A/N: What's up, all of my fantastic viewers? :)
It's time for another chapter! I hope you are all as excited as I am! :D
Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to thank AvidMovieFan16, KittyoftheNight, and Applejax XD for reviewing the previous chapter, as well as swishlya for PM'ing their review to me. It means so much to me. :) I would also like to take the time to thank everyone who enjoys reading this story, as well as those who have added it to their favorites and follows. You are all amazing! :D
This just in, this story now has over 3,160 views! :D :D Oh. My. God. Guys, that is awesome! Thank you all so much! Let's keep it up! :)
Remember, reviews make my day! My goal still stands at receiving at least four reviews per chapter, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. Don't be shy to. I appreciate all of your feedback and I look forward to it. :) :)
Fun Fact: The 'Marijuana' that the characters smoked during the movie was actually oregano.
Also: I just want to let you all know that I return to school on August 17th, meaning that updates will take a bit longer to get out. Nonetheless, I don't want any of you to think that I'm abandoning this story because I'm not. Chapters will just take a little longer to complete due to homework, studying, and projects. I'm not quitting this story, so don't worry about that. I'll still be writing whenever I get the chance. I just wanted to inform you all on that.
Well, I believe I shared everything that I wanted to. The time has come for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter! :)
Please review! Happy reading, everyone! :D
Comrade's POV
I tapped the upper half of my broken pencil against the table and examined my piece of paper. My eyes repeatedly scanned across the same sentences that I had written earlier when I was reclining on the statue; but despite how much I wanted to, I couldn't bring myself to continue writing. Instead, I was caught up in thinking about Bender - John Bender of all people. My mind was swarming with hundreds of threats and insults that I could only assume Vernon was saying to him right now. Even after he put me, my sister, and the other detainees at the risk of getting caught while sneaking out of the library just for a damn stash of weed, I couldn't help but feel curious as to what was happening to him at this very moment.
Even after fives minutes slipped by since the Criminal's departure, the silence in the library remained thick. Claire had positioned herself like a prostitute on top of her table and was now lightly brushing her leg against Jockstrap's arm, looking like she was trying to convince him to climb up and get hot and heavy with her right there in front of the rest of us. It made me roll my eyes and mumble "Шлюха" under my breath, but Andrew wasn't even acknowledging the Redhead. 'Slut.' Instead, he was caught up in fiddling around with Bender's aviators, sliding them up and down the bridge of his nose like that somehow made him look cool. Nevertheless, Claire continued to stroke her leg against his arm.
As for Brian, he had moved himself over to Bender's table and was enjoying the remains of his lunch. Roxy, on the other hand, had draped the Crook's scarf around her shoulders again and was currently occupying herself by twirling some of the fibers around her fingers. And lastly, Allison was leaning back in her chair with her feet prompt up on her table and the tip of her index finger in her mouth, giving it away that she was probably nibbling on her nail.
Suddenly, after about another ten seconds of pure silence, I could've sworn that I heard the soft sound of something creaking from above. I could tell that Roxy must've heard it too, because she stopped toying around with Bender's scarf and slowly cranked her head up towards the ceiling. The noise repeated itself, causing me to break my attention away from my piece of paper and gaze up as well. I arched an eyebrow, wondering what in the hell that could've been.
"Uh..." the Handicapped spoke up with confusion laced thickly around her accent, "...what was that?"
Sporto swiveled around in his seat and adjusted the Delinquent's shades so he was peeking over them. "What was what, Roxanne?" he asked.
"That creaking sound." Roxy replied. She pointed up at the ceiling to help the rest of the detainees understand where the noise was coming from. "Don't you guys hear it?"
The Geek stopped chewing on a baby carrot to listen. Allison and Andrew glanced up simultaneously; but while the Basket Case looked completely calm and natural, the Jock looked genuinely curious. Though, the Diva kept her eyes on my sister and stared at her rudely, making it obvious that she thought that Roxy was lying to them in order to get attention.
"I don't hear anything." Andrew said after a moment.
Brian hesitantly picked up another carrot stick, "Neither do I."
I scoffed, keeping my eyes locked on the ceiling. "How in the hell don't any of you hear that?" I demanded, sounding more judgmental than confused.
Just then, another squeak came from the panels, causing Sporto to furrow his brow and peek up a little again.
"What the hell..." Nonetheless, even before I could finish my own thought, I was cut off at the sound of a familiar voice screaming out, "OHHH, SHIIIIIT!" My eyes shot bigger than ever before, feeling like they were about to burst out of my skull when I witnessed one of the panels break and fall from above. An echoing CRASH erupted through the room, causing Roxy to release a startled yelp while everyone else - excluding Allison - snapped their heads in the direction of the noise. Jockstrap immediately tore the glasses away from his face, while the Recluse continued to casually stare at the ceiling with her fingertip remaining in her mouth. There was no way that the Principal didn't hear that.
After a couple of more THUDS filled the air from items on the upper floor being knocked over, the Rebel appeared. He came trotting down the stairs, dusting off some bits of plaster from his shoulders and the back of his neck. When he made it to the bottom, he froze in his tracks and nonchalantly examined the shock that was printed across the other detention goers' faces.
"Forgot my pencil." Bender said with a slight, sarcastic shrug.
Roxy's eyes widened and her jaw practically dropped all the way down to her lap at the sound of his voice. Until now, she hadn't realized that it was him who caused the loud disturbance.
As Bender walked down the aisle, I rolled my eyes and grumbled, "You've got to be screwing with me right now." At the same time, Claire stared at the darker-haired teen with an almost captivated expression decorating her face, as if she was preparing herself for the moment when Bender would turn and finally notice her. A tiny grin fiddled around with one of the corners of her mouth, but it instantly transformed into a frown when she watched the Criminal past by without sparing her the smallest glance. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on Roxy and almost snickered when he noticed just how shocked she was. He flashed a quick, flirtatious smirk in her direction, right before he reached across the stunned Nerd to grab the pencil that he claimed to have left behind.
"Goddammit!" Dick's voice bellowed from the hallway, causing the seven of us to freeze up for a couple of seconds.
"Oh, shit." I muttered, right before a series of actions broke out.
Claire leaped off from her table and plopped back down in her chair, smoothing out a few of the wrinkles on her skirt in the process. Andrew folded his hands on the table top to make him look like the perfect picture of innocence and Brian stashed his thermos and his leftover baby carrots underneath his table. Roxy and Allison grew tense and stared wide-eyed towards the library's main entrance, just as I quickly folded my piece of paper back up and slid it back into my pocket. Lastly, Bender dropped himself down to his knees and crawled underneath mine and Roxy's table like he was being chased by the devil.
I opened my mouth to object - to tell him to go hide underneath his own damn table. Unfortunately, before I could get a word out, I had no choice but to shut myself up at the sight of Vernon entering the library with his usual glare plastered on his face. The door slammed shut behind him as he approached the front of the room, no longer wearing his blazer and slightly adjusting his belt as he stormed past the librarian's desk.
"What in God's name is going on in here?" he demanded.
Everyone, except for the Basket Case, shrugged in response. The Handicapped slowly straightened herself, clearly not trying to draw any attention to herself as she carefully slid her tailbone further back into her seat. At the same time, I felt the neck of my guitar lightly brush against my shin, making it obvious that Bender was trying to shift it around so he could be more comfortable. My eyes widened a bit, but other than that, I remained silent.
"What was that ruckus?" Vernon then asked as he began to study the ceiling with utter confusion glowing in his eyes. How in the hell did that bastard not manage to notice the missing panel, I had no idea.
"Uh, what ruckus?" Andrew asked, acting just as clueless as he looked.
The Principal flicked his eyebrows up in dead seriousness, "I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus!"
Brian raised his arm and shrugged slightly, "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?"
"Watch your tongue, young man." Vernon sneered as he pointed a finger at the Dweeb. "Watch it."
Just then, a mild bang came from underneath mine and Roxy's table, causing my eyes to grow a little more. A groan escaped from Bender's mouth, but Andrew quickly covered it up by drumming his hands against his and Claire's table top. It almost sounded like he was trying to say, 'Are you all right?' Immediately after, the Criminal banged the bottom of my table twice, as if he was responding with, 'I'm fine.' Roxy quickly patted her lap to cover it up, followed by me clapping my hands together and Allison flinging her feet back down to the floor in an attempt to convince Dick that the noises were coming from us moving around.
"What is this?" Vernon asked, glaring at the seven of us like we were in the middle of putting on a circus act. Sporto pointed up towards the ceiling, making a zipping noise before he straightened his lips and folded his hands again. "What is that? What - what is that?" Vernon was wildly gesturing his hands around by this point. "What is that noise?"
"What noise?" Sporto inquired, still playing dumb.
"Really, sir," the Princess chimed in, "there wasn't any noise."
Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I could have sworn that I saw a violent shade of red burn across Roxy's cheeks. She stiffened against the back of her seat and drew in a sharp breath, causing me to furrow my brow in concern. I leaned over just a little bit, making sure that I wasn't moving too fast to produce anymore noise or to get noticed by Mr. Vermin. Then, as I cautiously took a peek underneath the table to check to see as to what was causing the Handicapped's discomfort, my eyes grew to the point where I was shocked that they didn't pop out of my head.
Bender - that son of a bitch - was planting tender kisses along my sister's kneecaps and trailing them up underneath her denim skirt, all while stroking his hands from her ankles to the bottom of her knees. The further his head got, the more Roxy's chest started to quiver from her lack of deep breaths and the more my fury enhanced. My lips tore back, revealing my viciously clenched teeth. Roxy released a strained squeak, which I could only imagine was from Bender placing a kiss very far up her inner thigh. Thinking fast, she snapped her legs shut and crushed the Hoodlum's face between her knees, resulting in him releasing another groan.
I might've been pissed, but I sure as hell wasn't planning on getting in even more trouble for covering for Bender. I flew my hand up to my mouth and started to cough so horribly to the point where it was obviously staged. Within seconds, the other detainees joined in, sneezing, smacking their chests, and pretending to clear their throats. Roxy used this opportunity to release Bender's head, only so she and I could start kicking him as hard as we could. He let out a loud "OW!" that was a clear mixture of pain and anger, right before he firmly grabbed the hem of my jeans in one hand and one of Roxy's calves in the other, clearly trying to get us to stop.
"That noise?" Claire asked as soon as the coughing fit dissolved. "Was that the noise you were talking about?"
"No, it wasn't." Vernon replied. He crossed his arms over his chest and started to shake his head. "That was not the noise I was talking about."
At that moment, despite how risky it was, I couldn't resist kicking Bender again. The head of my converse rammed him in his rib cage harder than any of my previous kicks, causing him to stifle yet another groan. In the blink of an eye, the Principal darted his attention over to me and raised his eyebrows again.
"Mr. Alexandrov!" he exclaimed, jabbing a finger in my direction. "What in the world is going on back there?"
I hid my mouth behind my knuckles so he wouldn't be able to see my grinding teeth and replied unconvincingly, "Sorry, sir. My foot's asleep."
Dick stared at me for a few extra seconds, still wearing his bitter scowl; but he eventually looked away, believing my lie, and locked his eyes back on the preppies.
"Now, I may have not caught you in the act this time, but you can bet I will." Vernon cautioned.
The Basket Case didn't even bother to try holding her laughter back. The Principal lifted his chin and pointed at her, "You may book on that, missy!" In return, Allison flashed an innocent smirk and folded her hands on her lap, as if she was telling him that she didn't do anything.
"And you two!" Dick barked, pointing at me and then at Claire. The Queen Bee straightened herself in her chair while I just rolled my eyes. "I will not be made a fool of!"
Brian took a quick glance behind him to make sure that Roxy and I were okay, but he swiveled back around just in time to catch one final glimpse of Mr. Vernon's warning stare. Although, it didn't take long for Vernon's final words to come back and bite him right on the ass. As soon as the Principal turned away and began to strut out of the library, it was revealed that he had one of those sanitary toilet paper seat covers hanging out from the back of his pants.
Andrew, Allison, and Brian immediately started to crack up, and maybe if I hadn't been so angry at the moment, I would have been laughing too. I quickly snapped my head back over to Roxy, watching as she kicked the Criminal one last time in the arm before she shoved her seat out. After that, she clenched her eyes shut and looked away in Allison's direction, drawing in one deep breath after another and not saying a word. I, on the other hand, furiously smacked Bender in the back at least five times as he crawled out from underneath the table, grabbing the attention of the other detention goers in less than a second.
"You filthy prick!" I bellowed, fighting the urge to grab him by the back of his flannel and slam his head repeatedly against the steel bars of the railing. Still, that didn't stop me from roughly shoving him in the shoulder and almost causing him to fall flat on his back when he positioned himself on his knees beside my chair.
"What in the hell do you think you were doing? Huh? You think that was meant to be some type of demented joke, you sick son of a bitch?" I demanded, feeling my words pierce my throat from how much I was raising my voice. I could also feel the urge growing hotter and much more intense inside of me as Bender flashed me a vague, but very amused smirk. "I swear, John Bender, with all of these other dumbasses as my witnesses, you better hope and pray that you don't run into me outside of this shit hole because I will slice your ass up and leave you to rot with all of the other pathetic trash on the street, you hear me?" I gestured towards the Queen Bee, the Jock, and the Wimp when I addressed them as 'these other dumbasses', but the Rebel didn't look the slightest bit effected. "My God," I growled, "that's my sister, you проклятый ублюдок! In case you haven't noticed, she's a human being! How in the hell could you just do that to someone?" 'Damn bastard!'
Bender shrugged nonchalantly, "It was an accident."
I sharply narrowed my eyes, but saw no point in continuing to socialize with him. I already warned him about what was going to happen between the two of us the next time we spotted each other outside of Shitty Shermer; so, instead of wasting anymore of my time, I glanced away and locked my attention back on my sister.
She was still staring off in the opposite direction with her face beating redder than a pool of lava, exposing just how upset and uncomfortable she was. My eyes instantly glowed with concern and I reached out, gently placing my hand on her shoulder. I could feel how tense she was, but I still did my best to comfort her without speaking. As of now, I could tell that the only way that she was going to say anything was if the other detainees left us alone.
"You're an asshole." Claire sneered, just now realizing the reason behind why I was defending Roxy.
Bender kept his eyes on the Handicapped, but directed his words to the Princess, "Sue me..." After that, he used the table to help him stand up and sauntered over to where Brian was sitting in front of us with complete boredom etched across his face. "So, Ahab," Bender said, looking down at the scrawnier teen, "can I borrow my doobage?"
For a moment, the Nerd hesitated, glancing back up at the darker-haired teen in obvious confusion; but after a couple of seconds, the realization dawned on him that Bender was referring to his weed. Brian lowered his head down to his crotch and unzipped his khakis. While waiting, the Burnout flicked his eyes back and forth from me to Roxy, watching as I continued to rub her shoulder while piercing him with a fierce glare. Eventually, after maintaining eye contact with me for a few moments, Bender glanced back at Brian, who was now offering him the Marijuana.
Using the tips of his thumb and index finger, Bender grabbed the package by its edge and started to walk towards the back of the library.
"Yo, waistoid!" Andrew called out with slight shock decorating his face. "You're not gonna blaze up in here!"
Bender ignored him, causing Claire to turn to see for herself if he was being serious about going off to get intoxicated. The Princess then spun back around, but after a couple of seconds, she gazed over at Sporto like a lost puppy. He slowly shook his head at her, and she dropped her attention down to her lap. Then, after a few extra seconds, she stood up from her seat and ran a hand through her Ronald McDonald hair as she scurried after Bender. Andrew almost looked disappointed as he and Brian watched her go, but nobody spoke up.
With a tiny huff, the Geek glanced back down at his table - only to peek up at the Jock again and lip sync what looked like, 'Just a little bit?' Andrew immediately shook his head, this time much more eagerly, and mouthed back what I could only assume was, 'I'm not going.' Brian tapped his thumbs together, darting his eyes along the floor and raising his eyebrows in thought before he rose to his feet. It quickly occurred to him that he forgot to zip his pants back up, so he shot me, Andrew, and Roxy a fast glance of humiliation before he dashed off, fixing his zipper in the process.
Rolling his eyes, Jockstrap turned back around in his chair. I slowly reeled my hand away from the Handicapped's shoulder and crossed my arms over my chest as the Basket Case and I watched him, just waiting to see what he would do. Within seconds, he dropped his arms down to his sides and shook his head in annoyance, right before he mumbled "Shit" and shoved his chair out. After that, he picked up the Criminal's aviators and started walking down the aisle; but instead of immediately following the three other detention goers, he stopped beside mine and Roxy's table and looked at me.
"You coming?" he asked.
I raised my eyebrows and scoffed, unable to figure out if he was being serious or not, "Hell no. Unlike you and those other pricks, I don't fall into peer pressure that easily, Jockstrap."
The Athlete glared at me slightly, as if 'peer pressure' was something that didn't actually exist. It was also like he was commanding me to keep my mouth shut about this so his precious little rep wouldn't be tarnished. We just couldn't have the rest of the school finding out about the popular and oh-so-amazing Andrew Clarke getting pressured into taking drugs, now could we? I almost rolled my eyes at my own sarcasm, but peer pressure really was a bitch.
Sporto then jumped his attention over to the Handicapped, who was now looking down at her lap and pretending to distract herself by fiddling around with her nails. "What about you, Roxanne?" he asked with a barely audible note of sympathy wrapped around his voice.
Roxy remained silent, refusing to look in his direction as she straightened her lips and slowly shook her head. Andrew continued to stare at her for a few more seconds, making it look like he was saying, 'Suit yourself.' After that, without taking the smallest glance over at the surprised Recluse, Jockstrap walked off to go find Brian, Bender, and Claire.
Allison and I watched him leave, but while the Basket Case kept her eyes on him until he vanished out of sight, I immediately looked away when I was positive that he was out of earshot and locked my attention back on my sister. In less than a second, all of my concern came rushing back, sweeping across my face and drenching my accent.
"Hey, Rox..." I carefully reached out and touched her shoulder again, but this time, she shrugged my hand away. That caught me a little off guard, but I continued to speak as soothingly as possible, "It's okay, those assholes left. You don't have to be nervous."
Roxy peeked over in my direction from the corner of her eye, "I'm fine, Comrade." Although, her tone gave it away that she had no desire to talk about what just happened with Bender. I sure as hell didn't want to discuss it either, but I also didn't want my sister to keep her emotions bottled up.
"Roxanne, you know that you can talk to me about anything." I said, but all I got in response that time was her drawing in a deep breath. I attempted to place my hand on her shoulder again, just barely grazing her sleeve with my fingertips, "If you want, I can-"
Roxy immediately shifted away from my touch and sharply enhanced the volume of her voice, "I said I'm fine!" She motioned with her hands for me to stop trying to touch her, causing my eyes to widen in shock. A few seconds past before Roxy then dropped her arms down to her lap and sighed, "I'm sorry, Comrade. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, but ... I..." She sighed again and quickly snatched up her dark glasses, unfolding them as fast as she could, "I just need to be alone right now, okay? I really don't want to talk about it." At last, she slipped her glasses back on; but I still managed to catch a glimpse of the tears that were beginning to fill up in the corners of her eyes.
"All right, all right..." Despite how much her words sent a twinge of pain through my body, I wasn't going to try changing her mind. I watched, refusing to frown as she fiddled around with her Walkman - but this time, instead of putting just one headphone in, she put both of them in. After that, with the song Another One Bites the Dust able to be heard, she lowered her head down onto our table and hid her face from the rest of the world.
A small sigh escaped from my mouth as I massaged the bridge of my nose. In the distance, I could hear what sounded like the Dweeb beginning to burst into a fit of laughter, making it obvious that his immune system had already welcomed the Marijuana. Shortly after that, a hacking sound coming from none other than the Princess filled the air. It sounded like she was on the verge of coughing up a lung, clearing all of the smoke that she just inhaled through her mouth. Clearly, her spoiled ass had never smoked a joint before. As for me, I have participated in some 'activities' in the past that I definitely wasn't proud of, but none of them involved drugs.
"She'll be okay, Comrade." Allison spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glanced over at her, noticing the sympathy that was glistening in her eyes. "Just give her some space. She'll be fine, she's a tough girl."
"You have no idea..." I muttered under my breath, right before I pushed my seat out from the table and stood up. After that, without bothering to shove it back in, I slid my hands into the pockets of my worn out jeans and approached the Basket Case's table. As soon as I did, the first thing that my eyes laid on when I froze in my tracks was this phenomenal picture of an old-fashioned bridge that was constructed over a stream in the wintertime. It was illustrated entirely out of ink, accompanied by clusters of remarkably drawn rocks and trees in the background.
I leaned against the edge of the table that was closest to Klepto's chair and flashed half of an amused smirk. "Well, well, what do we have here?" I asked, flicking my eyes back and forth from Allison to her latest drawing. "Could it be another spectacular piece of art from the young up-and-coming artist Allison Christina Reynolds? I think it is." A few chuckles leaked into my accent when I addressed the Basket Case by her full name.
Allison raised her eyebrows, making them disappear underneath her shaggy bangs. It was obvious that she was battling the urge to smile as she retaliated, "It's going to be your death warrant if you even think about calling me by my full name again."
"I'm serious, Klepto." I continued to grin as I studied the amount of detail that she included in a small brick wall that was at the head of the bridge. "This is incredible. You really should consider talking to Mr. Wallace about signing up for the art show next month."
At the mention of the art show, the small smile that had managed to slip across the Recluse's face disappeared like it was never there. She stared at me, clearly at a loss for words. It took her a moment before she was able to find her voice again, "I don't think so, Reality Check."
"Why not?" I asked, genuinely curious. "Allison, I've seen your sketchbooks and all of the paintings in your room. Don't you think that you should take the opportunity to show them off?"
"What's the point?" With a huff, the Basket Case dropped her attention down to the floor and leaned forward, shifting herself into a new position. After curling one of her legs underneath the rest of her body, she made eye contact with me again and continued bluntly, "It's not like anybody would take the time to come see any of it. My mom will be too busy taking care of her precious garden and my old man will most likely be having a threesome with his accountant and secretary."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes in obvious annoyance at the thought of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds. "Who gives a damn about your parents, Reynolds?" I asked with a mixture of scorn and seriousness dripping from my voice. "If you do decide to enter the art show, I'll be there to see all of your brilliant work. Roxy and our grandparents wouldn't miss it for the world either. If your parents don't bother to show up, then that's their problem. Screw them." I pulled my hands out of my pockets and crossed my arms. "Seriously, Al, you can't let them get to you. You have a remarkable talent and the full right to express it. I don't want you to risk wasting your life away like Claire." At my own mention of the Princess, I scoffed and shook my head in disapproval. "Hell, you and I can already tell that she's going to grow up depending on makeup, her father's credit cards, her mom's shopping sprees, and cosmetic surgery."
A small snort escaped from Allison's mouth, but when she didn't say anything, I continued.
"While she's caught up in trying to impress some guy who doesn't even know that she exists by getting a face-lift and two boob jobs, you'll be getting interviewed and hundreds of people will be swarming to see your art. You never know, this art show could be the beginning of all of that and you already have my full support."
Allison flashed a sly grin and waited a few seconds before shrugging, "Okay, I'll think about it."
Just then, I head the sound of a door opening from the upper floor. The Recluse and I immediately cranked our heads up, only to see Sporto stepping out of the Foreign Languages' Lab with music playing and a flood of smoke flowing out behind him. He was puffing a joint, pausing between each inhale to stare at it like he was wondering whether or not he was smoking it correctly. In less than a second, Allison's smile started to tremble and I narrowed my eyes, staring at the Jock like he was the biggest idiot in the whole world. At this moment, he definitely was.
After taking one more hit, a huge and ridiculously satisfied smile ripped widely across Andrew's face. He tossed his joint down to the floor and unzipped his hoodie, right before he started head-butting and pumping his fist into the air. After that, he took off running and started cheering to himself as he preformed a cartwheel, loosing his hoodie in the process. He pulled it off and chucked it over the railing, throwing himself to the floor and somersaulting afterwards. Then, after skipping and throwing a punch at the American flag, he hopped up onto the bench that was in front of the humongous clock and stripped himself from his white jumper. Now, he was left in a blue muscle shirt.
In the distance, the sound of somebody whistling filled the air; but I kept my eyes on Wrestle Mania, thinking to myself that it was too late to look away now. He pretended to punch himself across the face before hitting himself in the chest like a gorilla and jumping down from the bench. Immediately after, he began to leap over some of the shorter bookcases, continuing to cheer before preforming some dance moves and a few more cartwheels. At last, he started to strut, throwing punches at thin air and kicking the wall before he returned to the Foreign Languages' Lab. After throwing a couple of more fist-pumps, he entered the smoky room and closed the door behind him, only to shatter the glass when he released a loud and enthusiastic scream.
I rolled my eyes, not the slightest bit impressed, and turned my attention back over to Allison; but it didn't take long before a cunning smirk curled up on the corners of my mouth as a sudden thought came to my mind.
"You know something, Al?" I waited for her to look at me before I went on. "I can't help but wonder what'll happen to Sporto if his coach finds out about this."
Within seconds, a small, but very mischievous grin beamed across Allison's face. "You wouldn't," she said with a couple of snickers stitched into her words.
"Want a bet, Basket Case?" I asked. My smile broadened a little as I raised my shoulders nonchalantly. "If he keeps pushing my buttons and irritating the hell out of me, I just might have to inform his coach about his little encounter with pot."
Clearly amused, Allison lightly shook her head and said in a tone that was almost seductive, "You're so bad."
"And what's so bad about that?" I asked, soaking my accent in the same amount of flirtatiousness. The two of us did this a lot when we hung out together - we joked around and pretended to be romantic with each other. But we were just friends. I playfully narrowed my eyes and knelt down a little, bringing my face closer to Allison's. "I might be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it." I remarked, winking after my last word.
The Basket Case chuckled again, but then, it occurred to me just how close the two of us really were. The tips of our noses were practically touching, and I could smell the mixed scents of pencil shavings and wet paint coming from her; but she somehow made it work. I could've sworn that I felt a wave of heat tingle across my cheeks as I stared directly into her deep brown eyes. I could feel this sudden urge starting to grow wildly inside of me - tempting me to run my fingers through her messy hair or to grab her pale hand and trace my thumb over her knuckles. What in the hell was going on here? Before I could try coming up with an answer, I did something that shocked the shit out of me.
I placed my hand against Allison's cheek and rested my fingers against her jawline, right before I sped in and closed the very slim gap that was separating us by planting my lips against hers. She immediately drew in a sharp breath through her nostrils and stiffened in her chair, but something inside of me kept the kiss going. I could feel her cheeks flaring up as I detected the taste of Coke, Cap'n Crunch, and Pixy-Stix sugar on her lips. Then, just as I was about to rake my hand through my hair to push it out of the way, I froze up and my eyes shot huge - as if I had snapped out of a trance and just realized what I was doing.
With no hesitation, I pulled away and almost tripped as I stumbled back a couple of steps. Allison was staring at me in absolute shock, perfectly resembling a statue. Her face was completely flushed and her eyes were just as large as mine, looking like they were seconds away from falling out of her skull.
"Oh my God..." I was absolutely humiliated, but looked more caught off guard than anything. "Holy shit ... what in the hell did I just do?"
The Recluse opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. She was rendered speechless, obviously trying to get a grasp on what just happened.
"Allison, I ... I'm so sorry. I ... I don't know why in the hell I just did that. It was stupid of me." At my final sentence, I quickly spun around on my heels and retreated to my table, where Roxy was still lying her head down and now listening to the song It's Still Rock & Roll to Me. Then, I knelt down just long enough to grab my guitar from where it was still hidden out of sight underneath the table. And finally, after I slid the leather strap up my arm and snatched up both halves of my broken pencil, I started to walk away.
"Comrade!" Allison called out, the tone of her voice giving it away that she wanted me to stop and come back.
I froze in my tracks and just barely glanced over my shoulder, "I need some time to myself, Allison. Keep an eye on Roxy for me."
Without giving the Basket Case a chance to say anything else, I turned away and continued walking until I made it to a few couches that were arranged in a social gathering position behind the ugly statue. As soon as I plopped down, not caring about how much force I put into my drop, my face morphed into a bitter scowl; but I wasn't pissed at Allison. No, I was pissed at myself for kissing her. What in the hell was I thinking? She was my best friend ... and now, I probably ruined our friendship just because I listened to some stupid urge.
"Ты такой идиот..." I mumbled under my breath, scorning myself. 'You are such an idiot...' My words became much more explicit after that, and after I positioned my guitar so it was reclining beside my leg, I freed my hair from my ponytail, rested my head against the back of the sofa, and closed my eyes. By this point, I was mentally cursing myself out and wishing that I could rewind time to take back everything that just happened.
I couldn't believe it. That was my first kiss and I blew it.
About five minutes went by with me just relaxing my eyes, but I had to keep popping them back open every few seconds so I wouldn't fall asleep. The last thing I needed was to suffer from another nightmare about my pathetic excuse of an old man.
I tried to distract myself by staring up at one of the fluorescent lights and watching it flicker, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about my kiss with Allison. It was a mistake - a very terrible mistake on my behalf; and I just had to forget about it. Maybe if I acted like it never happened, it would eventually leave me alone and my friendship with the Recluse could be restored. It was a plan that I was definitely willing to try.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of footsteps coming in my direction from behind. So, I pushed myself up into a better sitting position and swiveled around halfway to investigate. That's when I saw Andrew and Brian walking side-by-side, approaching the couches. The Nerd had Bender's aviators resting on the bridge of his nose, but at the sight of me, he immediately removed them from his face and furrowed his brow in confusion. The Jock, on the other hand, didn't seem the slightest bit curious as to why I was now sitting by myself. The weed was definitely fading from their systems.
"Hey, Comrade," Brian said as he took a seat on the sofa that was across from mine, "what are you up to?"
I crossed my arms over my chest and didn't bother to hold back on my sarcasm, "Take a guess, String Bean. I'm either trying to relax or I'm contemplating murder. You got a fifty-fifty shot." Hell would have to freeze over before I even considered telling either of these assholes about what happened between me and the Basket Case.
Brian straightened his lips and nervously lowered his attention back down to the Burnout's glasses, just as Andrew leaned back in the chair that was placed at the head of the couches. For a moment, the three of us remained silent; but just as I was about to go back to staring at the ceiling, I noticed that Sporto was staring at me with his eyes slightly narrowed in a thinking manner.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Uh ... can I help you?" My last two words had been sharpened a little, causing Brian to immediately look up and start flicking his eyes back and forth from me to Wrestle Mania.
"I was just thinking about your name." Andrew said.
"What's wrong with my name?"
The Athlete paused for a moment, clearly trying to think his response through. "Um..." He leaned forward in his seat so his arms could be resting his across his legs, "I wouldn't go as far as saying that there's something wrong with it. I was just wondering ... you know, have you ever asked your parents why they named you 'Comrade'?"
I tensed up a little at the mention of my parents, but answered almost instantly, "No."
"Well, why do you think they named you 'Comrade'?" Andrew inquired, causing me to roll my eyes. Why in the hell was he so curious about this? I hated talking about my parents.
"Sporto," I stated as bluntly as possible, "there's a lot of things that my parents did that I don't understand. If I had to take a guess about my name, they just wanted something different - something that no other kid had."
A few seconds went by before Brian chimed in, "Well, anything is better than what my parents were considering to name me."
I positioned my elbow against the back of the sofa and rested my head against my closed fist as I stared at the Dweeb blankly.
At the same time, Jockstrap reclined back in his seat and asked in actual curiosity, "What were your parents considering to name you?"
A goofy smile spread practically ear-to-ear across Brian's face as he replied, "Marion." Immediately after saying the name, the scrawnier teen started to loudly cackle to the point where he his cheeks became red and he had to roll over to hide his face into the back of the couch.
Despite how I had no real interest in learning about what the Nerd's parents were planning to name him, I couldn't resist laughing along. The chuckles bubbled up in my throat and flowed out of my mouth before I even got the chance to notice them; but I wasn't the only one. Andrew was cracking up, too.
"No, no, no man." The Athlete caught his breath, still wearing a sliver of an amused grin as he rolled his head back over towards me. "You guys got middle names?"
"Of course." I replied with a vague shrug. "Mine is Nicholas. Comrade Nicholas Alexandrov."
Sporto nodded at me slightly before he flicked his attention back over to the scrawnier teen, "What about you, Brian?"
The Geek coughed a little before answering, "Yeah, guess."
"Uhh..." Andrew drawled, but before he could come up with an actual guess, he was cut off by a familiar voice exclaiming, "Your middle name is Ralph! As in puke."
Brian, Andrew, and I immediately snapped our heads in the direction of the voice, only to spot none other than Allison. She was standing beside the statue with one of her arms clutching her bag close to her chest and her other wrapped around the Handicapped's arm. Roxy was no longer wearing her dark glasses, exposing her silver eyes once again with her backpack dangling from the arm that wasn't interlocking with Allison. At the sight of the Basket Case, I slightly pursed my lips and decided that it was time to put my plan in action: just pretend that the kiss never happened.
"Your birthday is March twelfth," Allison continued as she and my sister started to approach the couches, "you're five-nine-and-a-half, you weigh one hundred and thirty pounds, and your social security number is 049-38-091..." She paused to help Roxy take a seat down on the sofa with Brian, right before she seated herself between them and finished with a triumphed smirk, "Three."
A small grin fiddled around with one of the corners of Roxy's lips as she settled her backpack down on the floor, where it rested between her and Allison's feet.
I couldn't resist cocking an eyebrow at Brian, quickly studying him from the bottom of his shoes to the top of his head. I could believe that he was five-nine-and-a-half because I was six-foot-four, but one hundred and thirty pounds? Judging by how thin he was - whether he really was that skinny or his clothes were just that baggy - he looked more like one hundred and five pounds to me.
"Wow," Andrew spoke up, clearly stunned, "are you psychic?"
The Recluse turned her head to look at him and the Nerd, "No."
There was a small pause before Brian leaned a bit closer to her, "Well, would you mind telling me how you know all this about me?" With every word he spoke, he wouldn't stop gesturing around with Bender's aviators.
Allison looked down, pulling her polka-dot scarf out of the way before she reached into her hidden pocket. As soon as she pulled out the item that she had been hiding, a smug grin swept across her face. It was a leather wallet - the Nerd's wallet; and at the sight of it, my lips twitched in amusement. I didn't even try holding back on a snort.
"I stole your wallet." Allison informed, sounding just as sly as she looked.
"Give it to me." Brian sneered.
A teasing glint formed in the Basket Case's eyes, "No."
"Give it!" the scrawnier teen snipped. With no hesitation, the playfulness vanished from Allison's face and she pouted a little as she - almost reluctantly - tossed the wallet back to him. Brian caught it as soon as it landed in his lap, dropping the Crook's glasses aside in the process. "This is great! You're a thief too, huh?" The scrawnier teen sounded more offended than angry, but that didn't stop me from sharply narrowing my eyes at him.
"Watch it, Johnson." I growled, baring my teeth for a few seconds.
"I'm not a thief!" Allison denied shortly after.
The Brain opened his wallet and began to search through its contents, "Multi-talented."
Allison rolled her eyes. "What's there to steal?" she asked smartly. "Two bucks and a beaver shot."
At her final two words, Roxy's jaw practically dropped down to the floor, making it obvious that she didn't expect pornography of all things to be stashed in Brian Johnson's wallet. At the same time, my eyes widened a little and Andrew spoke up with his voice drenched in interest, "A what?"
"He's got a nudie picture in there." The Basket Case motioned towards the Geek's wallet with her chin. "I saw it. It's perverted."
A large, strongly satisfied smile slipped across Jockstrap's face, "All right! Let's see it."
Brian's cheeks flared up in embarrassment, just as I rolled my eyes and stood up. There was no way in hell that I was going to stick around for this corrupted version of Show & Tell. After mumbling a quick "Извращенцы" under my breath, I grabbed my guitar and spun around on my heels. 'Perverts.' Then, as I walked away, I could've sworn that I could feel my face starting to grow a little warm at the thought of Allison watching me.
Nonetheless, I refused to look back and kept walking. It was time to see what the Princess and the Rebel were up to.
A/N: That's another completed chapter! :) :) :D :D
I hope you all had fun reading it. :) Please keep in mind that it's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. I love feedback and I appreciate it all very much, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)
There are also two other Fun Facts about this chapter:
1) I named the art teacher 'Mr. Wallace' as a reference to John Hughes other film, "Weird Science".
2) When Comrade describes Claire as having "two boob jobs and a face-lift" in the future, that's an actual quote that was cut from the film. Originally, there was supposed to be a scene in which Carl shares his thoughts with Vernon on where the kids would be in thirty years, but it was cut to save time. So, I made Comrade say that Claire would have "two boob jobs and a face-lift" as a reference to the deleted scene.
Also: Please keep in mind that chapters will take more time to complete, considering school returns for me on August 17th. Nonetheless, I'm not quitting this story, so don't worry about that. Updates will just take a little longer due to homework, studying, and projects. I thank you all for understanding. :)
By the way, my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" is still going. In case any of you want to check that out and cast your votes, it's on my page.
Again, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! :) Don't be shy to share your thoughts about everything that just happened! :)
Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.
Please review!
Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :D :D God bless! :) :)
Crystalteen, out!
THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!