John arrived at Shermer High School at 8:30, about halfway through his gym class. Blowing it off he decided to go to the student center and try and find one or two of his friends. Walking in to the irritatingly cheery looking room filled with tables and couches for students to sit at and spend what little free time Shermer High School's challenging curriculum spared them, he spotted his two friends Jack and Spencer.
Spencer and Jack were bartering cigarettes for a completed math assignment. "There is NO way that half a pack of cigarettes I nicked earlier is worth a crummy algebra assignment, its probably all wrong anyhow," "Its better than failing, you retard," they bickered. John interrupted, "You two nancies actually care about that class, what a fucking joke," "Well just because we don't like spending every Saturday in the library like you do, doesn't mean you have to give us any grief for exercising our academic selves," Jack retorted, as if he were truly proud of this scholarly activity of trading academic material for tobacco.
"Whatever dildo, you guys doing anything not gay? Or do I have to go find something that doesn't exercise my academic nuts?" And with that John left the student center, hearing his friends jeer him "jog off then Bender, FAAAG." He and his friends had got to find some new insults. He knew the real reason he went of the student center, and it was not to patronize Spencer for his C of a math assignment. John began roaming the halls, perhaps he could steal someone's lunch early so he won't have to wait to eat.
"Well hey there Allison! And why might you be out of class on this lovely Shermer High Monday morning?" Allison heard as her quiet walk down the halls was interrupted rather rudely by none other than John Bender. John put his arm around her playfully and was "Soo, any news form the wrestling matt?" He inquired. "No," she replied, softly. "Well I'll be damned sporto and princess don't want anything to do with freaks like us." Allison was a bit annoyed to see John. "I'm not like you." She said quietly walking, in no particular direction, but trying to act as if John was following her.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," John replied, he sure was full of himself today. "Have you seen Claire yet?" Allison asked, feeling bad, but hoping that those two weren't together. She would hate if her and Andy didn't work out and then see Claire and Bender all mushy and happy together.
"No I have yet to visit the country club," John replied, trying desperately to make it seem as if he didn't care. As they continued to walk, Allison noticed this and she hoped that everything worked out. She was nervous about seeing Andy, she had played it over and over in her head how it would happen. She would come to school dressed 'all Claired up' trying to impress him or something, and she would walk up to him, and they would stare at each other for a minute, and he would walk away. This scene went through her head probably twenty times that morning. She decided she was not going to approach him, he would come to her. She did not dress up, in fact, she probably dressed down by her standards (abysmal standards in Claire's opinion.)
As they were walking she noticed something shiny, He was about to say something annoying again when she asked, "Did you steal that earring from Claire, John?" John hadn't expected something that like this. "What did you say?" John asked his eyes wild with anger. "You shouldn-" "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" John cut her off. Allison regretted asking him, it was clearly a touchy subject, she only said it because he had annoyed her about Andy.
"John did not steal my earring, Allison. I gave it to him," Claire said. Neither of them had noticed that class just got out and Claire was standing right behind them with her hands on her hips looking like a menacing pink nazi storm trooper.
The nerve of Allison, Claire thought as she stared at her. Allison clearly felt that she had made the wrong move, she was not good with people, and Claire knew this.
"I'm sorry John," Allison muttered, looking at the ground and then up to Claire. Claire tried not to look angry with Allison, but before Claire or John could say something Allison walked away with embarrassing haste. "Hey Claire, if you want the earring back, that's fine." John said almost defeatedly. Claire found this almost laughable, John Bender going down almost as easy as he did when Andy put him on the floor that Saturday.
"What, you're not going to call me 'princess', John?" She asked half annoyed and half friendly. "Well if you wish, Repunzel." John replied. "I get it if you were just standing up for me back there, you can run on if you like," John told her. "Is that what you think I was going to do?" Claire asked. "I would assume so, but surprise me Cherry," "Haha I don't think so if that's how you're going to be," Claire laughed. "So what do we do? Should I walk to my class, and you walk to your,- wait, do you even go to class?" Claire asked. "Yes, I go to class, just not yet today."
Claire laughed, she was enjoying this decreasingly hostile conversation, somehow. "Should we do this, John?" She asked, it was totally unlike her to be so straightforward about something like this. Luckily there was practically no one around. "Hey, have you ever been to a hockey game, princess?" John asked her. "Yeah, a few. My Dad gets us box seats to those, and the basketball ones, and sometimes those ice shows." Claire replied. "Well I'd hate to disappoint you with peasant seating, so I just won't ask," "Are you asking me to go on a date with you, John?" Claire interrupted his drabble. "I'm inviting you, to go to a hockey game, and if you want to there's one tomorrow I have tickets to it cause of my old man's work," John said, almost uninvitingly, Claire knew this was as friendly as it would get.
"Oh does your dad do management or something for them?" Claire asked interestingly, she was used to her friends being able to supply luxuries like tickets due to well-connected fathers and whatnot. "He drives the zamboni, Princess," John answered, it was apparent he had been spited, but he decided not to hold it against her. Claire couldn't help but let a small smirk out and giggle, he saw this and almost as quickly as he tried to turn around she exclaimed
"I don't know what a zamboni is, but yes I would love to go to a game with you." John turned to her, looking at her with a smile that told Claire that this was going to be an interesting date. "Well alright, I'll see you around. Oh yeah, if I hear you don't talk to super dweeb today, you're uninvited."
And with that John walked away from Claire, she was smiling. It was so like John to leave on such a scathingly annoying note. She began walking to her next class, she saw Andy waiting to get out of the door of his classroom, but she didn't stop to say hi. She already knew Andy, and she was also a bit annoyed with the unfair comment form Allison earlier, so she walked on.
Andy was just getting out of his first period class when he began to look. Where is she? he thought to himself. He had waited all Sunday for this, he wanted to see her. He was really nervous. He didn't have a game plan, if there was one thing about Andrew Clark, it was that he always had a game plan. This time, his coach and his father were not going to help him out. He liked this idea, it was him. "Her can't think for himself," was all he heard in the back of his head. How right she had been, now it was time to prove her wrong.
"What's up Clark? My ass cheeks kill, you are such a jerk dude," Andy hear from behind him as on of his friends Mike ran up to him patting him on the back. Andrew didn't respond, this was definitely not what he wanted to think about. "How was the punishment on Saturday? Hey my old man told me that your dad said you were going to commit to Iowa." Mike said, more unwelcomed topics of conversation. "Yeah, it's either that or Minnesota, I don't know." "Big Ten brother, that'll be sweet, I'm thinking about ISU," 'I'm sure that will be really academically challenging for you Mike,' Andy thought to himself. ISU stood for both Illinois State University, and more colloquially 'I screwed up.' "That should be cool, I heard Nick Schwartz and that one kid on the basketball team are going there." Andy replied, not caring much.
Before Andy could think, he passed Brian in the hallway. Realizing this "Hey Mike I'll talk to you later. Hey Brian! Wait Up!" Brian clearly had not expected this by his surprised look as Andy patted him on the back. "Hey Andy, hows it going?" Brian said, he didn't sound cheerful at all.
"What's the matter pal? Something wrong?" Andy asked. "Nah I'm kind of surprised you're talking to me." Brian said, as he looked around to see if people were staring or something, they weren't. Andy thought that people would make a big deal about this, but he also hadn't counted on Andy talking to him. "Don't be dude, you have 5th period lunch?" Andy replied. "No I got 6th why?" Brian Answered. "Because I thought you'd come eat with me later." Andy thought to himself 'Well Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch, all the food groups are represented.' Andy laughed to himself, regretting that he couldn't spend some time with Brian, but he just said "Hey Bri, I gotta head out, I'll talk to you later?" "Yeah, of course, I'll see ya Andy" Andy heard Brian say as he sped away to his Algebra class. He wondered how the rest of the day would go and prayed to god that he would see Allison soon, yet at the same time a nervousness he had never felt began to take hold.
Brian walked into his honors physics class feeling a little better from his otherwise gloomy mood. Andy had actually talked to him. Aside from Claire, he thought Andy would be the one to ignore him the most. Bender might talk to him cause he didn't care what the preps and athletes cared about. And Allison could either go on having no friends, or talk him. Brian didn't care as long as she didn't pilfer any of his belongings.
Brian was thankful for his demanding Physics course-load, he hated thinking about his situation with friends. His conversation with Andy had given him a little bit of confidence, however he was still sure that Claire and the rest would ignore him as predicted.
He wanted nothing more than to walk out of his physics class. For one of the first times in his life he wanted to walk out in front of his teachers, in front of his grades, in front of his parents. He then thought of how Andy and him were very similar, they were being pushed constantly. Both of them no longer enjoyed their passions because of pressure. He wished he could just walk away, or at least have the nerve to sleep through a class like Bender. For someone being in the Physics club, he didn't feel much like discussing physics, or the property of physics, despite it actually being a social situation.