Chapter Five: After the Party

Friday, March 5th Later that night

By the time John had stopped the car in his driveway Claire was in a deep sleep. He looked at her for a few moments contemplating what to do. "Claire?" He asked softly as he leaned into her. He could smell the sweetness of her. Something that smelt tangy and warm. Almost a tangerine smell.

When the red head didn't respond, John stepped out of the car and walked to Claire's side, opening the door and lifting her out of the car. He then proceeded to carry her into his house. The only reason he had chose this place was because his parents were gone for the weekend, spending what little money they had at the casino. Once he opened the door he regretted it.

There were clothes strewn about all over the couches and cold pizza with a side of molding chip dip on the table. Why had he brought her here? Leaving would be an option if he had somewhere to take her. His room was far from clean, he thought, but at least it wasn't growing anything.

John boarded the steps and brought Claire to his room where he laid her on his bed. Smirking, he stepped back and looked at Claire. How likely was it that she of all people would be laying there on his bed? It was slightly erotic. He wouldn't mind spending some time with her in the bed.

He sighed and tried to shake the feelings away. Claire was a girl that you lusted over, had wet dreams over, not the girl that you have feelings for.

Feelings? Is that what this is? A week ago, the thought would have made him laugh. Now he wasn't so sure.

John left the room quickly before he got anymore ideas, especially any ideas that involved Claire and his bed.

Saturday, March 06th

Claire opened her eyes a little. She was in a room lit only by a small stream of light that came in from the nearly closed door. Where was she? Where was John?

Slowly, the girl swung her legs off of what she realized was a bed. They touched a cold surface. Not the carpet from home. So she had established she wasn't in her room. Her heart raced for a second as she tried to recover the night's events. She'd never woken up in a strange bed before.

"Hello?" She said in a whisper, walking towards the door. She pushed it open and stepped out into a hallway that was lined with baskets of dirty laundry and boxes of old junk. The smell that came to her nose was almost like a smell she was so familiar with. Gym class. It smelt like sweaty boys and dirty socks.

John had taken her some place, she remembered. Was this his home?

"Hello?" She said a little louder, looking left and then right. She decided to go right, towards the stairs. "John?"

Once she reached the top of the stairs John swung around the corner at the bottom and looked up at her. His eyes were wide and unsure.

"Hey..." He said. "Sleep well?"

"Um... hey," She walked to the bottom of the stairs. John stood in her way. "How long was I out?"

She glanced behind him into what appeared to be a living room. It was significantly cleaner than the upstairs.

"A few hours. Well... all night,"

"What is that smell?" She asked knowing full well what it was; chemicals, cleaners. John was cleaning his house. Claire stepped a little closer, hoping that he would back away and she could catch him in the act. He didn't budge. She was now only an inch away. "Are you cleaning for me?" Looking up at him she couldn't help but smile.

This close she could just feel the heat from his body soaking through her clothes. She could move one inch further and kiss him.

Surprising Claire ae smirked a little and backed away.

He knew he'd regret it.

John watched Claire as she scooped up a spoonful of cheerios and shoved them in her mouth. She looked over at him and raised one of her elegant eyebrows as if questioning what he was looking at.

"Sorry we didn't have any sushi for you," He said teasingly.

Claire gave a small nod and swallowed the mouthful. "I should really be getting home soon."

Suddenly, John's mood sank a little. It wasn't exactly the time of his life, but he was having fun with her.

"My grandmother is coming over tomorrow so we have to clean house, bake cookies, the whole nine yards. It's my dad's mom and she hates my mom so it's always a competition between the two to see who treats my father better. I don't know why my mother even tries. She hates my dad." Claire frowned a little.

"You ok to go home? It's not that I really care... Just don't want to be blamed for the death of the prom queen."

"If I die, I never got the chance to become queen; therefore you have nothing to worry about." She stood up and took the empty bowl to the sink.

"True," John stood up too and watched her. "So... you are fine?"

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were concerned for me."

"Good thing you know me then," John shot at her in a joking manner.

"Thanks for letting me stay here," Claire said with a smile.

John nodded and motioned for her to follow. He walked her to the door where her keys sat on a side table. "No problem. My parents will be gone all weekend." He gave a wink. "Come back anytime you want a quicky."

"See you at school, John!" Claire grabbed her keys and darted out the door ignoring his last few sentences.

John stood there for a few minutes, upset with himself. Why didn't he just ask her to the out? A girl like Claire would want to go to the prom. Why didn't he ask her to that?

Why did he even want to go with her? Why would he want to go at all?

Word circulated about stuff quickly at school, she began to think. She hoped that no one at school would realize she spent the night at his house. If they knew, her sister would know and then her parents would know. It would be a triple threat all at once. That, she couldn't handle.

She had to get home quickly.

Claire hopped into the car, started it and reversed out of John's driveway. Her eyes narrowed as she jerked the car into drive and began thinking up excuses to tell everyone in her life.

Excuses, she laughed. More like lies.

Andy contemplated a lot on his way to the music store. He wanted to feel things out with Allison perhaps, just to see how it would go between them. Then, if it did, in a matter of time, they'd be at prom together. Andy was to the point that he didn't care too much what everyone else would think. Stepping out of his car, Andy pocketed the keys and looked at the building. He just hoped she'd be working today. He started for the building, pausing at the door.

Was this really a good idea?

Maybe it was a good idea, but it wasn't a bad idea. They could grab some coffee, hang out for a little.

Andy tossed away all of his thoughts for a few moments as he walked into the store and sent himself straight to the counter.

"Hey," said a small girl from behind the counter. She looked anything but friendly with her pierced eyebrows and rings through her nose. "What do you want preppy boy?"

Andy shook his head and spoke, "I was just wondering if Allison was here,"

"Weird, awkward girl?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows. "Why? You her brother?"

"I'm just a friend,"

The girl shook her head. "She left a few hours ago I think." When Andy didn't leave right away she added, "You want me to take a damn message or something?"

Shaking his head, Andy headed for the door.

"Hey! Andy!"

Andy turned as he heard his name. Brian stood there, smirking.

"What are you doing here?" He looked at the door that Andy had just come through. "Come to see a particular, brown haired girl?"

Andy shook his head. He was a little annoyed to be bothered by Brian right now. "I just wanted to see if Allison was doing alright."

Brian nodded. "She's doing ok. She's a strong girl. How are you doing?"

"I starting to feel like life has no meaning. It's pointless. You know?" Andy chuckled a little. He sounded pathetic. "That didn't come out in the right way. I just mean, nothing means the same to me now as it did before our detention."

It wasn't just Allison, although she was a big part of it. It was simply the connection to people he would have never known otherwise.

"I see. Are you questioning your identity? My mother was questioning hers for a while. She had an affair with the plumber and my father when he was questioning his... well, he bought a sports car and had an affair with his secretary in the car,"

Andy was amused a little by Brian's ranting. "Back onto the subject, do you know when she works next? I'd ask the pierced beauty at the counter," He said sarcastically. "But she isn't being exactly helpful. And to be honest, she kind of scares me.

Brian shrugged. "I know she typically works the weekend mornings. You could always just come talk to her at lunch."

"Thanks." Said Andy. "I have to be going now. I'll see you around,"

"Yea!" Brian spoke loudly, as if trying to associate himself with Andrew. "My boy Andy! I'll see you around too!"

Allison walked home by herself. She cuddled close to the Def Leppard record she'd just bought. She didn't want to be alone at that moment, but she had no one else to be with. She could try to talk to her mom tonight. See if she'd finally pay her a little bit of attention. Allison frowned, weakly. Yeah, right. That would happen when birds flew.

Allison saw a car out of the corner of her eye, easing to slow down and drive next to her. She didn't look over, afraid that it'd be some freakish jock and his friends, out to torment her. The car honked and then the passenger rolled down his window.

"Hey there beautiful!" Allison looked over. She recognized the two guys from her school. She didn't know their names though. "Want to go party with us?

Allison rolled her eyes and sped up her walking a little. This was old already. These boys had been harassing her off and on for the past year. They went to her school and she even shared a few study periods with them in which they'd throw paper at her head or make absurd comments about her.

The car stopped fully. Once the engine stopped, Allison heard one car door slam and then another. She quickened her pace once again, almost sprinting down the sidewalk. This was new, they'd never gotten out of the car. A moment later, Allison felt a hand on her shoulder that spun her around harshly. She fell backwards, her purse and record flying out of her hands before she hit the ground.

Looking up, her eyes connected with the boys. She stood up and brushed herself off before collecting her things. Another harsh push sent her flying into the bushes. She came out on the other side of the bushes in some overgrown yard.

"What are you waiting for? Go get her. I'll keep a look out!" She heard one of the boys say.

Immediately, Allison was on her feet, running across the yard. She left her personal items laying where they were. She didn't care about that stuff at the current moment. As she ran for the hedges on the opposite side of the yard, her body was once again thrown to the ground and a large heavy object fell on top of her.

She grunted uncomfortably as she was turned over and she found the smaller of the two guys on top of her. He was probably a whole head shorter than her, but he was also a wrestler. She was no match. He began grabbing at her sweater, tearing a few buttons off in the process.

"What's happening over here?" Allison heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the hedges that she'd been pushed through.

"Oh..." The boy on the other side stumbled. "Mack is in there playing around with a girl,"

The boy on top of Allison, apparently name Mack, looked over towards the voices for a moment. She took this opportunity, brought a fist up and cracked it on the side of his head as hard as she could. She yelped in pain as the fist connected. She then brought her knee up into the boy's groin and watched in grim, satisfaction as he rolled off.

"Sounds like she's not enjoying it," The new guy said. There was a rustling in the bushes.

Allison looked over at it, her eyes widening in fear. She jumped up and ran again, but was tripped by Mack's hand grabbing her ankle.

"What the hell's going on?" The voice asked.

Allison looked up and saw Arthur McClellan from her science class standing over Mack. He delivered a kick to Mack's stomach and walked over to Allison. Arthur was a jock, but also a very intelligent and nice guy. He had, at one time, offered to be Allison's partner when no one else wanted to form a group with her for a biology assignment.

Mack got up slowly. "I was only playing around. She wanted it... didn't you?"

Allison had no words. She was grateful and terrified at the same time. As Arthur helped her up, she collapsed again and began to weep

Arthur squatted by Allison and rubbed her back a little. He stayed with her for a little while as she cried. Mack and the other guy had left as quickly as they'd come, probably in fear of a whipping from Arthur.

"You ok Ally?" He asked softly. "They didn't do anything serious to you did they?"

Allison shook her head. They'd tried to hurt her and break her, but that wasn't serious, she thought bitterly.

"Let me walk you home," Arthur helped her stand up and then walked across the lawn looking for her scattered items from her purse.

Allison wiped her face clean and attempted a smile when Arthur handed over her purse. Her fake smile faded instantly as he also handed over two halves to a Def Leppard record. He shook his head.

"I'll get you another one. Those guys are jerks"

Allison said nothing as the two of them walked home. They reached her door within a few minutes.

"Thanks," She mumbled as she boarded the stairs.

"Allison," Arthur said, waiting for her to turn around. When she didn't he simply added, "I know what they did was wrong... nothing happened though, so let's just keep this between us"

Shaking her head, Allison opened her door and stepped into a whole other type of hell. Her home life.