A/N: mild editing on this chapters. Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews! Ciao!

Chapter 2: The Gangs All Here

"Come on Allison you know you want to." It was Andy, he was sitting in the front seat of his father's truck, completely naked.

"I don't think so, Sporto. Don't you have a wrestling match or something?" Allison was standing by the driver side window with a pot of spaghetti in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other.

"Oh no! I forgot! My coach is going to kill me," he yelled and drove away in a hurry.

Allison stood there eating her speghetti. A while later she heard the honk of a horn. She turned to see a man waving for her to move out of the way.

The horn was still honking and she was about to yell, "Okay I'll move!" when she opened her eyes. She was in her bedroom and her alarm was giving off an all to familiar beeping sound.

"Fucking dream," she said groggily. She got up and headed for the shower.

Before walking downstairs she gave herslef a quick look in the mirror. The color yellor really suited her. Not owning to any makeup that wasn't black or dark browm she had simply applied mascara and a little bit of lip gloss. Her mother had been more than happy to give her the scarf, exclaiming, "Oh mercy me, you look so pretty!" which Allison thought was extremely lame. Downstairs she grabbed her lunch and her morning caffeine and made her way to the bus stop.

Since it was only a couple of blocks away she walked to her stop every morning. She supposed it wasn't to bad, at least she didn't have to put up with her mother's driving. She passed old man Gordon, her neighbor. He was out on the lawn in his wife's pink bathrobe picking up a soaked newspaper. She surpressed a laugh as she waved and continued walking. A few moments later the familiar corner of her bus stop had appeared and her school bus was pulling in.

"Good morning children. Now,now hurry up, no pushing!" yelled Mrs. Norbert. Mrs. Norbert was a small woman and always spoke to them as if they were in kindergarten. She looked like a child herself. Her small frame barely reached the top of the stearing wheel.

Stepping on to the bus, Allison was imediately hit by the familiar smell's of the public transportation system. It was a not so subtle mixture of geek sweat and cigarette smoke. Holding her breath she hurried over to the back of the bus and opened the window. It helped but not much. Turning her head towards the rushing air she suddenly felt the presence of someone standing over her.

"Is this seat taken?"

She looked up. It was the greasy little freshman who spent his all of his time annoying the girls on the bus. But what was he doing over in her seat? He had never bothered with Allison before. She glared at him as she wondered, his face was contorted into a lopsided grin. She could see his pimples staring down at her menacingly. "No it isn't but you aren't sitting there," she responded and turned back towards the window.

"Such hostility!" he proclaimed. "Come on babe, I just want to have a little chat." He made an attempt to sit down.

"I doubt you and I have much to 'chat' about," she said as she faced him once again. "Now do me a favor and get out of my face." That last statement she had made with a contemptuous smile on her face.

"Geesh," said the greasy freshman. And he walked back to his seat.

Allison thought she heard him mumble something that sounded like 'stuck up bitch' as he walked away but she wasn't sure.

Twenty minutes later they were in front of Shermer High School. Allison made her off the bus dreaming of the day when she wouldn't have to subject herself to the misery of the yellow bus. The place was packed. Putting her head down she made her way through the crowd of students towards her locker.

"Okay people, this isn't very difficult," her algebra teacher stated. His voice was nasaly and Allison always had the impression that he had been worse than Brian was, back in his days. "The quadratic equation is at the root of Algebra and I expect you to have it completely mastered. Furthermore..."

Mr. Mitchell's voice droned on and on. Allison was finding it harder and harder to pay attention. Giving up on it all together she decided to doodle instead. She started off with a simple palm tree. In only a few short minutes the palm tree had been converted into a beach horizon. Allison shaded in the backround to make it look like a sunset. The gray and white shading blended perfectly. This was the way all of her pictures took form. She would start with a simple object and create stories out of them. In the more difficult parts of the drawing she bent over the paper for a better look. She was so immersed in her drawing that she was hardly aware of Alan Micheal trying to get her attention. With a final, and rather loud, 'psst' in her direction she turned to face him.

"May I help you?" she answered. The only time Alan ever spoke to her was to compliment her on her choice of wardrobe. Most of the time, asking what thrift shop she went to.

"Hey," he whispered. "This look is alot better than that bag lady look you had going before. What happened, did they take away your shopping cart?" Several of the other students laughed.

"Real original Alan," she said. Leaning in a little closer so she wouldn't have to raise her voice, she added, "But I don't think a boy who is still dressed by his mother has any right to criticize." Allison's remark earned a bigger laugh, and Alan, defeated, added no retaliation.

Allison recieved another remark on her wardrobe in her next class as well. It was from a popular senior named Brenda Sletson. As she was walking by her she said simply, "Nice sweater." Allison looked around to make sure it had really been directed at her. When she was sure that it was, she muttered a quick thank you and took her seat. She had not heard a hint of sarcasm in Brenda's voice. The comment seemed genuine. Allison's world had gone totally wierd.

During her first break, as she violently tried to stuff her Algebra book in her locker the first of the Saturday gang had finally caught up with her. She turned to see a smiling Brian standing beside her. He was wearing his usual argile sweater over a light blue shirt. Allison briefly remembered Bender's comment about his outfit and she laughed. The laugh faded as she remembered what she had just said to Alan.

"Hey Ralph, how's it going?" she smiled. She slammed her locker shut before Brian saw the mess she kept.

"Some detention, huh?" he said. He was trying to start a conversation. Allison supposed he probably had something on his mind but she didn't want to know it. At least not at that moment.

"What, oh yeah I guess." she answered. She looked at him wondering what he wanted. They had never spoken before. He wasn't part of the popular crowd but Allison didn't have much in common with the 'brain's' either.

"Have you seen any one else yet? I haven't, well except you, of course." He was looking down the hall hopefully. She could see a thick textbook in his hand she supposed Brian spent most of his breaks studying. It was no surprise that he would be looking for them it seemed as though he didn't have much of a social life going on.

"No I haven't and why do you think I'd care?" she said quickly. "What happened on Saturday was nothing more than a fluke. We both know that." She didn't want to say it, but deep down inside she couldn't help feeling that it was probably true.

"I don't know I kinda hoped that something would be different," he said in a timid voice looking down at his sneakers. "It certainly felt as though things had changed. Didn't you feel that way?" he was looking at her hard, trying to read her thoughts.

"Come on, you didn't honestly believe that we would all come back to Shermer as best friends, did you? What makes you think I would?" she said. There was anger in her voice. What the hell did he know?

"Well, um, you kept your new look" he glanced once again down the hall sighing as he realized that no one was coming. He turned back to Allison and said, "I think you were hoping for something just as I was."

"Oh please, Ralph. Don't pretend you know something about me," she said. And in an instant she stormed down the hall fuming.

'How dare he say that to her?' she thought angrily. Of course she was more angry at him because he was right. She had kept her new look in the hope that she and Andrew could continue what they had started. But she didn't want to face the fact that she actually wanted to become a part of his superficial world. Anyway, even if she did admit it, it would be nearly impossible for her to be accepted into his clique. She was to far out of his social circle. However, his words and actions at the library hadn't been superficial and Allison had actually felt more of a connection with him than with anyone else. Maybe that's what Brian had seen too and it wasn't so difficult for him to decipher the fact that she to would expect somethings to be different. Feeling guilty about the way she had spoken to him she made a silent vow to apologize to Brian the next time she saw him. She made her way out to her favorite spot on campus. The old unused bungalows were the perfect spot for her to sit alone and think without being disturbed. She had been enjoying the crisp Illinois air when she heard footsteps around the corner.

"Well, well, well..." called a familiar voice. It was Bender imitating Vernon. He was in his usual torn jeans and leather jacket. His red bandana was was tied up around his head, there was an odd sparkle radiating from his left ear lobe, and he had a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"Oh it's you," she said.

"Why were you expecting someone else?" he mocked. He took a seat next to her holding a silver lighter in his hand.

"Ha, ha you're so funny," Allison said sarcastically. "Why aren't you off playing prince to your princess?" she asked. "Or are you actually being smart about the whole thing and accepting that thing's don't ever change?"

"You are so quick to conclude," his voice dropped a little, "I actually haven't seen Claire." He stared at his lighter and took a long hit of his cigarette. It was a few moments before he spoke again, "What about you and...what's his name?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she answered in an annoyed tone. She was getting quite tired of everyone calling her on the situation.

"You can play dumb all you want, Ally," Bender said, his voice was serious. She certainly hadn't heard it before. "But I saw you two. Nothing like that can stay quite."

"Is that what you're telling yourself? Oh well, I gotta go," she added. She stood up and left him sitting there by himself. A few seconds later the bell rang.

She had phys ed next, a class that Allison found completely useless. She doubted whether she would ever find use for sit-ups and pull-ups. And as she recalled there was no space on a resume for the number of minutes it took you to run a mile. The only thing that conforted her was the fact that the following year she would be a senior and she wouldn't have to take it again. Standing at her locker she glared at her uniform. She wasn't embarassed about changing. She had a relatively good body although she doubted anyone could tell under all of her baggy clothing. Sighing heavily she changed.

Outside Coach Maines was lecturing the class on the rules of basketball. Most of the other coaches were using the courts as well. It was a sea of blue and white as the girls shivered in their flimsy phys ed uniforms.

"Okay ladies," Maines yelled out to her class of slouching girls. "We'll form groups and then you will practice freethrows from the yellow line." She blew her whistle and Allison reluctantly followed her classmates. It was a dreary affair as girl after girl made half assed attempts at a basket. No one was following Maines' advise on proper form or technique. Allison even noticed several girls throwing the ball underhanded, something Maines had told them specifically not to to. When it was her turn Allison considered trying the technique. She even tried dribiling the ball several times.

"Hey Allison," cried a voice from behind her.

Allison quickly attempted her shot which was several feet to short and turned to see Claire Standish waving her over. Was she going to run into all of them today? Aware of the girls in her line staring at her she made her way over to the other court.

"Have you spoken to Andy today," Claire asked. She was standing with a group of juniors who were all eyeing Allison curiously. One of them was filing her fingernails absentmindedly. She clearly wasn't in the mood for basketball.

"No I haven't," she answered. Claire seemed to be hiding something.

"Oh, well, a bunch of us are going to the mall after school today. You want to come?" When she said this several of the girls looked at her in shock. Claire ignored them.

Allison thought she had misheard, had Claire just invited her to hang out? Trying to sound nonchalant she imediately answered yes and said goodbye. The group broke into conversation as she walked away and Allison thought she heard Claire say something that sounded like, "No she's cool" but she wasn't sure. Soon after she heard the thump of the ball against metal.

In Chemistry Allison found herself face to face with a stocky senior who asked, "Have we met before?" She didn't know if he was being serious or if it was just a lame attempt at a pick-up. Either way she gave him an icy cold stare and answerd, " doubt it." She walked away quickly, she had the feeling that he might attack her if she stuck around.

Allison was always quick to avoid large crowds, she especially hated Shermer high's cafeteria for it's obvious display of the social ladder. Like every other school there were seperate tables for seperate groups and unless you could weave your way through the maze it was a harsh affair. For this reason Allison packed her lunch daily and ate outside on the empty football bleachers. She looked down at her lunch and realized, to her horror, that she had not packed her caffeine. With a palm to her head Allison braced herself and walked into the cafeteria. Avoiding the tray line she made her way to the meal line and slid along with the rest of the students. When she reached the area where the drinks were she grabbed her coke but not before noticing something out of the corner of her eye. It looked like a varsity letterman jacket. She turned quickly to see who it was and was met with Andrew's amazing eye's. Flushing she turned towards the register. After paying for her drink Allison made haste towards the exit. All weekend she had thought about Andrew but now that she had seen him, she didn't want to see him. She didn't want to face the reality of the situation whether it was good or bad. She tried to hurry but the crowd of students seemed to have doubled. Dodging a group of cheerleaders she heard a voice.

"Hey Allison, will you please wait up?" Andrew hurried over to her. He was still holding on to his tray. Allison noticed an unusually large amount of school burgers piled there. He was still smiling and his faced was a little flushed.

"Oh, Andrew. How's it going?" she said, trying her best to sound surprised. She turned her back to him and started walking away again. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She couldn't face him, not just yet.

"Allison, hey," Andrew called. She felt his hand on her arm as he turned her around. When she faced him her heart melted. "I've been looking for you all day," he added, still holding on.

Allison tried to speak but nothing came out. And when she finally managed to make a sound it was simply to mutter short unidentifiable syllables. She wanted to tell him that she had missed him too. That she had thought about him all weekend but instead she just stood there completely aware of the situation. There she was standing in the middle of the cafeteria with Andrew Clark. The absurdity of the scene hit her like a ton of bricks. She needed to get away. She quickly said, "I still have your sweater" and walked away before he could respond. A part of her hoped that he wouldn't run after and an even bigger part hoped he would.

When she got to the football field she had looked down at her lunch with disgust. What had she just done? She liked Andrew she knew she did. But what was he to think after her behavior in the cafeteria? She didn't know why she had run out. She wanted to smile at him and talk with him privately not blab out nonsensical words or short sentences. She supposed she had been frightened over what he was going to say. She had been frightened that he was going to reject her. It was highly possible. They were from two totally different worlds and aside from a Saturday in detention they had spent no time together. She wanted to deny it with every inch of her being but she couldn't help but face the harsh reality that there probably wouldn't be anything special between them. Unable to eat Allison walked up to a garbage can and threw her lunch in it. Saving her soda for later.

The rest of her classes went by in a haze. She was so depressed that she couldn't even take notes. She did however feel a little bit better when she thought about the mall. She wondered if Claire had even been serious, she half expected to walk out to the front of the school and find out she had already gone. But that wasn't so, when she walked out she heard her familiar voice as she called her over. She was standing with two girls, one whom Allison recognized from phys ed, and one she had never met before.

"Allison this is Jennifer Hayworth," Claire pointed to the tall girl Allison hadn't recognized. "And Leslie Cartlin, girls this is Allison Reynolds." When they had smiled at her it had seemed sincere enough so she saw no problem climbing into Jennifer's red pontiac.

"Next stop,the mall," Jennifer screamed as she reved up the engine and pulled out of the school parking lot.

A/N: dont forget to review on your way out thanx