As the rebel, the brain, the jock, the basket case and the princess settled into their spring Saturday morning detention, Richard Vernon came into the library practically dragging a 16 year old girl in with him. This girl was dressed in a gray zip-up hoodie, the hood pulled up in an effort to cover her face, jeans and sneakers. A backpack was slung over her shoulder.
"Sit down!" Vernon barked at the girl. She shuffled towards a chair in the very back of the room.
"NOW!"
She flinched at the sound of his voice, the volume reminding her too much of a different setting.
"I'm sure you all know what to do by now," Vernon said. So you write your essay and shut up." He left the library, only to poke his head back in for just a moment. "Oh, that girl in the back of the room is Sara," he said before leaving again.
Andrew turned his head towards Sara and said, "Hi, I'm Andrew." Sara just stared at the table.
"Hey," Andrew said again trying to introduce himself. Sara, realizing this jock wasn't going to go away, decided to respond. "Hi," she said.
"It speaks," Andrew said to the group.
"Andrew, leave her alone," Claire said.
"But-
"You heard Claire, Andy." Allison told Andrew. "Why don't you just back off?"
Allison didn't seem as crazy as she had appeared upon their first encounter, but Andrew wasn't stupid enough to cross the 2 girls and face their wrath. So he turned away from Sara and pulled out his English homework.
Bender, on the other hand, could care less if the girls were pissed off at him. So he got up from his seat and sat down across from Sara and just stared at her. Sara was running her fingers over the lines ingrained in the wood of the library table until she got tired of this "bad boy" staring at her.
"What?" she almost screamed at him. He just smirked at her and continued to stare.
"Bender!" Richard Vernon yelled, coming out of his office. "Get back in your seat!"
Sara tried to stop herself from flinching, but was unsuccessful. Bender took notice and then unwillingly obeyed Vernon. John Bender was a better person than he had been 2 years ago, thanks to his dad leaving. His home life was better but he still loved to give Vernon hell. So he saluted Vernon and said, "Yes sir, Principal Vernon sir," walked back to his seat in a military style march, sat down and put his feet on the table before winking at Vernon. Allison smirked at this and Andrew held in a laugh. Sara bit back a smile.
11 am
Most of the morning had been spent in silence with the occasional scratching of a pencil. Then a voice broke the silence.
"Okay you delinquents, lunch break. You have 1 hour," said Vernon before glaring at them and then hiding back in his office like a little rat.
(A/N: Okay I am only saying this once. Vernon = vermin = rat…anyone disagree with me?)
Andrew dug into his bag and pulled out, what seemed to be, enough food for an army. Tossing around sandwiches, "Turkey for Claire. BLT for Allison."
"Thanks Andrew," the girls said.
"Thank my mom. She made them." Andrew's mom knew the reason behind the detentions and so she made enough food for everyone, like it was a typical Saturday playdate with friends. Digging back into his bag, he pulled out 3 more sandwiches. "Pastrami for Brian and Roast Beef for Bender." Tossing them the meat filled food, he unwrapped his own ham and cheese and pulled out 2 bags of BBQ chips.
"Hey Brian, what's Vernon doing?"
Brian casually looked in the direction of the principal's office. "It's safe," Brian confirmed before Andrew left his seat and placed half of his sandwich by Sara along with a few chips.
Sara looked at him and said, "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Andrew noticed she didn't have any lunch and wanted to share his. If he had let her go hungry and his mom found out, he would have gotten the lecture of a lifetime.
Eating lunch they all chatted quietly as Brian dug out his pen and paper, getting ready to write the rough draft of their essay. Andrew, who had moved back to his seat, noticed what Brian was doing. So did Bender.
"No," Bender said, taking the pen from Brian's hands. "The new girl should do the honors."
Andrew took the paper from Brian and set it down on Sara's table along with a pen. "Write."
"What?" she said slightly bewildered.
"Write. Today you write our legendary essay."
"Why should I do your homework?"
The five of them then explained the essay and their group, how everything started and why they continued it. Sara was amazed that the 5 students in front of her would go to such lengths to keep the friendship that they had acquired. Sure to some people it might seem stupid, but in her mind it was the most awesome thing she had ever heard or seen. Not to mention deep and uplifting (emotionally anyway).
3 pm
Sara was putting the finishing touches on the legendary essay when everything started catching up to her. She been feeling like crap all day and now, well…
Her handwriting was getting shaky, so she set down the pencil for a minute and closed her eyes, trying to get herself together so she could finish writing and go outside. She could use the fresh air. 'Just a few minutes' she thought. Of course the bad boy (former bad boy anyway) John Bender noticed.
"You look like shit Sara," he said.
Then Andrew looked in her direction. Going over to her he asked her, "Sara? Are you okay?"
She nodded, which made her feel like she wanted to throw up. "Fine," she said her voice almost in a whisper.
Andrew didn't believe her. Looking at the clock he saw it was only just 3 o'clock. "We've still got an hour," he said to no one in particular.
"Is she going to be okay for another hour?" Brian asked the guys. "If she's not maybe we should leave now."
The group looked at him in shock. Brian was the rule-follower. He had loosened up since that eventful Saturday, but for him to suggest that they cut out of detention was crazy. And an hour early at that. But Brian had a point. The fun part was to do this and get past Vernon undetected.
"Claire, get her bag." Andrew told her. Claire picked up her backpack. Andrew grabbed a metal trash basket from beside the circulation desk (in case she threw up) and Bender stood beside the girl.
"Where in the hell are you delinquents going?" It was the rat. Richard Vernon himself.
"We're out of here, you little rat," Allison told him.
"Yeah," Andrew said. "We need some fresh air."
"Return that waste receptacle to its proper place and place your butts back in their seats."
"Fine," said Andrew. "Then Sara can throw up all over you." Before Vernon could respond, Bender told him, "She's sick and we're all leaving to make sure she gets home safe." Then the group walked out before Vernon could blink.
Going outside the group split up by the bleachers. Bender stayed with Sara. They sat down and Bender took another look at her. "Alright, who's been smacking you around?"
Sara started to tremble. She was wondering how this boy could know.
"You don't have to tell me, but I thought it might help." Waiting only a moment with her not saying anything he said, "My dad use to spend what seemed like every waking moment smacking me around. He took off almost 2 years ago."
"Frank," Sara said. "He-
Whatever she was about to say, was promptly cut off by her bending over and retching into the grass in front of her. John Bender gently rubbed her back and that's when he saw the blood. As Sara finished throwing up, Bender asked her, "Wanna come over to my house? My mom's making meatloaf."
"I gotta go. Thanks anyway."
"You sure? We can clean up that blood."
Sara sighed and immediately winced, her back hurting. "What's the catch?" She asked him.
He shook his head. "No catch. I'm just offering some first aid, not to mention some amazing meatloaf with the traditional mashed potatoes and green beans. Maybe some cake for desert. I might even talk my mom into sending you home with some leftovers."
She wasn't sure why she was going to agree but she did. "Okay."
As they walked towards Dunston Rd. everything was silent until…
"Sara Thompson."
"John Bender."
Introductions were made.
4 pm
Richard Vernon went into the library to retrieve the essay…
Dear Mr. Vernon,
This being my first detention and on a Saturday no less. I have one thing to say…
YOU SUCK!
Saturdays are meant to be free and relaxing, not be spent in a library, held hostage with a rat.
That being said, with me finding myself amongst the misfits you also assigned detention too, I have to admit that this was one of the best Saturdays of my existence. Since moving here, my life has been hell.
But today I made new friends and might have just been granted a fresh start. So I end today with new friends, newfound confidence and a better understanding of myself.
Sincerely yours,
Sara Thompson
Saturday Library Hostage and…
The Dreamer AKA The Newest Member of the Breakfast Club
P.S.
From the rest of the Breakfast Club… The Brain, the Athlete, the Basket Case, the Princess and the Criminal…
You might want to check your briefcase…
Richard Vernon did… and was met with Sara's vomit from right after lunch.