A/N: I'm hitting a stride with this as far as chapters go. That's why this one's up so soon. After this it might be as little as tomorrow or as alate as next week. I've been dealing with a few domestics probs (death of a family member, and my drunk dad went into rehab again about the same time). So I write when i find a moment...then out of nowhere (and at the least convenient time) my muse will bite me and i write ideas in my little notepad. Forgive me if chapter updates are sporadic and such. Enjoy this! Sadie
Two months passed slowly but surely since that day in the garage. Allison and Bender did keep up their friendship, and they called Brian (who'd gone back to NYU) and reassured him that they as a threesome would be twice as strong as they were as a fivesome. This seemed to comfort Brian, and every other weekend, they'd call each other to check up.
As for Andy, well, obviously because he didn't show up on Allison's doorstep in the month's time that he promised, he'd lost the bet and didn't even realize it. He'd found incredible popularity in Kenosha (particularily with the women), and embraced it, as was natural for him. Allison never called. The phone number still waited by the phone, untouched. Allison was still too afraid of calling him. She knew she'd gather the guts up to do so one day. But Andy had moved on, and well, so did Allison. Her reinforced friendship with Bender made her realize that she never noticed him enough. He and his band of misfit/rebels were a fun gang, and Allison was welcomed in their circle nicely.
Bender, in turn, had taken a little longer to force Claire out of his mind, particularly because she still lived nearby, and it was hard for Bender not to turn around and see her walking around with Mr. Dickface in tow. Usually if a joint wouldn't cure that, a long talk with Allison would. Bender found it ironic that when having a deep conversation with the girl, she seemed saner, wiser, than most normal people would. It was a shame that they both decided to keep their heads in the clouds for too long.
It was the second Monday in November now. Allison sat by herself in the corner of the cafeteria where she always sat. Bender would join her shortly with two of his stoner friends, Rudy and Tad. Both were tall, fairly decent looking, muscular guys with a liking for mischief. The four of them: Rudy, Tad, Bender, and Allison, made quite the team (except Allison still didn't like their smoking sessions. Something about pot always irked Allison, so she'd always withdraw until they sobered up). Allison sighed and looked out the window and waited with her unopened lunch bag. She had absolutely no appetite. Lately, she'd been feeling waves of nausea. She had the feeling that she was coming down with something. The nausea always came about in the morning and would be gone by lunch. But after that, she wouldn't have any appetite and she'd have to pee like hell, almost as if her bladder had shrunken about 3 inches in circumference. It was odd, she'd been sick before, but never in this weird pattern.
"What's new, Psycho?"
Allison looked up as her three new friends sat down around her. Allison smiled to the best of her ability. Bender noticed she looked a little pale, but he didn't say anything.
"I blasted a snot rocket at Vernon in history!" said Tad, proudly (Tad was the gross-out king who lived off of nasty bodily fluids and watching Animal House).
Bender laughed. "Did it hit him in the eye?"
"Guys, be cool in front of the lady!" insisted Rudy, who was the mature one. He always insisted on acting like their age. Nobody listened, so he'd usually end up joining them in their childish games. Allison liked it when Rudy told them to act nicely in front of her. It made her feel like she was worth something.
"I didn't even do it on purpose!" Tad said, ignoring Rudy. "I sneezed and the next thing I knew, Dick was wiping his cheek and assigning me a Saturday!"
"Finally, some company!" Bender sighed. Allison snorted. She'd gone to Saturday detention with Bender EVERY Saturday since Andy and Claire ditched them. Bender cleared his throat. "Finally! Some company who'll actually smoke with me!" Allison rolled her eyes.
Just then, Claire, arm-in-arm with Mr. Dickface, walked past the table with a few of her richie friends behind them. It almost looked like a wedding procession. Allison brushed her nose with her finger. Bender knew what that meant, and turned around and gave an intimidating look to Claire and Dickface. Dickface was unfazed, but Claire looked a little uncomfortable…as she did every day. They quickly moved by and sat down on the other side of the cafeteria. Claire gave Dickface a quick kiss before sitting down.
"I don't know why you wanted her at all, Johnny," said Rudy. "She's got one thing on her mind: how much guys are worth in Benjamins."
Bender nodded. "Well, you know what they say about guys with money…the bigger their trust funds…"
"…the smaller they are in the pants!" Tad chimed in. Allison snorted a laugh out her nose. She'd rather not have a dime to her name and be with these guys than have a million dollars and friends like Claire's.
"No doubt…I've got a monster in these jeans!" Bender proudly announced. A group of blonde Christian girls who sat at the next table over looked over at the table and groaned. Bender winked at them, and they quickly turned around.
Allison smirked. She couldn't help but suddenly think of Andy and where he was right now. Was he bringing his newfound tolerance to Kenosha? Or did he just revert back to his old jock ways because she wasn't around to keep an eye on him? Did he find a girl? Or did he just forget her? Allison would have these random thinking fits about Andy….her first love.
"Well, it wasn't like it would have lasted long anyways. Her parents woulda eventually realized she wasn't at the Country Club or in the limo with them!" said Rudy, biting an apple. Bender nodded.
"Mr. Dickface can make her happy…he could probably buy himself a bigger dick with his weekly allowance," Bender said.
"Yeah, but yours is au naturalle!" Tad said. "Surprised Al here hasn't wanted to take a peek!"
"You guys wish! The only reason yours is so massive is because it's been too busy hibernating in there and never gets a chance to exercise!" Allison said. All three guys laughed.
"Touché!" Rudy chuckled. Allison laughed and looked out the window again. She thought she saw a blue jay outside on the pavement the color of Andy's old jacket…
Suddenly, it felt like a shot of lightning split her abdomen. It was so sudden, so intense. It made her feel like her insides were on fire. Her stomach did flips and she suddenly got incredibly hot and began sweating. She began seeing blurry visions, her eyes watered, and her ears buzzed. Allison let out a squeak of distress and doubled over on her seat, turning red and squinting her eyes. "Ah!" she yelped. Bender immediately bent down beside her.
"Al! What's wrong?!" He asked.
"My….ah! It's huuurts…" Allison moaned, suddenly feeling like all her energy was drained out of her body. Bender threw an arm around her. Tad and Rudy shot out of their seats and ran around the table.
"She's sweating bullets," Rudy noted.
Tad nodded. "Get her to the nurse!"
Allison panted heavily as her heart began racing. "I…can't stand!" she whined. Some of the nearby tables began staring with interest.
"Common!" Bender grunted as he heaved Allison up into his arms. Rudy and Tad ran to the door and cleared a path so Allison and Bender could get through without having to push and shove people over. Bender and Allison quickly got out of the cafeteria, and all four people were headed for the nurses' station. Allison was overwhelmed. Bender had her in a very strong grip. He was almost panicky-looking….that wasn't his nature to panic over anything.
"I've been feeling queasy awhile….I think I've got the flu," Allison remarked breathlessly.
"We're almost there," Bender said as calmly as he could. A few more corners…and then…the stairs. Steep and spiraling. Impossible to descend when one was carrying a sick/hyperventilating person in their grip. Great.
"Shit," Tad moaned.
"The elevator!" Rudy pointed to the nearby single elevator (usually for teachers only). The door was closed. Rudy began madly pushing the button, and the elevator appeared with Vernon inside, looking through some files. Rudy dove into the elevator and shoved Vernon out.
"What the hell! Rudy Cavelli!" Vernon yelled in shock and annoyance. "That'll be a Saturday—"
"—rain check, Dick!" Tad called. Bender and Allison got themselves into the elevator. Rudy and Tad turned back for the stairs. The school had been built a long time ago, and the elevator lift was small. Rudy and Tad met Bender and Allison again at the bottom of the stairs. Another roadblock in the form of a heavy-set female security guard named Edna sat in the hallway on the way to the nurse's office.
"Hall pass?" asked Edna, seemingly unmoved by the sick girl in the arms of a freaked-out boy.
"Edna, doll…" Rudy began.
"No pass? I'll have to take you in to Vernon's offi—"
"—Oh for Christ's Sake!" Bender moaned, maneuvering around Edna and taking off down the hallway again. Edna turned around and hollered.
"Come back!" She turned to Rudy and Tad. "You four are in big trouble once I catch them!"
"They had a hall pass," Rudy said.
"Huh?"
"You didn't see it in his arm?" asked Tad.
"What? He didn't….what did it look like?"
"Black and white and red all over!" said Rudy. Edna paused a moment, then shook her head.
"You're going into Vernon's office, now!" Edna started walking in front of Rudy and Tad down the hallway. Tad leaned over to Rudy.
"She is sooo easy!"
"Damn nurses union or whatever the hell gives her 2 hours for lunch!" Bender groaned to himself. Allison was on a cot over by the door, sitting up straight, doubled over, moaning. The office smelled like a dentist's office. It was painted pure white, and had a few cots littered over the floor, a desk in the corner, and a cabinet which contained various emergency pills. Bender was sifting through the pills, looking for something with maybe a little bit of codeine…maybe if he was lucky, there were some allergy meds, they gave a nice buzz (depending on the brand, anyways). He knew he'd kinda lost his cool in the hallway, and he knew Allison was alright on the cot until the nurse got in. But the sign on the nurses' desk saying that she was on break until 1 PM made him so angry, he needed pills, even if they were baby aspirins. He looked at Allison for a moment, felt something in his chest drop down into his gut, then turned away to keep looking for "buzz pills." Maybe Allison would want some…she might not object to LEGAL drugs…
"It must be PMS, I skipped last month and am late this one…" Allison thought to herself. She remained quiet, except for omitting the occasional squeal for ill-received comfort.
"I'm gonna call someone in five minutes if she doesn't come back. What if someone had a heart attack right now in gym or something? I'm sure if the guy died and the nurse was on her goddamn lunch break, there's be lawsuits shoved 5 feet up her ass…." Bender muttered to himself. "Two hour lunch break…psh! I spend less time than that in school everyday!"
"What's all this?"
Bender slammed the cabinet door shut and whipped himself around to find the fat, lazy old nurse, Nurse Hale, standing in the doorway. Allison let out a squeak. Nurse Hale looked at her and suddenly got a worried look on her face.
"Who is this?"
"Allison Reynolds," answered Bender. "She's really sick."
"I can see that. You her brother?"
"No," said Bender.
"Go back to class then, she's really got something," Nurse Hale said.
"I can't go back," Bender said. "I'm too….I mean, she's gonna be alright?"
"God knows, she's sweating up a storm. Go back to class…" Nurse Hale insisted.
"No!" Bender insisted, harder. Nurse Hale looked up at him.
"Do you want me to call Principal Vernon?" she asked. Bender groaned. It would be a fight he lost, and he knew it. Bender nodded and slowly left the room, defeated.
He hated this. Normally, he'd skip if he felt like this (which he rarely did anyways). But having Allison in her condition kept Bender bound to the school. He barely knew what classes he had and where this afternoon. He wanted to make sure Allison was okay. After all, she'd done the same for him…defending him when Claire left him.
The day had never fully left his mind.