Saturday Evening

Claire was wearing some of her nicest clothes for this gathering. Her hair and makeup was done immaculately and she was waiting for everyone to arrive. Allison was first, she was wearing pretty much what she normally wore just with different shoes. Andy arrived second, wearing his favourite baseball jacket and shoes.

"Hi Allison, hi Claire." Andy said as he walked into Claire's house. He looked at Allison. They smiled at each other and then gave each other a hug. They both looked relieved that they were finally in each other's presence again.

"Where's Brian, I thought he organised this? He could at least turn up on time!" Allison jokingly said.

"It doesn't matter. Do you want to follow me through to the kitchen? I prepared a few nibbles." Allison and Andy were wrapped around each other. Andy looked delighted when Claire said 'nibbles'.

About half an hour had passed since Allison and Andy turned up. It was just gone 8:00. Claire wasn't panicking about anything. She knew John would turn up, she trusted him to. But she was finding it slightly odd that Brian wasn't here yet. Claire kept the conversation going with Allison and Andy by asking them about prom and bitching about Savannah. The doorbell rang. Claire got up and went to the door. She opened it to a sad looking Brian. Claire invited him in.

"What's wrong Brian?" She put her hand on his shoulder, as a way to comfort him. Allison and Andy got up from the sofa and came to see what was going on.

"Is everything ok Bri?" Andy asked. Brian looked at Claire.

"Something is wrong with John." Claire looked shocked. "Like seriously wrong." Claire was still puzzled. How did Brian know something was wrong with John?

"Why? How do you know? Shouldn't I be the one to know something is wrong?"

"Just calm down Claire and let Brian explain," advised Allison. Allison suggested they go and sit down in the living room whilst Brian explained so they all followed her in.

"Some crazy shit when down last night at John's." Andy, Allison and Claire all looked at Brian as if to say 'go on'. "I heard shouting, really loud shouting from my bedroom window. I couldn't see anything but it was really loud and I could tell where it was coming from. I began to hear sirens and so I told my mum I was going to see if everything was ok. When I followed the sirens, it led to the Jackman Estate. I presumed that's where John lived." Everyone was intensely listening to Brian, who was recalling the events of last night. "When I got to my destination, I guessed it was John's house. There were 2 ambulances and a police car."

"Oh no, please say everything is alright, please." Claire tearfully responded. Allison and Andy remained silent.

"I asked a paramedic if everything was ok, and he said someone had died and I needed to stay behind the barrier." Claire burst into tears. "He told me, when I asked, that it was a woman with the last name of Bender and that her husband and son were to do with it. So I asked where the boy was, and if he was called John, because I was friends with a John Bender." Brian swallowed. "I went in and found John standing in the living room staring at a body covered with a white sheet. The house looked like a bomb had hit it. Glass was everywhere. Blood up the walls. Furniture was ripped etc. It was awful. There was a faint smell of burning too. John was just staring at the body. I didn't know what to do so I placed a hand on his shoulder and managed to get him out of the house. He was really angry, like really angry. I thought he might hit me or something. At one point I thought it was a big mistake going."

"What happened next? Was John ok? Where is he?" Allison asked, sounding very concerned. Allison looked over to Claire who was in despair. Make up ruined and red faced. She reassuringly put her hand in Claire's hand and gave it a rub.

"Go on, Brian," Andy said.

"As we were getting outside, John saw his dad. It was his dad who killed his mum. John went nuts. He literally attacked his dad. John was already injured from earlier. They must have been at each other's throats all evening. They both looked like shit. Black eyes, broken ribs, nose's bleeding. John had a deep wound and a broken rib." Brian took a deep breath. "I stepped away while the police and paramedics intervened. I didn't want to get hit or anything, John was only seeing red."

"What happened to John?" Claire demanded.

"I had to take him to hospital. We were told that his dad was charged with the murder. I offered to let him stay round my house for the night, so he did. Then this morning he seemed different. He wouldn't talk about it. He just said that he had to be alone. He said he probably wouldn't come this evening. I don't know where he went. I'm worried about him. I really am."

Silence. There was complete silence. No one knew what to say. Claire wasn't sure what John was capable of. He was mad. She was planning on telling him tonight who had sent her that note but it was bloody good that she hadn't. He probably would have exploded with anger.

"What do we do?" Brian looked round at Claire, Allison and Andy. Nothing, they didn't know what to do. "We need to find him. He could be drinking himself to death! He could be doing things that he normally wouldn't. He needs help! The police need to talk to him now. They turned up earlier and I told them he wasn't here, but it's urgent. They need to talk to him now. We need to find him."

"Just calm down Brian, we know that he needs to be found." Andy paused, "we don't know whether he's done this or not before. He could do it a lot, and then turn up a few hours later."

"Somehow Andy, I don't think that's the case. I think he's really gone." Allison rested her head on Andy, sad by what she had just said. She knew it was true, and inside, so did Andy. Brian looked over to Claire who was just staring at the floor. Brian walked over to the and put his arm round her. "Brian, leave her alone. I don't think she is in the mood." Brian looked over to Allison with a face as if to say 'I don't care, she is my friend.' Allison looked away and hugged Andy.

"We need to find him. Brian's right, John needs help. He is probably so angry and thinks that he needs to be alone, but he doesn't. He needs support." Claire stood up, readjusted her skirt, wiped away some tears and repositioned her hair. "I'm going to find him." Andy, Allison and Brian all looked shocked, but almost happy that it had been suggested. "I'm going to ring Annie. She can give us a ride."

"I think we should check by the local stores, he could be wasted on alcohol hanging around shops." Andy suggested, Allison smiled at Andy. "Brian, do you know where his friends live? Denzel, Sarah and Billy?"

"I do, but I don't feel very comfortable going alone. I don't know them..." Brian looked over to Allison as his words trailed off.

"I'll go with Brian, they know me better. Both of us can go, it's safer. Andy you go alone. You can defend yourself in case you find him and he attacks." Allison looked over to Claire. "Where do you think he'll be?"

"He wants to be alone, somewhere quiet?" suggested Brian.

"What about his house?" Added Andy.

"He can't go back there yet." Replied Brian.

"That's too obvious. Plus there'll be too many memories. It's worth checking, but I don't think he'll be there," emitted Claire.

"He could be at school?" Andy mumbled. "School. He must be at school. No one will be there now? He'll be alone. No one will think he is there because it's closed. He must be at school," Andy added, a bit louder. Everyone looked at each other. The room fell silent for a few seconds while everyone thought about what Andy had just said.

"I think you're right Andy. As much as he hates school, no one will think he's there because it's closed." Everyone looked over to Claire.

"Claire, do you want to go alone?" Claire's face was straight.

"I think I should. I'll ask Annie to give me a lift; it's too far to walk. If he's not there then I can go somewhere else." That was the plan. They would each look somewhere. "If you can't find him, shall we meet back at my house?" Everyone nodded. They all got up and collected their coats and put shoes on. Claire rang Annie and briefly explained. Annie was on her way. They were going to find John.

John had walked through the school playing field and headed round the back entrance. He found some metal on the floor and was able to open the door which leads directly to the basement. He opened the door, took a look around to check no one was looking. Threw his cigarette on the ground, one of many he had had in the past couple of hours, and stamped it out. He walked down the stairs and felt for the light switch. The lights came on and he followed the stairs down. He walked through hallways and found himself in front of more stairs. He walked up them and noticed he was in a familiar place. Just outside the library, next door to Dick Vernon's office. He walked into the library and took a look around. "Suppose it's only fair I stay here seeing as I missed the detention," John sarcastically said aloud to himself. He walked towards the table that he sat by last week. He pulled out a chair and positioned another one next to him. He sat down, took his coat off, placed his legs on the other chair and then placed his coat back over him. He shut his eyes. He had too many things going round in his brain. He was thinking about his mum, his dad, Claire and his future, just to name a through. He lay with his eyes closed for a long while, but not actually drifting off to sleep. He was so tired. He just couldn't sleep. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock. It was 5:30pm. He closed his eyes again and tried to think of boring things. He quickly drifted off to sleep…

Claire got out of the car when Annie had arrived at Shermer High School. "Good luck, I really hope you find him," Annie said to Claire, trying to sound optimistic. Claire looked at the main entrance. Too obvious, the alarm would go off. She looked over to Annie who was waiting in the car. Annie pointed to her left. The back entrance, through the sports field. Claire was wearing her favourite brown boots. Damn. John was worth it though. She walked round to the sports field and kept to the edge where it was least muddy. She came across the back door. It was open. She had no idea how long for, but it was about 9:30pm now and it was cold. She went inside following the steps and different hallways. She arrived somewhere familiar. She was by Dick Vernon's office. "This looks familiar." She looked around, "The library. Maybe he's in there." The library was dark. No lights were on. Claire opened the door and felt for the light switch. She turned it on and looked across the room. She saw a figure spread over two chairs. And she got closer she realised it was John. She'd found him.