"You, Psycho, get over here!"

Being invisible was impossible for her now.

It kind of came with a territory, what with dating Andy so out of the blue. She'd expected absolutely nothing to happen on Monday morning; not for Brian to catch her in the hallway, talking to her the whole twenty minutes before the first period began. Not for Claire to approach her with far too much cheerfulness for the morning, greeting her as if they'd always been friends. Not for Bender to come strolling in, giving her a nod and a see you at lunch, Klepto .

And certainly not for Andy to unexpectedly pull her into his arms, giving her a kiss that made her knees weak-not that she would admit to him.

"Morning," he grinned.

"Andy, they're staring," she mumbled, uncomfortable by the way they were being watched. Like-

Like some kind of freak show.

Because of her, technically. She was the freak. The Basket Case kissing the star athlete.

"Let 'em," he said simply, giving her a once over. "Didn't like Claire's makeover?"

"It's not me," she said stiffly. Here it comes. The part where he started to lose interest because she wasn't some shiny plastic doll like all those others-

"That's okay. I like you however you look. Whatever you're comfortable in."

Just like that, her thoughts stopped. "You do?"

"I do," he confirmed, his arms pulling her in closer than they already were.

Life had really changed since that day in detention. Andy quit the wrestling team without warning. Just told the coach he was through and that was it. His father was livid , apparently. He screamed at Andy until his voice went hoarse but his son didn't care.

He told Allison how free he felt now. And she could see it in him, too. He smiled more often, laughed more. Didn't even care that his former friends abandoned him and he was no longer considered popular. Without the athlete title, he was a nothing. A nothing just like her.

And he was alright with that.

It wasn't any better for Claire. Much to the disgust of the girls she used to be around, she kissed Bender right in the middle of the school yard. Allsion had been lounging with Andy under a tree, curled in his side while Brian was beside them, writing an essay for English.

A blonde that Allison suspected to be the leader of the group, had screeched in surprise.

"What are you doing?"

"It wasn't clear?" Came Bender's snarky response.

Claire gently pulled herself from Bender, staring at the girl determinedly. "I'm making a choice. For me. And if you don't like it then that's too bad."

"Tell 'em, Cherry," Bender smirked.

The whispers started immediately .

Claire lost her status too. Thrown out of the group for having no respect for herself by sitting with the losers and kissing filth . A part of her was in disbelief, having known these girls since first grade and they just tossed her to the side like garbage in a matter of seconds. Another part, deep down, knew it would happen. It was bound to. The princess couldn't associate with a criminal without consequences.

Allison thought Claire would go back to the group, begging for forgiveness. She did not. She stayed with them, embracing the change wholeheartedly. She and Andy both eventually apologized to those they'd wronged, wanting- really wanting-to become better people.

Brian received a lot of support from them. Nobody had forgotten that he'd nearly been driven to suicide because of some stupid grade. His shop grade was helped namely by Bender, who acted like he didn't really care but they all knew better. They couldn't fix his parents, but they could be there for him.

They'd do the same for Bender. They knew it meant more to him than he would ever admit.

Allison turned slowly to see one of those jocks, the brown haired guy that Andy no longer hung out with, staring at her with a tight jaw. Most of the lunch room stopped to stare. Typical . Claire and Andy weren't there yet but Bender and Brian were. "Can I help you?" She said sarcastically.

She used to hide. She used to not say much. It was better being invisible. Nobody would bother her. Now it was impossible. Though not popular , she was being talked about a lot since the five of them started being friends.

And well, she had no patience for anyone about to give her crap over it.

"What'd you do to him?" The guy came closer, lips curling into a sneer.

She did not show fear or back down. "With who ?" She raised a brow.

"You know who I'm talking about!" He poked her roughly in the shoulder blade.

"Hey!" Bender barked, jumping to his feet with Brian attempting to calm him down unsuccessfully. "Leave her alone!"

"This isn't any of your concern," Brown haired Guy scoffed, eyes refocusing on her.

"Wanna bet?" Bender huffed through his nose like a bull.

Brian hastily came to the middle of them. "Let's not escalate this," he said.

"Go back to your books, Nerd!" Brown Haired Guy shoved Brian, causing him to stumble backwards.

Allison's temper flared. She wasn't about to let some stupid jock push around her friends. "Don't shove him!"

"What are you gonna do about it, Psycho?" He taunted.

"One more word, Hall," Bender threatened, "one more word !"

"It's okay," Brian said quickly to her. "I'm fine, see?"

"That's not the point!" She snapped.

"Don't tell me you're two-timing Clark with him ?" Hall snickered.

"We're not dating!" Brian protested.

"If you get out of here, Hall, I might let you keep your teeth."

"I'm shaking in my boots," Hall drawled. "I just wanna know what you did to Clark, Psycho? Put a spell on him or somethin'?"

She didn't care that those nearby laughed. But Bender did.

"You little-"

"John!" Claire said, her voice a higher pitch than usual. "What are you doing?"

"Just about to teach Jock Boy here a lesson," Bender cracked his knuckles.

"Honey, we talked about this," she groaned.

"Ali?" Andy was suddenly beside Claire, concerned and soon-angry when he noticed Hall.

"I'm fine," Alison said before he could say anything else.

"What'd he do to you?" He said as if she never spoke.

"I didn't do anything to your precious Psycho, Clark," Hall sneered again.

"Don't call her that!"

"Why so touchy among friends, Clark?"

"You're not my friend," Andy said coldly. "Not anymore."

"You're not much of anything anymore, are you?" Hall's hands were clenched. "Not since you ditched us for them ."

"They're my real friends," he said quietly.

"Real friends, huh?" Hall gave a mirthless laugh. 'Your daddy was right, Clark, you are a big disappointment."

It was like Andy had been slapped. He flinched.

"Oh, yeah. We all heard that, didn't we boys?" Hall said which soon gave way to a chorus of affirmations.

Andy's dad hadn't only screamed at him at home. He'd tried to force him to attend practices anyway, going ballistic when he refused.

"You take that back !"

Everyone seemed to stare at her now.

"What?" Hall said tersely.

"I said, take it back," Allison stepped closer, glaring. "He's not a disappointment."

Andy's face softened.

"You gonna make me, Basket Case?"

Being around Bender had given her some confidence-not to mention, being with Andy had helped of course -it'd also given her some fighting skills.

Claire and Brian watched, horrified, as Allison leaped onto Hall, knocking then both down. She raised her fist in the air and nailed him in the face.

Andy was clearly torn as to whether he should be supporting this not. But his petty side, the one who had beef with Hall, won. He cheered her on, not that she heard much of it over all the commotion.

"I taught her that!" Bender kept repeating, looking proud.

/

"You didn't have to defend me, you know," Andy whispered later as he tended to her bruised hand.

She was facing detention with Vernon for who knows how long but it was well worth it.

"If I don't, who will, Sporto?"

With their foreheads against each other, they became lost in a kiss that Allison would never imagined having in all her life.

Maybe she wasn't invisible anymore, but somehow she didn't mind that much.