I don't own the Breakfast Club
Enjoy!
Another week passed by and Brian was glad his grounding was finally over. He got used to the routine schedule of coming home from school, doing his homework, and then trying to keep himself busy in his room. The restrictions that his parents had placed on him were enough to make him go mad, but he was glad that he prevailed through it.
And right on time for that matter. With the midterms coming up in a couple of weeks, Brian had volunteered himself as one of the tutors for physics earlier in the term. He was sure that his parents would have understood his responsibility of staying after school, but he would be faced with constant questioning. Just like that afternoon when he had "tutored" John for physics. The number of questions that both his parents interrogated him with, Brian couldn't find it in himself to sneak out again.
Now, he hoped that it would be easy. There were no obstacles standing in his way and he was going to enjoy every moment of it. Before he headed off to his next class, he caught Susan by her locker. "Hey," he greeted her as he stood to her side, causing Susan to look at him with a smile upon her lips, "guess what? I'm finally free."
"Finally," Susan said as she closed her locker, "those were the longest two weeks."
"Tell me about it," Brian said to her before confessing, "I felt like I was going to lose my mind." He then looked down at the letter that she had in her hand and rose an eyebrow, "what's that?"
Susan looked at her letter and blushed. "Just a reminder letter of my current grades," she told him. "I…I mean they're better than they were when I got my first letter but…they're still not good."
Brian glanced over at the letter. The only A that he saw there was art while everything else was somewhere between a B- and a C with a D- in physics. If his parents saw these grades, they would be for quite the shock of their lives. Brian looked over at Susan, who had a fatigued look in her eyes. "Susan this isn't good," he said to her.
"I know," Susan agreed with him, "I'm screwed. At this point, summer school seems like the only option that I have if I don't bring my grades up."
"At least you don't have an F," Brian said, trying to look at the bright side of the situation.
"Yet," Susan added and shook her head. She bought her physics textbook towards her face and gently tapped her forehead. "It's been a struggle ever since mom died. Now that I'm finally trying my best in classes…well, you can tell how great that's going."
Brian understood how difficult it was to sit down and concentrate on some classes. Some of his peers thought that it was easy for him to find his concentration and focus, but even Brian had his share of distractions. He couldn't imagine what was going through Susan's mind, especially after what had happened to her mother. "There's still time," Brian told her, "the grades may not be good, but you won't be failing."
At least there was someone who had some hope in her. "When do you hold your tutoring sessions for physics?" she asked him.
"Tuesdays and Thursdays," Brian told her, "around 10:00 until 11:00."
During those times, Susan had study hall which she would dedicate her time in the art classroom. Ever since she had received her second letter, Susan had made a tough decision for herself. She had put her artwork on pause. The thought of abandoning her classes once again and distract herself with art had been a temptation, but she couldn't afford to do that again. "I have study hall during that time. I can make it to the sessions."
An hour of tutoring may not seem like a lot, but Brian was going to do his best to ensure that she understood the material as best as she could. "We'll even meet out of school hours too," Brian offered her. He couldn't if he'd offered during their Saturday detention. "Maybe in the library or the diner."
Susan gave Brian a hopeful smile. "Thanks," she said to him, "I could use more than one hour of tutoring for physics." She pulled out her notebook from underneath her textbook and scribbled down a telephone number. She handed the piece of paper to Brian and said, "call me at this number. We can plan on meeting sometime."
With those last words, the bell rang and the two departed for their next classes.
When Susan walked to her next class, her mind felt at ease. Brian's words had given her solace regarding her academic performance. She couldn't believe that she had allowed herself to do this badly. This second letter had been her wakeup call and it made her feel overwhelmed. For her to do well, she believed that she was going to have to get As in all her classwork. She let out an exhaustive sigh and sat down on the empty chair next to Allison.
Allison slowly turned her head and looked at Susan. It seemed that every time that Allison was around her friends, there was a never-ending issue. This time, her parents hadn't unexpectedly left like they had last time. "That didn't sound too good," she pointed out once Susan got herself situated in her seat.
"It's not," Susan answered Allison, "I got myself into this mess and I can't seem to get out of it."
Allison was silent as she tried to think what Susan was talking about. When she couldn't put her finger on it, she became curious to know. "About?" she asked her.
"Just some of my classes," Susan said as she thought of the letter in her bag. "The midterms are soon and it's gonna take a miracle to bring my grades up."
Midterms had never been that big an issue for Allison. They were just countless pieces of paper with words written on them. An exam didn't define her worth nor her intelligence. In Allison's opinion, an exam mostly showed if the teacher had done their job. If the student failed the exam, it wasn't on them but a reflection on how a teacher taught the class. "Don't worry about it," Allison told her, "it's not gonna matter a year or five years from now."
Susan lightly chuckled at those words. If only some people saw it that way. Susan used to think the same way after her mother passed way, but now, everything seemed to matter. If she wanted to get to a good Art school, which she had been striving for, no art school was going to accept her with her current GPA. "At this moment, it matter a lot to me."
For Brian, the remainder of the school day flew by. Before he knew it, it was already four in the afternoon and he had to head home after. Too much homework and studying to do before the midterm exams. Brian thought he'd ought to get a head start before everything began to get hectic for him. During his freshman year, Brian had been trying to get adjusted to the number of midterms that he had in his classes. At first, he didn't think that it would have been this hard but with each passing year, it seemed to get harder and harder. Brian was able to adjust, but it took too much energy out of him.
Only this time, he looked forward to the weekend to relax before studying some more. The weekend. That seemed like a good time to put some out of school tutoring for Susan. Brian headed downstairs towards the living room and dialed the number that Susan gave him. He waited for her to pick up.
"Hello?" the other voice on the line said.
That voice didn't sound like Susan's, yet it sounded familiar. Why did it sound familiar? Oh God! Brian thought as he suddenly realized whom the voice belonged to. With every passing second, his voice seemed to get impatient on the other end. Susan could have at least given him a warning about it! "H-Hi," Brian managed to say, "is Susan there…Mr. Vernon?"
"Who the hell is this?" Richard Vernon ordered from the other end of the line.
Brian gulped. It sounded as if his vice principal was right inside his home. "I-It's Brian. Johnson."
"Johnson?" Richard echoed his name as if he hadn't met Brian before. "Joh—Johnson, how the hell did you get this number?" he asked finally dawning on him on whom he was.
If I tell him would both me and Susan get in trouble? Brian thought as his grip tightened on the receiver. There was no way that he could lie his way out of this one. "Susan came to me to ask for tutoring. I offered to tutor her off school hours and this is the number she gave me to get a hold of her. Is she there?"
I thought she would be with her grandmother Brian thought of telling Richard but he believed that it was a thought that he ought to keep for himself.
Out of all the tutors that the school offered, why did it have to be some kid that his niece met from detention? His niece had only been back with him for a couple of days now and she already starting to make things slightly complicated.
"Hold on," Richard's clipped voice answered followed by him calling Susan's name.
Brian flinched at the tone of voice and removed the receiver from his ear. "Ow," he whispered and rubbed his ear from the slight pain.
"Hello?" came Susan's voice.
"Susan!" Brian immediately said her name, "you could have given me a warning that you're with Mr. Vernon."
A small apologetic chuckle came from the other end. "Sorry," Susan told him, "too much has been going on and…" she shook her head and changed the subject before she delved deeper into it, "what's going on?" she asked him.
"I was thinking if we could meet over the weekend aside from the Tuesday and Thursday study sessions. I have a lot to do for this week and can't meet after school."
"That's okay," Susan said. "I'll try and see what I can do on my end before we meet for the weekend."
Aside from the other students that Brian tutored, it seemed that Susan was willing to put in some of the work into it. He hoped that she kept her word, otherwise it was going to be a long tutoring session where he feared that neither of them would enjoy. "Sounds like a plan," Brian told her, "so Saturday in the afternoon?"
"Perfect," Susan answered him with a smile and bid her goodbyes before placing the receiver back on the cradle. As she was about to head back to her room, she staggered to a halt when she saw Richard standing there.
Ever since she had decided to return, she had felt the tension lingering between them. For the most part, Richard had left Susan alone other than when they had dinner together, which was done in silence. The tension had been unbearable for Susan but she couldn't find her courage to speak about the situation that had happened months ago. With him standing there, as if he was waiting for her to tell him about the conversation, Susan mustered up her courage. Susan tried to push away the trepidation that began to surface. "Uncle Richard, we need to talk," she found herself saying.
Richard rose an eyebrow upon her words. Ever since she had come back, she had muttered less than ten syllables to him. "Well?" he asked her, waiting to hear about this interesting conversation between his niece and Brian Johnson, not to mention why she had given Brian his telephone number.
Susan began to fidget. Why was it so difficult trying to talk to him? "I uh…I just wanted to…"
"Come on, spit it out already," Richard told her, feeling his patience starting to wane. After a long day at school, all Richard wanted to do was have a relaxing night without any teenage drama. So far, Susan hadn't bought any of that with her…yet.
Susan let out a sigh. "I just wanted to apologize."
Upon her words, Richard hadn't expected that. Even though Susan had made her share of mistakes, Richard knew that her apology wasn't for the telephone number that she had given Brian. "Is that so?" he coldly asked her, "and what bought on this sudden apology?"
Ever since her grandmother had told Susan that she had to move back with Richard, Susan thought about their argument that they had prior to her leaving. Susan thought of many 'what if' scenarios that could have impacted her well-being. If her grandmother, heaven forbid, was not present, what would have happened to her if something happened to Richard? Susan knew that she wouldn't be at Shermer High or have the life that she had now. Richard as the one who stepped in and fought for her, so she wouldn't fall into state custody…and she had thanked him by stating her hatred.
Susan wasn't used to this type of cold behavior but she felt that she deserved it. "Grandma told me what you've done for. The financial support, the court battles, the custody…everything. I was ungrateful."
"An ungrateful brat is more like it," Richard told her.
Susan could tell that there was some unfinished conversation between them and she braced herself for the long-awaited lecture.
Richard was not the man to easily forgive and he wasn't going to let Susan off the hook that easy. "Don't think that an overdue apology is enough to erase what you said. 'I hate you' is not a declaration that you can take back."
Susan nodded her head to him. "I know," she said. "I wish that I could. I'm—"
"The damage has already been done, Susan," Richard interrupted, "after everything that I did for you so you wouldn't go in state custody, those words were a stab in the chest." He stopped for moment before continuing, "I get enough disrespect at school and to get it from my niece in my own home is unforgivable."
Susan took a deep breath. She didn't expect immediate forgiveness, but she had hoped for a chance that he would eventually forgive her. Susan looked at Richard as he continued to talk.
"I never want to hear you say those words again," Richard told her, "and no more attitude or disrespect in this house is that clear?" he asked her.
"Yes," Susan nodded her head. When a moment of silence passed between them, Susan took a deep breath. "I don't know what I can do anymore. I…I didn't mean to get you into trouble. After everything that happened, you didn't have to take me in…but you did."
Richard took a deep breath. He hadn't taken Susan in his custody because it was the right thing. He had taken her in because he wanted to. The girl had her share on instability through her parents' tumultuous relationship and his sister's financial troubles. He just couldn't see one of his family member's falling that path. "Taking you in was my choice and I stand by it," Richard told her, "and the only thing you can do is be the kind girl that you've always been. Not the person you were eight weeks ago."
Susan hoped that this was their path into slowly rectifying their relationship. On her end, she wanted to make amends.
"This is the end of this conversation," Richard told her, "I don't want to revisit this again."
Susan nodded her head. "Yes and I want to say that I'm sorry again. I never hated you…I was just overwhelmed with everything happening all at once."
"It still doesn't excuse your behavior," Richard told her. "Now enough of this. I have some work that I must get to."
As Richard was about to leave, Susan stepped in front of him. "Wait," she said. In a moment of hesitation, she raised her arms and stopped. Come on, do it! Susan pushed herself. Don't be a coward! She raised her arms once again and embraced Richard.
Richard stiffened at her embrace, not sure how to react. He let out a sigh before saying, "it's not that easy, Susan."
"I know," Susan said, "but I've already lost two people. I don't want to lose you too, Uncle Richard."
Richard reluctantly raised his hand and awkwardly returned the embrace, not used to this form of endearment. "You won't," he assured her. "You're stuck with me." After a moment of silence passed between them he looked at Susan and said, "I shouldn't have lost my patience with you that day. I'm sorry."
Richard had felt regretful for raising his hand at Susan that day, but never did he think he would express it out loud. He protectively hugged her close, in fear that she would run away again. "Now," he then spoke up when Susan pulled away from him, "tell me what Johnson wanted and why he has my telephone number?"
Susan hoped that Richard would have forgotten about that, but nothing got past him. Before Susan began her explanation, she hoped that he would be understanding of it, especially when it concerned her grades.
