I never said you should leave,
But there's the door,
Somebody sold you the wrong lie,
That's for sure
-Funny Money, Robert Schwartzman
Claire, changing her mind, ran back inside Annabelle's house to see what, if any, damage control could be done. She returned to the scene to find all her friends arguing and Annabelle standing in the middle trying to make peace but looking as if she were seeing these people almost for the first time.
Claire felt terrible. Annabelle has been her only ally among her pre-detention friends, and she was certain that would be over now. Annabelle would surely turn on her and start to think that others in their group had been right about The Breakfast Club, even Brian.
"Annabelle, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm so sorry I ruined your party." The brunette turned to face the redhead. "Huh? Oh, Claire. It's not your fault. Maybe this wasn't the best idea, but I'm sorry about how your friends were treated." She glanced back at the others, and then added, "Maybe you should go. But I'll catch up with you later."
And that had been that. Claire had tried to call Bender the entire rest of the weekend, but never got him. She hadn't spoken to Allison or Andy either. When that didn't work, she reached out to Brian to fill him in on everything, knowing that at least he wouldn't take sides.
"Wow. I felt left out at first, you all hang out without me, but now I'm glad I wasn't there." Had been his response. "But good for Bender for giving those guys what they deserved. Are you okay, Claire?"
She sighed. "He hates me, Brian. Nothing's changed. He still thinks I'm just like them. That I'm a complete bitch. What else could I possibly do to prove to him that I'm not like that? And Andy and Allison haven't spoken to me either."
"They probably just need time to cool off, is all. They wouldn't blame you for that, Claire. They couldn't. You were doing something nice in trying to bring everyone together."
"Tell that to Bender." The line was silent for a minute, Brian not knowing what to say, and Claire coming to a realization. A painful realization. "It's never going to be enough, is it? Nothing will ever be enough for Bender. He's always going to find some way to look down on me, some reason to believe that this will never work."
Hearing those words made Brian's heartbreak for Claire. He couldn't understand how John Bender could be so nice to him, but so cold and unforgiving to the person he cared about most. But he knew something had to be done.
"Claire? Just give Andy and Allison some time, like I said. I'm sure it'll be okay by Monday. And as for Bender, I'll try to talk to him and get him to see reason."
But Brian was wrong. Things weren't okay by Monday. Allison and Andrew were a united front, but there was a part of both of them that did blame Claire for putting them in that situation. She had to know that, at best, it would be uncomfortable and at worst, it would end in a volatile manner; even more volatile than it had ended. They weren't ready to pretend that it hadn't happened.
And Andy was upset. Not just because of what had been said about Allison, but because he felt humiliated. He hadn't wanted to admit it to himself, but there it was. He felt like he'd been upstaged by John Bender.
Maybe it was wrong of him. Maybe it was all macho bull. Allison would probably hate it if she knew how he was feeling; Andy knew that much. But he couldn't shake the feeling that Allison was his girlfriend. He should have been the one sticking up for her, not Bender. What right did Bender have to sock Steff? He made Andy look weak and pathetic in front of everyone. Like poor little Andrew Clark still couldn't think for himself and stand up for himself, so big bad Bender had to protect the honor of Allison Reynolds, the woman he… and it was the first time he was admitting to himself that he loved her. Wow. It had taken an act of physical violence to make him say in his head what he already knew, but there it was. He was pretty sure he was in love with Allison Reynolds.
And that asshole Bender just had to show everyone up and prove how tough he always was. He had to go and overstep and protect Allison like she was his, humiliating Andrew in front of everyone; his girlfriend, and all his friends. It would be a long time before he would be able to forgive the criminal for that.
And as for Claire, she was starting to resent everything about John Bender. The girl had done everything she could to prove herself to him, and he was constantly still belittling her. She had brought him into her world, and he spit all over it, not even appreciating her effort. Well, if this was how he was going to treat her; if he was going to blame her for everything that went wrong under the sun, then she was no longer going to care. And she could show him how little she was capable of caring. If all he would allow himself to see was Claire the bitch, then she could very easily oblige. She was tired of all the grief, of being under a microscope with her parents, her friends, and now Bender. She was tired of having to live up to everyone's expectations, and yet still never fully being accepted for who she was or appreciated for her efforts.
She was exhausted of it all and didn't want to do it anymore.