Title: The World through the Eyes of A Basket Case
Author: TWBasketcase
Chapter Summary: Part Three of the detention…trouble has been started but what happens when emotions come into play as well? Read on and find out! ;)

DEDICATION: I wanna dedicate this chapter to everyone who reads this story…the number of hits I've gotten on some of these chapters has been phenomenal. I mean I get a lot of reviews but I had no idea how many people were actually reading it. So just because I got well over a thousand hits in the past week this one is for you. Thank you! This one also goes out to Dez who told me this wouldn't be a TBC fic without them in detention again; so since he gave me the idea this one is for him too.

Chapter 25 – Back To Where We Started Part 3

"Alright girls, you have thirty minutes for lunch!" Vernon announced as he walked into the room with a scowl. He looked at Andrew, "Are you and your woman going to be making a trip to the vending machine for everyone?"

Andy narrowed his eyes, "My woman?"

Vernon smirked, "Or whatever it is you wanna call her."

Andy shook his head in disbelief, "How about Allison?"

"Sure," he said waving his hand dismissively, "Just get your asses back here in less than five minutes. Andy sighed and got up and collected change from Brian, Claire, and Michelle. He looked at Bender who was giving him a huge grin, "Don't worry John I'll get ya one…" Andy mumbled.

John pretended to bat his lashes, "My hero!"

Andy shook his head and met me back at the table and we walked out of the room together. I noticed Andy was back to being in a troubled mood and at the same time it kinda looked like he was hurt.

"Are you okay?"

He looked at me sideways and jammed his hands in his pockets, "Yeah I'm alright…I'm just sore from earlier is all."

I cocked an eyebrow, "From your work out or the vent?"

"Both," he said irritably, "which worries me because the state championships are next Saturday."

I nodded, "Just don't be working yourself up to hard, you'll do fine."

His lips formed a small smile, "I sure hope so." He grabbed my hand and led me into the teacher's lounge towards the vending machine. He let go momentarily to insert all the cash and smiled back to me, "Day's turnin' out to be pretty crazy, isn't it?"

I smirked, "There's an understatement…I betcha it's gonna get better too."

He gave me a devilish smile and crossed his arms, "What do you mean by better, hmm?"

I raised my eyebrows, "Well sitting in a vacant teacher's lounge with you ain't half bad…"

He cocked an eyebrow, "half bad?"

I shrugged, "Half…" I didn't get a chance to continue because his lips were pressed against mine in a tight hold. I was going to pull back and tell him it wasn't really a good time with a five minute time limit and all but I just couldn't do it; the boy melts me. I fell back into the tender kiss and reached a hand behind his neck as he held his arms around my waist. Every single time I kiss him it feels as exciting as the first time. I leaned back against the pop machine and he pushed himself closer. He began kissing me more vigorously with his tongue looking for a way into my mouth. I was getting totally lost in the moment and all my previous thoughts and whereabouts were long forgotten as he snaked his hand up the back of my shirt; it sent a strong tingle up my spine. It was pure bliss in the making…

"…Ahem," came a rough interruption. Andy looked at me with wide eyes and swallowed hard. He jammed his hands into his pockets and let out a low whistle. I shot my eyes down to my feet as he turned to face Vernon.

He bent down to grab the soda cans and muttered, "Uh…sir…"

Vernon gave him a disgusted smirk, "Get your asses moving." I straightened out my shirt and ran my fingers through my hair, "Now!" He demanded. Andy nodded his head and brushed past him to the hallway; I stayed close behind him to prevent being on the receiving end of Vernon's wrath. We walked quickly back to the library and were fast enough to have the door shut behind us and sat down at our table before he came bursting in behind us.

"Pass those out Clark!" He yelled pointing to the cans. Andy got up and quickly obliged. John and Brian let out quiet chuckles under their breath. I looked down at my table; suddenly it was the most interesting thing in the room.

"Like I said, thirty minutes for lunch," Vernon started, "I will return in time to ensure you are behaving. And let me also remind you that this is detention, not Lover's Lane." I felt my face burn and shook my hair down over my face, "So Clark, you can go sit with Bender. No more monkey business!" He spun around on his heel and left the room in silence; but like usual that would be short lived.

"Did ya pork her Sporto?" John asked laughing.

"Fuck off Bender," I heard Andy reply.

"Its okay dude, you can tell me details…I won't tell anyone."

Andy looked at John like he was stupid, "The whole room can hear you ya know!"

John grinned, "Fine…but you know I will get it outta ya later…" he started laughing hard at Andy's obvious irritation. Sometimes I just wanna smack that guy. I looked at Andy, "Will you give me one of your sandwiches?" He looked down at his pile of food and shrugged; he grabbed one off of the top and tossed it to me, "It's got meat on it."

I pulled the top layer of bread off and let out a snort, "Does it ever…do you realize that there is like four different kinds of animal on this?"

He looked at me with a blank expression as he chewed his food, "So?"

I scrunched up my face in disgust and began peeling off the meat; I threw it over my shoulder carelessly.

"Hey watch where you are throwing that! I don't want that stuff near me!" Michelle squealed from behind me. I spun around to face her with a goofy grin, "Sorry…"

"It's okay…I'm just not a big meat fan either."

I cocked an eyebrow, "Really?"

She nodded and grinned, "Really…I haven't eaten meat since I was like twelve."

I widened my eyes, "Oh…I never really noticed before."

John piped up, "I always thought you only ate salads because you were one of those girls that will eat a piece of lettuce and get full. I always wondered why chicks were like that…"

Michelle smirked, "No, I just prefer vegetables…I'm a vegan."

"Wow, so you barely eat anything?" Andy asked bewildered like eating small amounts of food would be the death of him.

She laughed, "No there are lots of things I eat; I like tofu and soy…vegetables, fruits, grains, those sorts of things."

John and Andy had horrified looks on their faces; Andy was sitting still with his sandwich half way to his mouth while John sat frozen with his hand over Andy's food, "How the hell did you know what a vegan is when you were twelve?"

She shrugged, "I've never really gotten along with my parents so as a kid I read a lot…lived in a fantasy world sort of thing, decided animals didn't deserve senseless slaughter."

I nodded in understanding, "I was the same way."

"What are your parents like?" Andy asked slowly.

She sighed slightly and put down her food; she pushed a strand of rebellious brown hair out of her face and entwined her fingers together, "Well my whole life I've just lived with my mom and her numerous boyfriends. My father died when I was five, and she got a huge life insurance settlement. So she lives the high life…I'd rather work for myself."

I looked at Brian and Claire who sat rather silently; almost as if they have heard the story before they were just letting her tell it.

"Hence the mustang?" I asked quietly.

She let out a small laugh, "Hence the mustang," she repeated, "My mom was floored when I bought it; she asked me why I was spending all of my money when she could just get one. I'm not really like that I can't sit back and let things come to me, I learned that growing up."

John nodded, "Ain't it the truth…" Andy looked at him sympathetically and then back to Michelle when she continued, "A lot of my mom's boyfriends haven't been very nice people. She has been spending so much time trying to find a replica of my father that it kinda blinds her. She's never said anything, but I've seen a lot of them do some pretty bad stuff to her."

I swallowed, "Like what?"

She looked down at her food, "Well I know they have slapped her a couple of times and one night I also heard one of them doing…well you know…"

John looked down in his lap and sighed; it was obviously a soft spot for him, whereas the rest of us don't completely understand that sort of thing. Andy swallowed and put his food away…it wasn't often he lost his appetite; and still Claire and Brian sat silently.

She noticed everyone's behavior and piped up, "I mean they never really did anything to me, but they might as well of if they are doing it to my mom right in the next room."

"Sucks don't it?" Bender said.

She looked at him warily, not knowing what he meant, "That was rather blunt."

He rolled his eyes and groaned, "I meant I know what that feels like…my old man does it to my Ma all the time. Except I try and do something about it and it all comes back on me. He always tells her that she fucked up his life…he even tried to tell me once when he was drunk that the only reason I was born was because he raped her."

I looked at John with wide eyes, "Do you believe that?"

He shrugged, "It's hard to say…but I wouldn't put it past him."

Michelle looked at him knowingly, "But then again he could be saying that just to drive you away and get under your skin."

He lit up a smoke, "I know that…but like I said I wouldn't put it past him."

"Does that bother you?" Brian asked quietly.

Bender shrugged again and took a drag off of his smoke, "It does at times but other times I just block it out. You get used to doing that after awhile."

"And some people are really good at doing that," Andy piped up, Bender looked at him quizzically so he continued, "My brothers are really good at doing that with my dad, they always have been. I don't know how they do it but they can have him yelling right in their faces and they just put on this big front like they're listening but they aren't. My dad gets on my ass so much sometimes that I wish to god I could do that."

"Is that why you are taking off to Canada?" Claire asked.

Andy hesitated, "Deep down inside I think that is the reason. I mean in such a big way I would love to go to school in Chicago and stick around but in another way I feel like if I go far away there won't be any chains left holding me down.

"When I'm at school the coach is on my ass about it, when I'm at home my dad is on my ass about it, even some of my teammates get on my ass when I'm training. There is rarely ever a time where I don't feel like I'm being chained down…sorta not being able to be myself."

I stood up and pushed my table away and took a seat on the floor. The others followed suit until we were sitting in a circle on the floor with our tables surrounding us. I looked at Andy and gave him a half of a smile, "Well what kinda things around here make you feel free?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "Swimming…when I do that alone no one is there to bother me about it. Running, driving around…and to tell you guys the truth every time I'm with you. I think you are the only people I have ever met that don't have expectations, you don't judge…I mean we all did at first but we are beyond that point." He looked me dead in the eyes as he said it all and I nodded.

"I feel that way too," Claire agreed, "When I hung around with Ashley and them I always felt invisible. Even though we were the popular crowd or whatever I always felt like I was unnoticed. Like they seen me but they didn't care. Every word I said or everything personal just meant nothing. I was always asking myself if the reputation was worth it."

John looked at her dead straight in the eyes, "Was it worth it?"

She looked at him nervously under his intense gaze, "No."

He nodded his head and sat back silently. She looked at her feet but his eyes never left her. I looked at him, "Do you have any regrets?"

He snapped out of it and looked at me, "What do you mean?"

I swallowed and cocked my head to one side, "Since our last detention, do you have any regrets?"

He returned his gaze to Claire, who in turn swallowed and blinked, "No," was his straight answer. Claire had a wave of emotion pass over her eyes and looked back down to her feet. I wanted to ask John what he meant by that but I figured it probably wouldn't be the best idea right now. I mean 'No' for him could mean a million things but then again John isn't really the type of guy to go in depth with his answers.

He looked at Andy, "How about you?"

Andy shrugged, "I don't regret anything…since the detention I felt different about a lot of things – a lot of big things and small things."

"A good different?" Brian asked curiously.

Andy looked at him for a few moments before answering, "For the most part it's a good different. I mean, I realized that there is much more out there in the world than trying to make my father proud. I also developed a sense of self worth kinda…like I won't let anyone push me around anymore."

"I can't see a guy like you letting people push you around…not the same way people push me around anyways…"

Andy nodded, "No not the same way, mine is more in a pressure kinda way, not physical. I know you get pressured too but I'm just saying that's my biggest weakness…falling under pressure."

"So I wonder what's better," Michelle began, "Falling under pressure, or running away from it."

I looked at John and he nodded back at me; that's the way the two of us were. We didn't fold from problems we ran away from them and dealt with the consequences; I guess Michelle is the same way.

Claire gave a small frown, "Neither…"

"So we're all fucked," Bender finished.

"So obviously some things never change…" I stated.

Brian nodded, "It just feels better when you have people to talk to about it and they are going through the same thing. It makes the pressure and parent bull shit a lot easier to handle."

Andy nodded, "Yeah but with the parent thing I just keep reminding myself that I'm leaving soon so I won't have to put up with it much longer."

Claire crossed her arms over her chest, "Yeah me too…I actually got my acceptation letter last week."

I raised my eyebrows, "Where?"

She grinned, "The Hair Professionals Career College in Palos Hills."

"You wanna do hair?" Bender asked incredulously.

She smirked, "No I don't want to do hair…I'm going to study Esthetics."

He nodded his head slowly, "So what do you want to do…work beauty pageants or something?"

She ignored him, "Actually I have a few different options if I pass the course…I can do plastic surgery, facial spas, nail care, make-up…it all really depends on what I wanna do."

"Well good for you Claire! So are you gonna be staying at home?" Michelle asked excitedly.

She shook her head, "No my dad and I made a deal that I can get an apartment in Chicago. He said he would pay half of the rent, so if I find a roommate then I'll be good."

She nodded her head, "I would if I wasn't going so far away."

Claire nodded sadly, "I know."

Andy raised his eyebrows, "So where are you going?"

She tucked her hair behind her ears and crossed her legs, "University of Columbia in NYC."

He let out a low whistle, "What are you going to be studying?"

"Medicine," she replied and looked at Brian who gave her a huge smile, "He convinced me I was smart enough to go so I applied and I got accepted."

"So half of you guys are gonna be gone by the end of summer…" I mumbled.

"Well I'll still be around," Claire perked up, "I mean if you get this job you could even come be my roommate after your dad gets married."

I nodded my head, "Yeah that's cool…but we'll still be split up. And then by the time the three of us graduate," Bender let out a snort; I ignored him and continued, "Brian will be gone off too."

Andy nodded and looked down to his feet along with Brian and Michelle, "I guess all good things have to come to and end sometime right…"

Claire sighed over dramatically, "But that doesn't mean we still can't be friends though, right? I mean last time we were here we talked about the same thing except it was Monday we were worried about. We made it past Monday and we made it past all the other crap with our friends," We all let out simultaneous snorts and 'yeah rights' she rolled her eyes, "For the most part anyways – who says we can't make it past this?"

We all remained silent, she sighed again, "I mean for real, Brian still has another year with you guys, and I doubt Andy will lose touch…and Michelle is my best friend and Brian's girlfriend…we're not all gonna fall off the face of the planet."

I nodded and looked up at Andy, "You're not gonna lose touch, right?"

He looked at me with intense blue eyes, "I wouldn't for the world."

Bender looked around to everyone, "Yeah…we can only hope so. Life is life and if we all drift we're gonna drift even if we don't want to."

We all looked at him and he shrugged, "How many of your parents are still friends with their high school friends?"

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Vernon yelled from the door interrupting us, "Get these tables back in order and park your asses back where they are supposed to be!"

I looked back to my friends who all had sad looks on their faces; I guess Bender is right…we all may just drift apart. I can only hope that we don't.

TBC

End Notes: Oh how sad! Argh! I guess since it was detention I needed a good conversation chapter, so here it is. I think I probably have one more chapter left of the detention since it would probably be around two o'clock in the day (given lunch is at 11:30) so…I'll make the next one a long one, I promise!
A/N: Okay first off I'll do my thank-you's: Katydid7186, KushelKitten, UnicornPammy, Moonjava, DarkoBender, Santafelover, Jessesgirl29, JBFan, and last but most certainly not least Lazaefair. Thanks all!
And as a side note I started an archive called 'The Best Of' Breakfast Club fics. I went through the old stories on the site and picked out some that stood out and put them on. So here is where you all come into play; I want to have the remainder of the archive voted in. My only thing being if the story is old and incomplete (which a lot of them are) then I don't see much point of listing it. So just email me or leave it in your review if you see a story you want archived that isn't already up there. I just figured since most other fandoms have C2's, why not ours? So if you are interested in getting a story put into "The Best Of" archive let me know. Thanks again faithful readers, I hope you enjoyed! Drop me a line for any critiques/flames/comments/compliments. They are greatly appreciated! Cheers for now!

Kristen