Title: The World through the Eyes of a Basket Case

Author: TWBasketcase

Summary: Takes place after Saturday detention. What happens? Allison's POV

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of The Breakfast Club, this is for entertainment.

A/N: Thanks a lot for the great reviews! I really love this movie, and this story is actually my first fan fiction I have posted on the internet; you guys really motivated me! I'm really interested in the character of Allison because she, of all the characters, is the one I can relate to the most. So here's chapter 5, I hope you guys like it…and please feel free to review, I have a tendency of feeling insecure at times!

Chapter 5 – Saturday Night

The whole way home and through to dinner time I couldn't stop thinking about the events that took place earlier in the day. I had made new friends, discovered new things about myself, and made out with the most popular guy in school. I kept thinking about what was going to happen on Monday, and who would keep their word. It was eating away at me to know so badly that I couldn't sit still. I tried playing my piano, but couldn't concentrate; I tried drawing, but it kept turning into small doodles. I turned up my AC/DC record, "Flick of the Switch" and cleaned my entire room for the first time in god knows how long; every last surface, my bed, and even the floor. When that was finished I paced a little. God! What the hell else can I do? It's not like anyone here is going to sit down and have a conversation with me anytime soon. Maybe I could take a walk down to the playground, like I originally intended to go today…yeah that sounds like a plan.

I went into the bathroom and took in my appearance, it was sort of windy so maybe I should just take the head band out and tie my hair up. I picked up my hair brush for the first time in a few months and spent about 20 minutes trying to get through it. I picked up an elastic and pulled it back, I haven't done that in years. I left my make-up as it was and headed back to my room. I looked around for a sweater to wear when I noticed Andy's blue school sweater. I picked it up and took in the scent…it smells just like him! I put it back down on my desk and looked further, I wasn't going out with his sweater, it wouldn't feel right for some reason. I picked up my favorite black cardigan, what the hell? I tossed it on and looked in the mirror, for some reason the sweater didn't look as frumpy as usual; good thing, I don't feel very frumpy right now.

When I got to the front door I put my Taylor's on and was about to head out when I decided that I wanted to bring my sketch book with me. I grabbed the book and headed on my way. I took the stairs down to the main level of our complex and opened the front door to the cold March weather. I pulled my sweater tighter around me and took off down the street.

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I looked around the large park and noticed it was empty, all except for a lone figure sitting on a bench on the other side. I looked harder and recognized the figure and made my way over.

"Hello," I think I startled him.

"Holy shit…you scared me…uh, you can sit down if you want." He replied.

"I like your dog," I said as I sat, pointing to the large German Shepherd at his feet. I patted the dog on the head. "So what is John Bender doing at this end of town?" I asked quietly.

"Well actually I only live about three blocks west of here," he replied, "I couldn't sit at home anymore so I decided to take the pooch for a walk." He smiled briefly, and then looked up to the darkening sky.

"I couldn't sit at home either, I had like a million things going through my head so I decided to come here and draw…then I seen you sitting here and I thought maybe you want to hang out or something?" I asked him, he was probably thinking a lot of the same things I was.

"I guess I wouldn't mind some company…if you wouldn't mind me blazing up this joint?" He said laughing. I pretended to be in deep thought for a few moments, and then looked at him, "Yeah go ahead just keep it to yourself!" I said laughing with him. We sat in companionable silence for the next 10 minutes until he spoke up again, "What do you think is going to happen? On Monday I mean." He caught me off guard for a second there, then I turned to him, "I don't know, I really don't…I mean I'm not going to turn my nose up to anyone, I don't have anything to lose."

He looked over to me smiled, and then nodded, "I know you won't…I won't either, I don't have anything to lose; its common knowledge that I don't have too many friends myself." I looked at him then, I really looked at him, and I realized that we had a lot more in common than I originally thought. "Well if you don't mind John, I really want to be your friend and get to know you a little bit better."

All he gave me was a smile and I could tell from the look in his eyes that he appreciated it; I also knew he was looking for more answers, answers that I couldn't give him. "Let's make a pact," I proposed, "If things don't work out with the others on Monday, no matter what we will stick together." I looked down at my feet.

"Yeah I think I can handle that," he said quietly; I almost couldn't hear him, "So you and Sporto, huh?" He said changing the subject.

I felt my face flush, "Yeah, he's a lot different once you get past that first impression." He nodded with a smile, "and you and the princess?" I asked with a smirk.

"Hey, I was definitely not expecting that, and she came on to me!" he replied.

"You led her on all day don't give me that!" I said with a laugh. I could tell he fell for her it was pretty obvious; he had one of those diamonds in his ear that he was just criticizing earlier; he just wanted to cover it up. Bender was the one person whom my impression of didn't change, I never had a bad impression of him. I knew that he was hurting deep down and I knew he craved attention to help keep him occupied from that hurt; I knew that because I was the same way.

I looked up at the sky, it was now completely dark. "Do you have to be home anytime soon?" I asked him suddenly.

"Uh…I don't usually go home Friday and Saturday nights," he said quietly.

"Oh, do you have somewhere you have to be?" I asked him cautiously.

He looked at me sternly for the next few moments almost as if he were looking for something. "You can talk to me you know," I told him honestly.

"I know its just hard sometimes is all," he started, "I usually stay away from home on weekend nights because my old man is usually out drinking all night and comes home messed up, I kind of wanna stay out of trouble if you know what I mean." He looked down at his feet with a hurt expression on his face. "I don't want to sound intrusive, but what about your mom?" I asked him.

"Nah, its not intrusive…she does the same thing, she usually spends the weekend at her sister's place."

Holy shit, I hate seeing my new friend look so hurt. I really didn't know it was that bad for him. He did have the scars to prove it, but I still couldn't help but wish things were better for him. It was still a new thing for me to have personal conversations with anybody, let alone a friend. I figure the only thing I could do for him was be there for him when he needed somebody.

"Do you want to come over to my house, it's getting kind of cold out here," I asked him, shivering.

"Your parents wouldn't care?" He asked slowly.

"No, they don't really care what I do. We could sit in my bedroom and yell sexual innuendos at each other and they still wouldn't care!" I replied laughing.

He laughed with me, "Well if that's the case," He started, trying to slow his laughter, "Shall we be on our way?"

We gathered our stuff and the dog, whose name was Duke, and headed back to my house. I'm glad I was able to bring a smile to John Bender's face.

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"Do you want me to leave him outside?" John asked me as we approached my apartment door. I looked down at the dog and smiled, "No, its cold out! Come on, like I said no one will notice." I opened up the door and looked around, the place was empty. I turned on the lights and took off my shoes. I moved through the small foyer and into the kitchen I shared with my father. I opened up the fridge and grabbed a coke and handed it to John, "Do you want something to eat?" I asked.

"As long as it's not Cap'n crunch on white bread, sure," he said laughing.

"Very funny, you know you may be pleasantly surprised with the small things in life if you'd let your creative side shine through once in a while," I said with a wink.

"You know Allison that's a very interesting thought, but I'm not a very creative person," he said with a laugh. "Where do people get off calling you a basket case anyways? The more I talk to you the more I realize you are probably one of the most normal, yet interesting person I have ever met…don't think I'm getting soft or anything," He said as he plopped down into a kitchen chair.

"People just tend to make bad judgments on anything that isn't applicable to their 'normal' everyday life, its ignorance, there isn't any other word to describe it," I replied. I reached into the oven to grab the French fries I had thrown in for him. I scooped them on to a plate and grabbed some ketchup mustard and mayonnaise and sat beside him. He gave me a funny look and grinned. "Before you start snickering John, I advise maybe you try and open your mind to new things!" I said swatting him in the shoulder.

"Alright, but I'm only doing it because you were nice enough to cook for me," he mumbled. I grinned and squirted out a large pile of mustard on the plate, and then I dumped some ketchup on the pile, and scooped out some mayo. Taking a large fry, I mixed it all together till it formed a pinky-orange substance and popped the fry in my mouth. He looked at me in awe and I couldn't help but laugh, "Try it…you can't bash it until you try it!" He hesitantly picked up the fry and dipped in the pile and quickly threw it in his mouth closing his eyes. He stopped chewing and looked at me with a disgusted expression on his face, "This is really good!" he said. I couldn't help but burst out laughing from the look on his face.

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I brought the bowl of water from the bathroom into my bedroom and placed it in front of the dog, "there you go boy!" I said happily. "I love animals," I said quietly as I patted the dog's back. I turned to John, who was sitting on my bed looking through my records, "you need a place to crash tonight? I can pull one of the mattresses off my bed and put it on the floor."

He looked at me, almost sadly, "you're cool with that?"

"Yeah it's cool, I wouldn't mind having company here for once," I gave him a reassuring smile. I started took off the sweater I was wearing to reveal my favorite Motorhead shirt. "You like Motorhead?" He asked surprised. "I love them," I replied. I picked up the pile of records he left beside him and quickly scanned through them, "Is there anything you wanna listen to?"

"I don't care, put on whatever you want to listen to," I quickly grabbed a Motley Crue record and threw it on a low volume. "What's that?" Bender asked suddenly.

"What's what?" I asked confused.

"On your arm, Al," he replied never looking away.

"Oh…uh that's my stupid way of taking my anger out on myself. Each day I walk into that school, I'm picked on, and bullied; my teacher's are constantly sending me down to see the guidance councilor without even consulting me first. My father doesn't talk to me; he doesn't ask me how my day went or if I need help with anything. My mom isn't around; I haven't seen her in months. I don't really have anybody, to tell you the truth and I try hard to keep my self busy by drawing and shit, but sometimes things really get to me, you know?"

"I know," was all he said, kind of furthering me to continue.

"I know it may sound weird but, I don't do it because I want to kill myself but I do it because sometimes I feel like when I open myself up, the all the built up hurt comes out with it. It's just my lame attempt at some kind of escape. I really hope that everything that went on today will be some kind of new start for me, I don't want to hurt anymore." I looked over to him intently

"I'm hoping the same thing for myself, I think we both kind of feel the same hurt we just handle it differently. If it makes you feel any better I can tell you that you aren't the only one that goes through it. Some times when I feel like I'm at my lowest point, all I can do is smoke myself into an oblivion, either way, cutting or toking, it's all self-destructive. Maybe today will help us both get over it. I know you like to draw, I like to play my guitar, and maybe we can focus on those things to be our escape for a while. To tell you the truth, if I keep this shit up, I'm scared I'll end up just like my dad." He looked to the ground.

"You'll never be like him," I replied.

"Yeah? And how the hell do you know that?" he retorted.

"I can tell because you already want better for yourself. You know you have better potential than that; you don't have to worry about stooping to his low, you have to worry about finding yourself and looking for ways to bring out the best in you. I know, because I need to do the same thing." I said.

"Fuck girl…you sure know how to make a guy feel better." He laughed.

"Well I've had a lot of spare time to think about it." I got up off the bed and went to my closet and retrieved another blanket and an extra pillow. He got up and we pulled the mattress off the bed and onto the floor. I flopped the extra bedding lazily to the floor. I pulled the elastic out of my hair and turned on my TV, and then flicked the light switch off. If you need anything else just let me know. "Will do," he replied.

I pulled myself onto my bed and crawled under the covers with my days clothes on. I was tired and had a lot of happy things I wanted to dream about tonight; maybe one handsome jock in particular. I laid my head down and mumbled a "good-night" to Bender. When I got no response but even breathing I knew he was already out. I smiled to myself happy to help out a friend; hopefully sleep will bring peace to him. I shut my eyes following the thought and let slumber take me.

To Be Continued.