Chapter Seven:

Tuesday, March 16

Bender cornered Claire the next morning. There was a half an hour before homeroom and there she was standing outside of the painting room, arms folded across her chest, looking thoughtfully at the display of still life's.

"Hey!" John smiled as she turned towards him. He was nervous to be talking to her, but with no one in the halls at this time of the morning, he was a little easier about it.

Claire's face brightened, causing John to become even more nervous. She looked genuinely pleased to see him. His heart almost skipped a beat as he stood next to her and gave her a small look up and down. She was wearing a nice, tight black shirt with a pink coat and sweat pants. It wasn't her typical look, but it looked oddly good on her.

"Hey John,"

"What's with the clothes," He tugged at her shirt, his fingers brushing against her stomach. The warmth of her skin tugged at him.

"I slept over at Kelly's last night. Her clothing selection isn't great and I didn't want to borrow anything I might ruin. We are doing painting after school,"

John smirked. "I see you are running for prom queen, eh?"

Rolling her eyes, Claire began to explain, "Yeah. It was a huge mess up really. I didn't want to run, but Kelly and the art club nominated me"

"So I take it you are going to be going to prom"

"They talked me into running, so I'll be there"

John nodded, "Who's the lucky guy that gets to take your cherry?" He meant it as a tease. As soon as he said it, he realized that it was a bit out of line.

Claire's eyes narrowed. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. You know. A lot of girls lose their virginity on prom night is all. Especially the prom queen"

"I'm not a lot of girls and I don't appreciate you putting me with that group of girls," She sighed. "God John, you are a complete ass hole sometimes."

For a second Claire thought she saw his features lined with an unspoken apology. Then he opened his mouth. "At least I'm true to myself"

Yeah right, Claire thought bitterly. He was only talking to her at that moment because there was no one else in the hallways to see them hanging out. He wouldn't want to lose his reputation as resident bad ass.

"Screw that! I'm true to myself! You are the one who's hiding behind this mask. This fake womanizer reputation you have,"

John laughed at her words, "You don't know me Claire. You can't judge me,"

"You don't know me either and you chose to judge me. What makes you better than me? What makes you so special that you can be a complete jerk to everyone? You can dish it out, but you can't take it?" Claire turned from John and started down the hallway. "I can't talk to you now"

Claire chose to leave because she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't know why she was letting him affect her like this. Their whole relationship was based on anger, arguments and a few lousy kiss in detention. Scratch that, she thought. That was one hell of a kiss.

Claire walked down the dimly lit hallway by herself. The lights weren't completely on to conserve energy in the early morning when there were only a very few students roaming the hall. Presently, no one was around.

"Claire! Wait up!" John jogged up next to her.

Claire turned around and looked up him. She hoped her eyes weren't reddened from nearly crying. "So what are you doing here so early anyway?" She asked bitterly.

"I noticed you're always here early," He paused and considered his words. "Being on time it early to me. Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you and see how your head was"

"That was over a week ago. It's fine," Claire looked away. "So you came here when you knew no one would be around to see how I was doing? How sweet"

John sighed heavily. "You know what Claire," It was a statement, not a question.

As Claire turned her head to look at him he took the opportunity. He pushed her back against the wall, listening to her gasp a little as she hit the wall. He leaned in quickly, before she could realize what he was up to, and kissed her hard. Claire let her hands travel to his coat neck and pull him closer, deepening the kiss. John's hands swept over her stomach, over the shirt and to her hips. He pulled her lower half close to his groin. She was lost for a few moments, her eyes closed in a dreamy state, until he pulled back from the kiss and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

Claire's hands dropped from his coat. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. The way he had kissed her and touched her was amazing, it was almost like every single worry went away.

John backed away from her and gave her a wink. "Meet me after school down at the football field. Behind the home bleachers"

Claire just nodded as he walked away, she looked over to the art room to see Kelly standing there, hands on hips like a mother. "Come on! We've been waiting for you!" She said, smiling.

Claire hurried to her friend. Kelly had gotten the art club to help make signs for her campaign. She wasn't at all interested in the sign making, she just wanted to be wrapped up in John, feeling his hands and body against her. The red head couldn't help but smirk as she thought about it. She was a little ashamed, yet excited at the same time.

The bleachers? She'd be there for sure.

"Allison," Allison looked over when she heard her name and saw him. Her heart stopped at that exact moment. What was Andy doing here? When he saw her looking he added, "Hi"

Nodding, Allison walked from the coffee pots to the counter. She had been assigned to work the cafe that morning to her disgust. So far she was having a good day. She only broke one dish and burnt herself twice. It wasn't a great day, but it was a lot better than most days in the cafe.

When she didn't say anything Andy talked, "I just wanted to see how you were doing. What's going on with you?"

Allison shrugged, "Nothing,"

"I kind of figured as much," Andy leaned against the counter. "I'm doing pretty good. I got myself a pretty cool scholarship to Boston University and one for Penn State if I chose to go. I'm still waiting for a few other colleges to respond."

"Oh," Allison looked at the register. "Would you like something to drink?"

Andy shook his head. "Naw. I'm good. I'll be heading to practice in a few. I just wanted to see how you were. I saw you weren't in school today,"

Allison nodded. She hadn't been in school because her job had called her at 7 in the morning to let her know that the girl in the cafe had quit and Allison was the only other one to fill the hours. She took the opportunity. She needed to money to move out as soon as possible. School didn't seem as important. Besides, she still had another year after this one to fix whatever messes she made.

"So how are you?" Andy asked when she didn't respond to him with more than a small tilt of the head.

"Ok," Allison looked at the clock. One more hour of this, she thought, setting her hands on the counter.

Andy's eyebrows arched. "Everything at home is better you mean?"

"I guess,"

Allison scanned the room for a means of escape. She saw a messy table and quickly jumped at it. She pushed open the swinging door and edged towards the table, grabbing a dish carrier on the way. Andy followed her and began helping her set dishes in the carrier. She dug out a washcloth and wiped down the table before looking up at Andy.

"I'm not sure what it is you want," She said weakly, shoving the washcloth back into the carrier and walking over to and behind the counter.

Andy stopped on the other side of the counter and stared at her. "I care about you Allison,"
The words cause Allison's eyes to widen.

"I just didn't want you to think I hated you or was trying to ignore you or something. You can call me anytime, we can hang out whenever. Just let me know."

Shaking her head, Allison frowned. He meant just as a friend. He wanted her to be a pal, a buddy. Not a girlfriend. For that, he had Penny.

"How's Claire?" Andy heard Allison mumble.

Andy stood there looking at Allison, feeling guilty because he knew this wasn't helping her at all. She probably had hoped she would be the one going to prom with him, but instead it was some other girl.

"Claire's ok I guess. I haven't talked to her in a few days now,"

"Oh," Allison looked around and then sighed. "I have a ton to do now. If you don't want something..."

Andy smiled falsely at Allison. He got the clue. She wanted him gone. He didn't blame her. Instead of persisting with trying to be her friend, he nodded at her, said his good byes and walked down the stairs alone.

By the time he left the building he was feeling pretty crappy.

Claire walked out of the high school with Kelly. Kelly smirked a little, sending numerous sideways glances at Claire as she walked to the car with her.

"What do you want Kelly?" Claire said, looking over at her friend. The looks were making her uncomfortable.

"What's with you and that thug?"

"Thug?" Claire asked as if she didn't know.

"John Bender. Don't try to get out of telling me what's going on."

"Nothing is with us. I think,"

Kelly chuckled a little. "Ok Claire, but you don't have to hide from me. I am totally open to class-crossbreeding."

"Class-crossbreeding? You make it sound foul."

"Come on Claire. You know what I mean. I'm just saying, I understand how people from different classes of society, like you from the rich and John from the criminal, poor one, can become attracted to one another. In freshman year I went out with Hugh Gregory." She paused. The two were at her car and she was digging into her purse for the key. "Anyway," She said when she grabbed the key and unlocked the door. "He was just like John. And he was a year older than me as well. I got hell from everyone for it."

"What happened? Was it worth it?"

"Well, he cheated on me a month after we started going out. I left him and I was happy I did because the next girlfriend he had he beat." She looked at Claire's stunned face. "It was worth it though, because for a short time he made me happy and I learn so much from it."

"That doesn't exactly say, 'go for it',"

"In part, you have to figure it out." Kelly had her door open and was about to get in. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Actually, I have plans. I have my dad's car here so I'll be fine."

Kelly smirked and waved to her friend. "I'll see you later." She jumped in her car and within minutes was out of site.

Claire walked to the football field by herself. She hugged her books close to her body, feeling nervous about meeting Bender. She always had this nervous feeling around the guy. She reflected on what Kelly had said to her and little by little the nervousness turned into a sort of sickness.

She no longer wanted to meet Bender. She had to get away from him. To have her friends hate her over a guy that probably would beat and cheat on her within a week of dating just wasn't worth it.

She looked ahead at the football field and stopped. She could make out some one in a dark trench coat standing on the field in the distance. Bender. When she saw him, she made up her mind. She couldn't do it. She turned herself around and headed back to school, her car and safety.