Brian and John were waiting outside school together. I was terrified to walk over, but Brian saw me and waved.

I couldn't just ditch them now, so I walked over.

"Hey Brian. Hey John." I tried to say in a calm voice.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Bender to come along," Brian said.

"No, not at all. I invited Andy and Allison too, so it will be like a reunion," I said.

"So, you'll never believe what Bender did for me today," Brian said. I just looked at him waiting for him to finish, and he said, "He talked to Mr. Smith and convinced him to let me redo my project, and John said he would help me so I could get my grade up,"

I looked at John in surprise, "You did all that for Brian?" I asked.

"I'm pretty good in shop, and Mr. Smith loves me, so I thought I could help," Bender said.

"I think that's great," I told John with a smile. I could tell he was proud of himself too even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Oh, and Claire, I'm really sorry about your trig grade. If you need help, I could tutor you," Brian said.

"Oh, Brian that would be great. It never makes sense, and I think I'm getting a C in there," I hugged Brian, and I could tell John was jealous.

I gave John a smile, and I hoped he understood that Brian was just a friend.

Andy and Allison arrived hand in hand. Allison had listened to some of my advice, and her hair was out of her face, but her black shit was back.

She looked at me and was about to offer an explanation, but I had to cut her off. "You look great. I love the new look,"

She just looked at me and smiled.

"So, Allison, how is it being with Mr. Andrew Clark?" I asked.

"It's different. I feel like people are either going to stab me for dating him or wondering what I'm doing to get him to notice me,"

"I think you had me when you told me you were a nymphomaniac," Andy said, and Allison playfully punched him in the arm.

"I was just kidding about that," she said.

"Well, that's really all it takes. If Claire would have said that, she would be in my arms right now," Bender joked.

"Well, I'm just a tease, so too bad," I said with a smile.

"Did you guys honestly think we would end up like this?" Brian asked.

"No way," Bender said. "If someone would have told me yesterday that I would be going to get coffee with the four of you, I would have asked if he were high,"

"If someone would have told me that I was going to be dating Andrew Clark, I would have laughed in their face," Allison said.

"Hey, what's wrong with dating me?" Andy asked.

"Nothing, hun, but I never really thought you were my type. You always seemed too cool for me. If I would have known you were into the weird girls, I would have been all over you,"

Things just felt so right with these people. We laughed and joked for hours, and although we did get a few weird looks, we never seemed to notice.

After 2 hours, we all decided it was time to go home. Brian and I made plans for tutoring tomorrow after school, and John promised to be at school tomorrow to help Brian with his makeup assignment.

We all exchanged phone numbers, and we all knew who to call for what type of emergency.

As I was on my way to walk out the door, John stopped me. John looked at Brian, and Brian gave him a look of encouragement.

He had been quiet for most of the day, but then he asked me something I never expected to hear from John Bender. "Can I walk you home?"

"I would love that," I said as I smiled back at Andy.