Title: The World through the Eyes of a Basket Case
Author: TWBasketcase
Chapter Summary: Okay we are going to jump ahead a few days to Andy's state championships. Everyone will be in this chapter, so I hope ya like.
A/N: Just wanna say thanks to: Billy Crazy (for all four reviews), Jenifer, Moonjava, Santafelover (I'm seriously thinking about writing a story just for you since I torture you so much lol!) Katydid7186, Lazaefair (I don't know about prom tickets! Lol I didn't go to mine! I just know that my school sold em for $35 each or $50 for two :S), DarkoBender, Hannah (Eddie is based on a couple of friends of mine, he will be showing up just a little more in this story but more in the sequel), PoohIsMyHomie, and Ailcia (Nice to hear from you again, girl! And you are right; I really do have a soft spot for Bender lol I just can't get past the good looks, and witty comments!) So anyways ladies, thanks for all the reviews and here is chapter 28 (I swear it just keeps getting longer! Ha!) I hope you all enjoy :)

Chapter 28 – The Wild World of Sports

"I wonder if this one will be crazier than the last one. I mean, that guy from last time was just crazy and it was…madness…I sure do hope he doesn't get hurt again though…"

John looked at Brian with wide eyes, "Do you always have to ramble?"

He blushed, "I'm sorry Bender, I'm just a little anxious."

Bender rolled his eyes, "You're always just a little anxious; chill out bro."

Brian smiled admirably at John as he just smirked at him. I turned to my left and looked at Claire who was just chuckling under her breath. She was trying to keep her focus on the road but with the two bone heads in the back bantering she was having trouble. She isn't actually a bad driver (no matter how much John bugs her about it) she just loses her focus so quickly. However, we are only heading to Chicago which is about a twenty minute drive with all the traffic, so I wasn't too worried.

"So tell me about this Eddie guy…" Claire started trying to spark a conversation.

I turned my gaze away from the window and looked at her, "He is really nice; very friendly. We talked for quite awhile about all sorts of things…I guess I can say we have a lot in common."

Claire nodded her head, "Not nice in a creepy way, is he?"

I smirked, "No not nice in a creepy way! He is quite a few years older than me but he must have been just like me when he was younger or something that's all…and besides he's gay."

She raised her eyebrows, "Oh?"

I nodded, "Yeah, he's very comfortable about it though…he just seems like an all around comfortable guy to be around. We only spoke that once but it was almost as like I have known him forever. It's strange…"

"Well maybe you can introduce me to him." Claire replied as she took the turn off.

I shrugged, "I don't see why not…I mean he is my boss."

Claire squealed, "This is so awesome that you got this job! You still wanna move in with me right?"

"I guess so…I mean either you or my old man and Pam."

She giggled, "We are gonna have so much fun together!"

"That's a scary thought," John piped up sarcastically. I turned around and glared at him and he just smirked, "You wanna know a scary thought though John, you and your own place."

He scoffed, "What you think I'll have cockroaches or something?"

I stuck out my tongue at him, "Probably."

He snorted, "Good I will have something to feed you when you come over and visit."

"Ew! That is so disgusting!" Claire almost shrieked.

John rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat, "No Princess I'll give Ally and Sporto the cockroaches…you can have rat meat."

Claire shuddered so hard at the thought that the car almost swerved, "God dammit you are distracting me!"

John grabbed the seats and then his chest over dramatically, "Jesus, women should not drive…I'll be dead before I hit legal drinking age!"

She snorted, "How tragic."

He scoffed, "It is! What do you know anyways?"

She laughed, "Oh I'm sorry did I offend you?"

"That's impossible, I'm invincible."

She shook her head and turned on to a main road, "So what school are we headed to?"

I looked at the writing scrawled across my hand, "South Central."

She nodded and turned down a side street and headed towards the school. We had all agreed to come and watch the meet since it meant so much to Andy; Bender had even skipped detention…except he used the excuse that he was sick of sitting in there – which probably was true but whatever. I watched out the window as we pulled up to the huge school and saw that there is not a parking spot in sight. The place was packed and if finding a spot was going to be hard enough, then finding a seat in the gym is going to be ridiculous. Sports fans are kinda crazy too…so this should be jammed packed and VERY loud.

Claire groaned in frustration as she drove up and down the parking lot and then headed back out onto the street, "Where the hell am I supposed to park this thing?"

"Just park it around the block or something and we'll walk," Brian suggested.

"Walk?" She pondered out loud ridiculously.

"What don't wanna wreck your boots?" Bender taunted.

She glared back at him and turned the corner to find an open space at the end of the street, "I just didn't think there would be so many wrestling fans."

I nodded in agreement, "There wasn't nearly as many at the last meet but you have to remember this is State championships so a lot of them are from out of town."

"She's right," Brian agreed, "And besides most fans are like junkies when it comes to sports they will flock wherever to see bulky men throw each other around."

Claire sighed in frustration, "Alright, alright just get out of the car already…and lock your doors this time!" She turned and stared at John. He rolled his eyes and stepped out of the car and out onto the street. Once we were all out we began to walk towards the school.

It is pretty loud around here for being a suburban street; horns were honking, people were cheering, and every so often a loud roar of applause would erupt from inside the school. Even though large social gatherings often made me uncomfortable, I just had to keep thinking about my man…sweaty and in his tights…yummy! Ha!

I smiled at my thoughts and shook my hair in front of my face; the others are all bantering with each other and somehow amongst the chaos I felt oddly calm.

We approached the entrance to the school and waited patiently – with the exception of two people; one whining about standing too long and the other just overly annoyed with her. There isn't very much of a line it's the amount of people sprinkled throughout the hallways of the school that made it hard to move around.

"Grab my jacket," Bender started looking around the room.

"Huh?" Brian replied.

"Grab the back of my jacket and the rest of you hang on."

Brian grabbed a handful of John's jacket and Claire did the same to Brian and I did to her.

"Hold on tight," Bender said with a grin, but before we had time to respond he started running with his hands outward pushing through everyone in his path. People cursed, and scoffed, and threw their hands in the air but before I knew it I was standing in front of the gym doors.

Bender rubbed his hands together, "Well, you guys ready to go inside?"

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We got ourselves situated on the bleachers about seven rows up; we had a pretty good view of the mats placed around the gym…all three of them anyways. The tournament is already in full swing and two matches are actually going on at the moment. I stood up to try and see if I could spot the Shermer team but it was to no avail. The gym is packed with so many people and school colors that I couldn't find any of them. I sat back down in a huff and looked over to my friends, "You see him?"

Brian shook his head slightly, "No I don't see him but we will…"

"Obviously," Bender cut him off in a huff, "But a muscle head is hard to pick out in a herd of muscle heads."

I rolled my eyes, and looked at Claire who seems to be mesmerized, "What about you?"

"Huh," She replied as if I had broken her out of a daydream.

"Have you seen Andy?"

"No," she replied and looked back to where she was looking before. I followed her line of vision and realized she had her eyes glued to some Sport; who was gazing back at her in return. She gave him a small smile and he grinned and waved in return. She looked at me and blushing and smiled sheepishly, "What?"

"Checking out wrestlers are we?" I asked with a smirk.

John shot his head around and frowned, "What did you just ask her?"

"Nothing just forget about it guys!" Claire protested. I smirked at her while Bender sat with his mouth in a scowl. I shot him a look and he just shook his head; he says he wants nothing to do with her yet he gets jealous if she looks at another guy…what a peach he is!

I turned my head back towards the center of the gym and that's when I saw Andrew. He had a pair of joggers on over his uniform and a towel around his shoulders; he looked like he had already wrestled his first match and was preparing for the second. He was stretching out his legs and looked to be working on his knee in particular. I'm pretty nervous still about watching him compete since his last match; when I heard the thud of his knee hitting the ground I could have thrown up. It sickens me to see him hurt but at the same time he is so excited to compete again that I can't help but feel great for him.

He rolled his neck around on his shoulders and was practicing some breathing exercises; he looks like he is in top condition and ready to wrestle the match of his life. I am very proud of him; he puts so much time and effort into his wrestling and I know that he loves it no matter how much he hates to admit it to me. Finally he looked up at our section and I put my hand up and waved; he gave me a huge smile and waved back. I couldn't help but just gaze at him for a few moments until the referee had announced his name.

"Ladies and gentlemen the next match will be a semi-finalist bout. The first competitor from Shermer high school and the defending champion, Andrew Clark! His opponent from Lake Forest High, Sean Scott!"

The crowd erupted in cheers for both Andy and his opponent; the two wrestlers shook hands and positioned themselves so they were staring each other down. I always thought these wrestling matches were so serious…almost as if the two competitors were all alone by themselves and nothing mattered except for one being crowned the victor. Like Vikings or something, they had that much of a powerful vibe.

The ref blew the whistle and in a matter of seconds the two were grappling quickly. This match is a lot different than Andy's other match I had watched; in this one he seems to have the complete upper hand and the bout is pretty one sided. He scooped his opponent up by the waist and dropped him hard to the mat getting the three count. I clapped my hands and grinned, giving him the thumbs up. He grinned back and returned the gesture and walked back to join his team mates.

"Wow he is really good," Claire started still clapping.

"He wasted that guy!" Brian replied with excitement in his tone, "That was amazing."

Bender shook his hair out of his eyes and shrugged, "That kid was a wimp, it was obvious Sporto was gonna win…I woulda slapped him myself if he didn't."

I grinned in return and turned back to the mat. The next match is between a student from Peoria and another from Chicago; the same guy Claire was having a stare down with. I looked at her as she straightened up in her seat with interest.

The match began and the two were grappling with equal ability. Both are in a class heavier than Andy's…in fact they are both pretty big guys; maybe 200 pounds. They exchanged holds and reversals until the Chicago wrestler got the pin. Claire gave him a round of applause and sat back down in her seat.

I looked at John who was just rolling his eyes and masked his face with a smirk, but clearly you could see the flames in his eyes. Claire seems oblivious to him; in fact she is still transfixed on the mystery man.

I shook my head and looked back to the ring as the final matches began. Andy's match is being called first; apparently there are only six different weight classes and he is smack dab in the middle between the lightest and the heaviest. He approached the ring as he prepared for the final match up of his high school career with no fear in his features at all. His opponent was announced and he stepped up to the ring. He is from Stillman Valley High School and he seemed to have a bit of a height advantage. Of course Andy isn't very tall at all; I'm about 5'5" and he only has an inch or two on me.

"This guy is very good; they say he is the next up comer." I heard the man next to me say to his female friend.

"Well he hasn't lost a single match this year. I think he has this one over Clark."

"You kidding me? Clark is like a wrestling prodigy!"

She laughed, "Maybe so, but Clark is injured. I heard his knee is still bugging him." I tried my best not to say anything and get myself caught eavesdropping. I hope Andy's knee wasn't really bugging him! Of course he did wrestle his other matches no problem and he probably would have told me, right?

"I got my money on Harris," She conceded, "He is a rising star…he has this match won."

I sighed and turned my head back to the floor. The referee was just going over all the rules and getting ready to blow the starting whistle. The two opponents shook hands and the whistle was gone.

The boy that the couple next to me referred to as 'Harris' was pretty quick. He got the upper hand on Andy within seconds and threw him to the mat repeatedly. I saw Andrew hit the mat with his fist as the ref called for a break. The two wrestlers stood back up and the ref sounded the whistle once again. Harris grabbed Andy in a side headlock and pulled him roughly to the ground. He held on tight, but not tight enough as Andy used his leverage to flip around Harris' back and reversed the headlock so he had Harris down. The ref called for yet another break and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The whistle sounded once more and this time both competitors went at each other full force. They collided with a thud and for a second everything blurred; it was over so fast and the crash to the mat was so sickening that I knew he wouldn't get up. His head hit the floor and almost bounced back up disturbingly. For a second I was afraid he would never get up; and then one, two, three…it was over.

The state champion was crowned.

The crowd hesitated in silence momentarily until they saw the loser attempt to get back up. Then the place roared with excitement and appreciation; I thought it would damage my hearing it was so loud.

"I told you, I told you!" The man next to me hollered.

"You're winner ladies and gentlemen, two time Illinois State Champion, Andrew Clark!"

"Holy shit…" I muttered under my breath as the entire Shermer team went to celebrate with Andy. That finishing move was so sickening I didn't even think it was possible for someone like Andy to maneuver it; he had picked up Harris over his shoulder and dropped him backwards to the mat. It was probably the most disturbing, yet exciting thing I ever saw. We moved down the bleachers and on to the floor to wait for Andy in the hallway.

Many faces passed by us but for the most part the halls were fairly empty because of the other five weight classes' final matches. And moments later the door shot open and a soaking wet Andy came out with a huge grin.

"That was pretty intense, dude," Bender said giving him a slap on the back, "Remind me if I ever get in a rumble, I want him on my team. That was so sick man!"

He gave him a nod and took the compliments with pride. I stepped up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, "Yeah, you scared me for a second there."

He smirked and smiled again; he was pretty much speechless and all smiles; just like in the picture from the year book I looked at months ago…it made me beam with happiness for him inside.

"Andrew Clark?" Came a deep voice from behind us. Andy turned around and was met with a shorter, built, darker haired man.

"That's me…" Andy replied curiously.

"Bill Waters," He replied offering his hand, "I'm the wrestling coach at UBC."

Andy smiled, "Coach Waters, huh? I've heard a lot about you."

He nodded and smiled, "And I about you…that was a pretty amazing match you had out there, son. I'm glad you'll be competing on my team next year…we can really use some muscle like that."

Andy beamed with pride, "Thanks sir, I pushed to my limits."

He nodded, "And I find those limits amazing…you got some real talent there kid."

"Andy?" Came another male voice; I knew right away that it belonged to Mr. Clark.

Andy looked at his dad with annoyance, while he looked at Mr. Waters with curiosity, "Who's this, son?"

Andy blinked, "Dad this is Bill Waters, he is gonna be my coach at UBC."

Mr. Clark nodded, "Nice to meet you."

Waters nodded, "Like wise." But before Mr. Clark could carry on with any sort of conversation Andy cut him off turning to us, "I'll meet up with you guys in a few minutes okay?"

"Sure," Brian replied as I nodded. Andy in turn walked in the other direction with Waters at his side carrying out full on conversation. The sudden change in actions left Mr. Clark standing bewildered.

"You okay, sir?" Claire asked silently as the older man stood with his mouth agape and his hands on his hips.

He turned to her slowly, "Did he just do that?"

"Obviously," Bender said as if the man was blind. He glared back at John, "I see where he gets this defiance from…hanging around with hoods like you!"

John grinned, "Glad to see I'm helping with the progression of your hair loss, sir."

Mr. Clark groaned as he rubbed his face and turned the other way, "Damn punk kids these days…always runnin' their mouths like a bunch of animals…" I suppressed a giggle as he continued ranting, making his way towards the direction of Andrew and Waters. I looked back at John who was just rolling his eyes.

"John, that was rude!" Claire scolded.

Bender shrugged, "Yeah and he is a dick, so what?"

Claire shook her head and adjusted her purse strap, "I have to use the ladies room; I'll be right back." She spun on her heel and headed off in the direction behind us. I watched her back as she made her way away from us; that is until she was about twenty feet away she was approached by a mystery man…the same Chicago wrestler from earlier.

I looked at John who just watched the scene unfold quietly. He had sharpness to his eyes and his fists were clenched at their sides. The two teens were talking with wide smiles and what seemed to be some flirting. After a few seconds phone numbers were exchanged and Claire continued on her way towards the bathroom, and mystery man headed in our direction.

He was just about to pass us when Bender placed a hand on his chest, "What's up bro?"

"Huh?" He replied with an angered look.

"I just seen you talking to that girl," Bender continued, "You don't like her do you?"

The guy shrugged, "Sure why not?" He looked totally confused, and I was becoming a little concerned for his safety.

"Well I'll let you know," Bender started, "She's already got two boyfriends."

Mystery man cocked an eyebrow, "And…?"

"Well apparently she has the real bad problem with sleeping around…" He leaned over to the guy, "My best friend caught herpes from her."

Mystery man looked at Bender with horror, "Seriously?"

Bender snorted, "Why the hell do you think I would stop you and warn you? It already happened to my friend, I wouldn't want to see any other man have to go through the torture of getting his cock surgically removed."

The guy's face whitened like a fucking ghost; I could not believe the nerve of John! I don't know what's worse…telling lies about Claire that way or taking advantage of the Jock's obvious stupidity. Poor guy…and poor Claire, that was just rude!

Bender gave the wrestler a pat on the back and he went on his way. Brian and I stared at John with our jaws dropped.

"What?" He asked as if he had done nothing wrong.

"I can't believe you just did that!" I scolded him.

"Did what, I didn't do anything wrong…" He folded his arms and turned in the other direction so he was facing away from me. I shook my head and suddenly Claire appeared, "Okay guys, you ready to go?"

I exchanged a knowing look with Brian and turned to glare at John, "Sure, let's go."

Claire and I walked together as we headed down the hallway towards the entrance of the school. I was so glad Andy had won his last match but at the same time I was very disappointed in John's behavior; if that wasn't an obvious 'I LOVE HER DON'T TOUCH HER' then I don't know what is. I turned to look at Claire who had a really bright smile on her face, "So that totally cute guy just gave me his number."

I mentally smacked my head; I totally need new friends.

TBC

End Notes: This chapter goes out to TBFF Nat. I know that she loves Andy and I just wanna say thanks to her for the awesome review. She wrote my favorite Breakfast Club fic of all time, 'Who I Really Am' you guys should check it out! It's listed in the 'Best Of' archive, and it's totally rad. So for her to say she loved my fic really meant a lot, thanks Nat!

Kristen