Chapter Eight
John had already left through the heating ducts to get back to the solitary area Principal Vernon was keeping him and, winding down from all the excitement, Andrew, Allison, Claire, Brian, and Aideen were sitting, in that order, on the railing near their desks. They were quietly enjoying each other's company when Claire got an idea, and turned to Brian.
"Brian?" she called and he turned to her.
"Yeah?" asked the boy, a small smile on his face.
"Are you gonna write your paper?" she questioned and his smile turned suspicious, though they all had a lot more trust for each other now than before.
"Yeah, why?" he asked her, biting his lip. Claire took a deep breath and, hoping that she didn't sound like she was using him, began.
"Well, it's kinda a waste for all of us to write our paper, don't you think?" she prompted, hoping he would reach the conclusion on his own. Aideen shook her head slightly, but she too was hoping Brian would go along with the plan.
"Oh," Brian realised, "but that's what Vernon wants us to do –"
"True," agreed Claire, cutting in before he could reject the suggestion, "but I think we'd all kinda say the same thing."
"You just don't want to write your paper," he scoffed, "Right?"
"True, but, you're the smartest, right?" continued Claire, stroking his ego to get him to agree. Aideen leaned in closer, nodding in agreement.
"You really are, Brian," she smiled in a friendly way.
"Oh, well," he blushed, full of pride for the words the girls were saying.
"We trust you," Claire assured him. Brian seriously considered the idea, glancing over at Allison and Andrew, who nodded in approval.
"Yeah," agreed the Athlete. Taking a deep breath, Brian sighed.
"Alright, I'll do it," he assured them and Claire leaned over, hugging him.
"Great," she grinned, kissing him on the cheek and turning to Allison, who stared back. After a moment, still with her smile on her face, Claire tugged on Allison's jumper, "C'mon," she said, preparing to jump down.
"Where're we going?" asked Allison cautiously as Claire got off the railing, tugging the Basket Case with her.
"Just come on," she smiled, and the two girls walked away towards the bathroom. Now left with the boys, Aideen sighed and jumped down, heading towards the door.
"Where're you going?" asked Brian, looking over at Aideen and she smiled.
"Out," she replied vaguely, though she knew the boys were aware of her intended destination. The redhead opened the library door and stuck her head out, checking for any signs of Principal Vernon.
When he was nowhere in the hall, or in his office, the girl smiled and headed out, darting quickly across the hallway in case Vernon emerged suddenly. She ducked into his office and picked up the key from his desk, unlocking the door to the closet he was no doubt keeping John in. Quietly as she could, she put the key back and opened the door, seeing John staring up at her from his place sat on the ground amongst the scattered files.
"You lost?" he asked, his expression slightly confused. Aideen walked in further, biting her lip and smiling slightly as she closed the door. After a moment, John smiled, too, and took her wrists, tugging her down to sit with him.
"I got bored," she excused, kneeling between his legs, facing him. John gave her a 'yeah right' look and she shrugged meekly. "I did – and I sorta..." she trailed off, looking away. John hooked his hand under her chin and brought her gaze back to him.
"Sorta what?" he asked, smiling but with a serious tone. Aideen sighed a little and took his hand from her chin, holding it in both her hands as she bit her lip again. Shaking his head, John leaned forwards until his lips were only an inch away from her lips. He paused.
Aideen leaned into him, their mouth connecting in a kiss, and John smiled into it as he placed a hand on the back of her head, the other going to her waist. The redhead wrapped both her arms around his neck and the two continued kissing, their eyes closed. John was relieved – he'd wanted to do this since she walked in. Aideen smiled – she never thought she'd finish her detention by kissing John Bender in a closet in their Principal's office.
When Aideen pulled back from the kiss, John leaned in for another, but the girl placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back. Ignoring his questioning look, the redhead wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, tears coming to her eyes. This was what she needed – what she'd needed for so many years; someone to hold her and comfort her. When John hugged her back, she felt so safe.
The two remained like that for a while, just hugging and not speaking, until John released her and stood up, bringing the redhead up with him. He smiled down at her and she smiled back before he turned her around, opening the door to the closet and gently nudging her out. Aideen turned around, tilting her head in question, and John shrugged.
"Detention's almost over," he told her, answering her silent question. "Better get back to the library before Dick find out you snuck out to see me."
"Okay," the girl agreed, turning to leave the office when John grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. He pulled her back and planted one last kiss on her lips.
"I'm walking you home," John told her and Aideen nodded, this time actually walking back into the library. When she got in, she smiled at Allison – who looked great with less eyeliner and her hair pulled off her face – and Claire, who was sitting with Brian, her head leaning on his shoulder while he wrote the paper, occasionally looking down at the pink-wearing redhead with a smile.
"Looks like everyone paired up, huh?" Claire mused with a wide smile, turning to Aideen. The Irish redhead blushed slightly and walked to her seat, Claire getting up to sit with her. "So, did you ever picture yourself with a bad-boy?" she asked.
"No," Aideen giggled, turning briefly to look at Brian, who playing with his pen having already finished the paper, "Did you ever picture yourself with a Brainiac?"
"Never," Claire grinned, looking at Brian. "I like him, though," she decided, nodding to herself. She played with her earring absently and noticed Aideen staring at the diamonds – she saw for the first time the girl's silver lightning-bolt earrings and gasped, "Oh, wow!"
"What?" asked Aideen; she was alarmed at the sudden outburst. Claire laughed a little.
"Nothing, I just love your earrings," she said, reaching over and touching one of the cool silver dangles. Aideen smiled.
"I like yours, too," she replied quietly, looking away. The difference was; Claire could buy herself lightning-bolt earrings in an assortment of metals and colours, while Aideen would likely never own diamond studs. A thoughtful look crossed Claire's face, but Principal Vernon stepped in before either girl could say anything more.
"Alright," he announced, pushing John in the room, "Get out of here. I have to get something from my office, so leave your papers here and I'll collect them on my way back. You can go," he said, turning and walking into his office – this time, however, he shut the door.
"Oh, man!" groaned Andrew, throwing his arms in the air, "Finally!"
The five walk down the hall, smiling and talking to each other happily, and passed Carl. Busy sweeping up dirt from the floor, Carl only noticed them when he heard footsteps and looked up, a smile on his face. Brian, unembarrassed now to be friends with the janitor, nodded at him in greeting. Everyone else did the same as they passed the school employee, who looked upon the mismatched group in what could only be described as awe. A few hours and the six most unexpected people were suddenly friendly and relatively close to one another; stranger things may have happened, but he could not currently think of anything.
"See ya, Brian," he says eventually, leaning on his broom and waving at the young boy.
"Bye, Carl," Brian smiled, his arms around Claire and Allison as they walk out the door.
"See you next Saturday," bid John as he and Aideen passed him.
"See you then," the Irish girl smiled from under John's arm. Carl grinned.
"You bet!" he agreed, patting John's back as he smiled at Aideen.
Out in the car-park, Brian was just getting into his dad's car when Claire hurried forwards and kissed his cheek, smiling at him. Grinning giddily, Brian kissed hers back and got into the car. Without waiting for Brian to even buckle his belt, his dad started the engine and left. Claire waved after him and John lifted his hand, leaning over so Brain could see him and Aideen in the rear-view mirror. Then Brain smiled as he looked at his unexpected friends, waving through his side-window until the car was out of view.
Allison's ride pulled into the car-park as she and Andrew kiss gently. The girl then leaned back, grinning as she ripped a patch off Andrew's jacket and backed away slowly, showing him the patch with a smile. She held his jumper tighter around her shoulders as she turned and got into the car. No sooner than Allison had opened the door did Andrew's dad arrive and look at him, waiting for his son to get in the car. Realising that Andrew was distracted his dad turned and looked at Allison, raising an eyebrow.
Andrew got into the car and they drove off, Allison and her dad pulling out soon after. Claire stood with John and Aideen, chatting with them quietly before her dad drove up to her. She paused, turning to them and taking out her earrings, handing both to Aideen with a smile. The other redhead grinned back and held them tightly in one hand, using the other to take out her lightning earring and handing them to Claire. Grinning at each other, the girls put in their new earrings as Claire waved to them both, getting into the car and driving away.
John waited for Aideen to put the earrings in before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders again. Blushing, Aideen leant into his shoulder and John smiled, leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips. After pulling back, he steered them towards the football field and the duo headed away from the car-park to begin their walk home.
Principal Vernon entered the empty library, scanning the desks for the essays he knew the students hadn't written. Just as he was about to give up his search, he spotted one piece of paper on the middle desk, to the right of the rows. Walking over, he picked up the paper and scanned the essay. A thoughtful look appeared on his face as he sat on the edge of the desk.
"Dear Mr. Vernon," Brian's voice sounded, speaking the words, "we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us; in the simplest terms – in the most convenient definitions."
John and Aideen left the car-park, waving slightly to their friends as they drove away. The two then carried on and walked over the football field hand-in-hand, their finger entwined.
"But what we found out is that each one of us is a Brain..." informed Brian, trailing off as the handwriting changed.
"...and an Athlete..." voiced Andrew.
"...and a Basket-Case..." Allison said.
"...a Princess..." mused Claire.
"...a Loner..." Aideen muttered.
"...and a Criminal," finished John.
"Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours,"
"The Breakfast Club," they all said in union.
Aideen turned, looking back at the school over John's shoulder with a smile as he threw his fist in the air in victory.
A/N: This story is now complete! Thanks for reading, please review if you haven't already and tell me what you think :)