A/N Okay Brian is hard to write. I hope I did an okay job on him. Next chapter more Bender. I promise since he seems to be everyone's favorite. Still don't own The Breakfast Club. Wish I could have seen the MTV Awards and the cast back together (well for the most part)

.

My weekend was pretty uneventful. My dad picked me up after detention and didn't say a word. My mom is a very vocal disciplinarian. On the other side is my dad and he expresses his disappointment by giving you the silent treatment. Combined the two of them make a pretty effective front. Mom yells and when you look to dad for help or to say that the point you made was valid he just gives you the sad eyes and shakes his head. It makes me feel awful when they do that. Its not even good cop bad cop its just bad cop and disappointed cop.

I never realized until they started in again on Sunday how much I hated it. They never did stuff like that to my sister. Then again my sister could do no wrong. But for me it was always, for as long as I can remember, "Brian study", "Brian your going to be an astrophysicist", "No, you can't play baseball what if you get hit in the head and get brain damage?" And Sunday morning it dawned on me as my mom was still punishing me for having detention, as if that wasn't punishment enough in its own right, that Andy and I had a lot in common. His dad was the same way with wrestling as my mom was with my academics. I loved school but they were taking that love and making it something I didn't enjoy anymore. That made me wonder if being an astrophysicist, brain surgeon, or molecular biologist was something I wanted for me or was it what they wanted for me and that was what I was pondering as I headed down the hall to Mr. Hashimoto's office in the middle of study hall.

"Claire Standish, aren't you supposed to be in class?" I heard Mr. Vernon's voice as I approached the corner near the locker rooms and gym. I stopped a second to listen.

"I should be but I...I'm not feeling well."

"You look perfectly find to me, missy. Where is your pass?"

I'm a hall monitor during seventh period. Not something I wanted to be but my mom asked, no she told me to apply because it would look good and responsible on my college applications. All it did was get me a hard time from the sports and stoners who skipped class. On the other hand maybe today being a hall monitor would come in handy. I dug through my backpack and found a pen and a pile of hall passes. Technically I couldn't hand them out I just had them because Mr. Gregory who teaches Algebra and is the teacher who all the hall monitors report too, asked me to pick up a pad or two from the storage room. And technically it wasn't permitted to forge signatures, in fact it was a crime but regardless of what Claire had said Saturday about not being able to be friends I still thought of her as one. So I did what I thought a friend would do I filled it in and signed it with the coach's signature.

"So. I'm waiting Miss Standish."

"I know I have it here somewhere." As I rounded the corner I saw her digging through her purse and Mr. Vernon standing next to her tapping his foot impatiently. Taking a deep breath I forged a head book in hand pretending to read and ran right into her.

"Ow!" She rubbed her arm and I slipped the pass to her. Over the top of my book I could see her surprise and I apologized. I didn't mean to bump into her so hard.

"Don't you go anywhere, missy." Mr. Vernon hissed at Claire, and then to me, "Johnson!" I stopped in my tracks turned.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Let me see your hall pass."

I took it out from between the pages in my book and showed it to him. "Fine go on your way."

"Oh and I found mine," said Claire to him sweetly as she handed him the hall pass I slipped her.

"You too. But don't let me catch you dawdling in the bathroom." He stormed away muttering about how worthless kids were and I continued on my way towards Mr. Hashimoto's office not expecting a thank you from Claire.

"Brian, wait up," she called and jogged to reach me. "Thanks for the pass. I don't know what I would have done had I gotten detention again."

"No problem." We walked a moment in silence. "So why aren't you in class?"

"I was looking for Bender."

That caught me by surprise. "Bender? You were looking for John Bender?"

"Yeah, he showed up for PE today and well the others in class were giving him a hard time so he stormed out. I wanted to make sure he was okay. Guess he got lucky and just missed Vernon. Then again I had to change back into my school clothes. So where are you off to?"

"Guidance Counselor."

"The lamp again?"

"No, not the lamp. I just realized something yesterday and thought maybe he could give me some insight."

Claire looked at her watch and then said, "Let's go to the library. You can tell me about it instead."

"But the pass is for going to Mr. Hashimoto's office."

"Is anyone going to give you, the smartest guy in school a hard time about being in the library? Then let's go. I don't know where Bender went and its not that much time until the next bell rings so we can just talk a bit. I've got to be better than Hashimoto to talk to."

I smiled. It was pretty cool Claire Standish wanted to hang out with me. Of course the library was a nice neutral place one that she could use as an excuse in case she decided that talking to me was too dangerous to her reputation. In other words easy to claim that I was helping her with an assignment rather than her friend but I was okay with that. It was a start. So together we headed down to where we spent Saturday.

We didn't talk on the way but once there we went up stairs and sat on the floor where we released our secrets before. "So are you and Bender like and item or something?" I asked her.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"I'm not really sure. I do know I like him." She blushed a little bit when she said that. "But you know I didn't plan on ever talking to him again. Then I heard about Andy and thought if he could do it I could do it."

"What about Andy?"

"You haven't heard?" she asked surprised. I shook my head in the negative. "I'm surprised its pretty big gossip. Of course since I just ran out of Phys ed to chase after Bender it may be old news by now."

"Just spit it out, Claire." She peaked my interest and then went on talking about herself. Yeah she was conceited but she was talking to me.

"Fine. Andy and Allison are apparently a couple. I don't know all the details but I heard it from AmyJo who heard it from Jenna who heard it from someone who has English with them first period."

"That is terrific. Allison deserves to be happy." It was true. She was a bit odd but she was odd in a good way; a way that made her unique and special not freaky, at least in my humble opinion. "She and Andy really seemed to make a connection."

A dark shadow passed across her face as though she was thinking hard. "Bri?"

"Yeah?"

"What if it was just a rumor?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if Andy and Allison aren't really a couple and I just chased after John Bender?" She looked really worried.

"If they aren't a couple then they are fools and you are a bigger person for standing up and going after Bender. If you really like him that is."

"True. I just don't know if I can handle it alone. So why were you going to Hashimoto?"

I explained to her about how I realized my mom was just like Andy's dad and I wanted to find out what I really wanted to do with my life. "So have you given it any thought?"

"Just know I don't want to be an astrophysicist or a lamp maker."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I was thinking about..." I was cut of by Larry Lester.

"Brian?"

"Hey Larry." I was surprised to see him. As far as I knew he was still home sick due to the whole taping of his butt cheeks incident. "How are you doing?"

"Okay," he said eyeing Claire suspiciously. "Didn't know you knew any of the popular people." I could understand how he would a bit nervous around anyone of a higher social status than himself after last week.

"Claire, this is Larry. Larry, Claire." I said in way of introductions.

"The Larry?" she asked shaking his hand but looking at me.

"You told her," he asked with indignation filling his voice. I shook my head but he continued, "I can't believe you would tell her."

"He didn't tell me anything. It's not like something like that wouldn't get around."

"Yeah that's right you popular people have no lives except to make the rest of us miserable. I'm sure you had a good laugh over that huh?"

"That's enough Larry. You don't know her."

"And you think you do? She's a princess." He shook his head in disgust and waved his hand and started to walk off. Then he turned back. "Once she has used you to do your homework she will rip you to shreds. When she does that don't come crying to me." And he was gone.

I just looked after him as he walked quickly away his butt still in obvious pain. "And we thought only Andy and I would have a hard time," Claire said.

"I never thought he would act that way."

"Yeah but after what happened"

"I guess he is right to be a little resentful. So are we friends?"

"Well I did run after Bender. It's questionable that I have other friends now." I gave her what I hoped was an incredulous look. "But even if I do...yeah we are friends." Progress and I was impressed since Saturday she was the first to say that it wouldn't happen.