Author's Note: What is this? The Church Girl? Uploaded on a Thursday and not a Friday? That is completely… Expected if you read my last author's note. Anyway, hi folks! Happy Thursday! I hope you're doing well! I'm alright. Here we are, chapter nine! Thank you for tuning back in. I hope you had a good week! As always, I do not/have not/probably, nor will I ever own the rights to The Breakfast Club that belongs to the estate of John Hughes and NBC Universal. Now, onto chapter nine!

Chapter 9 Perfectly Happy

Claire had calmed down as Andrew eyed the group, "Are we gonna be like our parents?" He asked.

"Not me." Claire sniffled.

"I wouldn't mind being like my parents." Tabi shrugged.

"No, you don't." John dismissed.

"My parents are good people. They help the community. They're honest and hard working." Tabi defends.

"But they also control everything you do and say." Allison added.

"They don't." Tabi quickly replied.

"Really? Let me ask you something. Actually, Brian would know this answer." Claire speaks up.

Brian looked startled as he wondered what he could add to this conversation, "What would I know?" Brian wondered.

"Does Tabi wear skirts often?" Claire starts.

"How would he-" Tabi's cut off by Brian.

"Yep." He quickly answers.

Tabi turns to him with a look of, really? "Sorry. You do though. Especially in yellow." Brian confirms.

"And who picks these outfits, Tabi?" Claire asks.

"My mom." Tabi nods.

"My point exactly. You are just as controlled as Andy, and I are." Claire suggests.

Tabi was on the verge of cracking. She's not one to get mad easily but all this she has no say stuff was really starting to get to her.

"So what? So what if my mom picks out my clothes? So what if I can't go to parties or football games because my parents don't trust anybody outside of our church? Or have friends that are only in the church. So, what if I can't fully articulate how I feel because according to them children are meant to be seen and not heard? So, what if I feel under a microscope because I have to set an example for other kids? Even though they do drugs and have sex during the lock-ins! So what if when I'm by myself all I can think of is what my parents think? I'm perfectly happy." Tabi started softly but was now sobbing when she finished.

Every negative emotion she had tampered down about her life and upbringing were on full display.

"There it is." John pointed out as Tabi brought her legs up to her chest.

Brian had wrapped his arms around her, "It's okay, Tabi." He tried to soothe.

"No, it's not, Brian. I don't know who I am. All I know is what they want me to be. I don't know if I wanna be that way anymore. I love them so much. I don't want them to turn their back on me but I can't keep doing this. I can't keep making excuses and covering for them like this. I want to live." Tabi continues to sob.

"It'll be okay." Brian rubs soothing circles on her back.

"You don't have to be that way." Andrew suggested.

"Huh?" Tabi sounded off.

"You don't have to live like that. You can stand up for yourself. You have an easier way out than I do." Andrew reminded her.

"No I don't." Tabi shook her head.

"You do though. See, you can keep living like this or you can tell your folks you need to grow up. Sure, it might take them a while but maybe they'll come around." John shrugged.

"And if they don't?" Tabi asked.

"Then fuck them." John laughed.

"I can't say that." Tabi shook her head.

"Try it sometime. It'll make ya feel better." John shrugged.

Tabi knew that in a way John was right. She also knows her parents.

"Um. I was just thinking. I mean it's kind of weird timing but what's gonna happen on Monday? When we're all together again? I consider you guys my friends. Am I right?" Brian asked wearily.

"Right." Andrew nods.

"So, on Monday… What happens?" Brian wonders.

Tabi hadn't thought about Monday until Brian brought it up. She couldn't help but wonder the same thing.

"Are we still friends, you mean?" Claire checks in.

"Yeah." Brian nods.

"You want the truth?" Claire asks.

"Yeah, I want the truth." Brian replies.

"No." Claire admits.

"Do you mean all of us or just John?" Allison asks.

"With all of you." Claire admits.

"Really nice attitude, Claire." Andrew scoffs.

"That's awful, Claire." Tabi shakes her head.

"Be honest, Andy. If you were with the sports and Brian came up to you to say hi, you'll say hi then rip him to shreds the moment he leaves. And Tabi, you don't get to judge me. Especially with what you said you're gonna do to Brian. Let's face it, the moment your parents see John or Allison, you'll never see them again." Claire snapped.

Brian turns to Tabi, "What is she talking about?" He asks.

"Nothing." Tabi responds.

"Bullshit! She said her parents are never gonna let it happen and if you go over there, you're gonna get your hopes up." Claire broadcasted.

"She said we'd make it work." Brian informs her.

"And you believe her?" Claire asks.

Tabi reaches out to grab Brian's hand, "Brian please believe me." Tabi begged.

Brian looks as if he wants to but there's something holding him back. "Promise me you won't go along with your parents. Promise me you won't break my heart." Brian begged back.

Tears well up in both of their eyes, "I don't break your heart, Brian. I just know my mama and daddy. I can't disobey them." Tabi cries.

"Then what chance do we have?" Brian asks while he pulls away from her.

Tabi turns to Claire glaring, "You're a bitch! You did that on purpose!" She snapped.

"Shut up." Claire snapped back.

"You are a bitch." John agrees with Tabi.

"I'm a bitch because I'm telling the truth?" Claire asks.

"No. Because you know how fucked it is to do that to someone. You don't have the balls to stand up to your friends and tell them you'll like who you want to like." John scolded.

"What about you, hypocrite? Why don't you take Tabi or I to one of your heavy metal vomit parties? Or take Brian out to the parking lot at lunch to get high? Or Andy for that matter? What about Allison? What would your friends say if they saw you two walking down the hall together? They would laugh their asses off-"

John cut her off, furiously shouting. "Don't talk about Allison or any of my friends! You don't know, you don't talk to them. So, stick to what you know. Shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW, and your poor rich drunk mother in the Caribbean!"

Claire lets out a scream, "Shut up!"

"And as far as us being friends goes, you can forget it! So stick your head in the sand and wait for your fucking prom." John continues, his tone never changing.

"I hate you." Claire sobs.

"Oh yeah? Good!" John shouts.

The group is silent until Brian speaks up, "Guess Allison and I are better people than you guys, huh? Us weirdos." He turns to Allison, "Would you do that to me?" He asks.

"I don't have any friends." Allison admits softly.

"And if you did?" He adds.

"No. I don't think my friends would care." Allison agrees.

"I just want each of you to know that I would never do that to you. Cause I think that's really shitty." Brian promises the group.

His eyes linger on Tabi's. She wants to reach out, grab his hand or some sort of reassurance. She doesn't think he wants her to.

"Your friends look up to us. Of course, they wouldn't mind," Claire pipes up.

"Use to." Tabi mutters loud enough for the group to hear.

"What?" Claire asked.

"I used to look up to you. I thought you were so cool and beautiful. You were everything I thought I wanted to be. Until today, I realized you're just as controlled and forced into a box as I am. There's nothing free, fun, or cool about you, Claire." Tabi admits.

Tears begin to well up in Claire's eyes, "I hate it! I hate having to go along with everything my friends say." Claire shook her head.

"Then why do you do it?" Brian grills.

"I don't know. You don't understand. You're not friends with the type of people Andy and I are friends with. You don't understand the pressure they put on you." Claire explains exasperatedly.

Brian stares at her in shock as Tabi rolls her eyes annoyed. "I don't understand what? You think I don't understand pressure, Claire? Well fuck you! Fuck you!" Brian whimpered before tucking his head in the crook of his arm. "Do you know why I'm here today? Mr. Ryan found a gun in my locker." He shouts.

Everybody glances at each other in surprise. "What?" Tabi gasps. Was he gonna…?

"What's the gun for?" Andy asks.

"Forget it." Brian tries to dismiss it.

"You brought it up, man." Andrew reminds Brian.

"I can't have an F. I can't have it and I know my parents can't have it. Even if I aced the rest of the semester, I'd still only have a B. Then everything is ruined." Brian finally continues, smacking a nearby chair with his hand. "So, I considered my options, you know." Brian shrugged.

Tabi is in tears at the thought of Brian contemplating taking his own life.

"Killing yourself isn't an option." Claire shook her head.

Brian glares, "Well I didn't do it, did I?" He snapped.

"It was a handgun?" Allison asked.

"No, it was a flare gun. It went off in my locker." Brian admits. Tabi stares at him half confused and half relieved.

"Really?" Andrew starts to laugh.

"It's not funny." Brian denounces as he tries to stifle his own laugh. Pretty soon the whole group has busted into laughter.

"Yes, it was. That thing was fucking destroyed." Brian chuckles.

"You wanna know what I did to get in here? Nothing! I didn't have anything better to do!" Allison speaks up.

This just furthered everyone's laughter. "You're laughing at me." Allison thought.

"No." Andy shook his head and laughed again.

A/N: What a great way to end this chapter! So, I should probably tell you guys, Next week is the final chapter in this story. I can't believe it's almost over. Thank you all for sticking with me through this and loving Tabi the way you do. Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you liked it. Next week I will be uploading on Friday. Anyway, thank you again for reading! I hope you had a great week; I hope you have a great Thursday; I hope you have a great weekend, and I hope your week is great next week. I will see you guys' next week for the finale! Bye!