vernon, right across from the library. Mr. Libhart knocked on the door, and after being given the okay from Mr. Vernon, entered. "Mr. Clarke, well I tell you, I was not hoping I was going to see you again" Mr. Vernon said cooly.
"He was punching another student, right in the hallway" Mr. Libhart chimed in. "Mark Michaels. I'll let you take it from here." And with that, Mr. Libhart left the room. Mr. Vernon grimaced at Andy menacingly across the desk.
"Do you have a scholarship, Andrew?" Mr. Vernon began.
"Yes, sir."
"Full ride? Anything nice?" Andy bit his lip.
"Northwestern University, sir. Full ride."
Mr. Vernon raised his eyebrows. "Well that's very prestigious. That's a division one school if I'm not mistaken."
"Yes, sir."
"So why would a gifted, blessed, amazing athlete such as yourself want to jeopardize your hard earned scholarship with petty fighting." Andy felt the sarcasm in Mr. Vernon's tone and looked away.
"I don't know, sir."
"So I seem to recall you being in here last week Andrew. That is two infractions. I'm afraid that in addition to Saturday detention, you'll be suspended for two games."
"Meets, sir."
"What?"
"They're called meets, not games" Andy said shakily. "And I can't do that, it's almost the end of the year year, I need to compete, they're sending a scout to monitor me in a few weeks."
"Goodbye Andrew, be here 7AM Saturday."
Brian paced down the hall shakily. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to talk to someone, someone other than Keith or Greggie who were his only friends here now that Larry seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth. He wanted to talk to Claire or Bender or Allison or Andy, but he had already completed seventy five percent of that equation, fifty percent of which went disastrously. Bender had been receptive and he assumed Allison would have been too if he had been able to find her.
He saw a glimmer and a familiar flash of a diamond. That meant it was either Claire or…
Bender stood in front of him, his diamond stud poking out from behind his mop of punk hair. "You look like hell" he commented.
"Oh, hi Bender."
"Hey Brian, listen, can you do me a favor?" Brian looked warily into Bender's small, deceitful eyes.
"It depends…"
"Next time you see Sporto around, tell him I wanna talk to him. I gotta ask him something."
"Um… Bender I don't think that's gonna work out to well, I told you yesterday, he um, he ignored me. And anyway, I heard that he got detention again this weekend from my friend Keith, so you'll see him then."
"For real? Ah well look, I found a reason to actually go. Thanks, nerd."