A/N: Hey, everyone! :D
Who is ready for the next chapter? I know I am! :)
Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to remind all of you that I am currently back in school and updates will take a bit longer due to homework, studying, and projects. This is my final year of high school, so it'll require a lot of hard word - but, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be writing. Whenever I get the chance, I will be working on this story. So, please don't think that I'm abandoning this story or any of my work because I'm not. Chapters will just take a little longer to complete.
Also, before we officially begin the chapter, I have another announcement to make: thanks to all of you, this story now has over 3, 465 views! I honestly can't believe it. That it absolutely amazing. :') Thank you all so much for taking the time to read "The Reality Check & the Handicapped" up to this point. You are all awesome! :D :D Let's keep it up! The story ain't over yet! :) :)
I would also like to thank AvidMovieFan16 and Applejax XD for reviewing the previous chapter, as well as swishyla for PM'ing their review to me. It means a lot to me, so thank you guys so much. :)
Please review! It's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter, so don't hold back on sharing your thoughts. I appreciate all of your feedback and it means so much. Thank you, everyone! :) :)
Fun Fact: The BMW belonging to Claire's father in the movie actually belonged to John Hughes in real life. (Lord, rest his soul.)
Well, I believe I stated everything that I wanted. The time has arrived for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter.
Happy reading, everyone! Please review! :D :D
Comrade's POV
It took a little more effort than I thought it would for me to find Bender and Claire. They were at the far opposite end of the library, sitting nearby one of the emergency exits and not saying a word to each other. The Queen Bee had just pulled out a series of photos from this wallet that looked too worn out to be hers and was now flipping through them with curiosity glowing in her eyes. The Criminal, on the other hand, was sitting at the edge of his chair and examining a huge pile of beauty products that was covering the stool in front of him - courtesy of none other than Claire. Damn, did she really think that it was necessary for her to carry around that much makeup?
At the sound of my approach, Claire stopped flicking through the pictures and peeked up. Her face immediately morphed into an annoyed scowl, making it obvious that she wasn't pleased with how I had walked in on her alone time with the Rebel. She rocked her leg a little, but I couldn't tell if she was ordering me to go away or trying to brush her knee against Bender's to get him to look at her. Either way, I took a seat on the sofa that was across the stool from the Burnout's seat and shot the Redhead a venomous look that made it look like I was saying, "Either deal with me being here or go cry about it to your daddy, Princess." In return, Claire rolled her eyes and continued to browse through the pictures that she was still holding - as if staring at me for too long would result in her rep getting destroyed.
I positioned my guitar so it was resting beside my leg again, just as Bender - who had barely acknowledged my presence - picked up an eyebrow brush and compact mirror from the sea of cosmetics. An insulting smirk instantly began to fiddle around with the corners of my lips, considering that the first thought that came to my mind was that I was about to witness John Bender take some time out of this detention to pamper his eyebrows. But then, at the sight of the darker-haired teen actually beginning to use the brush to clean his teeth, my vague grin vanished and my eyes widened in utter disbelief.
Though, Claire didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by it. She furrowed her brow, watching with no direct emotion shown on her face as the Delinquent continued to scrub his teeth. Then, the Princess dropped her attention back down to the stack of photos and absently flipped to the next one. Until now, I had failed to notice that the first plastic flap contained Bender's driver's license - which, by the way, perfectly resembled a pissed off mugshot. That could only mean one thing: all of those pictures belonged to him.
I slowly sunk back against the back of the couch and started drumming my fingers against my knee in a miserable attempt to entertain myself. At the same time, Claire rose her head and stared at Bender with a hopeful glint in her eyes. "Are all of these your girlfriends?" she asked, clearly wanting to engage in some sort of conversation with him by this point.
Bender smacked his lips a little and kept his eyes on his reflection as he answered, "Some of 'em." After that, he placed the mirror and eyebrow brush back down onto the stool.
The Diva began to skip through the pictures again, sounding genuinely interested, "What about the others?" I cocked an eyebrow, half of me wondering the same question and the other half feeling strongly convinced that Claire was in the middle of comparing all of those other girls to her.
"Well..." Bender picked up a fancy bottle of perfume and examined it more closely, "...some I consider my girlfriends and ... some I just consider." He then removed the cap and sprayed some of the perfume into the air to smell it.
I kicked my feet up onto the only edge of the stool that wasn't occupied, unfazed by how my bangs had fallen in front of my right eye. "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, sounding much more demanding than confused.
"Consider what?" Claire persisted shortly after. She watched, almost looking insulted as Bender made an unsatisfied face towards the smell of her perfume and tossed the bottle back into the pile of beauty products, missing my feet by just a couple of inches.
The Criminal responded like it should've been obvious, "Whether or not I want to hang out with them."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Вы не можете быть серьезным." 'You can't be serious.'
Claire shook her head a little, the look on her face giving it away that she didn't fully believe him. "You don't believe in just one guy, one girl?" she asked innocently.
Bender finally turned to look at her, hesitating for a moment before he skeptically knitted his eyebrows together, "Do you?"
"Yeah ... it's the way it should be." Claire replied. She flipped to the next photo in the collection, just barely looking at it before she flicked her attention over to me. "What do you think, Comrade?"
I stared blankly at the hole in my shoe and lightly rocked my feet from side-to-side as I replied, "I believe that there's someone for everyone - that there's always one man and one woman who are meant to be together." The tone I was using made it sound like I didn't give a shit about the conversation; but there was complete honesty flickering in my eyes.
"Yeah, well, not for me." Bender remarked as he continued to nonchalantly search through the makeup.
The Beauty Queen looked up from the pictures again, "Why not?"
The Rebel shot daggers at a few vials of her nail polish, "How come you got so much shit in your purse?" He was clearly trying to evade the topic.
"How come you have so many girlfriends?" Claire inquired, narrowing her eyes inquisitively.
I puffed my bangs out of my face, watching the two of them with my face drained from the tiniest amount of interest.
Bender eyed me for a couple of seconds, right before he glanced back at the Redhead, "I asked you first."
Claire looked away and raised her arms in a shrugging motion. "I don't know." She then started to flick through the photos again. "I guess I never throw anything away."
A naughty smirk fiddled around with the corners of the Crook's lips, "Neither do I."
"Oh..." Claire said, sounding dumb as she averted her attention from the darker-haired teen.
At the same time, I crinkled my nose in disgust and stared at Bender like he had just stuck his tongue down someone's throat. "How charming..." I said with my accent drenched in sarcasm, "...that's very nice, John. If that doesn't make your parents proud, I don't know what will." Without another word, I swept my feet off from the stool and ignored the deadly glare that Bender shot in my direction as I leaned forward. In another lazy attempt to occupy myself, I picked up one of the tubes of lipstick from the Diva's huge makeup collection and uncapped it. Then, out of total boredom, I began to repeatedly screw it up and down.
Claire furrowed her brow at me in thought, but then glanced back at Bender. "Well," she said, "since you told me and Comrade that, I hope you plan on telling Roxanne."
At the sound of the Handicapped's name, my eyes instantly grew and I tensed up at the edge of the couch. My fingers froze, no longer toying around with the tube of lipstick. My face hardened into a venomous scowl.
"Hold up a minute, Drama Queen," I spoke up, finally jumping back into the conversation. The Redhead and the Burnout immediately snapped their heads over to me, but my eyes remained on Claire. "Let me set this straight: I don't give a shit if John sleeps with you or with any of the girls that are in those pictures," I growled, ignoring her snooty glare as I gestured quickly to the album in her hand, "but hell will freeze over the moment I allow a guy like him to do anything with Roxy."
Bender bitterly narrowed his eyes, "And what exactly is wrong with a guy like me, Russian Roulette?" When he addressed me by that stupid nickname, his tone had grown much more threatening; but that didn't stop me from scoffing at his question.
"There's not enough time left in this detention for me to fully answer that, but I'll be more than happy to sum it up for you, Мудак." As soon as I made eye contact with him, my glare darkened even more. 'Asshole.' "You are a no-good, perverted, ungodly son of a bitch who will never be good enough to date my sister. She deserves respect - someone who won't use her for a one-night stand and then say she's on their long list of so-called girlfriends just because they stashed a picture of her in their wallet."
One of the edges of the Criminal's mouth curled back, making him look like a pissed junkyard dog, "Are you saying that I don't know how to show girls respect?"
"You don't know how to show respect, period!" I exclaimed, sharply enhancing the judgement in my voice. "You think showing respect means screwing around with a bunch of random skanks who clearly don't have any self-esteem? In case you haven't noticed, Rebellion 101, Roxy isn't like any of the girls in those photos."
"How in the hell would you know, Russian Massacre?" Bender demanded, obviously not liking my comment on his 'girlfriends'. "You can't be with her every second of the day! You don't have the slightest clue what she's up to when you're not around!"
I could feel my cheeks starting to burn hotter than molten lava. "Is that your subtle way of calling my sister a slut?" I asked.
"No." The Rebel leaned back in his chair and hooked his hands behind his head, suddenly sounding nonchalant. "It's my way of saying that Roxy is a big girl. She can make her own decisions without you being a jackass and getting in the way. If she wants to go out with me, then there's nothing that you can do to stop her." He flashed me a disdainful, mocking smile at his last sentence, causing me to draw in a deep breath through my nostrils like I was a bull that was getting ready to charge. At the same time, Claire rolled her eyes at how Bender was still hooked on Roxy instead of her.
"Listen, dipshit, I care about Roxanne more than anybody else on this planet ever could. She is a very valuable person and if you really believe that I'm going to sit back and let you use her to your own advantages, you damn sure have another thing coming." I sneered, feeling the heat on my face increase with every word I spoke. "You're going to have to get through me before you even think about going near her. Besides, like I said before, she deserves somebody who is a hell of a lot better than you." I viciously clenched my teeth and leaned a little further, keeping my eyes locked on Bender. "I refuse to let anything bad happen to her, you hear me? She's not going to get hurt! Not again!"
As soon as those final two words came out of my mouth, Bender stiffened and his smirk disappeared from his face like it was never there.
"Again?" Claire squawked, staring at me with large and confused eyes. "What do you mean, again?"
By this point, I felt like I was about to burst into flames from feeling so hot. Nonetheless, instead of saying anything back, I sharply narrowed my eyes and shot up from the couch at the speed of lightning. After that, I threw the tube of lipstick that I'd been holding with full force back into the pile of beauty cosmetics and grabbed my guitar by its neck. At last, I turned my back on the Princess and the Hoodlum and stormed away, leaving them in stunned silence.
Allison's POV
I held my bag close to my stomach, slightly rocking myself as I dragged my eyes along the floor. I was zoning in and out repeatedly. At one moment, I was peeking at Jockstrap and Brian from the corner of my eye and watching in slight interest as they searched through each others wallets. Then, at the very next, I was lost in the thought of how Comrade had kissed me. I could still taste the mixture of Coke and lemon juice from his lunch on my lips and something inside of my chest was saying that I should've been happy, but the Reality Check was acting like nothing had happened between the two of us at all. And as much as I despised it, being happy wasn't an option right now.
"This is the worst fake ID I've ever seen." Andrew informed, causing him to earn a few breathy chuckles from Brian. "You realize you made yourself sixty-eight?"
The Dweeb grinned sheepishly, "Oh, I know. I know. I goofed it."
At the mention of a phony ID, Roxy turned her head in their direction and arched an eyebrow in genuine curiosity. She was still sitting on the opposite side of me, now wearing Bender's scarf around her right wrist and tapping her foot lightly to a random beat against the floor.
"What do you need a fake ID for?" Sporto inquired.
With a tiny shrug, Brian answered like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world, "So I can vote."
A highly amused grin immediately broke out across the Handicapped's face, showing off her dimples and some of her teeth. "So you made your age say that you were sixty-eight?" Her words were soaked in giggles. "No offence, Brian, but you do realize that you have to be eighteen to vote, right? You could've made yourself to be nineteen or even twenty-something. I'm sure that would make that phony ID of yours a hell of a lot more believable."
"I know, you're right. It was stupid," Brian snickered, still finding this topic entertaining for some reason, "but I had this made for me when I was fourteen. I wasn't thinking clearly back then."
Andrew and Roxy chuckled simultaneously, but just as the Athlete continued to look through the Nerd's wallet, I noticed that something had caught Brian's attention. I followed his gaze, only to discover that he was looking at Roxy's backpack from where it was still lying between mine and her legs on the floor. It was a lavender bag, covered in fancy embroidery that was designed to look like hundreds of black roses; and unlike mine, I could tell that it didn't smell like vodka or cigars.
"Hey, Roxanne, uh..." Brian said, sounding like he was trying to break some horrible news to a preschooler, "Is it okay if I ... um..."
Roxy raised her hand, signaling him to stop before she answered, "Go ahead. Help yourself."
As soon as she gave her approval, I reached down and grabbed the backpack by its strap, lifting it up from the ground and offering it to the Geek. But instead of taking it from the same strap, he grabbed the other one to prevent our hands from touching and practically ripped the bag away from me. A faint spark of hurt shot across my eyes, but it went unnoticed as I watched Brian immediately unzip the main compartment of Roxy's backpack and begin to search through its contents like he was a starving raccoon that was searching for food in a dumpster. Andrew straightened and leaned a little forward, watching as well.
I knew that a majority of the items inside of the Handicapped's bag consisted of braille books and Special Needs assignments, but that didn't stop me from watching. Brian pulled out a paperback copy of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and started flipping through it; but after realizing that the entire book was in braille, he tucked it back into the bag and continued his search. He did the same with Stephen King's Firestarter, looking satisfied with how Roxy was still choosing to read. But then, just as I thought that he was about to pull out another book to examine, he froze and squinted in confusion.
"Hey, Andy," Brian said, stealing a quick glance at the Jock, "look at this."
"What is it?" Andrew asked.
The Brain pulled out a framed picture from the back of the bag - but it wasn't just any picture. At the sight of it, my eyes widened in evident shock. It was the photo of Mrs. Alexandrov that I've seen on the dresser in Roxy's room. She was leaning against a tree, wearing a bright orange tank top and a mid-length skirt that was covered in pastel pink cherry blossoms. She had hardly any makeup on, considering she didn't need it to look beautiful. Her hair was brunette like Comrade's, except hers was much longer and noticeably wavy. Her eyes perfectly resembled two shiny emeralds, overflowing with love and life as she flashed a full-toothed grin - looking like she was laughing at whoever was taking the picture. And lastly, her hands were folded on top of her belly, which was round enough to give away that she was at least four months into a pregnancy.
"It's a picture." Brian noted, stating the obvious. He and Andrew stared at the photo, clearly captivated by how pretty Mrs. Alexandrov looked; but there was still confusion glowing in their eyes as to who she was. Nonetheless, just as Sporto turned his head to look at Roxy and opened his mouth to say something, he was interrupted when another voice blurted out, "What in the hell is going on here?"
The color instantly drained from Brian's face as he jumped, almost rocking the entire sofa from getting caught so off guard. At the same time, Roxy, Andrew, and I quickly snapped our attention in the direction of the furious outburst. It was none other than the Reality Check, who was now standing beside the other couch that he'd been sitting on previously. He sat his guitar down against the sofa, but kept his eyes locked on the Dork and Wrestle Mania. I swear, the scowl that was printed across his face was intimidating enough to terrify the devil.
"What do you two assholes think you're doing?" Comrade snarled. Every time he peeked at the picture, his anger faltered a little; but then, it flared back up when he continued to shoot daggers at Brian and Andrew. "Give me that!" Comrade barked.
Brian didn't think twice before he held the picture out in front of him, surprisingly not trembling. Comrade stormed forward and snatched the photo out of his hands, right before he reached his other hand out and yanked the Handicapped's backpack away from the Dweeb's lap. Brian then flew his hands up to his shoulders, just in case the Reality Check wanted to see if he had anything else.
"Neither of you had the right to see this, you hear me?" Comrade sneered, slightly waving his mom's picture around to clarify what he meant. "What, are you two asking to get your asses kicked by me? Because the last time I checked, damn jocks and spineless nerds were supposed to use their heads to think about more than just varsity jackets, cheerleaders, geometry homework, and meetings with the Latin club! Just what in the hell were you two doing with my sister's property anyway?"
By now, Brian looked like he was on the verge of crapping his pants; but Andrew was still genuinely curious about the picture of Mrs. Alexandrov.
Roxy quickly straightened herself against the back of the sofa and spoke up before the commotion could worsen. "Comrade, успокойся!" she exclaimed, the look in her silver eyes giving it away that she wasn't pleased with her brother's behavior. "I was aware that they had my bag! Brian asked for permission to look through it and I told him that it was fine!" 'Calm down!'
After that, everything in the library fell silent. It was almost like the earth had stopped spinning - like you would be able to hear a pin hit the floor from a mile away. Comrade's eyes grew, giving it away that he definitely wasn't expecting to hear from Roxy that she allowed her backpack to be scavenged through. I watched as the Reality Check stared at the Handicapped in utter disbelief, right before he flicked his attention over to me. I made eye contact with him and nodded slightly, as if I was confirming that Roxy was telling the truth. But, despite everything that just happened, half of my brain was still drowning in the thought of Comrade kissing me.
Roxy made a motion with her hands that was supposed to represent her mind exploding, right before she sunk back against the back of the couch and sighed. I could tell that she felt bad about raising her voice like that to her brother, especially since she understood that it wasn't entirely his fault. After all, he couldn't help having depression.
About ten seconds went by before Comrade glanced back at Brian, who was slowly beginning to regain his color. Without a word, the Reality Check shot him and then Andrew a look that I could tell meant, "You're lucky." After that, he turned away and walked back over to the opposite couch, sitting down slowly. By this point, the silence was starting to become more awkward than unsettling; but nobody dared to speak up yet.
Brian placed his hand over his heart and quietly deflated his chest in relief. At the same time, Comrade pushed his hair out of his face and lured his attention down to the picture of his mother. His eyes trailed up from her bloated stomach to her beaming face, the look on his face making it seem like he didn't really give a damn about the picture; but I knew that he was secretly battling the urge to frown.
Andrew leaned back in his seat again, but refused to break his attention away from the Reality Check. "Comrade, is that your and Roxy's mom?" he asked, sounding concerned.
There was a small moment of hesitation before Comrade replied, "Yeah, it is."
"Well, um..." Brian chimed in, pretending to clear his throat as he chose his words carefully. "She looks like, uh, a very lovely and charming woman."
Comrade straightened his lips, "Yeah ... she was."
"Was?" The concern instantly thickened in Jockstrap's voice as he furrowed his brow. "Did you just say she was?"
"Yeah." Comrade lifted his head, ignoring the few strands of hair the fell back in front of his face as he stared at Andrew and Brian. "She's dead."
I noticed Roxy cringe a little from the corner of my eye, and there was a small piece of me that couldn't help but wonder how Comrade could manage saying something like that so bluntly. Andrew's eyes widened to the point where they looked like they were about to fall out of their sockets, just as Brian's jaw practically dropped all the way down to the floor. The two of them nearly dropped each other's wallets, but managed to regain their grip by the last second.
"Oh my God..." Sporto said, definitely at a loss for words.
"Comrade ... Roxy..." Brian reeled his jaw back in, searching eagerly for his voice. "I'm ... my God, I-I'm so sorry..."
I bit down on my bottom lip and peeked at the Nerd from the corner of my eye, as if I was saying, "You shouldn't have said that..." I could tell that Roxy was thinking the same thing, because she dropped her attention down to her lap and started to twirl her thumbs around in a miserable attempt to distract herself.
The Reality Check bitterly narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Keep your damn pity to yourselves. We don't need it." He then stashed the framed photo of Mrs. Alexandrov back inside of Roxy's backpack, making sure that it was hidden behind a couple of folders and books before he yanked the zipper up, sealing it shut. After that, he crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back against the back of his sofa, drowning himself in the new silence. This definitely wasn't good. I had to do something to cut the tension, or else someone was bound to explode.
"You wanna see what's in my bag?" I asked, still rocking myself.
Brian and Andrew looked over at me and held their hands up, answering together, "No." It was like they hadn't been stunned by Mrs. Alexandrov's death just moments before.
Roxy scoffed in disapproval at the boys, just as I turned my head towards them with my face hardening into a wary scowl.
"Of course." Comrade spoke up shortly after. He was also glaring at the Brain and the Athlete, ordering them without words to keep their mouths shut.
I lifted my bag into the air and turned it upside-down, keeping my defensive look straight as I watched all of my clothes, female products, stolen items, and random knick-knacks pour out like a flurry of hail during a wild winter storm. It filled the small gap of space that kept me and Brian separated, gaining his and Andrew's attention in less than a second. Roxy rose her head at the noise and stared in my direction, looking completely natural as I untangled a teal scarf from my bag's strap before setting it down between me and her.
Andrew leaned forward, looking unnerved as he stared at my pile, "Holy shit."
Comrade extended his leg out and nudged Brian a little roughly in the shin with the head of his converse. "Hey," he said, clearly not liking how the Dweeb was picking at a pair of my blue cotton panties, "hands off her merchandise, String Bean. You can look, but you can't touch."
The Jock met my eyes for a moment, "What is all of that stuff?"
"Do you always carry this much shit in your bag?" Brian questioned, sounding somewhat inconsiderate.
I rubbed my hands together, glancing down at all of my stuff, "Yeah ... I always carry this much shit in my bag."
The Reality Check cocked an eyebrow as he watched the Nerd pick up one of my tampons and examine it with slight disgust in his eyes.
"You never know when you might have to jam." I informed.
Brian sat the female monthly protector down and stared at me insensitively. "Are you going to be like a shopping bag lady?" He paused for a moment, unaware of the cold stare that Comrade was piercing him with. He gestured slightly with his hand as he continued, "You know, like, sitting in alleyways and, like, talk to buildings and wear men's shoes and that kind of thing?"
The look on my face was dry, despite how humiliated and hurt I felt inside. "I'll do what I have to do." I assured.
The Geek looked away for a moment, scratching his ear in thought, "Why do you have to do anything?"
I stared directly into his eyes and replied slowly, "My home life ... is unsatisfying."
"So, you're saying that you'd subject yourself to the violent dangers of these Chicago streets because your home life is unsatisfying?" Brian expanded his eyes at his final word, making it obvious that he was judging me.
"I don't have to run away and live in the street." I sneered defensively. "I can run away and I can go to the ocean. I can go to the country. I can go to the mountains. I could go to Israel, Africa ... Afghanistan."
"Don't forget New York or California," Roxy reminded with a fresh dimpled grin, "we'll be hitting up all of the stores at one moment and then kicking back on the beach the next."
"And don't think that I'm not tagging along when you go to Paris." Comrade piped in. I turned my head and looked at him, watching as a faint smile fiddled around with one of the corners of his lips as soon as we made eye contact. "You, me, and Roxy are going to visit the catacombs and have the best five-course meal on top of the Eiffel Tower together. After that, the three of us will head for Hawaii and then Egypt."
A sliver of a grin managed to slip across my face as I stared back at him - and at that moment, I knew that I wanted him to kiss me again. Unfortunately, at the sight of Brian gawking at me like I had just grown another head, it didn't take long for my smile to fade away. He rolled over and leaned towards the Jock, who had been distracted by the beaver shot for the past minute.
"Andy, you want to get in on this?" Brian waited for Andrew to look at him before going on, suddenly starting to sound a lot like John. "Allison here says she wants to run away because her home life is unsatisfying."
The grins from Comrade and Roxy's faces immediately crumbled away. I could feel my face starting to redden as the wetness of tears began to weld up in the corners of my eyes.
"Don't be a jerk, Brian." Roxy grumbled, only to be left unacknowledged by the Athlete and the Nerd.
Andrew hesitated for a moment, folding his hands over the dirty picture on his chest. "Well, everyone's home life is unsatisfying," he said, eventually turning to look at me, "and if it wasn't, people would live with their parents forever."
"Yeah, yeah, I understand, but I think hers goes beyond what, you know, people like you, me, Roxy, and Comrade, would consider normal unsatisfying." Brian explained, making it perfectly clear that he thought that I was insane.
"Never mind, forget it. Everything's cool." I growled, right before I grabbed my bag and started to angrily pack all of my stuff back up.
"Allison..." Comrade started, but he was cut off when Andrew leaned forward and spoke.
"What's the deal?"
"No." I shook my head, packing my bag a little faster before I stopped and glared dangerously at Wrestle Mania. "There's no deal, Sporto. Forget it. Leave me alone."
"Wait a minute." A knowing look formed on the Jock's face. "If you're carrying around all of that crap in your purse, either you really wanna run away, or you want people to think that you wanna run away."
I leaned forward a little and spat the first thing that came to my mind, "Eat. Shit." Then, I shot up from the couch and stomped off, leaving my bag and all of my merchandise behind.
Comrade's POV
A mixture of fury and shock charged through my veins as I watched the Basket Case storm away. The last time I ever saw her do that was three weeks ago - back when Mr. Reynolds came into her bedroom after a long day at work and decided to lecture her at the top of his lungs about how she was worthless and that she didn't deserve to be called his child. Allison ended up trying to defend herself by telling him to get the hell out of her life and to go get an STD, right before she turned her back on him and stomped to the other side of the room. Unfortunately, her old man ended up retaliating by grabbing her by the arm, yanking her back, and violently backhanding her across the face. Then, for the thousandth time, he pretended that there never was a fight and continued to ignore his daughter's existence.
And right now, I didn't need to see Allison's face to know that the Dweeb's words hurt her a hell of a lot more than her dad's slap did.
Brian leaned forward and raised his eyebrows at Wrestle Mania as he spoke, "The girl is an island unto herself, okay?" After that, he turned and actually pushed Allison's bag away, as if it would cause cancer if it stayed near him for too long.
Roxy hung her head and released a quiet, clearly disappointed sigh - like she expected better behavior from the Geek.
At the same time, my face morphed back into a lethal scowl and I jumped up onto my feet. "You son of bitch!" I bellowed at Brian, which immediately had him and Andrew looking at me like a pair of lost puppies. "Why in the hell did you say all of that? Don't you realize how stupid that was of you? You know shit about what she goes through!" I gave a quick gesture in the direction that Allison had left in, grinding my teeth a little as I continued. "I swear, Pipsqueak, the next time you open your damn mouth, you better take the time to consider your words beforehand! Otherwise, I'll make it my personal business to teach your squeaky ass a lesson!" At my final sentence, I held up a closed fist to assure him that I wasn't fooling around.
In less than a second, Brian paled and his eyes became googly with terror; but before he could get a chance to search for his voice, I lowered my fist and started walking in the same direction that I'd seen the Recluse march off in - leaving my guitar and sister behind.
"Comrade, wait." Sporto said with his voice drowning in concern. He threw the Dork's wallet at his chest and stood up. "I'm coming with you."
I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Она не любит тебя, бандаж. Глупый тегов вместе..." under my breath; but other than that, I kept walking and didn't bother to look back at him. 'She doesn't like you, Jockstrap. Stupid tag-along...'
Andrew and I walked in total silence with him looking from left to right and me leading the way by a few inches. Eventually, we spotted Allison leaning over a bookcase that was nearby some of the old computers, looking almost like she was trying not to hurl from feeling so distraught. With no hesitation, I picked up the pace and jogged around to the opposite side of the bookcase so I could see her face. Just as I suspected, her cheeks were bright red and her eyes were rimmed with tears. She stared at me and opened her mouth, but at the sound of another set of footsteps approaching the scene, she quickly jerked her head around and watched with a glare as Wrestle Mania leaned against the other end of the bookcase.
"Hi." Andrew murmured, suddenly sounding unsettled. He dragged his eyes along the floor for a moment. "You wanna talk?"
Klepto snapped back instantly, "No."
The Jock looked directly into her eyes, causing that familiar knot of heat to return to the pit of my stomach. "Why not?" he persisted.
"Go away." Allison snarled after a short pause.
Andrew glanced away and gave a tiny shrug, "Where do you want me to go?"
I didn't think twice before opening my mouth to give him a few 'pleasant' suggestions, but before I could get a word out, I was cut off when Allison repeated herself in a much firmer tone, "Go away!"
"You heard her, Wrestle Mania." I sneered. "Go."
The Athlete flicked his attention back and forth from me to the Kook, hesitating before he rolled his eyes to himself and turned his back on us. I rested my chest against the bookcase and watched as he started to walk away, thinking to myself that Allison was going to start unleashing her emotions as soon as he was out of sight. However, I was proven wrong when my best friend straightened and abruptly exclaimed at Jockstrap, "You have problems!"
Andrew instantly spun back around and scowled at her, "Oh, I have problems?"
"You do anything everybody ever tells you to do!" Allison barked, quickly gesturing around the library. "That is a problem!"
"Okay, fine." Andrew shifted on his feet and nodded vaguely. "But I didn't dump my purse out on the couch and invite people into my problems!"
Allison's jaw dropped in shock, just as Sporto jumped his attention over to me and added, "And I sure as hell didn't turn into a dick who snapped at every little thing, even when it involved somebody else apologizing!" In less than a second, my eyes widened - but I couldn't tell if I was more stunned over the Athlete's words or over the fact that they actually managed to render me speechless.
"Did I?" Andrew asked, getting an eyeful of my reaction before he approached Allison and stared at her compassionately. "So what's wrong? What is it?"
The Basket Case remained quiet, clearly unsure of whether or not she should trust him.
Andrew blinked a couple of times, right before he glanced down at the floor and sighed to himself. He then peeked over at me to see if I would answer his question; but all I did was narrow my eyes and glance down at the top of the bookcase to avoid looking at him.
"Is it bad?" Sporto looked at Klepto again. "Real bad?"
The tears enhanced a little in the corners of Allison's eyes as she continued to stay silent, darting her attention down to the ground.
"Parents?"
At the sound of that word, a small piece of me flinched and Allison made eye contact with Andrew again.
The Athlete turned and rested his back against the bookcase, staring off to the side before looking down at his shoes. Though, when he continued to receive nothing but silence, he turned his head and stared at the Recluse again.
Her expression was miserable as she slowly nodded and replied, "Yeah."
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, not knowing whether to feel angry or upset. Either way, I wasn't admiring how Andrew was the one Allison was socializing with - especially over something as serious as her home life.
Wrestle Mania nodded a little and looked away again, clearing his throat with a quick gulp. "What'd they do to you?" he asked, his eyes overflowing with sympathy.
There was another pause before Klepto answered, "They ignore me."
"Yeah." Andrew almost looked like he was trying not to cry, blinking repeatedly and nodding his head. "Yeah."
Another moment of silence slipped by before I finally lifted my head, only to notice Sporto now glancing over his shoulder at me.
"What about you, Comrade?" he asked, causing Allison to look at me as well. "I can tell something is going on with you, too. What is it?"
I stared at him blankly, despite how a frown was trying to tug at the corners of my lips. "It doesn't matter." I growled, shooting daggers. "You wouldn't understand ... nobody would understand."
"Comrade..." Allison attempted to speak, but I didn't stick around for another word.
I pushed myself off from the bookcase and marched away, desperately wishing that the memories of my alcoholic old man and battered mom would leave me alone.
A/N: Another chapter completed! :D
The famous circle scene is coming up next. I hope you are all as excited as I am. :) :)
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please keep in mind that it's my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. I absolutely love feedback and I appreciate it all very much, so don't be shy to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)
Another Fun Fact: The library in the movie was actually the high school's gymnasium. It was transformed to look like a library since the actual library was too small.
Also: Please keep in mind that chapters will take more time to complete, considering I'm currently back in school. Nonetheless, I'm not quitting this story, so don't worry about that. Updates will just take a little longer due to homework, studying, and projects. I thank you all for understanding. :)
By the way, my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" is still going. In case any of you want to check that out and cast your votes, it's on my page.
Again, I hope you all had fun reading this chapter! :)
Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.
Please review! :D
Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :D :D God bless! :) :)
Crystalteen, out!
THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!
