Title: Running With the Devil
Author: TWbasketcase
Rated: T for language
Chapter Summary: THE MONDAY AFTER
A/N: Thanks for the feedback! Please read and review…this is getting close to the end, for I believe I have covered just about everything except this one last cliché. So I hope you all enjoy this.

Chapter 12 – Monday Over and Over and Over Again

Brody glanced at the clock…it was about 11:15 pm. She couldn't (still) quite figure out exactly how this all was supposed to go down. Hell, she had five movie characters – from the 80's – sitting in her bedroom. Sure she liked the company, but she couldn't keep them…as much as she would like to.

She pulled her gaze back towards her notebook and began to figure out how she wanted her new story to start. She figured she had her original one ready to be finished, but after a full day of Breakfast Club 101 she figured it would probably be best to start over. She had so many new ideas and so many different places she could take it. It was now time to get it all down on paper.

Andy sat drumming his fingers unfazed. Allison was lying on her back and staring at the yellow stains in the ceiling, while Claire and Brian seemed to be dozed off. Bender on the other hand, was unusually quiet. She figured he must be waiting for excitement of some sort, but the day had been long and Brody guessed that even he was probably ready to call it a day.

Andy let out a loud sigh and turned to Brody, "So how's it coming along?"

Brody regarded him and smiled, "Well, I think I finally have enough ideas that I could get started."

Andy raised a surprised eyebrow, "Started? You already have a story started…you can't just leave us hanging!"

Brody rolled her eyes, "And have you guys living in cliché-forever-land? Sorry, I think it is about time for me to start fresh…after the garbage I wrote I owe you guys that much."

Andy nodded and sighed, "Sure, I guess. What are you going to do?"

Brody smirked and clutched her notebook to her chest, "Well that is for me to know and for you to find out. I wouldn't appreciate God telling me every twist and turn ready to come to my life."

Andy snorted, "You're not God."

"Duh! I know that! I'm just saying you'll find out when the time comes. I don't want to give everything away."

"Alright whatever…so it isn't going to be like your last one then?"

"No…I actually think I may just start from Monday though…"

Bender snorted and rolled over from his spot on the floor, "Well, well, well looks who's going on back and bitching about everything they were against before. Traitor."

Brody sighed irritably, "Well I have all these new things now…I may as well. I could turn it into a good Monday fic. I guess we could always use more anyways."

Andy raised an eyebrow, "What do you have against Monday fics anyways?"

"Well I don't want to tread common ground here…I thought we went through all of this?"

"Yeah but you didn't say why you hate Monday," Bender piped up in a sing song voice.

Brody rolled her eyes, "To tell you the honest to god truth there is absolutely nothing wrong with it it's the question everyone wants answered. It's just been done too many times before. Hell, I can't even tell some Monday fics from the others."

"Well what are you going to do then to make it any different from all of the others?"

"Well first things first…maybe I won't have you guys be friends at all. Maybe I'll have you all just be big chicken shits…"

"But THAT has been done before! That's no different."

Allison turned over, "Let me guess…Andy and Claire can't get over their reputations."

"And Bender gets jealous," Andy added.

"And crazy girl cries a lot and slits her wrists," Bender said laughing.

Brody sighed frustrated and crumpled up her paper, "Dear god I am doing it again! Just when I thought I could do this…"

Brian sat up and rubbed his eyes, "What's going on?"

Brody looked at him with a crestfallen face, "I'm so fucked!"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "Why is that?"

Andy sighed, "We aren't going through this again…she wants to do a Monday fic!"

Brian widened his eyes at that, "Okay…"

Brody growled, "Well what else do you suggest? I mean I'm not going to skip ahead of all of the important stuff and just write you guys as 2-D characters! I think a lot of time away from each other and time with your families – which make you all so strangely depressed – and you're other friends. John Hughes painted you guys as walking, talking clichés! If I start on Monday I can just go from there and fix all of that!"

"I'm no cliché," Bender smiled cockily, "Ain't no one like me…ain't that right cherry?" Bender hollered over to Claire. She turned and looked at him with a growl, "Leave me alone." He shrugged and grinned.

Brian sat up and crossed his legs underneath of him, "Well I think that is okay…but you still have to come up with all sorts of storylines and clinchers for everyone."

"Well I am easy," Bender interrupted, "Good looks, great lines, and lots of sex."

Brody rolled her eyes, "Okay everyone…I am making John a virgin."

Andy laughed out loud, "Damn straight! I like it!"

Bender's face fell and he eyed her dangerously, "Oh I would! And the girl from Niagara Falls would totally exist and Brian would find out about you and you would never live it down!"

Brian chuckled and Bender turned to glare at him, "I can still kick the shit out of you ya know!" Brian nodded and looked at the floor.

"And I would give everyone their own storylines…I don't understand why people write Claire/Bender and Allison/Andy as one storyline…and I won't forget Brian either."

Brian gave her a cheeky smile of appreciation, "Thanks."

Bender gagged, "He probably doesn't even have pubes yet."

Brian's face turned bright red and Brody bit her lip, "You are so dead."

"What are you going to do?"

"Make you my personal puppet for the rest of your stupid life!"

Bender snorted, "No one would read your story then! They all love me and I am the star of every one! Without me the movie wouldn't have even been a hit!"

Brody scowled, "Shut up Bender! I am going to do everyone equally…I hate when certain characters are focused on in Monday fics…that loses the whole intention. It's what happened on Monday to everyone…not what happened to just Bender and Claire."

Bender rolled his eyes, "It should be Monday smut starring Bender and Claire."

Claire shrieked and threw a pillow at him, "I will not be a desperate tramp just to make you happy. We went through this last chapter!"

Bender put up his hands in mock surrender, "Touchy! Someone have some Midol?"

She scowled and turned away from him; Brody just gagged and shook her head miserably, "I would rather gnaw my own arm off then write that shit!"

"Good!" Andy, Allison, and Brian exclaimed together.

"Seriously though," Brody continued on with the previous topic, "There is enough stories out there that focus solely on Bender and Claire, and I want to cover everyone. I'm not going to have some over the top Bender abuse drama, Claire getting raped and beaten by her drunken parents…or Brian being the tag along, or Andy being the happy hero…and no Allison being the almighty wise and moral one."

Andy nodded his head, "Good enough."

Brody took a deep breath and reached for her notebook hesitantly, "Okay, so now that we have that settled…"

Brian cleared his throat and leaned his back against the side of the bed, "Okay well what are you going to do then?"

Brody smiled wickedly, "Oh I am gonna raise some hell! A Monday fic like no other! Andy is going to get totally rejected on his athletic scholarship and his dad is going to go ape shit! I mean, University's don't just hand out scholarships for nothing! And it's just wrestling…"

"Hey!"

Brody winced and carried on, "Well with sports like that you have to be top in the country! They aren't going to just give you free $20 000 tuition!"

"Whoa! 1984 here! $4600!"

"Whatever!" Brody yelped, "The point is just because he won one state championship doesn't mean he is going to freakin' Harvard! I am going to make him win his high school stuff…just not get accepted."

Allison clapped her hands together excitedly, "Yes I like it! There is so much angst there! You could have so much fun with that!"

Brody nodded with a grin, "I know, that would make him feel like a failure, get his dad on his ass that would leave his mother to choose sides and his whole life go haywire! That is exciting."

Bender nodded, "Yeah make the dick suffer! Just 'cause he's a jockstrap doesn't mean he's going all the way! Look at Carl."

"Good call," Brody said, pointing at him with her pencil, "Now for Claire…"

Bender grinned, "Make her go to Stubby's and get too drunk and…"

"SHUT UP!" Brody and Claire screeched at him. He winced at the abnormal pitch and rubbed his temple, "Dear Jesus…"

"Well instead of doing the over done stuck up, bitchy Claire why not make her different?" Brian suggested.

Brody rolled her eyes, "Like how?"

"Well she seemed to have gotten a wake up call in detention. We all told her she was a very stuck up bitch who was very conceited. Claire took a lot of offence to that and I think that she may have realized – after dancing with us, and kissing John AND giving him her earring – that she was wrong. Maybe she will be the one to walk out the better person because she realized she doesn't want to be that person anymore."

"Well I guess I could go with that…" Brody mused, "Of course she wouldn't drop everything at the drop of a hat…maybe hanging out with her friends on Monday will make those 'conceited bitch' words really sting…then we can go from there."

"Oh yeah," Claire piped up from the bed, "Don't make my father cheat on my mother, don't make my mom a drunk…they just like to compete with each other and argue every once in awhile. No violent dish breaking fist fights."

Brody laughed, "I think I can handle that."

"MY TURN!" Bender yelled loudly, and then burped and slapped his chest, "I want a scene with Dick."

Brody rolled her eyes, "Well you DO still have eight more detentions…and he is the main villain of the original story! I don't get why people wouldn't include Vernon in a Monday fic. He would obviously be pissed off at the amount of damage you guys inflicted on the library…and the essay you left."

Brian winced, "I forgot about that."

"Me too," Andy said with a frown.

Bender ignored them, "And I want my friends in the story…"

Andy snorted, "You don't even have a lot of friends."

Bender frowned, "I don't give a fuck! The ones I do have are worth mentioning! You should see some of the fuckin' shit we do at parties man…"

Brody smiled, "I'm sure I can write you some friends…so I want to have quite a few Vernon scenes with you…next to NO abuse…and some fun interactions with the others."

"Boring!"

"Bender! You don't like school, you don't work, what the hell do you want me to do besides embarrass people, get in shit, and piss people off!"

"Well I can always get raped and have Claire…"

"BENDER!" They all screamed in unison. He just laughed and slapped his knee, "I am so damn good!"

Brody rolled her eyes, "I'm sure we can come up with a storyline for you that won't involve you cutting yourself, getting beat up by your dad, punched out by Vernon, running away from home, and helping Brian with his elephant lamp so he can get an A. If I ever wrote anything like that…"

"I'll shoot you. Next!" Bender ordered.

She rolled her eyes, "Brian…okay well. What grade are you in anyways?"

Claire rolled her eyes, "I don't see why it is so hard for you to figure out…Brian is obviously younger than Andy and John. Andy is a Varsity Letterman going for a scholarship – that should be your clue right there, I'm going for prom queen – there is another hint. Vernon referred to John as a bum and a loser…he is in every grade. You can make Allison anything you want…I just don't think you should have Brian any higher than Junior. But for most of us the facts are right there in front of you."

Brody looked at her completely confused for a second, "Well then I think the most important thing for Brian to do at this point in time is get over all those 'failure' thoughts he has been having – obviously he has learned his lesson – and make amends with his parents. At least try to anyways…I also really want to make him a pretty level headed guy…but have his own stuff to deal with you, know?"

Brian nodded with content, "As long as I am not a suicide case, getting silent treatment from my father, totally not written period…or have Larry Lester as my only friend then we are good."

Brody smiled at him, "Okay…so that leaves Allison."

She shrugged, "I'm the club enigma…why does it really matter?"

Brody sighed, "Because you are always the ghost in the corner with no depth. Time to change that girl."

"Just don't forget my guidance councilor. I like to draw, but it isn't the only thing I like. I like to watch people…and 'collect' things. I don't like to be put on the spot or I make funny noises…and I hate boring food. I can also write with my toes…eat, brush my teeth…and I can play the piano."

"So you don't sit in your room all night and draw," Brody mused with a laugh, "Tell me…is the only thing your parents do is watch TV while they ignore you?"

Allison raised an eyebrow, "We don't have cable."

Brody chuckled, "Well that settles that…Allison's parents do more than just watch TV while they ignore her…and she does more than draw. Sounds good."

Allison shrugged and smiled, "So what's going to happen with all of us…as a group I mean."

Brody regarded them all, "It will take time. It's not an over night adjustment."

They all nodded their heads and resumed with sitting on the floor. Brody blew her bangs out of her eyes and smiled, "Time to get started then…"

TBC