1I felt really bad for what I said to Brian, but let's face it, it was the truth. I mean, don't get me wrong, Brian's a nice kid, and Allison is pretty cool once you get to know her, and John–don't even get me started on John. He can be the biggest asshole one minute and a good guy the next. But, my friends don't know that. They weren't here this Saturday, and I'm actually glad about that. I mean, I might be shallow–I know I am–but they're ten times worse than I am. They would've ripped these guys apart without even giving them the chance to speak. Andy's friends too. The others would never understand. Brian's friends would probably be envious of him for being on speaking terms with us, and John's friends would laugh their assess off if they saw him and Andy or me together. Allison didn't have friends period. What did these guys expect me to do? Ruin everything I had worked for so long to build? It had taken me years to get where I was and now, now that I finally had my chance at probably becoming prom queen, I just couldn't ruin it now. I can see what Andy means about not being able to think for himself. I follow everything my friends do, just because they're my friends. I hated myself for it, but I did it anyway. I remembered calling John a coward in the library and thought, I'm just as much a coward as he is. I went along with everything, for conformity's sake. I remember this one time, at camp in seventh grade. (That was the year I learned the lipstick trick.)

There was this girl that kind of smelled, you know, a little...funny. Then my friend Tiffany goes and nicknames her "Ten Feet", 'cause she smelled like ten feet and you had to keep ten feet away. We all thought it was hysterical. I didn't think much of it at the time. I mean, everyone has inside jokes, right? But, the thing is, she was a really nice girl and she had no clue. I felt so bad. And the only reason I never said anything was because I was afraid they wouldn't want to be my friends anymore, cause I wanted to be part of the group.

I was thinking about all of this on Monday as I walked up the steps to school. I hoped to god none of them thought I might change my mind or something and come up to me in the halls. I just didn't want to have to hurt anybody's feelings, and I knew I would. There was Andy with the Sports, laughing about something. Andy looked kind of sad though. I knew how he felt. Around the corner I could just see John and all his burn-out friends smoking god knows what. I remembered back in the library on Saturday, me and Brian and Andy acting like idiots after we tried that stuff. The memory made me smile. Andy running around like he was eight years old having a sugar rush, Brian falling over laughing, barely able to breathe. God, that stuff was horrible. Andy nodded to me as I walked by him.

I nodded back and hurried over to my own friends. "I thought your mom took away the car." Tracy said, looking confused.

"My dad gave it back to me." My friends knew how it went in my house. Mom says one thing, Dad says the complete opposite, and then I have to choose between them.

"Oh, good. My mom took my car away after I came home from Stubby's party. God, that was fun! Anyway, so I come home drunk and Mom thinks there's something wrong with that or something. I dunno." Tiffany smiled at me. "So, how was detention?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Fine, I guess. Boring. God, Vernon is such an ass."

"Who was there?"

I looked behind me to where Andy still was with his friends. "Andrew Clark...um...Allison Reynolds..."

"Who?" Tiffany, Tracy, and the newly arrived Stephanie were all staring at me.

"Um, Allison Reynolds. You know, she's a junior too, wears black..."

"Oh! The art freak?" Tiffany started laughing.

I nodded and said meekly, "Yeah, the, uh, art freak."

"Ew."

"She's so gross. Have you seen the crap she wears?"

"Yeah, and all that ugly black makeup..."

"Brian Johnson..." I went on loudly, cutting them off. It was the only thing I could think of to make them stop. I couldn't defend her, like the girl at camp.

"Isn't he a sophomore? Real nerdy?"

"Yeah, he's that kid's friend. You know, the one Clark taped."

"God, that was hilarious. I saw them taking him to the office."

"...and John Bender..."

"John Bender?" Tiffany raised an eyebrow. "The stoner?"

"How many other John Bender's do you know?" I asked, sounding more upset than I would have liked to. It was kind of true, though. John was a stoner.

"Ugh, Bender's disgusting."

"I feel for you, sweetheart."

"He's so perverted."

"I know! You know he actually asked me if I was a virgin. And he kept making jokes about getting me pregnant. Andy got so pissed off. He was the biggest asshole. I swear, I wanted to strangle him!" I finished my tirade, feeling like the biggest bitch. I liked John. I really did. He didn't deserve to be made fun of like that. And Brian. And Allison.

"I know, but it's over now." Tiffany grinned and hugged me. I stayed stiff. The first time today I had tested my friendship with the Breakfast Club, and I had failed.

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Wow, that was, like, so short. But I just want to know what people think. The names of the friends aren't that original, but that was like everybody's name back then. Please tell me what you think. Should I continue?