Sometimes I wonder why she wouldn't stay
What I should have changed
Sometimes I wonder why it's been so long
What did I do wrong

-Maxine's Interlude, John Legend

Andy had been lost in thought before he realized he was walking by the art room. Even though he wanted badly to be able to be mad at Allison, he couldn't resist the urge to look in. Because he knew it was where Allison would be right now, and because he remembered the last time he'd been in there with her and how happy he'd been in that moment. Of course, that had been before the fight that had almost ended their relationship and the entire Club for good, but that didn't matter. It was a great moment between them when they'd been in the art room together.

But now, as he stepped forward and peeked into the room, he was horrified by what he saw this time.

Alli, his lovely, unique, hard-to-understand Alli, was sitting with some boy, huddle closely together. They weren't looking at any art, and it certainly didn't seem like they were talking about art.

Andy remembered being huddled that closely to her in his car. He had always thought that he was the only person she'd allowed that close to her. And he'd just assumed all along that he and Bender and Claire and Brian were the only ones she talked to in school. He'd never seen her talking to anyone else, and she'd said she had no friends, before she met them. Who was this boy? Was he the reason Allison had broken up with him?

Andy thought about it for a second. Maybe he was.

It all made sense. She hadn't even liked Andy when she first met him. While he hadn't even realized that he actually liked her, he'd at least tried to reach out to her, and it had been like pulling teeth. He practically had to wear her down, even if Bender's words had implied that she'd fallen for him because of his vulnerability. Allison was interesting, kind, unique, from a well-off (if selfish and homophobic) family, talented, and obviously smart. Andy looked down at himself as he backed away from the art room. Who was he? Just some boring, average, dumb jock who might be popular now but would probably be an ordinary nobody after high school, while Allison would go on to probably live in New York or London or something schmoozing with the talented elite of the fine arts world or something.

While the whole Club knew Allison had been pretty much invisible to everyone but them, it shouldn't surprise Andy that eventually some other guy would realize that Allison was special, and would want her as well. Maybe Allison just hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings or his pride by telling him she was dumping him for another guy.

After leaving the art room, Andy decided to head back to the cafeteria, and his jock friends, instead of going to talk to Coach Fuller. Maybe he shouldn't quit wrestling just yet. Maybe it really was the key to his future? What else did he really have? Being with Allison, and hearing the way his so-called friends Dan and Will had talked about her had made him realize that she inspired him to be better; be more. But was giving up the one thing he had that might help him be someone someday, at least for a little while, really worth it? When he had Allison around, seeming like she saw something more in him, he'd have done it in a heartbeat. And not just for Allison, but for himself. But without her, he just wasn't so sure giving up wrestling was smart. He wasn't sure he had the confidence.

He told himself he'd go to one last practice. One practice, today, on the first day, and if when it was over if he still felt like he was done, then he'd give it up for good.

When Allison had gone to the art room that day during lunch, it had been the best she'd felt since saying goodbye to Frank and her other brother Simon. While she was in Florida, she'd enjoyed hanging out with her brothers; the only two people she felt like she could be herself around, without having to even put on her protective weirdo armor. But when she'd gotten back to Shermer and that cold and lonely house, she remembered just how much she missed Andrew, and how much he'd actually meant to her, and how important the friendships she'd had with the Breakfast Club were, and how scary that was.

Because of them, she'd actually started talking. Multiple times a day. And not just to her parents on occasion, or even just to the other four members of the club. She'd been briefly introduced to Brian's friends Adam, Dell, and Dano once, and she now said "hi" to them when she saw them. She knew of Bender's friend Freddie, and had formed an almost instant connection with his friend Saidie at The Hut, who she could tell right away was a kindred spirit with her; even more so than Bender.

And then there was Per, in her art class. She and Per had become, at the very least, acquaintances over the last few months of the school year. He was a rare breed; one of the artsy kids who actually wanted to fit in with the groups like Claire's and Andy's. Because he was pretty honest about that fact, and practically drooled over them with envy, he (like Allison) wasn't very popular among the art kids. Allison could have been if she wanted to be, but she was a loner by nature.

Because Allison was so sensitive, she'd befriended Per when he reached out to her. He'd tried to hit on her—not in a sleazy way, but just in an "I'd like to take you out and be seen with a girl" sort of way. Allison had sidestepped his advances; partially because of Andy, but even without Andy in the picture she wouldn't have dated him anyway because (unlike Andrew) she knew the only reason he took notice of her and sought her friendship was because of her Claire makeover. But as sensitive as she was, she couldn't resist an opportunity for companionship, so she when they were around each other they'd gotten to be on friendly terms.

While Andrew was spying on them, what they'd been doing together was listening to music. Per, who always complimented Allison on being a much better artist than him or anyone he knew, had asked her about what inspired her, and she'd simply said, "music." What Andy had seen was Allison introducing Per to the type of mellow, emotional music that meant the most to her. They'd been whispering about The Velvet Underground's Sunday Morning, and had been sharing headphones so as not to disturb Ms. Hyde.

What Andy had interpreted as an intimate connection between Allison and Per had been nothing more than Allison sharing her deep, emotional and spiritual connection with music with someone who had cared enough to ask.

Andrew had just never thought to ask. Allison knew that he wasn't the type who cried at everything and definitely didn't get all emotional about music and the way words and guitars could touch a person's soul. But Allison liked that about him. She'd liked that he was sweet, the way he always seem so tired from trying to be a good person and please everyone, and she liked that he was so simple yet complex, sensitive (though he'd always try to hide it) yet strong, and so easy to be with and not exhaustingly difficult like she knew she could be.

She would have died inside if she knew that Andrew had been watching her with Per and had gotten the wrong idea.