A/N: so this is the rest of the chapter and i hate it. Next chapter "Topsy Turvy" will be up soon!

A/N: Okay so I'm having a bit of a problem with my transition phase. I know where I want to go next in the story; I just don't know how to get there. Didn't want to leave the story without anything new (Going to be moving back home soon so it might be a while before I write again) so I thought I would add this half of a chapter. Anyways Ciao for now.

What Was That?

It was well passed two in the morning when Allison decided it was time for them to leave. The night had been pleasant enough. She and Andrew had spent a fair amount of time talking outside on the patio; they had danced a little in the living room. And Allison had even managed to have a conversation with one of the wrestler girls. Her name was Daniella and she was very fond of her dog. At least, that had been all Allison had managed to understand. Her drinks had been a huge hit and the girls had finished an entire bottle on their own. Owing to the fact that Allison had developed a tolerance for alcohol she had been spared the drunken stupor the other's had fallen into. She and Andrew had also decided to stop drinking earlier so they would be sober enough to drive. As they were making their way out to the car, a loud crash was heard from inside the house. A frantic Grace rushed over to them; Allison noticed that she had a fresh beer stain down her shirt.

"Andrew, please you gotta come help me with Jake. He's trying to pick a fight with Drew and they're making a big mess," she looked back at her house desperately.

"Sure," Andrew said, as he handed Allison the key's to his truck. "I'll go, why don't you wait in the car?"

Taking the keys she made her way through the maze of cars in front of the house. There had been no parking when they first arrived so they ended up leaving the truck over in the next block. As Allison made her way down the street the music from the party started to die away and soon there was nothing but quiet. As she approached the truck, however, the sound of people talking could be heard. The voices were loud and frantic. Fearing that she was imposing on a heated argument Allison stopped and stepped behind some tall bushes of a nearby driveway hoping that the pair would soon leave. But they didn't and now that she had stopped walking Allison could make out their voices more clearly.

"No it's nothing like that!" said a female voice. Allison had only heard the first word when she realized it was Claire. Her heart began racing. She was about to step out from behind the bushes when she heard Claire continue, "It's just, well, it's just different." Her voice was sad and throaty as if she had been crying.

"That's bullshit Claire! And you know it," John exclaimed. "Why don't you just admit, huh? You're scared, you're scared that your social castle will come crumbling down if you told them!"

"That's not fair John," she said, her voice was shaking more violently. "Please you have to understand. I don't want to hurt you, I swear."

"I don't have to understand anything!" he yelled. "Here I don't want this."

Allison was pressing into the bushes hard. She prayed that Andrew would soon walk over and scare the feuding couple away but there was no sign of him. She craned her neck to see if he was making his way towards the truck when she felt something crawling on her arm. Instinctively she shook her arm and stepped away from the bush.

"What was that?" Claire asked. Allison could hear the click of her heals as she walked towards the bush. Allison ran over to the car in the driveway and hid behind it. She knew that if they caught her it would look as though she had been eavesdropping. After a few seconds she heard them speak again, although she would have given anything in the world not to.

"I was an idiot for thinking that you would be different," John said. His voice was serious again, he had moved beyond his angry state and to Allison, it was much worse.

"Please John..." Claire started. But John cut her off.

"I'm done Claire," he said. And without a word of goodbye Allison heard him walk away. She stood waiting, listening to Claire's sobs from behind the bushes. She wanted to walk over and comfort her but she couldn't think of a way of doing it without admitting that she had been listening. Even though it had been unintentional, she didn't think Claire was in a state to understand. Soon the click of Claire's heals echoed through the night as she made her way back to the party.

Allison ran to the truck and slid inside. It was a few more minutes before she saw Andrew making his way back from the house.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Jake is a belligerent drunk and it took quite a few of us to tackle him down. What's wrong?"

She had been staring at him struggling to over whether or not to tell him what she had just witnessed. Although she trusted him to keep it a secret, she felt as though it should be Claire and John's problem and no one else's. Besides, she was going to tell Claire that she had accidentally heard them talking and wanted to be able to add, without it being a lie, that she had not told anyone about it.

"Nothing. I'm just tired," she told him. And Andrew satisfied with her answer drove them home.

Later on, in her bedroom, Allison sat thinking about how she was going to approach Claire on the situation. It was obvious that things were rocky between her and Bender, she had been so upset, and she probably needed someone to talk to. Allison didn't think that Jennifer or Sylvia were going to be much help in that area. In fact, she was almost sure that Claire's friends were part of the problem. She had resolved to bring it up to her on Monday, during school, when the first wave of sleep came over her.

By lunch on Monday Allison had not seen Claire. As she made her way to the table with Andrew she looked over at her table and saw Jenny and Leslie but no Claire. While she was eating she pretended to be mildly interested at what one of the wrestling girls was saying. Apparently she had a problem with a dress she was having made; Allison couldn't even remember the girl's name let alone the answer to the question she had just asked. Instead of admitting she had not been listening to her fascinated tale of bad tailoring, she excused herself from the group and walked over to Claire's table. Jenny and Leslie were deep in conversation talking in harsh whispers but when they caught sight of Allison they immediately looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey Ally! Have a seat," Jenny said pointing to the seat directly in front of her. Although Allison had caught a snippet of the obviously heated conversation there was no sign of unpleasantness in her voice.

"Oh, no thanks," Allison responded as she continued standing. "I was actually looking for Claire. I have something I need to ask her."

The two girls looked at each other questioningly as Leslie finally answered, "I think she said something about going to her car to get something. She should be back soon." Clearly satisfied with her answer Leslie turned down to her lunch. While she poked at her hotdog she added, "Come on sit down."

Determined to continue her search for Claire she declined the offer once again and excused herself for the restroom. Instead of making a beeline to the ladies room she turned and walked towards the student lot. If there was any truth in what Leslie had said she might still catch Claire in her car. Allison had no reason to think they had been lying but the way the girls had looked at each other it had seemed as though their urgent conversation had been about Claire. She spotted Claire's Volvo in the senior section of the lot but it was empty. In frustration Allison looked around and stopped when something caught her eyes. There was someone walking towards the old bungalows. She even thought she caught a flash of red bandana as they disappeared around a building. Turning towards the building she thought that if she wasn't going to find Claire at least she could talk to the other side of the Saturday incident.

When she made her way around the corner she found Bender sitting on the concrete steps. The familiar red tip of a cigarette was flashing in his mouth. He took a lengthy hit of his cigarette his face showing every sign of frustration; it didn't take Allison much to know that he was upset. Unsure of how to approach him, Allison considered coming clean about Saturday night but quickly decided against it when she remembered how temperamental he was. Unwilling to waste anymore time, she did the first thing that came to her mind.

"Can I bum a smoke?" she asked, trying to keep her face as blank as possible.

"You smoke?" he asked curiously but handed it to her anyway.

"Oh yeah I love it," she said as she inexpertly put it in her mouth and Bender lit it for her. She took it out before inhaling and held it awkwardly between two fingers. "The caf was getting to stuffy so I came out for some fresh air and now I am inhaling carcinogens. Go figure." She put the lit cigarette to her mouth but took it out as she sat down next to him.

"So how's your promotion to top bunk going? They welcome you with open arms?" He was trying to start a conversation but he wasn't looking at her. Allison could tell that he wasn't at all interested in learning about her social life.

"It's good enough," she answered and not wanting to skip a beat, continued, "How are things on your end of the cabin? Everything alright?" With this last question she turned to see if his expression had changed, she thought she saw a dark shadow cross his face but it was gone before she could be sure.

"Peachy," he said sarcastically. "It's not like I was expecting something."

"I don't suppose you want to talk about it?" she asked. When Bender didn't respond she turned and looked out at the football field. It was a few seconds before she looked down and realized that her cigarette was about to die. She quickly threw it on the ground and put it out with her shoe.

Bender was looking at her, it seemed as though he was aware that she had not taken a single hit off the cigarette. Allison was afraid he would yell at her for wasting a perfectly good cigarette but he didn't.

"There's nothing to talk about. The world is just so full of bull and I seem to get caught up in it," he said throwing his cigarette onto the ground. "It's the way it's always been."

His voice dropped a little and she could sense he was hurt, although he was trying hard to keep it hidden.

"Does this have anything to do with Claire?" she finally asked breathing a little easier as she was finally able to make the transition to the topic.

"Is this what you came here for Allison?" Bender asked. Any note of hurt was quickly replaced with anger. His voice was laced with rage, just like it had been back at the library. He continued, "To play therapist? You are the last person who should be giving advice"

"I was just asking," she said unable to hide the hurt feeling from her voice. "And what the hell's that supposed to mean?'

"You sold out. You gave everything up just to make out with your Trojan boy."

Allison was angry. She did not expect to hear this from Bender. She hadn't expected him to turn the situation around on her. And once more, she did not like being called a sell out. "I didn't give anything up Bender," she said. "My life, as you can remember, wasn't perfect. I was simply willing to fight for what I wanted. Something you should probably try with Claire."

"You don't know shit about that!" he yelled. "Claire is insensitive and I am not a fucking sell out alright?" He started to walk away.

"So that's what this is about?" she called to his back. "You think that's the only way she'll take you back, if you change?"

He stopped suddenly and turned. She could still see anger on his face but his voice was a lot calmer. "You really don't know shit," he laughed. "Claire doesn't expect me to do anything; she doesn't want to be with me."

"I don't believe that," she responded. But Bender did not reply he simply walked away leaving Allison standing by herself. The smell of cigarette smoke followed her all the way back to the cafeteria.

A/N: As always please let me know what you think.