Allison couldn't sleep a wink Saturday night, and for good reason. She spent until 2 AM sketching some very depressing faceless figures, and then simply laid herself face down on her bed, silent tears pouring down her face, occasionally stroking Fritz and Ingrid when they craved attention. Allison's mind was full to bursting…but at the same time, very empty. Where was she going with her life? Allison didn't realize just how dependent on Andy she had been. Without him, she was missing a piece of herself. Claire isolating herself didn't exactly help either. As if Allison felt bad enough by herself, the fact that Claire only intended to reject Bender and keep her relationship with Allison made Allison feel guilt as well as vulnerability. It wasn't fair to Brian and Bender. If they went, then so did she. There wasn't a single regret Allison had about that decision. But she didn't like Claire's favoritism. Playing favorites was a disgusting thing.

Allison, suffering physically now from insomnia, got out of bed at 6 AM on Sunday to see if she could try eating her pain away (it worked once before, but since last spring she'd never seen a use for eating away her sorrow). Her parents went to early church services (Danny was Catholic, Marty went with him solely out of habit, and they never pressured their daughter to go to Religious ed. or anything) and were gone by the time she arrived in the kitchen. Ingrid was gluttonously chomping away at the cats' food bowl. Allison sighed got a bowl, pouring Rice Krispies into the bowl. After finding out there was no milk, Allison shrugged and reached for orange juice. After taking a few bites of the cereal, she reached up into a cabinet and found a pepper shaker. She shook some pepper into the cereal and took a few more bites. For once, what she was eating was exactly what she tasted. Allison spit out the cereal, threw the bowl into the sink, and ran back into her small room.

Allison groaned and looked at the phone on the small desk. She found the paper Andy left her right next to it. It may have been 6:30 in the morning, but love knows no alarm clock. Allison took a deep breath, sighed, and picked up the receiver; her fingers flew over the buttons as if she'd memorized the number already. She heard a dial tone, so the phone in Andy's new place was obviously hooked up.

Suddenly, a wave of fear broke over Allison, and she hung up the phone on the third ring.

Allison tried twice more to call the number. The second time, Allison actually heard Kathleen Clark's voice ask, "Hello? Clark residence…" before she hung up. The third time, Allison said, "Ah, fuck it," and hung up before the second ring.

The stress Allison built up while trying to gather the balls to call Andy welled up quickly. Allison decided to go for a slow walk (no running this time). She got out of her pajamas and threw on a long-sleeved black t-shirt, a dark purple ankle-length skirt, and wrapped her thick black woolen scarf tightly around her neck. She picked up her handmade bag and stuffed it full of Cheese-it crackers in case she got hungry.

Just like last night, Allison wandered without a destination. The air was damp and cold…there undoubtedly was a storm coming. Maybe it'd turn into freezing rain if it came before noon. Allison almost felt comfortable noting the sudden change in the weather. It hadn't really been cold and dark like this until yesterday, when everything changed for the worse in her friendships and relationships. It mean (at least to Allison) that Mother Nature was in her favor. Allison had always had a bond with nature that she could never explain, but it always send a chill down her spine. Every time something in her life happened, the weather would act accordingly. The day she met The Breakfast Club, it was the first sunny day after a whole week of rain. The day during the summer when Andy had gone in for minor knee surgery, the weather was hot, hazy, and everyone knew a terrible front was coming, but it hung suspended to the west, as if Allison's own life was in suspension…waiting for Andy. The day Andy was discharged, the front picked up speed and passed over Shermer…but it wasn't nearly as intense a storm as anticipated…there was hardly any thunder, and a calm, heavy, relieving rain was all Allison felt. When she was nine, she lost her grandmother to a stroke, the only woman besides herself to point out Danny & Marty's inadequate parenting skills. The day after she passed, a small string of tornadoes ripped through Shermer and the southern suburbs, as if Allison's anger at her dear granny's death was being taken out on the wind. Allison's parents were at work late that day, so she took shelter by herself in the basement of the apartments. Being alone and afraid like that was a feeling that had never left Allison since.

The sky was fully light now, and it was coming on 10 in the morning. People began filling the sidewalks and the streets as Allison walked among them. Unlike business people who were the pedestrians on work days, today, it was families and friends would walked along, dressed up nicely (churchgoers) or fashion-conscious (the teens who used Sunday as a shopping day). Despite the fact that Allison wasn't a religious person, she sometimes secretly wished for Danny and Marty to take her to church with them, just for a FAMILY day! That really wasn't a lot to ask. Well, for a basketcase, it was, apparently.

Allison stopped at a street corner and looked up at the St. Margaret's Church clock tower. Just as she decided to turn on her heels and head for home (she had a bit of homework to do) she again heard a familiar voice chit-chatting away. Raising an eyebrow, Allison peeked her head around the corner. Indeed, it was Claire again, this time talking with a young man (Dickface?). He was taller than Claire, with a muscular body and a handsome face. He wore a stylish sportcoat. His black hair and naturally tanned body made him look like a movie star. When he smiled, his perfect set of bleached-white teeth blinded Allison (and she was 15 feet away). Claire looked at him like a sick puppy looks at it's owner. Allison let out air from her nose in small puffs, like a bull ready to charge. Bender had given up his polygamist trends and a few aspects of his old lifestyle for Claire. This guy looked like nothing short of a teenage pimp. If Bender had once had a wallet full of girlfriends (supposedly…Allison had never seen it), then this guy probably had an entire brothel-full of girls waiting for him somewhere. Disgusting. And Claire accepted him because he was rich and 'socially acceptable.'

"I have to go, CC!" Dickface grinned as he let Claire out of their embrace.

CC? Where did the second C come from? Claire's middle name?

"Okay, I'll see you later!" Claire said dreamily. Dickface quickly left a tiny, unfeeling kiss on the edge of Claire's lips and went along his way. When Allison saw Bender kiss Claire, his kisses were passionate and sincere, not to mention they made Allison jealous (Andy wasn't too fond of kissing in public, he would only do so on a whim). Claire just stood there and sighed like she was under a hypnotic spell.

Allison couldn't stand this anymore. This was too much for her to watch. On another one of her violent impulses, she lunged at Claire, who was completely taken by surprise, and pinned her to the cement. Claire tried to fight back as best she could, but Allison held her down. Allison then began kicking and slapping, and Claire fought back with a few hits of her own. People were beginning to stare (a few teenage boys down the street were hollering and cheering them on…perverts). But Allison didn't care. She had started, and she sure as hell wasn't going to stop soon.

"ALLISON! What…stop it….ouch! Get off me!"

Allison didn't stop until she caught her breath enough to speak. "How dare you?"

"How dare I wha—OW!"

"John is twenty times the gentleman that moron will EVER be! Are you jealous he doesn't have a Porsche or a limousine? Is that it? Or are you afraid your entourage will abandon you if you didn't go with that dipshit? He's bad news, why didn't you listen to John and me? WHY?"

Claire didn't speak.

"TELL ME! And I swear to god, say the word 'pressure' in ANY form and I'll—"

"My parents threatened to take things away if I kept seeing John!" Claire made up off the top of her head. Allison grunted. What bullshit.

"And did they threaten to make you go to bed early to? That's complete and utter bull-FUCKING-shit, and you know it!" Allison hissed. "You're a coward, you know that? So afraid of what's going on over your head that you fail to see what's going on 3 feet in front of you! John's a wreck without you! Brian had to come home from college just to make sure he didn't hurt anyone…or himself!"

"Brian's home?" Claire half-wittedly tried to change the subject. Allison slapped Claire with fury again. She pulled herself to her feet and kicked Claire's expensive boots. A large black scuff mark was left in the wake. Claire herself was shaking quite violently. Allison knew she'd gotten through to her. Somehow, Allison also knew that Claire wasn't going to change after her black eye healed. Pity. Claire could have used some self-defense lessons from herself and John.

"You're useless," Allison spat. She never thought that in her entire life she'd use words with such venom. But her adrenaline was drowning her and she couldn't control her anger. Claire had triggered nearly a whole new side to her. A side that wanted more than anything to set things right. In her desperate state to reunite everyone, Allison had unwillingly turned to violence. She felt John Bender's presence in her soul, cheering her on. She also felt Andy Clark's presence in her soul, scolding her. Where was Allison's own presence in this whole mess?

Claire began to stumble to her feet. She looked at Allison with a look of sadness. "Why?" she mouthed. "I didn't do anything to you!" Claire said, emphasizing the word "YOU." Allison rolled her eyes. Favoritism again.

"You KNOW what this is about, Claire," Allison mouthed. Claire stared helplessly at Allison, who gritted her teeth and snarled like a wild animal. "I swear, if you come near John again, unless it's on your knees begging for forgiveness, I'll make this look like a square dance, got it? I'll kill you. You have no right to be around him, Brian, or me for that matter! Claire, I don't know what went through your mind last spring. Did you figure you'd string us along for a while for fun? Have you always talked with us, then laughed about it with your rich friends behind our backs? Ugh…You're a disgusting hypocrite, and I hope you're VERY satisfied with yourself! Now get away from me!" Allison felt the word puke spewing onto the street like a black cloud. Claire nodded, bit her lip.

"I loved him, you know," Claire muttered to Allison softly.

"Love knows no dollar value. If you'd have known that, you'd still be on the other side of the street," Allison said coldly, turning to leave. She didn't look back once at Claire.

Turning the street corner in the other direction, she then began the hot tears scalding her face as they ran freely. Allison looked at the sidewalk where the tears fell and hit the pavement. While she wasn't looking, she bumped into someone. She looked up. John Bender stood in front of her. What had he seen? Allison saw the look on his face. It was an extremely rare look, anyone who'd been on the receiving end of this look had been touched by an angel. Allison raised an eyebrow and looked at John in return. The silence spoke volumes.

"Thanks," John muttered.