WE DO NOT OWN THE BREAKFAST CLUB.

Friday. April 6, 1984. Shermer High School. Clarendon Hills, Illinois.

(Luke)

I didn't sleep very well that night. What kind of wastoid was I? Claire Standish has come into my room, she was looking so beautiful, she had wanted me and I had refused her. I basically threw my amazing girlfriend out of my room. I could find no logical explanation except for the fact that I was afraid. I had never been in a relationship with a girl before. Not because I was a homo, but because it was bad enough that I had to deal with mama and papa Henderson and I didn't see any reason to bring a poor innocent young girl into that stinking cesspool. Now that I was out of that situation and that I could have a healthy relationship, I was out of my element and it was scary as Hell. Still, I saw the look on Claire's face the night before. I had hurt her. She probably thought that there was something wrong with her when she was perfect. I couldn't let her think that she was the problem when the truth was that she was the only good thing in my life. I had to talk to her.


The ride to school was again silent. Mr. Standish could tell that something was wrong with his daughter and her boyfriend, but he didn't say anything. Maybe this is just me being cynical, but I think that a part of him kept hoping that she would finally get tired of me and dump my ass so that they could go back to their richie lives. As Claire and I walked into school. I tried to reach out to her, but it was no use.

"Claire, please talk to me!" I begged.

"I'm not in the mood Luke," she replied as she stormed off to her locker. I was kicking myself as I went to my locker. As I was taking my books out, I saw Allison come over to Brian's locker and begin to pick the lock.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"John got some doobage and he wants me to put in Brian's locker for safekeeping," she replied.

"Why?"

"Because who's gonna suspect brainy Brian of having dope?" I saw the logic in Bender's reasoning and shrugged.

"I guess that's fair."

"So what's up with you and Claire?" Allison asked.

"What makes you think that there's something going on between me and Claire?" I asked in return.

"Your face is like an open book," she insisted.

"I did something stupid," I admitted. "She wanted to be intimate and I chickened out and now she probably feels like shit."

"Go talk to her," Allison ordered. "Tell Claire that she's not the problem."

"I can't, she won't talk to me."

"Let me handle it, meet us in the library during lunch," Allison said as she put the dope in Brian's locker and walked off. I sighed as I realized that here was nothing I could do but take Allison at her word.


After lunch, I went to the library like Allison told me to. Sure enough, she was there and Claire was with her. As soon as Claire saw me, she put two and two together.

"Allison, what the Hell?" Claire asked furiously.

"You need to talk to your boyfriend." Allison replied as she stood up and walked away as I sat down next to my girlfriend.

"Hey,"

"Hey."

"Look Claire, I want to talk to you about last night..." I started to say.

"I don't want to, OK?" Claire interjected.

"We need to!" I insisted. "I'm sorry that I pushed you away."

"Do you think that I'm a slut?" Claire asked nervously. "Like those girls in Bender's wallet?" I was stunned. Claire was think that she was just an easy fuck because of me and I hated myself for it.

"No!" I exclaimed as I took her hands in mine. "Claire, you are not a slut. You are amazing, you are so breathtakingly beautiful!"

"Then why did you push me away?" she asked.

"Because...I was scared, I was scared as Hell." I admitted.

"Of me?"

"No, not of you...of the idea of you."

"I don't get it." Claire replied as I took a deep breath.

"Look, all my life, the only people that were close to me hurt me." I explained. "So, I figured that if I kept people away, I would be safe. That's why I never had friends and I never had a girlfriend. If I didn't let people in, I was safe."

"Luke..." Claire said as she stroked my hand with her pink fingernail.

"Now, I'm letting Brian and Bender and Allison and Andy in...and I'm allowing you to get closer to me than anyone else and it scares me like you wouldn't believe." I continued. "Claire, I want to kiss you, I want to touch you and...when we're both ready for it...I want to have sex with you; but I'm not ready to do it yet."

"Neither am I and that's OK," Claire said with a small smile. "As long as we know what our limits are, it's OK."

"Yeah, because believe me...you were looking so sexy in that nightgown," I teased as a Claire playfully slapped my hand.

"Maybe I was," she said with a wink.


I was feeling so much better now that my relationship drama had been resolved. My last class was English with Mrs. Schmidt. I hadn't interacted with her since I'd turned in my essay. She started handing our essays back to us and I have to admit, I couldn't believe what I saw when I looked at mine.

A+

See Me After Class

I had never gotten an A+ in anything, so I was kind of shocked. I waited until after class, then I approached Mrs. Schmidt. She said nothing as she reached into her purse and pulled out a pack of Twinkies.

"Luke," she said as she looked at me. "I'm so sorry for what you had to go through. No child should have to suffer as you have."

"I'm sorry too about stealing from you," I replied. "I normally don't take things that don't belong to me."

"I understand why you did it," she insisted. "Next time you see your brother, give these to him."

"I will."

"Also...I hope you don't mind, but I made a copy of your essay and I gave it to Mr. Vernon." Mrs. Schmidt explained. That caught me by surprise. I didn't really expect it to be read by anyone else.

"What did he think?" I asked nervously.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that you have a gift Luke." she replied. "You can see people. I'll never look at John or Andrew or Brian the same way again."

"Maybe that's a good thing," I said as I took my paper and walked out of the classroom. As I walked through the halls on my way out of the school, I thought about what Mrs. Schmidt had said. The whole clique system and people's expectations were a problem at Shermer High, but now maybe she could be part of the solution, not the problem. As I walked outside, I saw the rest of the Breakfast Club waiting for me.

"Hey Luke, what took you so long?" Andy asked as Claire kissed my cheek.

"Not much, just got the first A+ of my life," I replied.

"Really?" Brian asked curiously. "What was it for?"

"An essay I wrote for English," I told him.

"And what was this exceptional essay about?" Bender asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I thought about for a minute before I gave my answer.

"Us."

WHAT WILL THE BREAKFAST CLUB THINK OF CLAIRE'S ESSAY? REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.