A/N: Thanks for all of your great reviews!

Chapter 3: Monday, Monday (Pt. 1)

Allison woke up late on Monday morning, the first time this had happened in years. Normally, she woke up before dawn, when most people were still asleep, and sketched or wrote in her journal. Sometimes she wouldn't do anything but sit under her window and watch the sun come up. She liked the feeling it gave her, to witness something so beautiful when most people didn't even bother.

But on March 26, 1984, Allison Reynolds did not watch the sun rise. She did not write in her journal or start a new drawing. Instead, she woke up at 7:41 A.M., precisely 19 minutes before the first bell rang.

She knew that something was wrong the moment she opened her eyes. For one, the sun was shining into them. Allison glanced over at the clock on her bedside table and gasped. Then she flung the sheets away and stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom across the hall.

In the bathroom, she brushed her teeth and studied her face in the mirror. She had no makeup, of course. Not like Claire's anyway. The only beauty products she owned were a black eyeliner, black eye shadow and a tube of Chapstick. Not very glamorous, to say the least. She didn't even own a headband.

Allison let out a high-pitched groan and ran her fingers through her hair. She picked up a ratty old brush with frayed bristles and smoothed out the bumps. Then she tucked the side pieces behind her ears. There, a drastic improvement already. She pulled out the black eyeliner, then threw it back into the drawer. Chapstick was fine for today.

By the time she arrived downstairs, her parents were getting ready to leave for work. Neither seemed to notice that she was running late or that she had completely missed breakfast. Her father looked up when she walked in and put down his newspaper. "Are you ready, Allison?"

She nodded and followed him out to the car. On the way to school, all she could think about was what was going to happen when she saw the others. It had been a long time since she'd had a friend and didn't know how she was going to handle four new ones all at once. Not that she could guarantee that they would talk to her. Nothing was guaranteed when it came to trusting other people and she knew that as well as anyone.

But Saturday…something changed that afternoon. It had taken a while, but eventually she had let down her guard. It was easier than it looked, telling someone about her parents. It was even easy listening to the others talk about theirs. For a while, in that circle with Brian and Andy and Claire and John, she had even forgotten how it felt to be ignored and laughed at. Listening to them tell their stories, she had felt almost normal, like she fit in or something.

It was a nice feeling.

Claire was also running late that morning, but not because she had overslept. She couldn't decide what to wear. On Saturday, she decided to throw away nearly 80 of her wardrobe. On Sunday morning, she changed her mind and went to the mall, where she found some really cute tops on sale. On Sunday afternoon, she took them all back, deciding that they were too revealing. By Sunday evening, the saleswomen at the store knew her by name. They managed to paste weary smiles on their faces as they rang her up for the same four shirts, plus one more she hadn't noticed the first time around.

On the way to school Monday morning, Claire was still fretting over her clothing choice for the day. The top was fairly low-cut and the skirt, while not a mini, did show off a good bit of leg. Did this outfit make her look like a tease? What did it mean to be a tease anyway? That she dresses provocatively or that she dresses provocatively and doesn't sleep around?

Her thoughts were interrupted by her arrival at school. Her father kissed her on the cheek and pulled out of the parking lot. Claire walked through the front door of the building and towards her locker. Still lost in thought, she popped open the lock and removed her math book.

"Claire!"

Claire spun around to find her best friend Natasha a few feet away. Natasha was naturally beautiful, with long light brown hair, pale skin and brown doe eyes. She was tall and slender and every boy in school wanted to get into her size four Levi's.

"Hey, Tasha."

"You didn't call me back last night."

Claire slammed her locker door and winced. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

"It's okay."

"Yeah? How is Michael doing?"

"Fine. The bruising looks bad, but he's feeling better. And he should be able to get his stitches out soon." Natasha rummaged through her bag for her Cherry-flavored lip gloss and offered it to Claire before applying it. "It's the last time I go to one of Stuart's parties."

The warning bell echoed overhead and Claire grabbed Natasha's arm. "You want to go out tonight? Just get a bite to eat or something?"

Natasha nodded and slipped the lip gloss back into her purse. "I'll see you at lunch."

"Yeah, okay." Claire paused for a moment to search her own bag for her compact. It was at the bottom, as always. She grunted softly as she pushed aside various beauty products before reaching the compact.

"You're gonna be late."

Claire looked up her purse to see John Bender standing in front of her, smirking. He looked about the same as he had on Saturday except that he had changed his shirt. Her heart rate sped up a little bit at the sight of him, but she tried to act nonchalant.

"Aren't you always late?"

"I was on time for detention, wasn't I?" The final bell sounded and a few students scurried into classrooms. Within seconds, the hallway was all but deserted.

"Let's cut."

"I can't! Do you want me to end up in detention again?"

Bender laughed. "With me, you mean? It might be fun. And I know this great little closet…"

Claire couldn't help but smile. "No, I'm not going to risk it."

He paused thoughtfully. "Lunch then? Behind the bleachers."

She swatted his arm. "Pig!"

Bender smirked. "You love it. Now, don't be late to lunch. I forgot to pack mine, so you'll have to do."

"I won't be there!" Claire watched him disappear around the corner as she sighed. She was such a liar.

Bender's morning was turning out to be more interesting that he had anticipated. For one, Claire was wearing a skirt that showcased her marvelous thighs. He had known that they were marvelous, as he'd gotten a very good look at them on Saturday hiding under her desk, but seeing them from further away proved even more enjoyable. Besides, knowing that they had a lunch date later meant that he might get another close-up.

He was late to first period, but not by much. Mr. Waverly, his physics teacher, seemed surprised to see him at all. Bender pretended to tip his imaginary hat at him and took a seat in the back of the classroom, where he propped his feet up on the desk. Two rows over, Allison, who had been engrossed in a drawing, was staring at him.

Bender arched his eyebrows in greeting and nodded his head. She smiled shyly and went back to her picture.

Second period English was more boring than physics, if that was possible. He passed the time by sleeping and drawing on the bottom of his boots. By the time third period rolled around, he figured that he had done his civic duties for the day and retired to the bleachers, where he smoked a few cigarettes until Claire showed up. A few minutes after the lunch bell rang, he spotted her walking across the field, checking behind her every few seconds to make sure she wasn't being followed. He smirked at this; she was such a goody-two-shoes.

"You lost?"

Claire blushed, but ducked under one of the bleacher seats and leaned against the seat across from Bender. "Yeah, I was looking for the cafeteria. I don't know how I ended up here."

"Oh, well, we serve very nutritious meals here under the bleachers. Nutritious and tasty." Bender smirked and took a few steps towards her. She stiffened a bit as he placed his hand against the seat beside her arm and leaned in, putting his mouth against hers.

Twenty minutes later, Claire and Bender emerged from under the bleachers, hand in hand. She reached into her purse and retrieved her lip gloss. Bender smirked and made a snide comment about her lipstick-cleavage trick. She rolled her eyes, then jokingly offered some to him as Natasha had done earlier that morning. John shook his head. "I've already got enough on."

Claire laughed, then looked around to make sure they were alone. She gave him a small peck on the cheek and let go of his hand. "My class is over this way."

Bender nodded. "See ya later, Cherry."

She narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. "When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"Guess."

Claire gasped and hit him on the arm. Bender chuckled and started walking towards to the front entrance of the school. The bell rang as he opened the door, but he didn't hurry. After all, he had a reputation to protect.