There was a pounding on the door and Allison's voice rung through. "Are you guys finished in there, honestly John, you're a teenager, I can't imagine you lasting long!" Claire covered her mouth with her hands in an attempt to keep her laugh at a respectable volume.

"Hey, fuck you!" John called. Claire's eyes were still electric with laughter and euphoria. He slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Well you have no right to laugh, Cherry. You wouldn't know anyway." She was still giggling, even after that jab at her virginity, and he gave up. She combed her hair back with her fingers and hopped down from the desk where she had been sitting.

The two of them walked out carefully, keeping as much space between them as possible. Allison was leaning up against the wall with her sly, twisted grin sparkling across her face. "Cherry no more" she said, cocking her head to the side.

"Not even" Claire shot harshly. She walked through the hallway which led out into a yellow-walled kitchen area with shiny hardwood floors. Andy had made himself comfortable on the recliner, with the remote in hand, flipping through numerous college basketball games, with a beer in one hand.

"He looks about forty years old" Allison commented. "Just like my dad sitting in that chair, I tell ya." John pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking his place on the couch, sprawled out across the entire thing.

"You know," he said, between puffs. "Of all the skipping I've done, this is by far the weirdest. Going to someone's house, a house like this, oh gee! And just… Allison Reynolds written all over it." She settled her chin into her neck and stared at him, as she always did. "Cla-aire" John sang. "Come sit on my lap."

"I still don't think you grasp the concept of us not dating" she said prudently.

"You two aren't dating?" Andy questioned, still not turning his attention away from the basketball game.

"No we are not dating, my god" Claire huffed. John mouthed 'We are' and Andy and glared coughed. "We are definitely not." John rolled over on the couch.

"We should throw a party" he mused. "I'll invite my friends, and sporto will invite his sodomizing jocks, and whichever group has more breathing members by sunrise is superior." Andy snorted.

"Screw that, Bender."

As Brian trudged his way home from school, he heard jogging footsteps behind him. Not bothering to turn around, his follower soon was at his side. "Andy?"

"Yeah" he sighed, trying to think of what to say next. "Hey, I'm sorry I was such an asshole a few weeks ago. I'm trying."

"Oh" was all Brian could think to say, as he continued walking. He was a good eight or so inches taller than Andy, he had never noticed that. Andy was so short at stocky. Brian was unusually lanky.

"Have you talked to anyone else, from, I mean…?" Andy asked as he swung his hammer harder and harder against the ice.

"Not since a few weeks ago." Brian's face was stern and cold and Andy was now realizing how terrible it was to have been in Brian's shoes. To be ignored and shut down. So he decided to do something that went against all his instincts.

"Brian, I'm going to a party this tomorrow, Friday. I…." Andy broke off, not sure how to finish his thought, but hoping Brian would understand.

"That's great for you Andy, now would you please excuse me...please."

"Do you want to come?" Andy swung aimlessly.

"Why would I want to come with you, Andy?" Brian asked. He looked so hurt, so distraught. Not like he was going to cry, but just like he felt hopeless. Like he was trying to teach me something that I was too dense to ever understand. "You're just so full of yourself, like, you think you're throwing me a bone here don't you? Letting me tag along to your sport party? Well I don't want to go Andy! I have other friends, and I'm not gonna like anyone better than them simply because they're popular!."

"Brian." Andy paced a few steps ahead of him, and then stood in front of him to cut him off. "I want you to come." Brian took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"If I agree to go with you to this party, will you stop cutting me off and let me go home" he asked, grinning slightly.

"Yeah."

"God, you're not gonna wear - okay alright, that's fine then" Andy sputtered, when Brian arrived on his doorstep, with an argyle sweater fitted nicely around him. Brian raised his eyebrows, and Andy, who sported his letterman's jacket and a grey T-shirt, remained silent.

"And I suppose this is the time where you brief me on how to behave" Brian laughed.

"Just be Brian. Not Brian Johnson, the Johnson's kid."

"Deep."

"Well" Andy shrugged. Brian pulled his keys out of his pocket and opened the driver's side door. "I thought...I thought I was gonna drive" Andy said quizzically.

"Well seeing as this is my car, and I am older than you, I think that maybe, I should drive." Andy glowered but got into the passenger seat nonetheless. "What? Are you embarrassed to be pulling up with me and not driving?"

"Just drive."

The car ride was monotonous and uneventful. When they pulled up at Leo's house, there was already glass shattered throughout the lawn from one of the upstairs windows. Brian fought to keep his mouth closed and Andy smiled. He clapped Brian on the back. "Welcome to a party, Brian."

Inside was worse than imaginable, what with girls in their unbuttoned blouses exposing their bras, and boys wearing jockstraps on their heads. Thousands of red solo-cups strewn about the house and broken - well practically broken everything. Andy pushed through the crowd to a group of thick, muscular boys who Brian assumed to be the Varsity wrestling team.

"Andy!" called out a black-haired, stubbly one.

"Stubby?" Brian guessed aloud. They all turned to look at him and his smile was wiped away. "Because, you've got stubble...erm."

"Stubby's over there" the guy said coldly, gesturing to a stout, sunglass adorning kid who was being cheered as he built a castle of cups. Brian looked down at his feet.

"Say, Andy, who the hell is this kid?" Andy gave Brian a cold look: 'You couldn't have acted normal for one minute?'

"Friend of mine" he shrugged, simply. "Brian. Brian, this is the crew." Brian waved half-heartedly.

"You're in my shop class" one of the boys said. Brian nodded as he recognized him. "Yeah you're that kid who blew up his lamp in his locker." Brian's face flushed. "Man, good idea, I hated that project. Ceramic fucking elephant, paint flowers on it and what's the difference from art class?" Brian nodded shakily.

"You're Michael?" Brian asked, trying to recall the kid's name.

"Yeah, Michael. I think -"

"Wait a second" one of the more brooding ones in the corner said. "Weren't you that kid that came up to Andy in the hall the other day." Brian's face contorted and he looked to Andy.

"Uh yeah" Andy said, and noticing Brian's eye daggers, he faltered. "I mean, no….n-n-no, I don't know who that was." The boy raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else.

"You want a beer, Brian?" Brian straightened up. Andy waited for him to decline.

"Yeah, sure" Brian shrugged, and Andy cocked his head to look at him. But he was starting to notice a pattern with Brian. He was dying to break free. He just never had a chance. When John had gone back to blaze up, Brian has been the first to follow. He wanted to rebel, the fire was lit inside of him.

Michael handed Brian a plastic cup and Brian stared into it for a few seconds. He scrunched up his nose and took a sip. Andy could tell that he really didn't like it, but he continued to drink it anyway. "Slow down Brian" he said cautiously and Brian glared at him between sips. Brian looked at him awkwardly, like he didn't know what to do.

"Brian...let's go meet...girls" Andy said, grabbing Brian by the arm and causing him to dribble beer down his sweater. Brian's eyes widened.

"Andy!" he half-coughed, half-whispered. "If my parents see beer-stains on my sweater they'll hang me!"

"We'll go to a dry-cleaners, don't be so uptight!" Andy muttered back. He steered Brian into the living room. Over in the corner, two of the more popular girls were sitting, half naked, near a boy with feathered blonde hair and an opened button down shirt.

"That's Mia Triebechi" Brian said, his eyes wide. Andy nodded and clapped Brian on the back. "That's Mia Triebechi with her shirt off!" Brian repeated, still in shock. Andy laughed.

"Go get her. Watch and learn." Andy grabbed Brian's sweater and tried to take it off.

"Woah, all I've got on is an undershirt."

"Yeah exactly, just take the sweater off." Brian tugged it off and began to tie it around his stomach. "Uh uh" Andy scolded, and took it. Brian snatched it back.

He steered Brian over to where the Mia was dancing over with the blonde boy. "Hey Mia, Chet." He nodded to the boy as well.

"Andy" Mia smiled. "Why weren't you in the meet last Saturday?"

"I got suspended for a while, detention. Listen, Mia, this is my friend Brian. Brian, say hi to Mia." Andy brushed Brian's hair over quickly and Brian grinned weakly.

"Hi" he said, holding out his hand. She stared at it and he pulled away quickly. "Brian Johnson." She smiled a little bit.

"Mia Triebechi" she said, and to her surprise she held her hand out. He shook it nervously and she bit her lip. "Are you in my Calc class?" Brian chuckled self righteously.

"Yeah" he admitted. Mia suddenly seemed to be self conscious to be standing there in her bra. Brian handed her his sweater. She looked at it and after a few seconds took it. Brian saw Chet eyeing them, and Andy was doing his best to keep him entertained. Mia pulled the sweater on.

Brian felt a scratch in his throat and began to cough. Of course, of course he would start uncontrollably coughing in the presence of Mia Triebechi. "Are you okay?" she asked, putting a hand on his back. His eyebrows shot up his forehead and he felt his blood rush into uncharted areas, the most noticeable of which being his cheeks, and another spot.

"Yeah, I just" Brian closed his eyes. "Do you want to go out tomorrow night?" Her eyes narrowed.

"I don't know, I think I'm busy" she covered. "I'm sorry." He nodded.

"Excuse me" he said, pushing through the crowd of people and into an unoccupied corner in the back. After a minute or so he felt someone approach him. Oh god, it was his movie moment, where she realizes she was wrong to reject him and agrees to go out with him. He looked up. Andy, not Mia.

"Hey Brian" Andy said. "What's wrong? How'd things go with Mia." Brian shook his head.

"She has my sweater" he muttered. Andy laughed.

John was at school unusually early that Monday. His hair was combed out, but still flared on the ends as always. He wore a blue and black checkered flannel shirt, white undershirt, black gloves, and loose fitting jeans. He felt powerful, standing in the hallway of his locker and being the only one.

His reasoning for being there so early, was that he had never left. All weekend, he had slept in various places: the teacher's lounge on the second floor that no one ever visited, the girls locker room, the auditorium seats. Billy had kicked John out on Thursday, saying that there was just no way he could continue to stay with him. John understood. And why not live at school? He practically did anyway, what with having an extra day for Saturday detention.

He never left school on Friday, he simply snuck into the auditorium and hid in the rows of seats. On Saturday he made his way to the library before Vernon even arrived at school so he wouldn't be asked why he came in through the back door. He could have sworn Carl saw him trying to fall asleep that night, but he was never called on it so he must not have. And now on Monday morning John was the first at school.

He wondered which locker was Claire's. Each looked the same in this hall, and he knew that her locker had to be in this hall, or another one of the red locker halls. The seniors and juniors had the red lockers, and the freshmen and the sophomores had yellow ones. He had never seen Claire at her locker. He had seen her in the halls before, and she had been in one of his first semester classes. He had never paid much attention to her. He had never found her exceptionally attractive, he always thought she looked like a little girl.

As the school year went on, and as she was elected homecoming queen, he could never see what others saw in her. But she began to fill out, and she grew up. He had forgotten all about her until she showed up in detention. By then, she had completely changed. She had grown, maybe two or three inches even. She looked mature, and attractive.

He assumed she was dating Andy, they sat together after all, even when there were six tables laid out, enough for each person, and then one. So, disguised as his comedy routine, he asked. He perceived that they weren't and acted accordingly.

A few people began to trickle in. He pretended to be rifling through his locker. He still wanted to know where Claire's locker was, to stop by unexpectedly, to graffiti on, to slip pictures of small-pox victims into. He couldn't ask anyone, because it would travel around so easily. Unless…

He sauntered over to where a small geeky looking kid was taking books out of his locker. He slammed his hand on the locker, closing it, and the kid's eyes widened in fright. "How ya doin?" Bender asked, and the kid gulped. "Do you know where Claire Standish's locker is? Red-head, homecoming queen, kind of girl nerds like you toss off to."

"Uh-uh" he stuttered. "Yeah, it's down the hall, take a right I think, near my buddy's -"

"Yeah that's great" John cut him off. He whacked the kid on the back of the head and swaggered down the hall, feeling the eyes of everyone else in the hallway on him. He took a right, and there she was. Three down from the wall, fixing her hair in a locker mirror. He ducked down so he wouldn't be spotted in the mirror and crept up behind her. Barely anyone was here, so she couldn't possibly be mad if…

He put his arms around he waist and pulled his body into hers. "Guess who?" he said, containing his laughter as he attempted to imitate a stereotypical, football quarterback, romantic boyfriend that he hoped he would never be. She picked his fingers apart one by one and then pushed him off of her. "John!" she hissed. He chuckled.

"Please don't do this in front of everyone" she whispered. Many people were already looking and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine" he settled, walking away. He hid behind the wall, and collected his thoughts as he waited for her friends to arrive. After a few minutes passed, two brunette girls walked up to her, sour-faced, and began to vent about their terrible lives as rich, spoiled bitches. He bit his lip and began to walk up to them again. Claire almost burst into flames as she saw him approaching, but he didn't aknowledge her. He put his arm against the locker, brushing against the shorter brunette as he did.

"Quick survey, uh, I heard one of you was offering free handies, and now they said that it was the cherry one, but I also heard it was the tall brunette." The other girl's face contorted in rage, and she slapped him. It stung slightly, but he bounced back. "Oh, my condolences, must have been someone else." He winked at Claire as he walked away and saw the look of hatred in her eyes. He couldn't help snickering.

He didn't know if Claire would come confront him or not, but after waiting for several minutes, there was no sight of her. He circled back around to his friend Eddie's locker. "Bender, what's up?" Eddie greeted. John shrugged.

"I honestly do not feel like going to class today" Bender grinned. "You on board with that ship?" Eddie laughed.

"I've got a test."

"You don't give a fuck about tests" Bender retorted harshly.

"Yeah, but" Eddie shrugged. "It's my senior year, I'm getting down to the grind, or I might not graduate." John narrowed his eyes at him in disgust.

"Well then, I'll find somebody else!" he complained, dramatically. "You were my first choice Edward! After this stunt, you're gettin bumped down the list!" Eddie faked crying and turned back to his locker, as Bender backed away, and then turned around to walk forward.

He was starting to realize that he didn't have very many friends. Or at least, very many friends that he liked. Billy had always been his best friend, since elementary school. Billy Reinhart and John Bender, the kids who would always jump empty crates on bicycles they stole from a nearby park and be cheered on by all the other kids in their neighborhood. But John didn't particularly want to talk to Billy, after being denied a place at the inn. He understood, but he still felt betrayed.

There was Eddie, who was a year older than him, but always seemed even older than that. He had befriended Eddie in his freshman year when he had first gotten really heavy into marijuana, and Eddie had also frequented his dealer. He had slowed down since then, and rarely smoked weed to be perfectly honest. Only about once a month, more if his dad was acting up.

There was the ring of what he considered "The Wallet Do's and The Wallet Done's." The wallet do's would be the girls he "considered", girls he hung out with occasionally, had not slept with yet, and haven't been ruled out as possibilities for friendship. And then there were the wallet done's, who he had either slept with, and was done with because they had not discernable personality, or girls like Janna who were too unbearable to even have sex with.

John Bender had not come across a girl that he wanted to keep around after her had sex with them.

He had Charlie, a guy he had met a few months ago, who was a real comedian. He hadn't seen Charlie around in a while, but he supposed he could pursue that. He also had...no he didn't. He really had no one else. There were friends that either Billy or Eddie brought to the circle when they got high, or drank, but he never even learned their names.

It was a weird feeling, to be so alone. Maybe he could pull Claire out of class. He wasn't mad at her, for not wanting to be seen with him. She was making progress. He understood that. He respected it, even. He wondered if Claire would ever become a wallet done. Probably. If they continued to be friends in this awkward way for even just another month, he knew she would crack, especially after everything he had said to her.

He realized that this wasn't entirely true. He knew he would probably sleep with Claire, but would he toss her away? That was the real question. If old habits proved true, then yes.