Allison lit the joint and smoked as she doodled the Sistine Chapel. Brian made his way over to her and asked if he could sit down.

"What about your usual group?" She said pointing towards Sean and Larry.

"We're going through a rough patch. Can I sit down or what?"

"Its a free country." She said. She bit her pen as he sat beside her.

She offered him the joint and he refused.

"We're at school."

"Trust me, It'll make things better."

He took a puff and agreed. He hoped to god the paranoia wouldn't bust things up, but he agreed.

"What's got them all ruffled?" She asked pointing to Larry and Sean. "I thought you guys were a tight unit."

"Me too." He said. Could Andy really separate 10 years of friendship? "It's just that Andy-"

"Ugh, do we really have to talk about him?"

"Oh, What happened? I thought youtwo were a tight unit."

His pants jumped to attention. He knew he wanted Allison, but he couldn't go over what Allison and Andy had. What kind of friend would do that? The same kind that held a flame for a taken girl? It was wrong, but that just made it more seductive.

"He's just being an ass. Can't tell his macho friends he's dating the freak girl."

I would.

"That sucks. I thought after everything that happened Saturday-"

"Well it looks you and I thought wrong. I should have figured it out sooner. I mean look at me."

Brian looked. He didn't see anything wrong.

"Am I supposed to see something?"

"You're too kind."

"You're my friend, Allison. For better or for worse-" he said coughing on the joint. This got Allison to laugh. They finished the joint and headed back to their respective home rooms.

Claire and John enjoyed a nice meal together at CafÄ— Raphael while Andy ate with his wrestling buddies.

"What was that chick earlier?" Dale asked.

"Yeah you know her or something, Andy." Porker asked. He got the name from cramming five pounds of pork rinds down in one evening. His finest moment.

"She's nothing, man." Andy said.

Wow, Clark. Smooth moves. You're a regular ol' piece of shit.

"Didn't look like nothing." Dale said. He got up and put Andy in a headlock.

"Would you cut it out."

Andy got free and pushed Dale aside.

"Come on, Andy. You got a girlfriend you're hiding from us."

"Cut it out, Dale."

"You're getting offaly defensive, sport-o?"

"Cut it out before I knock you out."

They wrestled to the ground as the other wrestlers cheered them on.

"Quit lying and I'll let you go."

Andy punched him in the face breaking his nose. Dale looked down at the blood on his shirt and started swinging at Andy. A hall monitor came to break them apart and he too caught a swing. By the time both of them were bruised the campus security guard arrived to break them up. He took them to the principal Vernon's office were he gave them both a weeks worth of detention.

"I'm tired of seeing you in here, Clark. Real damn tired. I want you two to think about your behavior's real damn hard. You're both out of the next meet."

"But It's the quarter finals!"

"That's enough!"

He quieted the two boys before sending them off.

"This is all your fault, Clark."

"Grow up, Dale. You deserved to have your ass kicked. Now get out of my face."

They went their separate ways. But whatever beef that was between them was far from over.