Title: The World through the Eyes of a Basket case

Author: TWBasketcase

Spoilers: Yes

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter 4 – The Breakfast Club

Am I ever feeling emotional, or what? I just had one of the deepest conversations in my life; it started out with 5 total strangers and it ended with 5 friends. I learned a lot of things from these people: we all feel pressured; we all have a lot of heaviness in our home lives; we all need someone to talk to; and most of all, we are all pretty bizarre. We made a silent pact together, and for once in my life I felt important. I don't need to cut anymore; I don't need to hide anymore, and most of all I don't have to be scared to be my true self; at least not with these people. So at the moment I'm sitting in a room with Claire, she just finished a make-over on me and now we are sitting together quietly, and I feel another conversation coming along.

"He's really not like the other guys," she says to me quietly.

"Huh? Who?" I ask.

"Andrew," she replies, "I saw the way you looked at him and I seen the way he looked at you, I think you should go talk to him when we're done in here."

Wow, of all people this is coming from! "Yeah I think you're right," I told her. "What about you?"

"What about me?" she asked.

"You fell for the bad boy, didn't you?" I asked with a smirk.

"I think there's more to him than that, but yeah, I guess you can say that. I don't know how to go about things with him." She said looking down at her feet. When her eyes met mine I replied, "I think you need to go soft with him, he may act tough, but I can see he needs someone in his life to be a little caring."

"I figured that much," she said with a grin. "By the way," she continued, "if you came up to me in the hall on Monday, I'm going to try to be as brave as I can to stick up to my friends. You made me realize a lot about myself Allison, and there's no way in hell that I'm going to turn on you after that."

I smiled, a genuine smile, "what about the others, Claire?"

"Same goes to them," she said, "I think we all need to pull through and be there for each other."

"That's great Claire," I said pretty amazed at what was coming from her mouth; I guess I over-estimated her.

"Look," she said while scribbling something on a piece of paper, "If you ever need to talk or hang out or anything, call me okay?" she asked kind of shyly.

"Cool, will do," I said.

"Okay, well good luck…I'm going to go find John and let him out of that closet!" she said with a laugh.

"Well good luck too, Claire, just be your real self, okay? I said. And with that she winked at me and left the room. I looked at myself in the mirror and decided it was now or never.

I left the room and looked up at what was waiting for me. Brian was busily preparing our essay and Andrew noticed me standing there, and our eyes locked. Oh god, I feel like I'm going to blow chunks. His eyes are making me melt, and I can't tell what he is thinking. I look down at Brian and he is staring open-mouthed. Oh Please! I shoot him a look and he mutters, "Cool," "thank-you," I reply. I look back to Andy and he has jumped down from the railing and is waiting for me to approach; here goes nothing.

"What happened to you?" he asked. I didn't know what to think about the statement so I got a little nervous. "Why? Claire did it…"I noticed the soft expression on his face and I changed my approach, "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing's wrong…it's just so different…I can see your face…" he says in awe.

I feel like I'm going to faint, but I feel so confident at the same time, "Is that good or bad?" I ask with a mischievous smile.

He chuckles, "It's good!" he says, sure of himself. This makes me smile again, from ear to ear…well as close to my ears as I can get anyways.

"Did you really mean what you said…that I didn't have to be alone anymore?" I asked him curiously.

"Most definitely…" he replied, "…I'm here, you taught me a lot Allison, do you really think you could get away from me that easily?" He chuckled, pulling me closer to him. "Allison, I like you, I really do…I don't want you to feel this way anymore."

I smiled shyly at him; he just admitted he liked me! I could have squealed. I raised my eyes to meet his, and then it happened…the most popular guy in school leaned in and kissed me. His lips were soft and very gentle. We pulled back and I looked him in the eyes and whispered a soft, "Thank you."

We turned back to Brian and walked over to his desk, at that moment we were joined by Claire and John. I looked over to Claire and winked, she smiled back, her face completely flushed. I giggled in spite of myself. John looked over to me, and in typical John fashion said, "Whoa, you clean up nice!" he winked at me and I stuck out my tongue, reaching for Andy's hand.

"Did you finish, Brian?" Claire asked hopefully. I looked up to the clock and seen 3:56…only four minutes left.

"Yeah I finished, do you want me to read it?" he asked almost cautiously.

"Go ahead Bry…" Andy said.

"Dear Mr. Vernon," he started and cleared his throat, "we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us…in the simplest terms, and the most convenient definitions…but what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basketcase, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club." He took a breathe and looked at us for approval. Claire approached him and hugged him. Andy slapped him on the back. Bender and I grinned.

"I knew you could do it!" Claire said, "Now what do you guys say we get the hell outta here?"

"Good call; I don't wanna spend anymore time in here than I already have too!" Bender exclaimed.

In unison we all grabbed our bags and coats and headed for the door. Andrew slipped his sweater over my shoulders and Claire slipped her arm through John's and we made our way out. Walking down the hall we passed Carl, I took in the look on his face…I guess I wasn't the only one not believing it. It was reality, however, and I was ready to face it with bells on! For the first time in a long time I felt that I had friends, true and honest people, and together (I believe) we brought out the best and the worst in each other; but that's what real friends do right? When we reached the bottom of the school steps I noticed my prick father waiting for me. I turned to face Andrew and he had a glazed over look in his eyes, leaning in I kissed him once again (hopefully not for the last time either). When we pulled apart I looked at him, I wanted to know what he was thinking. I was reassured with the look in his eyes and before I turned to leave I grabbed the state champion patch off of his left sleeve and smiled at him. Backing away, he tried to hold on, but I knew I would see him Monday; I sincerely hoped everything would go okay for everyone. Getting into my father's old car I couldn't take my eyes away from him, and it stayed that way until he was out of sight.

I leaned back in my seat, and looked ahead into the rearview mirror. My old man must be blind or something, even with a new look, he says nothing. Oh well, I guess some things never change.

To Be Continued