I don't own the Breakfast Club
Enjoy!
The diner in town was particularly busy on a Monday. After school, the high school kids would come over to hang out. It served as a savior for some parents who worked extra hours during the week. For Allison, it had a bigger purpose. It was a place where she could get far away from home and have something that she could enjoy. Of course this resulted in her taking some of her parents' money without them knowing, but today, she was sitting at a booth with Andrew Clark across from her.
Allison was so used to spending her time alone that having Andrew in front of her, she didn't know how to act or what to say. Regardless, she felt thrilled that she had him with her. People say that friends and significant others can help one another grow, the more time that they spend with one another. Allison had started that journey, but it was a long road ahead until she saw the results.
A basket of French fries and two glasses of chocolate milkshakes were set in front of them as Andrew thanked the waitress. Looking down at the basket of fries, just the aroma of it was enough to make his mouth water. "If my old man saw me here with this in front of us, he'd go crazy," he said as he took a fry. He was supposed to eat a lot of food, but not junk. That didn't stop Andrew from sneaking a bite or two occasionally when his father wasn't looking.
"You know what goes well with fries other than ketchup?" Allison smirked as she took a piece of the French fry and held it between her fingers.
Andrew couldn't think of any other better condiment than ketchup. "What?" he asked her.
"Dipping it in a milkshake," Allison said and demonstrated by doing so. Andrew watched as she dipped the French fry in the milkshake, not once, but many times until the whole thing was covered in chocolate. It wasn't long until Allison popped the French fry in her mouth and chewed on it without flinching.
Andrew looked at her in shock before he recovered and shook his head in disbelief. "That's gross," he commented.
"Don't knock it till you try it Sporto," Allison said to him, "it's a nice combination of sweet and salty at the same time." She then lowered her lips onto the straw and drank a bit of the chocolate milkshake. It was sweeter than what she was used to so a little bit of saltiness was needed to balance out the flavors.
Andrew could only shake his head at her quirkiness. The girls that he had dated before Allison would have been too concerned of their figure to eat even one French fry. "You know what?" Andrew said as he reached over and pulled a French fry from the basket.
Allison smirked as she saw him holding that French fry with determination. "Can you handle it?" she asked him.
"I handled much worse than this," Andrew determinately said and went ahead to dip the French fry in his chocolate milkshake. He dipped it just as much as Allison did, if not more before he took a bite of it. So far, not bad. He tasted the sweetness of the milkshake and a little bit of the saltiness for the French fry. Andrew was surprised at how good it tasted. "I admit," he said to her, "this is pretty damn good."
"Told you," Allison smirked behind that mischievous smile of hers. Deep down, she was glad that Andrew was tolerant to one of her 'quirks.' If he wasn't, then he was a gentleman about it. Many of the people that she had seen wanted to conform to other people's standards and Allison found that to be exhausting. She saw it in Claire and Brian and she could also see it in Andrew. There was no freedom. She then looked up at Andrew, "still going to that wrestling meet on Saturday?" she asked him.
"I need to," Andrew told her, "I can't let my coach or the team down."
There was that again. Thinking of other people. It was going to take a long time for Andrew to break out of that and if he would allow her, she would help him. Even if he didn't, she would still do it. "What about next year?" Allison asked him, "will you try out again?"
By next year, Andrew felt that he should be able to make that decision on his own and hope to not let his father dictate his thoughts anymore. "I haven't given it much thought," Andrew answered her. If my knee doesn't give out by then, I'll make sure it does. There was no way that Andrew could deal with his father, even if he turned eighteen by then. If his suffered a knee injury, it would be justifiable.
"Don't do something that you'd later regret," Allison's voice bought him back to reality. Perhaps she was a little bit psychic if she was able to tell that he was considering it. "You don't want to carry that burden forever."
The burden of never having to compete or having a messed up knee? It would be a lose-win situation to Andrew. "At least you don't have a parent that is on your case every day," he said without realizing his words until he was too late. He looked over at Allison who stayed quiet for a mere minute. "I'm sorry," he apologized to her.
Allison was willing to do anything she could to get her parents to notice her. The only time that they did was when she had that makeover that Claire had done for her. Why were her parents so quick to accept the dolled up version of herself and not the person whom she really was. "You can't escape it…no matter what you do," Allison spoke to Andrew, "you want to make them proud but wind up disappointing them."
Andrew couldn't tell if she was implying to his parents or her own but there were truth to her words. No matter what Andrew had done to be the best that he could, it was just not good enough to his father. "The only people that we shouldn't disappoint is ourselves," he said to her, even though he didn't know where he stood with himself.
Just then, Allison looked up from her table and looked at the door when she heard the bell chime. At the door, Brian held it open for Susan as she walked in, followed by John and then Brian. "Looks like our friends are here," Allison commented with a smile at the sight of them.
Andrew looked over his shoulder. What a surprise. And he wondered why Bender was tagging along…with a physics book in his arm.
When Brian and Susan looked for an empty table, Susan's eyes fell over to Allison. "Hey!" she greeted them with a bright smile. "I didn't know you'd be here."
"I've always been here," Allison said, "just under a different circumstance."
John slowly approached Allison's side of the table. "You got something on mine," he pointed out to her. After Saturday detention, he realized that his switchblade had gone missing and the lock for his locker was gone. There was only one person that was brave enough to do this. "I'd like them back."
Allison was caught off guard. This was the first time that she could remember anyone asking her for their possessions. Others thought that they had simply lost those objects or put the blame on someone else. "Fine," Allison nonchalantly answered John as she reached inside her bag and pulled out the lock and his switchblade. "I took good care of them for you."
"Careful with those sticky fingers alright?" John told her, which was more of a warning than anything.
However, Andrew caught the tone of his voice. "You trying to start something Bender?" he asked the rebel.
John looked over at Andrew, not even bothering to hide the smirk, especially now that he got back his switchblade. "I just wanted my things back," he said to Andrew and then turned his attention to Brian. "Let's finish this up before we have to head back. I'll be right over there," he said and pointed to the far corner of the diner, "away from all of this."
Brian and Susan watched as John retreated to the corner of the diner, leaving both of them alone. Andrew watched John walking away before he turned his eyes to the duo. "You guys here on a date too?"
"Yes," Susan nodded her head.
"No," Brian answered at the same time. He then felt a blush upon his cheeks when he said that. He didn't consider going to the diner as a date. It was more like a, 'getting to know you more outside of detention' sort of rendez-vous. To him, a date was taking a girl out to dinner and spending a wonderful night with her to where both would feel happy being in each other's arms. He didn't know how meetings he was going to get through until he finally reached that stage of dating.
"Or a meeting in this case," Susan corrected herself. "Enjoy your date," she smiled to Allison and Andrew and then followed Brian's lead where he took her to one of the empty booths.
Brian sat across from Susan and looked at her. "Have you been to this diner before? They serve the best milkshakes."
"A couple of times," Susan answered, "I mostly come here when I'm feeling inspired to draw. Lots of good drawings came out from sitting at one of these booths." To Susan, those had been happy drawings. Drawings that made her feel good about herself and the world that she was living in. It was incomparable to the drawings that she would draw when she was in her room. Cold, angry, and frustrated with what had happened.
Just then, a waitress that was a bit older than them came over to their table to take their order. Brian ordered two milkshakes but then reached inside his pockets to see how much money he had. Not enough for two. "Uh…" he said as he looked at Susan and then the waitress, "just one strawberry milkshake to spilt." When the waitress walked away, Brian looked back at Susan. "Sorry, I didn't have enough for two."
Susan waved her hand in the air. Even if he had enough money, she knew that she wouldn't be able to finish it all. Otherwise her grandmother would scold her for ruining her dinner. "That's okay," Susan smiled, "but next time, I'll be sure to bring some. That basket of French fries that Andrew and Allison are sharing has got my name on it."
Brian nodded his head and tried to figure out what other topics they could talk about. He could easily talk about academics and would never get tired of it. But would those be interesting topics for Susan? "So…" he began, "you said you're having difficulty in some classes." Might as well take a shot.
Susan had not expected such a conversation starter, yet it was better than being in silence. "Well, I was before," she said, "but I finally got the grades to where I wanted them in some of my classes…except physics."
"What don't you understand about physics?" Brian asked her.
"Is it bad to say everything?" she asked him. "Sometimes I feel like even teacher doesn't know what's going on. He drones about how to use these concepts in the real world, but I don't think I'll be using them of what I want to do."
"And that's your art," Brian pointed out and she nodded her head, "what do you want to do with it?"
Susan shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know yet. I thought about opening an art gallery. I can feature the work of other artists and make a profit if they sell."
"What about your drawings?" Brian asked her, "have you thought about selling yours?"
Susan lightly chuckled at that. "I don't think my artwork has that much potential. I still have a lot more to learn."
Brian would have disagreed. The artwork that she had shown him was amazing. "Why do you think that?" he asked her.
"There's more to art than just painting and drawing," Susan explained, "you have to find a way to connect with your audience and sometimes that can be tricky. It all depends on the audience if they think the art if worth enough to be their home. Art isn't restricted to drawing and painting. There's more to it and I think that a lot is being discovered now. It's has changed from what it used to be."
Just like science. A lot of things were being discovered every day and developed, only one occupation made more than the other. Before Brian could give in his opinion, a glass of strawberry milkshake was set between them with two straws hanging out from both ends of the glass. It seemed that Susan understood what she was getting into, but she hadn't lived that life yet. "You seem like you know what you're doing," Brian said, and in his case, he was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He didn't know whether he should take the science, mathematical, or the business route.
"I hope so," Susan said. She had to admit that it was nice to hear that for a change other than you think you know what you're doing, but you don't. "Anyway, what about you? What do you want to do?"
"It's not as unpredictable as yours," Brian answered her, "I plan on graduating out of here and getting to a good college." Or is that what my parents want for me? he thought about that for a second. "I just don't know yet. It's hard to pick something when you have too many choices."
"Just don't let anyone make those choices for you," Susan stated as another lecture came in her mind. I'll make sure you don't go down that path. I won't support it. There's no stability in it. "They don't know a thing about it."
That's why Brian thought it was better to leave the moment he turned eighteen than to stay any longer. College would give him another sense of freedom where he wouldn't have his parents breathing down his neck, making sure that he did his homework and did well on all his exams and assignments. To him, it seemed like his parents had forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. Surely they had their own problems, but how could they forget what it was like?
"Anyway," Brian finally spoke up as he took the straw in between his fingers, "to the future."
"To the future," Susan smiled as she did the same.
The two of them leaned close to each other, foreheads almost touching. Brian looked up from the milkshake and instead of drinking through the straw, he did the opposite. Bubbles formed into the milkshake and one of them erupted onto Susan's face, causing her to leap back against her booth.
"Oh my God!" Brian exclaimed and held a napkin towards her, "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
Susan took the napkin from him and tried to control her laughter. "That's one nervous milkshake," she commented and wiped the product from her face. That smile remained upon her lips, "let's try again, but let's drink through the straw."
From the corner of the diner, John had been keeping his eyes on the chapter of the physics book. Sometimes he watched the couples that would come and go. He watched when Andrew and Allison finished their food and headed out for the rest of the afternoon. Those two seemed to have hit it off so quickly that it made Brian and Susan look like laggers.
A meeting? How ridiculous did that sound! John's attention was then caught as he looked up and saw Susan jumping away from the milkshake and Brian apologizing to her. John couldn't help but feel secondhand embarrassment from that. First, why the hell were they sharing a milkshake? Second, who the hell does that? Third, what they hell were they talking about that made that happen? Fourth, there was no way in hell that this date was off to a romantic start.
At this point, Brian ought to go to an expert to step up his game. What was he doing? Waiting for a good moment between them? There was no time for that. In Susan's case, John couldn't remember ever dating someone like her. However, all the girls that he had dated, he knew what they wanted and how they wanted to be treated. But this…what he saw in front of him was simply immature.
He then squinted his eyes when he saw Brian reached forward with the napkin and wiping away some leftover milkshake residue on Susan's cheek. At least the guy took some action. Was it romantic? To John no, but to Susan it depended on how she looked at it. With a huge sigh, John closed the physics book and saw as Brian and Susan approached him.
"We're all set," Brian said to him, "ready to go home."
"So soon?" John asked him, "it's not even ten o'clock yet. The night's still young. You're not gonna take her to a party and then a hotel room?"
"Bender I'm grounded remember? I have curfew," Brian reminded him as if John was being serious about the whole thing. "And no!" he whipped around and looked at Susan, "I am not that type!"
Susan chuckled at their little discussion. "You two," she said with a shake of her head. "I don't even know what happens past nine o'clock around here. That's lights out for me."
"You both need to live a little," John said. The night was like a whole other life. More mysterious, more dangerous and one that John looked forward to when going home to a silent house if he was lucky. He got up from his seat and held the physics book in his arm, "we'll drop you at your house first," he said to Brian.
"Wait a minute, why not Susan?" Brian asked.
"Dork, you're supposed to be good at this," John said, "this belongs to Picasso. I came to your house with this freaking physics book in my arm. What is your mom gonna say if she sees that it's missing? And don't say that she won't, cause I got a feeling that she will."
His mother had a keen eye for these type of things. Brian wouldn't be surprised if his mother surveyed John from head to toe the moment that she saw him. Brian would have liked to have escorted Susan home, feeling that was the gallant thing to do. Not to mention that he might get some extra credit if they were to bump into Susan's grandmother again. "Alright," Brian said, "but after my two weeks is over, it's just gonna be me."
"I ain't raining on your nerd parade," John said, "just one time is enough for me."