Allison found herself running again. She was beginning to really hate running.

This time, she headed south towards the worst part of Shermer. Allison saw Shermer in sections. The lower middle class people, old fogeys whose kids deserted them, and the artsy/secluded people like herself lived on the "Lower West Side". The slum/ghetto section of town where all the drug-pushing and crime happened was to the south on the "South Side." All the shopping and businesses were dead center. On the "Upper West Side" was where all the middle-class families lived (Brian lived up that way). On the "Upper East Side" was richie city. The golf course and country club were up that way. Claire lived on the Upper East Side. Andy (had) lived on the Lower East Side, where the upper-middle class people lived, along with the middle-class single people. Allison felt it was remarkable that so many different "boroughs" of Shermer existed all within less than a 6-mile radius. Allison was literally only a block away from the slum section of town…where Bender lived. Claire lived on the polar opposite end of town and she was only a few miles away from Allison.

However, as Allison ran down into the South Side, she didn't notice a lot of difference between her neighborhood and Bender's.

Bender's house wasn't exactly a house. It was an old firehouse that was abandoned long ago. It was pretty big until (ironically) the second floor burned down. Now it was only a one-story brick building with a huge garage and a small cellar that was once used as an A-bomb shelter in the 50's. Bender's room was that bomb shelter. Allison knew once she was inside she had to get downstairs. Jack and Roxanne Bender seemed to be absent from the house for the day. Good. It wasn't like either of them would have made things much better for anyone.

Allison moved aside the heavy door that led downstairs into the bomb shelter and climbed inside. Allison didn't like Bender's room. It was 10 feet underground, so there was no natural light that came in, and it was always so cold, even during the height of summer. It was lit by only a swinging light bulb in the center of the room. It was always a mess. Bender didn't even have a real bed. He only had an old futon and sleeping bag to use as a bed at night. She found Brian sitting (or cowering, if you will) in a corner of the room as Bender threw the hugest fit of anyone's lives. Things were broken and scattered all around the freezing cold dark room. And Bender was as purple as a ripe bunch of grapes, pacing the room furiously.

"John?" called out Allison, weakly. Bender didn't look up. Instead, Brian, his back against the wall, made his way over to Allison. Allison sat down on the staircase. Brian sat beside her, looking just as freaked out as she did.

"Claire called it off with him today," he said. Allison widened her eyes.

"WHAT?!" she said back, shocked.

"Claire invited him to lunch downtown and told him that she felt she couldn't stay with him anymore," Brian said.

"Did she say WHY?"

"No," said Brian. "I came over to see him, and he threw a book out the front window and rammed his fist against the wall a few times before I let myself in. I've been listening to him wreck the place for an hour, and I figured you'd…you'd need to be here."

So, this was what remained of a once thriving group five-people strong. Allison looked around the room. Brian was shaking, shell-shocked from the prolonged and violent fit Bender was throwing. She observed Bender, swishing his hair around, sweat dripping from the corners of his forehead. And then she looked at herself, forced to help solve a relationship problem while she herself was recovering from being abandoned. So much for The Breakfast Club. Now it was more like The Morning Cup of Coffee Club. Not even that. The Snooze Button Club. What a tragic downfall. Allison felt her eyes well up again, but she choked them back. This moment wasn't about her.

"JOHN! I'M HERE!" Allison suddenly screamed.

"That won't work—" Brian began to say. But he stopped…because Bender stopped. Allison's ears felt strangely hollow, like before a tornado hits. Bender was looking at Allison now. He was silenced.

"She left for Dickface," Bender said after a minute. Allison nodded and stood up. She walked cautiously over to Bender and looked up at him. Bender fell onto his futon in an exhausted heap. "She told me I wasn't worth her time anymore and she felt we both deserved better," he hissed.

"You deserve better. She doesn't," Allison replied.

"GODAMNIT! I'm so pissed I could deck someone!"

"I know," said Allison.

"She said her friends are 'afraid' of me and that she doesn't think it's fair to abandon her first friends on a count of me!" Bender explained. "She also said that Dickface was a lot like me, so I shouldn't feel so bad!"

"Andy left this morning. I think he left me a phone number. But he didn't wait for me to say goodbye," Allison moaned. "I don't even know if we're on good terms or not. We're as good as dead ourselves," she informed Brian.

"That's horrible," Brian muttered. "And I'm only going to be in town for a week," he saying with disbelief.

"My god, what's happening to us?" Allison sighed. "Is this really the beginning of the end?" She sat down next to Bender on the futon and began irrelevantly fingering his hair. Strangely, Bender let her run her fingers though his hair and didn't try to stop her.

"I don't want us to die like this," Brian said, desperately shaking his head. "I don't want to go back to the way things were this time last year."

"Me neither. This time last year I had no one," Allison muttered.

Brian moaned. "Neither did I."

"It's Claire's goddamn fault," Bender muttered. Allison shook her head quickly.

"Andy left me too, John. I think they both are just…well…afraid," said Allison.

"Bitch," Bender hissed again. "I just…I just…"

Allison nodded. "Me too."

For the next 3 hours, Bender, Brian, and Allison all sat on Bender's futon in his room and lamented, moped, and just felt miserable together. It almost made Allison feel good to feel bad with the leftovers of The Breakfast Club. They consoled each other, bashed Claire for her cowardice, argued about whether Andy was coming back or not, and just tried to find solace in each other's company. It was a bittersweet afternoon. It probably would have gone on forever had Bender not heard his father stumble into the house drunk. He didn't want Allison and Brian to 'bump' into his drunken father, so he had them sneak out through the window in the stairwell.

Allison and Brian went their separate ways after a few steps. Brian needed to get back to his hotel in Chicago so he headed for the bus stop on the corner. Allison didn't want to go home, because she knew her parents would be home by now. Instead, she just chose to wander around. It got dark after awhile, and Allison wandered without any conscious idea where she was headed. For the first time that autumn, it was getting chilly out (even though it usually didn't right away). The stars were obscured by overcast clouds. Too many thoughts of fear, loneliness, and anger clouded Allison mind that with every step she got a little dizzier.

How could Claire just up and leave Bender like that? At least Andy had given Allison 3 day's notice before he cut himself out of her life! And it wasn't like Andy didn't want to be with her! Claire was being a fool. A foolish bitch. Bender did deserve better than her. Claire needed to grow a backbone before she could be as open-minded as she pretended to be. Allison spat bitterly on the ground at some man's feet as he passed. The man didn't yell, but he jumped about 5 feet off the ground.

As far as Andy went, maybe he was no better than Claire. He'd given her the cold shoulder treatment after that day in the courtyard. He hadn't bothered to try and make the most out of there separation. Truth be told, Allison thought long-distance relationships were a little romantic. Andy and Allison could keep up with calls and letters until the time they were able to meet again. But maybe Andy didn't see that…

Suddenly, a familiar voice made Allison's head shoot up.

"So I told her that she REALLY needed to get back to reality!"

It was Claire in a low-cut purple sundress (wasn't she COLD?), surrounded by two of her "friends." One was a VERY blonde girl with a size 2 waste and heels taller than Allison's calves. The other was an African American girl with frizzy curls and a slutty miniskirt barely covering her thighs (weren't they ALL cold?). Allison felt like she was dressed as a nun looking at them.

But she had to talk to them.

Claire walked right by Allison as if she was blending in with the brick wall behind her. Allison squeaked in anger and followed them. The black girls noticed her first.

"Claire, is she STALKING us?" the girl sneered. Claire turned around. Allison observed how Claire's expression changed from happy to nervous. Claire turned and asked her friends to give them a moment. The blonde sneered.

"Ugh, you KNOW her?" she asked.

"Just meet me outside Marley's," Claire ordered. The two richie girls nodded and turned the corner, looking over their shoulders constantly. Claire walked cautiously up to Allison.

"He told you, didn't he?" Claire asked warily. Allison nodded silently. She often found that being silent intimidated people more than when she talked. Claire paused a moment. "You understand where I'm coming from? You're a girl…"

Allison shook her head ominously. Claire obviously was only intending to separate herself from Bender…because Allison sure didn't seem taboo to her. That was just plain wrong. Allison hated this.

"…I don't understand."

"Look, Allison, we can still be friends…am I right?"

"You are not right," Allison frowned. "Why did you do that to John? That was low, Claire."

"Allison! You need to understand the pressure my friends have been—"

"—didn't you play that card last spring?" Allison asked. Claire felt her face go red. "And then didn't you learn that you're not the only one who has to deal with pressure? We're you even THERE that day?"

Claire was beginning to cry. For once in her life, Allison did not sympathize. "No…I mean…yes, but—"

"I really hope you're happy with your rich life. I'm not just saying that to make you feel bad. Because I already feel bad for you. If you're new lover snubs you one day, you'll be trapped on the outside, and I'm not thinking that John will let you back in with me and Brian…" Allison gave Claire the meanest look she'd ever given anyone. Claire's shoulders dropped as Allison turned around to leave Claire standing there all alone.

Allison fell into her apartment crying. She hated life right now. Why was the world turning against Bender, Brian, and herself? How could life possibly get worse? Allison was two people away from being alone again. She was holding onto her friendships for dear life. She knew that a few blocks over, Bender was feeling the same way: hanging by a thread. Bender may have actually HAD friends last year, but he sure as hell wasn't Mr. Popular. All of his friends from last year were either in jail, on the lam, or in Canada now. So Bender was in the same boat as she was.

Maybe they could just float together. At least they had each other. And when Brian came home on breaks, he could join them. But for the most part, Bender and Allison were the fallout of what had once been an explosion of happiness between 5 unique people.

"Danny, you think we should have pea soup or lentils for supper?"

"Pea soup, Marty."

Allison groaned. Her damn parents were home. The icing on the cake of a great day. Allison sank to the living room sofa and curled herself into a fetal position and cried. After about 30 minutes, she saw her father's pant leg out of the corner of her eye.

"Allison?"

He knew her name! Things were looking up already!

"Danny?" Allison looked up at her father. She called them by their first names…and they didn't mind (or care). Maybe he was comforting her for once? Was he hearing her sobs?

"It's almost dinner, go set the table and unload the dishwasher," Danny ordered. Allison felt herself shaking.

"Fuck you," she muttered.

"What was that?"

Allison couldn't take anymore of this. "You heard me. FUCK. YOU."

With that, Allison stormed into her room and slammed the door, leaving Danny Reynolds very perplexed.