Well I woke up this morning
On the wrong side of the bed
And how I got to thinkin'
About all those things you said
About ordinary people
And how they make you sick
And if callin names kicks back on you
Then I hope this does the trick
'Cause I'm sick of your complainin'
About how many bills
And I'm sick of all your bitchin'
'Bout your poodles and your pills
And I just can't see no humor
About your way of life
And I think I can do more for you
With this here fork and knife
Eat the Rich: there's only one thing that they're good for
Eat the Rich: take one bite now - come back for more
Eat the Rich: I gotta get this off my chest
Eat the Rich: take one bite now, spit out the rest
Eat The Rich, Aerosmith
A/N: I'm so sorry I've been gone so long! I hope my writing is worth the wait! Please review!
"Bender!" Claire yelled at she stuck her head out the front door.
But Bender kept storming away as if he hadn't heard her at all. "Bender! Stop!" Still nothing.
Claire closed the door and took off after him. "Fine, if you won't come back in, just let me get my purse and coat. I'll come with you."
That finally stopped him. "You know what, Claire? Just fucking forget it. Go back in with your pretty little preppy friends. You don't need to deal with me right now. Just go back in and try to salvage some of the damage I've done to your perfect reputation. I'm sorry."
"But, I was your ride!" Claire argued.
"I'll walk." Bender replied, turning his back on Claire and starting his trek away from the house.
Claire stomped her foot in frustration. "John Bender! Don't you dare walk away from me and leave me here alone after I had the courage to invite you here!"
She regretted it as soon as she said it.
Especially when Bender stopped where he stood and turned back to face, with that fire in his eyes that always frightened her when it was directed at her.
"Oh, well thank you so much, Queenie, for condescending enough to think me worthy of a night among Shermer's finest specimen. I'm so sorry to be such a disappointment."
And with that, he started away from her again, and Claire didn't go after him anymore.
She stood there for a moment, staring at his back and wondering how the evening she'd been so excited about (and, yes, nervous, too) had gone so horribly wrong.
This wasn't a typical Claire and Bender fight. In fact, the fight wasn't actually between them at all. It was between Bender and Claire's friends. And Claire couldn't blame Bender for leaving. In fact, she had every intention of doing so herself. And even though she'd tried to convince Bender to come back in, she now couldn't be prouder of him, and was quite sure now that she was falling in love with him….if only she could get him to control his temper.
The night had been uneasy from the moment they'd walked in the door with Andrew and Allison trailing behind them.
"Claire! I'm so glad you're here!" Annabelle said, hugging her. Then she turned to Bender, clearing her throat and looking a little shy and nervous. "Hi, John. I'm Annabelle, Claire's best friend."
"It's Bender," he said, and then (off of a "be nice, or I'll kill you" look from Claire), "Uh, but it's nice to meet you", giving her that famous Bender smirk. Annabelle blushed and looked down at the ground, smiling. It was clear that she had already melted under Bender's immediate charm, like a girl looking at a movie star or a real live rock star. And it was no wonder; stories about him around the school were legendary.
Bender looked over at Claire; it was clear she'd noticed the effect Bender had had on Annabelle as well. She just smiled. Most girls would be threatened by how easily other girls fell for (and, in Bender's case, often threw themselves at) the guy they liked, but not Claire. She took it all in stride.
Annabelle let them inside, and finally noticed Andy and Allison. She looked shocked for a second.
Before she could say anything, Andrew spoke. "Hi, A. I….I hope it's okay that I'm here. Claire and Bender invited us to join them."
Annabelle gave Andy a warm smile. "Of course, Andy. It's great to see you. I wanted to invite you, believe me. I just wasn't, like, sure if you'd want to come…you know, considering." She blushed again, and so did Andy.
"I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to talk." Then she turned to Allison. "You must be Allison, right? You're like, so pretty. It's nice to meet you. Claire has told me all about you."
Allison looked like a deer caught in headlights. She hadn't wanted to come in the first place. Annabelle just giggled, and led them into the living room.
Bender thought she wasn't so bad after all. He was surprised by how supportive she seemed of Claire's new friends.
If only everyone else were that way.
Things were fine until the jocks arrived. Andrew had been at ease around Annabelle, but he stiffened as soon as the jocks showed up, along with Caroline, Steff, and Blaine. Allison and Bender noticed it immediately, and exchanged glances with each other, momentarily forgetting their own discomfort.
The jocks looked almost as uncomfortable as Andy, and Stubbie looked pained—almost happy to see Andy, and yet guilty about the way he'd treated him. Especially when Andrew met his eye, and then grabbed on tighter to Allison's hand.
But Caroline and Steff looked smug. "Annabelle? Claire? What's he doing here? And whoare these people?" Caroline asked. Claire blushed, and Annabelle looked about ready to go back into her minion role. But then she remembered. This was her house and she'd made a promise to Claire.
"These are friends of Claire's, so I invited them." She said.
"Claire? Okay, seriously, what is going on with you? Where is Erica? Where's Charlotte?" Caroline continued.
"We didn't. Invite. Them." Claire replied through clenched teeth. She didn't have to look at Bender to know that it was taking all his energy to keep his mouth shut. But unlike Andy with Allison, she didn't grab his hand.
Steff made his way over to Andy.
"Clark. So, it's been awhile. You know, I've been wondering what you've been up to lately. How's your dad? Has he found anything yet?" Steff asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Andy's jaw tightened. Claire's mouth hung open as the jocks (except for Stubbie) snickered behind Steff. Allison began biting her nails, looking furious but remaining silent. Bender's nostrils flared.
"Stuff it, Steff." Andrew muttered. Steff smirked, knowing he had the upper hand. "Hey, no need to bite my head off; I was just concerned about you. I mean, can you blame me?"
Blaine chimed in. "C'mon, Steff, knock it off. Don't be a jerk." He pleaded. But Steff wouldn't listen. He was too proud of himself. And he couldn't resist with an audience.
"I mean, you quit the team, and then you start taking up with a freak like this? You've really embraced life in the gutter, man, seriously. You're dating hobo witch queens now?"
It all happened so quickly, Claire almost couldn't remember it later when she tried to recount it for Brian. She'd blinked and almost missed it. Before she knew it, Steff was on the ground holding his nose, which was bleeding. Andy was grabbing Allison and pulling her away, muttering "This was a mistake."
Allison met Claire's eye to say goodbye. She almost followed them to see about Andy's hand, while the others tended to Steff, but that's when she realized that it hadn't been Andy.
It was Bender who'd punched Steff right in the face.
The way Claire later came to understand it, what had happened was this: Andy had been seething as soon as the group walked in the door, and Allison knew it. She had been prepared to step in and pull Andy back in case any male egos got out of hand. So when Steff had made fun of her, she immediately grabbed on to Andy as tight as she could, for dear life, to stop him from pouncing on the loser.
What the intuitive Allison had missed, was Bender's anger as soon as Steff opened his mouth. And she had underestimated Bender's loyalty to her. He hadn't wanted to do anything to upset Claire, but as soon as Steff had messed with Allison, it was a done deal. The criminal was furious. Before Allison had even grabbed a hold of Andy, Bender was up and charging on Steff before anyone knew what had happened.
Claire stared at Bender. She felt that maybe she should be upset with Bender for ruining her best friend's dinner, but she found herself trying to fight a smile at how her boyfriend had defended their friend.
One of the jocks, Dan, went to stand in front of Bender. But Bender smirked, pulled out his knife, and started playing with it. Dan backed off. Bender leaned down towards Steff. "Talk about the girl ever again, Jockstrap, and next time it won't be a fucking punch."
Then the smile disappeared and he was headed out the door. Claire looked apologetically at Annabelle before chasing after Bender.
Once he'd abandoned her, Claire had wanted to go back in and face her friends, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She decided to walk home and come back tomorrow for her keys and purse.
She didn't even want to think about what would happen next.
