A/N: What up, all of my awesome viewers? :)

I hope you are all as excited as I am, because the famous circle scene has arrived! :D :D

Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to take a moment to thank Applejax XD and AvidMovieFan16 for taking their time to review the previous chapter. It means so much to me, so thank you guys very 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! :) :)

This just in, this story now has over 3, 825 views! :D :D You are all absolutely amazing and I want to take the time to thank all of you for taking the time to read "The Reality Check & the Handicapped" up to this point. I would also like to thank the ones who have added this story to their favorites and follows, and again to the ones who reviewed. Thank you all so much. Let's keep it up! The story ain't over yet! :) :)

Fun Fact: The circle scene wasn't scripted or planned out. John Hughes (RIP to him) told the cast to ad-lib this scene in order to make the film more emotional, intense, and relatable. If I may say so myself, I thought it was done perfectly.

Also: I would just like to point out that I don't own the song "Dancing in the Sky" by Dani and Lizzy. All rights to this song goes to its actual owners.

Well, I believe I stated everything that I wanted. The time has finally arrived for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the circle scene!

Happy reading, everyone! Please review! :D :D


Comrade's POV

Somehow, the seven of us ended up reuniting by sitting together in a circle. Claire and Bender were sitting across from each other, leaning against two pillars with complete boredom decorating their faces. Andrew and Brian, on the other hand, were lounging against the steel bars of the railing. The Nerd was lying one of his arms across a stool, looking like he was trying to fix a loose screw in a terrible attempt to keep himself occupied. Though, the Athlete was fiddling around with the medallion around his neck, watching it shine in the light with his brow furrowed in phony interest.

Allison was sitting on her knees and staring off into space, not seeming to mind how she was sandwiched between two other stools. As for me, I was sitting between the Jock and the Basket Case, keeping the two of them separated with my guitar lying across my lap and my back resting against one of the stools. And lastly, Roxy was sitting between the Princess and the Geek with one of her legs curled up underneath the rest of her body and her other stretched out in front of her like the Redhead's. She was tightening Bender's scarf around her right wrist and twirling some of the fibers around her other hand's index finger, looking just as bored as the rest of us.

For a couple of minutes, nobody said a word; but then, Claire decided to stir up a game in which we took turns asking each other random questions. Just thinking about the activity made me roll my eyes, but I kept my mouth shut and continued to stare at one of the florescent lights from above, watching it flicker. I could tell that Bender wasn't crazy about the idea either, considering he was still staring off into the distance and lazily scratching his arm. Although, at the sight of the other detainees - especially Allison and Roxy - becoming somewhat interested, I couldn't help but prepare myself for the first question. Of course, it was for none other than the Jock.

"What would I do for a million bucks?" Andrew asked, pointing at himself with slightly raised eyebrows. He crossed his other arm over his stomach, taking a moment to think before answering. "I guess I'd, ah, do as little as I had to."

Claire groaned, sounding both annoyed and disappointed, "That's boring."

I rolled my head over, ignoring the few strands of hair that fell in front of my face as I stared at the Athlete. "Yeah, that's a pretty pathetic answer, Jockstrap." I informed.

Andrew rolled his eyes at me and glanced back over at Claire, as if I hadn't said anything. "Well, how am I supposed to answer?" he inquired.

The Diva laughed a little, battering her eyelashes as she explained, "The idea is to, like, search your mind for the absolute limit. Like, um..." She pursed her lips in thought, just as Brian stifled a yawn. Then, after a few seconds, a smile that looked almost entirely flirtatious stretched widely across Claire's face, "Would you drive to school naked?"

Sporto's cheeks grew a little pink as he broke out into a huge grin. "Umm, ah..." He chuckled, sounding somewhat nervous. "Would I have to get out of the car?"

"What kind of question is that, Sporto?" Roxy asked with a couple of highly entertained giggles dripping from her accent. At the same time, I rolled my eyes at that disturbing scenario and looked at the Jock again as I said with no amusement whatsoever, "No shit, Sherlock."

"Of course." Claire confirmed shortly after.

"In the spring or winter?" Andrew asked, refusing to acknowledge mine and Roxy's comments.

I puffed my bangs out of my face, watching Klepto from the corner of my eye as she flicked her attention back and forth from Wrestle Mania to Gingersnap. Judging by the blunt expression that was plastered on her face, it was obvious to me that she was in the middle of planning something.

"Doesn't matter." Claire paused and shrugged her shoulders. "Spring."

A slight sting of jealousy electrocuted through my chest as I then witnessed Allison turn her head to look at Bender, who was still showing no signs of wanting to be included in this so-called activity.

Though, just as I was about to look away, the Recluse glanced over and made eye contact with me - as if she had somehow sensed me staring at her. Her face was still showing no direct emotion, but when she slowly raised her eyebrows at me, I felt a vague smirk start to toy around with one of the corners of my mouth. I nodded at her lightly, knowing that she was inviting me without words to be a part of whatever it was that she was plotting.

Sporto was still asking questions, "In front of the school or in the back of the school?"

"Is there really any difference?" Roxy asked as she continued to fiddle around with Bender's scarf.

Claire peeked over at her, looking vaguely irritated while answering Wrestle Mania, "Either one."

Andrew pondered his options for a couple of seconds before coming to a conclusion, "Yes."

The Princess gawked at him in surprise, almost looking like she was on the verge of drooling from imagining Jockstrap flexing his muscles and striding down the halls in nothing but his birthday suit. The Handicapped placed her hand over her mouth as another string of snickers escaped from her system. At the same time, an amused grin spread widely across the Dweeb's face and I rested the back of my head against the stool again, not even bothering to hold back my disgusted groan.

"Это просто прелесть..." I grumbled, trying my hardest to burn that nasty mental picture out of my brain. 'That's just lovely...'

"I'd do that." Allison suddenly spoke up. Her eyes flickered around the circle, watching nonchalantly as everyone instantly locked their attention on her. "I'll do anything sexual. I don't need a million dollars to do it either."

Claire narrowed her eyes for a moment before rolling them distastefully, "You're lying."

"I already have." Allison remarked, paying no mind to the doubtful - but slightly intrigued - stare that was printed across the Thug's face. "I've done just about everything there is, except for a few things that are illegal."

My sister's grin wavered a little and a faint, awkward smile molded across Andrew's lips.

The Basket Case then flashed a sly smirk and her eyes lit up with an almost seductive glow. "I'm a nymphomaniac," she said at last.

With no hesitation, I flew my hand up to my mouth and bit down on my thumbnail to help subdue my chuckles. Luckily, they went unnoticed.

Claire scoffed and glanced up at the ceiling, "Lie."

"How in the hell can you tell whether or not she's lying, Gingersnap?" I demanded, managing to make myself sound mildly defensive. Claire pierced me with a snooty glare, but I ignored it and continued to back up Allison's lie, "You don't know what types of 'activities' she gets involved in outside of this place."

Brian stared at me, looking utterly dumbfounded in my words. "Are your parents aware of this?" he asked after he flicked his attention back over to the Kook.

Allison faltered for a moment at the mention of her parents, but continued convincingly, "The only people I told are Comrade, Roxy, and my shrink."

Roxy straightened her lips at the mention of her name, making it obvious that she was taking no interest in the conversation whatsoever. I, on the other hand, could feel my cheeks starting to grow sore from how hard I was fighting the desire to smile. It got to the point where I had to look down at my lap and pretend to wipe something off from my face to hide the smirk that was starting to twitch across my lips. Within seconds, I regained my composure and lifted my head back up, only to realize that I was now the center of attention.

"And you're okay with it?" Brian asked with his eyebrows raised in bewilderment.

"What do you think, Small Fry?" I nonchalantly flicked my hair out of my face and shrugged. "Like any human, she has the right to do anything that she wants during her personal time. As long as she's not doing anything that could result in her possibly getting hurt, kidnapped, or even killed, I don't really care. I'm fine with her being who she is ... and she sure as hell doesn't need to change for anyone."

It took a couple of seconds for the Brain to contemplate my answer. "What about you, Roxy?" he asked, eventually turning his head so he could look at my sister. "You're fine with it, too?"

Roxy hesitated and slowly dragged her nail across some of the fibers of Bender's scarf before she replied, "Sure ... it's her life, after all. Her life, her decisions."

"And what about your shrink?" Andrew butted in, sounding genuinely curious as he locked his eyes back on Klepto. "What did he do when you told him?"

A mischievous smile welded up on the corners of Allison's mouth as she replied, "He nailed me."

At that point, I had to start pinching myself in the leg to prevent myself from cracking up. The Athlete was now wearing a discouraged frown and the Dork was grinning uncomfortably.

There was a moment of silence before the Princess spoke up, nodding sarcastically, "Very nice."

Allison went on, still sounding totally natural, "I don't think that from a legal standpoint what he did can be construed as rape since I paid him."

Almost instantly, I lost the urge to laugh and found myself pursing my lips in disappointment. As hilarious as I thought it was to see these idiots fall into the Kook's trap, there was no point in making any smart comments about being molested. That wasn't something to joke about under any circumstances. I could tell that the Handicapped must've felt the same way, because she stopped messing around with the Rebel's scarf and crossed her arms over her chest.

Claire's face hardened in disgust, "He's an adult!"

"Yeah," Klepto confirmed, nodding softly, "he's married, too."

"Ugh!" The Redhead grimaced, flinging her arms down to her sides in desperate revulsion. "Do you have any idea how completely gross that is?"

By now, Roxy was starting to run her bottom lip through her teeth and I was pretending to scratch at an itch on my cheek.

"Well, the first few times-" Allison started, but was cut off.

"The first few times?!" Gingersnap squealed in disbelief. "You mean, he did it more than once?"

"Sure."

Claire sneered, "Are you crazy?"

Brian rolled his eyes from his new fetal position and spoke up, "Obviously she's crazy if she's screwing a shrink." He stared at Claire like it was the most obvious statement in the world, causing me to narrow my eyes. Regardless of how I knew that Allison didn't really have a psychologist, Brian's comment hit a little too close to home for me.

"Just because someone has a shrink doesn't make them crazy, Johnson." I informed in a dead serious tone.

The Princess looked at me disdainfully, like I didn't have the slightest clue as to what I was talking about. Though, she didn't say anything and slid her attention back over to the Basket Case like I wasn't worth the time.

Allison leaned forward a little, "Have you ever done it?"

Claire straightened against the pillar and looked away, rudely smacking her lips before she replied, "I don't even have a psychiatrist."

Klepto rolled her eyes and rephrased, "Have you ever done it with a normal person?"

"Wait, didn't we already cover this?" Claire asked, starting to look a little unsettled as she took a small glance around the circle.

Bender spoke up for the first time since we all reunited, "You never answered the question." His voice was flat, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was deeply interested in having the opportunity to learn about the Diva's sex life.

"Look," Claire sneered after a short pause. She raised her eyebrows and placed her hand on her chest. "I'm not gonna discuss my private life with total strangers."

I rested the back of my head against the stool's leg, watching the Recluse as she retaliated, "It's kind of a double-edged sword, isn't it?"

"A what?" Claire asked, sounding both dumb and harsh.

"Well, if you say you haven't, you're a prude." Allison explained, raising her eyebrows slightly. "You say you have, you're a slut."

The Handicapped's shoulders sagged a little as she looked off to the side, unaware that she was now staring at Brian's shoes. "It's a ловушка..." she grumbled with her arms still crossed. 'Trap...'

"A trap." I translated for the rest of the detention goers.

Allison nodded in agreement and continued her lecture, "You want to, but you can't. And when you do, you wish you didn't. Right?"

Claire prissily shook her head, "Wrong."

"Or," Allison went on, staring her directly in the eyes, "are you a tease?"

The Beauty Queen shot her a hostile look and refused to respond. It was obvious that she was trying to make herself look threatening, but was failing miserably.

"She's a tease." Andrew chimed in, nodding slightly at the Basket Case.

"Oh, sure," Claire jeered as she threw her arms across her bony waist, "why don't you just forget it?"

"Oh, you're a tease and you know it." Jockstrap retorted, paying no attention to Allison as she glared at him from the corner of her eye. "All girls are teases."

Roxy turned her head in the direction of his voice and scoffed, "That's a load of bull, Sporto. It ain't our fault that guys get turned on so easily. Take some responsibility."

A smirk formed on the Delinquent's face at my sister's words. He took a few seconds to just stare at her before he glided his attention back over to the Princess and said, "She's only a tease if what she does gets you hot."

"I don't do anything!" Claire snapped defensively.

"That's why," Klepto broke out into a wide and beautiful grin, "you're a tease."

Claire's cheeks were starting to redden by this point, "Okay, let me ask you a few questions."

Allison turned to face her again, looking sort of surprised, "I already told you everything."

"No." Claire spat instantly. "Doesn't it bother you to sleep around without being in love? I mean, don't you want any respect?"

Mine and Bender's eyes widened simultaneously at the Redhead's final word.

"I don't screw to get respect." Allison snarled smugly. "That's the difference between you and me."

Claire scoffed slightly and rolled her eyes, "It's not the only difference, I hope."

"Face it," Bender butted in, sounding mildly entertained, "you're a tease."

"I'm not a tease!" Claire protested.

"Sure you are." The Criminal was unfazed by her snooty scowl. "Sex is your weapon. You said it yourself. You use it to get respect."

Claire froze for a moment, thinking back, "No, I never said that. She twisted my words around." By this point, she was beginning to sound panicked.

"What do you use it for then?" Bender inquired.

I peeked over at him before looking at Claire again, "She probably uses it in exchange for votes to boost her chances at becoming Prom Queen." My face was perfectly nonchalant, but I still allowed some scorn to drip off from my final two words.

"Shut up, Comrade!" Queenie snapped at me, starting to look like she was seconds away from crying. She then glanced back over at the Rebel and exclaimed, "I don't use it, period!"

"Oh, are you medically frigid or is it psychological?" Bender asked.

"There's a chance that it could also be biological." I supplied, clearly faking my interest.

Claire clenched her eyes shut and shook her head. "I didn't mean it that way!" she barked, smacking her hands down to her lap in exasperation. "You guys are putting words into my mouth!"

"Well, if you'd just answer the question." John said.

"Why don't you just answer the question?" Brian asked, adding more stress to the Princess.

"Be honest." Andrew piped in.

The Hoodlum gave a slight shrug, "No big deal."

"Yeah, answer it." Brian urged.

"Answer the question, Claire." Sporto added, beginning to sound a bit bored.

Me and the Recluse watched in silence as Queenie's eyes started to anxiously dart between the three bickerers.

"Talk to us." Bender pressed. He took a quick peek over at my sister, observing how she was still looking down at the floor with her lips pursed before he looked at Claire again.

The Athlete raised his voice slightly, "Come on! Answer the question!"

"It's only one question." Brian said in a lame attempt to comfort the Redhead.

"Don't be a jerk!" Wrestle Mania exclaimed.

"Come on, answer it! It's easy!" John persisted. "It's only one question."

"NO!" Claire suddenly erupted at the top of her lungs, causing Roxy to flinch and me to stiffen for a moment. She then flung her fists down to her sides and looked straight at the Delinquent as she yelled, "I NEVER DID IT!"

A heavy silence invaded the circle as a satisfied smirk pieced itself together on Bender's face and Claire looked away in vague embarrassment.

"I never did it either." Allison spoke up, lightly shaking her head with a faint, remorseful glint in her eyes. Although, she couldn't resist letting out a chuckle at what she said next, "I'm not a nymphomaniac ... I'm a compulsive liar."

Brian turned and stared at the Basket Case in shock, while Bender squished his lips together to restrain himself from cackling. The Diva's eyes were much larger than I had ever seen them, piercing with rage.

"You are such a bitch!" Claire bellowed, looking pissed to the point where steam was about to pour out of her ears. "You did that on purpose just to fuck me over!"

Allison leaned back, unaffected by the outburst. "I would do it though..." She paused for a second, and I could've sworn that I saw her sneak a peek in my direction. "If you love someone, it's okay."

I straightened my lips, starting to remember the multiple tastes of Coke, Cap'n Crunch, and Pixy-Stix sugar. It might've not been noticeable, but hearing the word 'love' come out of the Kook's mouth sent an abrupt chill down my spine and caused the pit of my stomach to feel a little warm. I was violating the plan - starting to think about the kiss again. In order to keep my friendship with Allison maintained, I had to move on like nothing had happened between us. So, I shoved that memory to the far back of my mind and kept my attention locked on the Queen Bee.

"I can't believe you. You're so weird." Claire whined, shaking her head. "You don't say anything all day and then when you open your mouth ... you unload all of these tremendous lies all over me."

Jockstrap didn't hesitate to put in his two-cents, "You're just pissed off because she got you to admit something you didn't want to admit to."

Claire huffed and pushed her bangs out of her face, "Okay, fine. But that doesn't make it any less bizarre."

"What's bizarre?" Andrew demanded. He took a quick scan around the group, double-taking me and Roxy. "I mean, we're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."

The Princess shot him a bitter look that made it clear that she didn't believe him. "Oh, and how are you bizarre?" she inquired.

Andrew looked away from her and stared in the center of the circle so he wasn't looking at anybody. When he didn't respond, Allison - who had been chewing on her bottom lip - answered for him, "He can't think for himself."

"She's right." Andrew confirmed with a tiny nod, speaking softly. "You guys know what, uh ... what I did to get in here?"

I glanced around the circle to see if anyone would reply, but nobody did. So, Andrew continued, still without making eye contact with anyone, "I taped Larry Lester's buns together."

The Handicapped immediately lifted her head, just as the Diva released a small laugh and the Geek gaped in shock.

"That was you?" Brian asked meekly.

Andrew peeked over and made eye contact with him, "Yeah, you know him?"

Brian faintly nodded, "Yeah, I know him."

"I know him, too." Roxy piped in, looking just as stunned as the Nerd. "He sometimes volunteers to help me with my braille assignments during lunch."

The guilt on Sporto's face instantly thickened at my sister's words. "Well, then, you two know how hairy he is, right?" he asked.

Bender chuckled a little and I narrowed my eyes at him, ordering him without words to keep his damn mouth shut.

"Well, when they pulled the tape off..." Andrew stopped, drawing in a slightly nervous breath, "...most of his hair came off and some - some skin, too."

In less than a second, the color rushed out of Roxy's face and my eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Oh my God." Claire muttered, clearly disappointed in herself for laughing.

"And the bizarre thing is..." Andrew continued, looking at me and Allison, "...is that I did it for my old man."

"Of course you did." Was the first thought that came to my mind, "Everyone wants to impress their damn fathers." I disdainfully locked my jaw in place, practically forcing myself to remain silent as Wrestle Mania went on with his Saturday detention backstory.

"I tortured this poor kid because I wanted him to think that I was cool." The Jock already looked and sounded devastated. "He's always going off about ... you know, when he was in school. All of the wild things he used to do ... and I got the feeling that he was disappointed that I never cut loose on anyone, right?"

He drew in another shaky breath before continuing, "So, I'm - I'm sitting in the locker room ... and I'm taping up my knee ... and Larry's undressing a couple of lockers down from me ... and he's kind of..." Andrew paused for a second, looking close to tears, "...he's kind of skinny ... weak. And I started thinking about my father, and his attitude about - about weakness. And the next thing I knew ... I - I jumped on top of him and - and started whaling on him. And my friends, they just laughed and cheered me on."

A frown slipped across Roxy's face as she stared sympathetically in the direction of Andrew's voice.

"And afterwards..." Sporto pursed his lips in shame before continuing, "...when I was sittin' in - in Vernon's office ... all I could think about ... was Larry's father ... and Larry having to go home ... and ... and explain what happened to him."

I slowly unclenched my jaw, noticing the tears that were beginning to pool up in Allison's eyes as the Jock curled his hand into a fist.

"And the humiliation ... the fucking humiliation that he must've felt. It must've been unreal." Andrew shook his head, his voice starting to crack with solemn chuckles seeping into his words. "...I mean, how - how do you apologize for something like that? There's no way ... it's all because of me and my old man." He drew in yet another breath, trying desperately not to break down as he held up his clenched fist again, "Oh, God, I fucking hate him..."

A single tear leaked down Roxy's cheek when Sporto cursed, but she quickly wiped it away before it could be noticed by the other detainees. By now, Bender was looking down at his lap with a similar expression to mine plastered on his face and Brian was hiding his eyes from view.

"He's like this - he's like this mindless machine that I can't even relate to no more ... Andrew!" Wrestle Mania bellowed, imitating his father and making me wince. "You've got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family. Your intensity is for shit! Win! Win! Win!" He was practically bawling at this point, cleaning his eyes eagerly. "You son of a bitch ... you know, sometimes I wish my knee would give. Then, I wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore ... and he could forget all about me."

"Did it work?" I asked, showing no direct emotion in my voice whatsoever. Although, the look in my eyes gave it away that something inside of me was deeply annoyed.

Andrew looked at me naively, "What?"

I stared directly into his eyes while clarifying in a slightly slower tone, "Was your old man proud of you for doing that to Larry?"

There was a small pause, in which the Jock used to wipe away the remains of his tears. "No..." he answered eventually, pursing his lips, "...he was pissed at me for getting caught, actually."

I slowly slouched back against the stool again, murmuring, "Screw him, Jockstrap."

Shortly after that, Bender spoke up like he had just broken out of a trance, "I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling."

Andrew peeked over at him and released a half-hearted snicker, shaking his head. He didn't know how lucky he was. I'll admit, Mr. Clarke sounded like one hell of an aggravating and overbearing jackass, but at least he cared about how far his son got in life. My dad didn't give two shits about me or Roxy. As soon as we were born, he despised us and wanted nothing to do with us - no matter what we did. Trying to make your father proud was nothing but a waste of time...

"It's like me, you know, with my grades." The Dweeb, who hadn't said anything since the mention of Larry Lester, spoke up. "Like when I - when I..." He stammered for a moment, trying to string his words together before continuing. "When I step outside myself and, like, when I look in at myself, you know?" He stared at the floor, lightly picking at his bottom lip. "And I - and I see me ... I don't like what I see ... I really don't."

"Why do you say that?" Roxy asked with compassion laced thickly around her accent.

"What's wrong with you?" Claire inquired shortly after, looking almost as sympathetic as my sister. "Why don't you like yourself?"

Brian refused to look up as he replied, "It sounds stupid, but ... 'cause I'm failing shop."

The Criminal, who had looked away almost immediately after the Nerd started to talk, rolled his head back over. He stared at Brian intensely, the look on his face sending out the clear message, "You've got to be shittin' me right now." Even the few remaining tears that were in Allison's eyes were starting to dry up from disbelief.

"We had this assignment, you know, to make this, like, ceramic elephant," Brian continued, motioning with his hands, "and, um, we had eight weeks to do it. And then, you know, we're supposed to - it was like a lamp." He made a quick gesture that was supposed to represent him flicking on a light. "And when, you know, when you pull the - the trunk, the light was supposed to go on ... but, you know, my light didn't go on."

Roxy tilted her head a little, starting to look concerned since the Dork's voice was so faint and drenched in disappointment.

"I got an 'F' on it," Brian said, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him, "I've never got an 'F' before in my life."

Bender rolled his eyes slightly and rested his head back against the pillar again.

"When I signed up, you know, for the course, I mean, I thought I was playing it real smart. You know, 'cause I thought, you know, I'll take shop." Brian gave a little shrug. "It'll be such an easy way to maintain my grade point average."

"Why'd you think it'd be easy?" Bender asked, looking away from the rest of us again.

Brian slowly looked up and hesitated a moment before answering, "Have you seen some of the dopes that take shop?"

I lightly grinded my teeth, just as Claire closed her eyes and made a face that made it look like she was saying to the Brain, "You shouldn't have said that..."

Bender's eyes darkened, "I take shop."

"So do I." I sneered immediately after, but the Hooligan continued with what he wanted to say like I hadn't said a word.

"You must be a fuckin' idiot."

"I'm a fuckin' idiot 'cause I can't make a lamp?" Brian asked, suddenly sounding defensive.

John replied with total sarcasm, "No, you're a genius because you can't make a lamp."

Brian faltered for a second before speaking again, "What do you know about trigonometry?"

"I could care less about trigonometry."

"Bender, did you know without trigonometry, there'd be no engineering?" Brian demanded as he smartly bobbed his head around.

"Without lamps, there'd be no light." Bender retorted, evidently growing more impatient.

"Uh oh," I huffed and rolled my eyes sarcastically, "lovers' quarrel."

"Okay," Claire spoke up to prevent a fight from breaking out, gesturing around with her hand, "so neither one of you is any better than the other one."

"I can write with my toes." Allison said unexpectedly. A slight smile curled up on one of the corners of her mouth as she shifted herself so she could be sitting on her butt, "I can also eat, brush my teeth..."

Claire stared at her in astonishment, "With your feet?"

The Basket Case folded her hands and added, "Play Heart and Soul on the piano." A small giggle escaped the Handicapped's mouth at the sound of that, causing a flicker of fascination to light up in the Criminal's eyes.

"I can make spaghetti." Brian shared, now lying down on his side.

"Is that even a talent?" I asked as I furrowed my brow at him in uncertainty.

Allison turned her head and looked at me for a split second before announcing to the circle, "Comrade can sing."

With no hesitation, the other detention goers snapped their attention over to me. All of them - except for Roxy, Allison, and Bender - had their faces decorated in astonishment. My eyes grew, feeling like they had become too large for my head. Then, from the corner of my eye, I shot the Recluse a look that made it look like I was exclaiming, "Why in the hell did you have to tell them that?!"

"You sing?" Andrew asked, sounding just as surprised as he looked.

I looked down at my guitar and pursed my lips, seeing no point in trying to lie when the proof was right there. "Yeah," I said after a small pause, shrugging slightly, "but not that often anymore. I don't really have the desire to sing in front of other people."

"Why don't you play something for us?" Claire asked, as if she didn't hear my last sentence.

I narrowed my eyes a little, "Didn't you just hear what I said, Your Highness? I don't sing for other peoples' entertainment."

"Aw, what's the matter, Russian Roulette?" Bender asked, clearly staging the concern that was laced around his voice. "You got stage fright?"

"Screw you, dipshit." I snarled. I shot him a brief glare before looking around at the other detainees. "I just lost the interest in preforming in front of an audience. And besides, I can't even remember the last time I actually sang."

"So what? Why don't you just give it a try?" Andrew asked. He scanned the group and spoke a lot more understandingly. "I mean, there's only the seven of us in here - not much of an audience. Let's see what you got up your sleeve."

Despite how I looked perfectly natural, it sure as hell took a lot of willpower for me to prevent cringing at Sporto's final sentence.

"Yeah," Brian agreed almost instantly, "give it a shot, Comrade."

"All right, fine." I groaned and rolled my eyes, knowing that they weren't going to back down until I carried out their demand. So, after quickly restyling my hair into a new ponytail to prevent it from falling in front of my face, I placed my black-and-red guitar in the proper position: with the body resting against my thigh and my free hand supporting its neck.

"Um..." The Nerd suddenly sounded confused. "Don't you have, you know, a guitar pick?"

I peeked up at him, placing my fingertips against the strings as I bluntly replied, "No." After that, everything fell silent and I took a moment to close my eyes. It really had been a long time since I last sang. In fact, I couldn't even recall half of the songs that I had spend hours working in the past - except for my most recent one. There were absolutely no words that could possibly describe how much I wanted to avoid singing that song, but I had no choice. It was the only song that I could fully remember, and these idiots weren't going to let me back down now.

I opened my eyes and paid close attention to my fingers as I began to delicately strum the strings. At that moment, all I could think was this: the faster I began, the sooner the song would be over.

"Tell me, what does it look like in heaven? ... Is it peaceful? Is it fr-ee-ee like they say?" My voice was as smooth as caramel, dripping from a spoon and perfectly wrapping around my accent as the lyrics floated through the air, "Does the sun shine brig-ig-ht forever? ... Have your fears and your pain gone away-ay-ay?"

In less than a second, the Brain's jaw dropped like he had just seen a poltergeist and the Thug stiffened against the pillar in disbelief, as if he thought that I was somehow lip-syncing. At the same time, the Snob's eyes widened in shock and the Athlete raised his eyebrows at me like he was actually impressed. The Handicapped and the Basket Case were the only ones who were watching me nonchalantly, considering the two of them had heard me sing before. There was even a slight grin tugging at one of the corners of Allison's lips ... but if only she knew how much I didn't want to be in this place right now.

"'Cause here on earth, it feels like everything ... good is missing ... since you left. And here on earth, everything's different - there's an emptiness." I looked up at the ceiling and stared at one of the florescent lights, watching it flicker as I continued to strum the strings in the same peaceful manner. "Ohh-ohh, I - I hope you're da-a-a-a-ancing in the sky ... I hope you're singing in the angel's choir. And I hope the a-a-a-angels know what they have ... I'll bet it's so nice up in heaven since you arrived..."

Just then, as I decided to take a glimpse around the group, I noticed Roxy starting to run her fingers across the locket around her neck. It didn't take much effort for me to understand what thoughts were running through her head, but I quickly looked away from her - not wanting to share the same ones - and continued the song.

"So tell me, what do you do-oo up in heaven? Are your days filled with love and light?" I turned my head and stared at the ugly statue that was still noticeable in the distance, ignoring how there didn't seem to be any creativity put into it. "Is there music? Is there art and invention? ... Tell me are you happy? Are you more aliv-ive-ive?" I lowered my attention back down to my guitar, ignoring how my fingers were starting to grow a little sore and telling myself in my head that it was almost over, "'Cause here on earth, it feels like everything ... good is missing ... since you left. And here on earth, everything's different - there's an emptiness..."

Sympathy was starting to flicker in Brian's eyes, giving it away that he was thinking the same thing as Roxy. Nonetheless, I continued to ignore it.

"Ohh-ohh, I - I hope you're da-a-a-a-ancing in the sky. And I hope you're singing in the angel's choir. And I hope the a-a-a-angels know what they have ... I'll bet it's so nice up in heaven since you arrived." I lifted my head again and started to slow the lyrics down, keeping my eyes in the center of the circle. "I hope you're da-a-a-ancing in the sky. And I hope you're singing in the angel's choir. And I hope the a-a-a-angels know what they have ... I'll bet it's so nice up in heaven since you arrived..." I ran my fingers across the correct strings one final time, "Since you've arrived." My voice faded, announcing that the song was - thankfully - over.

For a moment, nobody moved a muscle or said a word; but then, as I moved my guitar out of its position and prompt it up against the railing between me and Andrew, everyone - except for Bender - started to clap their hands like they had just experienced a live concert.

"That was awesome, Comrade!" Allison said, still grinning.

"Yeah, really great." Sporto contributed.

Brian reeled his jaw back in, still looking a bit compassionate. "Did you write that yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah, I wrote it a couple of months ago. It's my most recent song ... I call it Dancing in the Sky." I quickly changed the topic after that, maintaining my perfectly nonchalant tone. "So, does anyone else here have anything that they can do?"

There was a small pause before Claire grinned and nodded towards Andrew, "What can you do?"

"I can, uh..." The Jock rocked forward a little, flashing half of a smirk and chuckling, "...tape all of your buns together. What about you, Roxanne?"

My sister arched an eyebrow and glanced in his direction, "Me?"

"Yeah, you." Andrew confirmed. "What kind of talents do you got?"

"Well ... uh..." Roxy straightened her lips and battered her silver eyes in thought, beginning to blush from being put on the spot like that. "I can, um ... I can read multiple books in a day ... I can get dressed without any help ... and I'm a pretty fast runner. I've always been interested in the subject of track. Sometimes, Crystal Rose even volunteers to be my seeing-eye dog so I can, uh..." Roxy - for some reason - faltered for a moment, "...run laps in the gymnasium during my study hall."

Suddenly, Bender butted in, "I want to see what Claire can do." He was still wearing the same unimpressed expression that had been on his face during my performance.

The Redhead's smile faded from her face and she stared at the Burnout in bewilderment, "I can't do anything."

"Now, everybody can do something." Bender retorted, making it sound like he was speaking to a preschooler.

Claire peeked up at the ceiling and lightly smiled, "There's one thing that I can do." She hesitated, biting down on her bottom lip before she started to shake her head, "No, forget it. It's way too embarrassing."

John raised his eyebrows at her, "You ever seen Wild Kingdom?" He waved his hand slightly. "I mean, that guy's been doing that show for thirty years."

The Diva took a second to think before she gave in, "Okay." She grabbed her fancy handbag from where it was stashed between her and Roxy, right before she added in utter seriousness, "But you got to swear to God you won't laugh."

Bender scoffed and crossed himself, while Roxy tilted her head a little to the side at the sound of Queenie beginning to rummage through her purse.

"Okay." Claire murmured to herself. She shook her head and snickered in disbelief, just as she pulled out a tube of lipstick and uncapped it, "I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

I cocked an eyebrow and watched in confusion as the Snob placed the lipstick between her breasts and lowered her head. It didn't occur to me right away, but the realization that she was actually applying the lipstick without touching it eventually came to me. Unlike me, Andrew and Allison were watching with interest and Brian almost looked captivated. It took a couple of seconds, but when Claire lifted her head back up, it was revealed that she had perfectly applied the ridiculous shade of pink on her lips.

Roxy's lips twitched slightly in disappointment, considering she couldn't see what just happened. Nevertheless, as soon as the other detainees - excluding me - started to applaud for the Princess, she didn't think twice before joining in just to be polite. I, on the other hand, remained confused, wondering how in the hell that was supposed to be a talent as I peeked over in the Criminal's direction. Unlike the other detention goers, he was clapping in a much slower and sarcastic fashion.

"All right! That's great!" Andrew cheered, grinning brightly. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

Claire smiled, screwing the lipstick back down before she put it away, "Camp, seventh grade."

Bender continued to mockingly clap until he had everyone's attention. "That was great, Claire..." He stared at the Redhead insensitively as she began to wipe the lipstick away, "My image of you is totally blown."

"You're a shit!" Allison sneered at him. "Don't do that to her. You swore to God you wouldn't laugh."

Bender kept his eyes on the almost crying Claire as he retaliated, "Am I laughing?"

"John..." Roxy attempted to speak, but she was barely audible and was easily cut off by Sporto.

"You fuckin' prick!"

The Criminal immediately turned his head to look at the Jock, his eyes widened with fury. "What do you care what I think anyway?" Bender asked cruelly, causing my sister to draw in a quiet and an uneasy breath, "I don't even count, right? I could disappear forever and it wouldn't make any difference."

Jockstrap slowly looked away, his anger transforming into guilt right on the spot. At the same time, Claire looked down at the ground in shame and even Klepto looked like she was trying to prevent herself from crying.

"I might as well not even exist at this school, remember?" Bender then slid his attention over to me, resulting in the two of us to make eye contact, "Everybody here would sleep better at night knowing that I'm not here, correct?" The hatred in his voice increased - if that was even possible, "I'm not even worth it."

I slowly narrowed my eyes at him and glared, recalling how I had said that stuff to him in the bathroom and then on the stairs. Nonetheless, I refused to say anything back and continued to watch as John made Claire his target again.

"And you..." He shook his head a little, "...don't like me anyway."

Claire stared at him in disbelief, her brown eyes blurred with tears, "You know, I have just as many feelings as you do and it hurts just as much when somebody steps all over them."

"God, you're so pathetic." Bender snarled, scowling threateningly. "Don't you ever - ever compare yourself to me, okay? You got everything and I got shit!" He was completely unfazed by how hurt the Princess looked and carried on. "Fuckin' Rapunzel, right? School would probably fuckin' shut down if you didn't show up."

The Handicapped looked down at her lap and covered both of her ears, but I could tell by the huge frown on her face that she could still hear everything that was going on.

"Queenie isn't here." The Criminal sarcastically moved his head around to represent somebody panicking. "I like those earrings, Claire."

I grazed my bottom lip with my teeth, just as Claire looked away from John and whispered, "Shut up..."

"Are those real diamonds, Claire?" Bender continued harshly.

"Shut. Up."

"I bet they are. Did you work for the money for those earrings?"

The Redhead reluctantly made eye contact with him again, "Shut your mouth!"

"Or did your daddy buy those for you?" Bender asked.

"SHUT UP!" Claire shouted, causing me and Roxy to wince.

Bender wouldn't let her off the hook, growing angrier with every passing second, "I bet he bought those for you. I bet those were a Christmas gift, right?"

I clenched my eyes shut for a moment before looking away, glaring in the direction of the hideous statue. Memories of my old man kicking my mom around and yelling at her like she was a dog played in my brain like a brutal slideshow, resulting in me having to draw in a deep breath through my nostrils to keep myself from throwing a punch at something or someone.

"You know what I got for Christmas this year?" Bender bellowed, which automatically had my cold stare drawn back over to him. "It was a banner fuckin' year at the old Bender family! I got a carton of cigarettes."

By this point, Roxy had given up on trying to tune the arguing out and was now twirling her thumbs around on her lap with tears starting to prickle up in her eyes.

"The old man grabbed me and said, 'Hey, smoke up, Johnny!'" The Criminal shook himself by the neckline of his white undershirt while imitating his father. "Okay, so go home and cry to your daddy. Don't cry here, okay?"

"That's enough, Bender." I growled, suddenly feeling the strong urge to defend the crying girl. "You made your damn point. Now, shut up and leave her alone."

Claire sniffled and wiped away as many of the tears from her face as she could - just like my mom used to do to prevent me and Roxy from worrying about her.

My sister balled her hands into fists and rubbed the water away from her eyes, making it look like she hadn't been on the verge of crying just moments before.

"My God," Andrew piped up, shattering the silence, "are we gonna be like our parents?"

The Princess peeked over at him with tears still shining in her eyes, "Not me..." She then turned to look at the Rebel again, "...Ever."

Bender slowly nodded his head at her, but didn't say anything back. As for me, hell would have to freeze over before I ever grew up to be like my father.

"It's unavoidable..." Klepto chimed in, her dark orbs now bright red and salty, "...just happens."

"What happens?" Claire asked as Bender rested the back of his head against the pillar again and stared up at the ceiling.

Allison snuck a peek at me from the corner of her eye before she turned to look at the Redhead. "When you grow up..." she stated, "...your heart dies."

"Who cares?" Bender asked dismissively.

The Kook glanced over at him, cracking a tearful grin as she whispered, "I care..."

"Me, too." Roxy said in a voice that was just as soft and delicate. "So much."

After that, Allison turned her head and looked at me again; but this time, we made eye contact. Until now, I had failed to notice the few tears that had managed to leak down her cheeks - and I could tell that she was asking me without words that if I cared. I remained silent, feeling my glare crumble away from my face and transform back into my usual nonchalant expression as I stared directly into Klepto's eyes. Then, I carefully used the tip of my thumb to stroke away one of her tears and raised my eyebrows a little, letting her know that I did care.

Suddenly, Brian spoke up, "Um, I was just thinking, I mean ... I know it's kind of a weird time, but I was just wondering, um..." He pursed his lips for a moment and swallowed thickly before continuing, "...What's going to happen to us on Monday? When we're all together again?" His eyes widened a little, "I mean, I consider you guys my friends. I'm not wrong, am I?"

At the word 'friends', a tiny grin curled up on one of the corners of Roxy's mouth; but it immediately disappeared at the Nerd's final question.

"No." Jockstrap replied, just as my sister shook her head.

Brian almost sounded scared, "So - so on Monday, what happens?"

"Are we still friends, you mean?" Claire asked, wanting to have the question clarified. "If we're friends now, that is."

"Yeah." Brian replied.

The Princess stared at the floor for a few seconds before she connected her eyes with his, "Do you want the truth?"

"Yeah, I want the truth."

Claire released a sad sigh, as if she'd been hoping that the Geek would ask her to lie. Then, she answered, "I don't think so."

Brian looked away from her, looking like he had just been shot straight through the heart. At the same time, I released a small scoff and lowered my attention to the hole in my shoe, staring at it blankly.

"With all of us or just John?" Allison asked in a half-hearted attempt to lighten the mood.

Claire cleared her throat and glanced down at the ground again, "With all of you."

"That's a real nice attitude, Claire." Wrestle Mania sneered, refusing to look at her.

"Oh, be honest, Andy!" The Diva rolled her eyes, suddenly looking rude. "If Brian or Comrade came walking up to you in the hall on Monday, what would you do?"

I sharply narrowed my eyes and peeked up at the mention of my name, watching as Andrew made brief eye contact with me before doing the same to Brian.

"I mean, picture this, you're there with all of the sports. I know exactly what you'd do." Claire informed. "You'd say 'hi' to them and then, when they left, you'd cut them all up so your friends wouldn't think you really liked them."

At that moment, I didn't know which hurt more: the thought of being stabbed in the back for the millionth time in my life, or how the Princess worded the likely scenario with the word 'cut'. Nonetheless, I continued to scowl like I wasn't the slightest bit affected.

"No way." Andrew denied, clearly trying to convince himself more than the rest of us.

"Okay," Allison said to the Redhead, "what if I came up to you? Or Roxy?"

At the sound of the Handicapped's name, John shot Claire a warning look; but that didn't stop her from saying, "Same exact thing."

Roxy's shoulders immediately sunk in disappointment and the tiny spark of hope that'd been shimmering in her silver eyes vanished.

Bender lurched forward, face beating red and eyes swarming with a whole new level of rage as he abruptly yelled, "YOU ARE A BITCH!"

Claire stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before she hissed back, "Why, 'cause I'm telling the truth? That makes me a bitch?"

"No, 'cause you know how shitty that is to do to someone!" Bender exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Diva. "And you don't got the balls to stand up to your friends and tell them you're gonna like who you wanna like!"

I watched Brain as he pressed his lips tightly together and looked up at the ceiling, wiping a single tear away from his face. It was obvious that he was trying his hardest not to break down and sob. Whether he was upset over the thought of leaving today with no friends or over how he would never be able to call Claire his girlfriend, I didn't know. But if I had to guess, it was definitely both.

"Okay, what about you, you hypocrite?" Claire challenged. "Why don't you take Allison to one of your heavy metal vomit parties?"

The Basket Case released a teary giggle and flashed a shy grin at the Rebel as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Or take Brian out to the parking lot at lunch to get high?" Claire went on, raising her voice. "Or what about Andy and Comrade for that matter? What about me? Or Roxanne?"

Bender started to angrily suck on his teeth, but the Beauty Queen wasn't finished yet. "What would your friends say if we were walking down the hall together?" she demanded, shaking her head in disapproval. "They'd laugh their asses off, and you'd probably tell them that you were doing it with me so they'd forgive you for being seen with me."

"Don't you ever talk about my friends!" John snapped dangerously. "You don't know any of my friends, you don't look at any of my friends, and you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends! So, you just stick to the things that you know!" He madly swung his arm around, listing stuff off. "Shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW, and your poor, rich, drunk mother in the Caribbean!"

"SHUT UP!" Claire screamed as she shot her leg out and kicked the Criminal as hard as she could.

Tears started to weld up in Roxy's eyes again, but she attempted to hide them by looking down and blinking repeatedly.

"And as far as being concerned about what's going to happen when you and I walk down the hallways at school, you can forget it!" Bender barked, jabbing his finger much more firmly in her direction. "'Cause it's never going to happen! Just bury your head in the sand and wait for your fuckin' prom!"

Claire shook her head, sobbing once again, "I hate you!"

"Yeah?" John crossed his arms over his chest. "Good!"

There was another short moment of silence before Brian spoke up again. "Okay, then I assume Comrade, Roxy, Allison, and I are better people than you guys, huh?" He stared at me and Allison, faintly nodding his head, "Us weirdos."

He focused his attention on the Basket Case, "Would you - would you do that to me?"

"I don't have any friends..." Allison replied quietly, "...except for Roxy and Comrade."

Brian rolled his eyes and grinned a little at her, "Well, if you did have more."

"No..." Allison answered, waiting for a couple of heartbeats to pass before she added, "...I don't think the kind of friends I'd have would mind."

The Dork then flicked his bright blue eyes over to me, "What about you, Comrade?"

My face was blank, but there was dead seriousness electrocuting in my eyes as I slowly shook my head, "Hell no. I'm the only one who is allowed to decide on who I do and don't want to hang out with in my life." I decided to leave out the fact that the only actual friends I had were Allison and Carl, "If somebody has a problem with a friend of mine, then that's their situation to deal with. It's my life, so screw them."

"And you, Roxy?" Brian asked, turning his head to look at the Handicapped. "Would you do that?"

She sent a weak smile in the direction of his voice, "Of course I wouldn't ... I don't give a damn about what other people have to say. My friends are my business, not theirs."

Brian nodded a little and looked down at the carpet, speaking softly, "Well, I just want to tell each of you that I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't and I will not..." A single teardrop ran down his cheek, "...'cause I think that's real shitty."

Claire looked at him helplessly, "Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us."

Brian almost instantly released a humorless chuckle, "You're so conceited, Claire ... you're so conceited." He wiped one of his eyes with his hand. "You're so, like, full of yourself. Why are you like that?"

"I'm not saying that to be conceited!" the Princess exclaimed, starting to bawl again. "I hate it! I hate having to go along with everything my friends say!"

"Who says that you have to go along with them, Princess?" I asked, glaring at her slightly. "If you don't want to, then why do you do it? What in the hell is the point?"

Claire glanced off in the opposite direction. "I don't know. I don't-" She shook her head and wiped away a tear from her chin. "You don't understand. You don't - you aren't friends with the same people that Andy and I are friends with. You know, you just don't understand the pressure that they can put on you."

Brian scoffed and pointed at himself, "I don't understand what? You think I don't understand pressure, Claire?" He paused for a second before exploding, "Well, fuck you! Fuck you!"

My eyes widened a little from not expecting Brian Johnson to curse like that - especially to the girl he had feelings for. At the same time, the Redhead gaped in shock and the now weeping Nerd buried his face into his sleeve. Even the Criminal - who had either been bored or pissed during at least ninety percent of the time we'd spent in this circle - was starting to look concerned.

"You know why I'm here today?" Brian asked, still keeping his face out of sight. "Do you?"

At the strained sound of his voice, a few tears managed to escape from Roxy's eyes; but she quickly wiped them away before they could be seen, just like she had done during Andrew's confession.

Brian sniffled and moved his arm, refusing to look at anyone, "I'm here ... because Mr. Ryan found ... a gun in my locker."

In less than a second, Roxy became as white as a sheet and Claire's eyes grew to the point where they looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. I could've sworn that my heart stopped for a moment, listening to Brian's words repeat themselves in my brain as I recalled what had happened a couple of hours earlier with Carl. I had joked about getting caught by Mr. Ryan while skateboarding down the Empire State Building. No wonder Brian had looked unsettled at my mention of the nosy history teacher.

"Why did you have a gun in your locker?" Andrew asked, staring at Brian sympathetically.

"I tried." The Dweeb moved his hand up and down, indicating him pulling on something. "You pull the fuckin' trunk on it, and the light's supposed to go on. It didn't go on, I mean - I don't..." He pushed himself back up into a sitting position and clutched his hands together.

Sporto maintained his gentle tone, "What was the gun for, Brian?"

"Just forget it." Brian said, trying to evade the question.

"You brought it up, man." Andrew retorted.

The Brain rested his elbows against his knees and mumbled against his fingers, "I can't have an 'F' ... I can't have it ... and I know my parents can't have it." He sniffled a little before continuing, "Even if I ace the rest of the semester, I'm still only a 'B'. Everything's ruined for me."

"Oh, Brian..." Claire sighed with compassion laced around her voice.

"What?" Brian snapped as he backhanded the stool that was beside him and my sister, almost knocking it over. "I was considering my options, you know?"

Roxy became as stiff as a statue, not moving a muscle or making a sound.

"You were what?" I asked, not being able to tell if I was more stunned or more angry.

"No!" Claire spoke up immediately after. "Killing yourself is not an option."

"Well, I didn't do it, did I?" Brian bellowed, lifting his head so he could scowl at her. "No, I don't think so."

Allison stared at him cautiously, "It was a handgun?"

The Nerd let out a deep breath and murmured, "No, it was a flare gun. It went off in my locker."

"Really?" Andrew started to laugh at an incredibly high-pitched volume, causing me to stare at him like he had just lost his sanity. How in the hell was planning to commit suicide funny?

I started to think back to earlier, when the seven of us were running like our lives depended on it to avoid getting caught by Mr. Vermin in the halls. There was the one locker that I had caught a glimpse of, but I didn't really put much thought into it then. It was completely charred with the top of the door practically melted. That must've been the Geek's locker ... and if a flare gun did that to it, then I could only imagine what it could do to a person.

"It's not funny." Brian said, resting his hand against his forehead and snapping me out of my thoughts.

Sporto coughed and pressed his lips together in an attempt to suppress anymore laughter, but it didn't take long before cracking another full-toothed grin and started to chuckle. At the same time, Allison bit down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from laughing along and Roxy's mouth dropped open a little, making it clear that she was on the same boat as me. Neither of us found this situation humorous. It got to the point where the Handicapped was no longer bothering to wipe away her tears as they dripped down her cheeks.

With one last sniffle, Brian pursed his lips - only to break out into a smile and begin snickering along, "Yes, it is ... fuckin' elephant was destroyed."

Roxy narrowed her watery eyes in his direction, suddenly looking pissed. "What in the hell were you thinking?" she blustered, causing me to stare at her with huge eyes while the other detainees stopped chuckling and snapped their attention over to her. All of them - even Bender - looked just as caught off guard as I was. Never in my entire life had I ever heard my sister talk in a tone like that. It was furious to the point where I was positive that a new word had to be invented to describe just how angry she was.

"What?" Brian said, blinking naively.

"You were actually considering to take your own life over some dumb grade?" Roxy asked, pausing for a moment before she scoffed and shook her head. "Everyone gets at least one 'F' in their life, Brian! It doesn't mean that it's the end of the world! It was just one lousy elephant lamp! It's not like Edison succeeded at inventing the light bulb on his first try! Or how about when hundreds of people assumed that the world was flat, huh? It took Columbus's journey to make them all realize that it wasn't! But you don't hear of any of them killing themselves over how they didn't know that at first!"

I took down a quiet gulp to help clear a lump from my throat, continuing to watch with shock decorating my face.

Brian was clearly too stunned to say anything back, opening and closing his mouth a few times.

Tears continued to pour out of the Handicapped's bright gray eyes as she sniffled. "Look at me! I am blind!" she bellowed, still seething as she started to tick items off on her fingers, "I can't see myself, I can't see my house, I can't see the school, and I can't even see my own brother!" Her voice cracked a little at her final word and I cringed, feeling my throat beginning to grow sore from me holding back the tears that hadn't even managed to weld up in my eyes.

"But you don't see me trying to tie a noose around my neck or trying to swallow a handful of pills, now do you? I'm still living my life and pushing through its obstacles, despite how I can't see shit!" Roxy barked, beating a violent shade of red by this point. "You have no reason to kill yourself, Brian!"

"Look, I'm sorry!" Brian exclaimed defensively. "But I couldn't control how you were born blind!"

The Handicapped exploded, balling her hands into fists at her sides as she yelled, "WHO SAYS I WAS BORN BLIND?"

Everyone froze. To me, it felt like the whole earth had stopped spinning. I clenched my eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath, trying to remain calm as the horrible flashbacks began to topple over each other inside of my head. Then, as I slowly deflated my chest and cracked my eyes back open, I saw all of the other detainees - including Allison and Bender - gaping at my sister like they had just witnessed her commit murder.

The Nerd eventually broke the unsettling silence, stammering, "W-what?"

I narrowed my eyes and replied quietly, "She wasn't born blind." The pain in my throat grew stronger and I was starting to feel sick to my stomach; but I still refused to cry.

A heavy frown fell across Roxy's face, as if she hadn't been pissed just seconds before. She hastily wiped the tears away from her face with her sleeves, but they were only replaced by more tears that wouldn't stop leaking out from her eyes. Then, while sniffling, she shifted out of her position, curled both of her legs up into her stomach, and wrapped her arms around her shins.

"H-how..." Brian cleared his throat, still stuttering, "...h-how did this happen to you, Roxy? Were - were you, you know, sick? Glaucoma, possibly?"

The Handicapped rested her chin on her knees and whispered, "I wish..."

"Roxy.." Andrew said with his voice drenched in a mixture of concern and sympathy, "...what happened to you?"

There was a small pause before Roxy answered through her sniffles. "I..." She spoke slowly, "I had this boyfriend back in Russia..."

"Rox..." I spoke up, suddenly sounding sad. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down at my lap to prevent the other detention goers from seeing my frown, "Don't..."

"His name was Damien..." Roxy continued like I hadn't said anything. "He..."

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it, trailing off.

The compassion in the Jock's voice increased, "What did he do to you, Roxy?"

Roxy hesitated, allowing a few more tears to fall down her face before she said, "He hurt me..."


A/N: A/N: Another chapter completed! :)

This cliffhanger can only mean one thing: Comrade and Roxy's backstory is coming up next! :D :D

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: You can see Brian's locker in the beginning of the movie and in the background during the hallway chase scene when the characters run into the gate.

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. :)

I also have my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" 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! :) It was a lot of fun to write! :)

Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.

Please review! I appreciate all of your feedback! :D :D

Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :) :)

God bless! :D

Crystalteen, out!

THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!