I DO NOT OWN THE BREAKFAST CLUB. SHOUTOUT TO PHOWARD FOR REVIEWING WHEN MOST WILL NOT.

Sunday. March 31, 1984. Standish family home. Clarendon Hills, Illinois.

(Luke)

Once Claire's old man got done reading his little girl the riot act, he decided that it was time to tear me a new asshole. He walked into the living room and looked me straight in the eye. For a few minutes, nothing was said. It was like we were playing a game and the first person to talk would lose. Naturally, I won the battle of wits.

"Luke, I'm not going to lie and say that I care about you because honestly I don't," Mr. Standish said in an annoyed voice.

"Good to know," I replied. I was used to people not giving a damn about me. Old man Standish wasn't the first to tell me straight to my face that I meant nothing and he probably wouldn't be the last.

"My daughter cares about you for some reason and she begged us to take you in and it is a decision that I am coming to regret," Mr. Standish continued. "You are surly, you are ungrateful, and you are getting way too hands on with my daughter. You are not part of our social class and she deserves a better man than you." At that point, I was just done. I'd had enough of his bullshit. I came unglued on his richie ass.

"You listen to me, you bourgeois son of a bitch!" I shouted as his eyes went wide as dinner plates. "Am I a poor kid, yes. Am I a loser, yes. Do I have any goals or plans for my life, not at the moment. I know that Claire deserves better than me, I know that every girl in the world deserves better than me. Why she wants to be with me, I may never know. It has been drilled into my head since I came out of my mother's womb. You don't need to tell me that i'm worthless, I ALREADY KNOW!" Claire's dad looked like he wanted to say something, but he was too chickenshit to actually say it.

"Second of all, I know that you only did this to make Claire happy, believe me, I get it." I continued as I looked him dead in the eye. "But don't trick yourself into thinking that Claire's happiness is the only thing that you care about."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mr. Standish inquired.

"It means you're trying to piss off Mrs. Standish," I insisted. "You and your wife are about ten minutes away from getting a divorce and you both keep trying to pull Claire to one side like you and her are a pair of dogs and she's a bone. The only reason that you haven't done it yet is that you just aren't sure which side that the princess is going to choose if you do. Well, here's your answer...neither.

"Neither?"

"That's right, Claire said that she would go live with Chip if she could." Old man Standish seemed shocked that his Claire bear would discuss her family woes with someone like me.

"Why would Claire talk to you about these things?" He asked.

"Because i'm one of the few people that actually gives a damn!" I exclaimed. "Do you even know what the Hell is going on in your daughter's life? When she was in detention, she finally made some actual friends. We're members of the Breakfast Club and because of that, all of her popular friends ditched her and now her shot at prom queen is dead as a doornail...Jesus Christ man, she was miserable! Claire had to constantly try to live up to this pristine image of herself that everyone at Shermer High subscribes to and you and her mom do that worse than anyone. You expect her to walk the line, have you ever asked yourself what she wants?"

"I...I..." Mr. Standish wanted to defend himself. He wanted to say that he did care about what Claire wanted, that he was involved in her life; but he knew that if he said that, he would be a liar.

"If you don't like me because i'm poor, that is your call, but here is the truth: Claire means everything to me." I stated. "I lo...I care about her and I would never, ever, do anything to hurt her." Claire's dad and I looked at each other for a moment. We both knew what had almost come out of my mouth, but he wasn't ready to deal with that possibility and honestly, neither was I. Eventually, he collected himself enough to speak.

"All right, I will allow you to remain in my house and I will continue to allow you to date my daughter, but I am going to tell you the same thing that I told her." Mr. Standish said as he mustered his courage and moved closer to me. "I want no funny business under my roof. When you spend time with Claire, you will do so in the public areas of the house. The living room, kitchen, den and dining room. If she invites you to visit her in her bedroom, you will refuse. If she tries to come into your bedroom, you will turn her away. Is any part of this unclear?"

"No sir," I replied as he backed away.

"Good, I have had the same talk with Claire and she knows what is expected of her," He explained. "You may not be an upstanding young man, but as long as you are in this house, I expect you to act halfway decent." Feeling that his point had been made, Claire's dad turned on his heel and walked out of the living room, leaving me alone to collect my thoughts. I kept thinking about what I had almost told Mr. Standish. Did I really love Claire? I had never loved any girl in my life and I had only known her for a couple weeks. I couldn't figure out my feelings for the life of me.

IS LUKE REALLY IN LOVE WITH CLAIRE OR JUST THE IDEA OF HER? REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.