I don't own the Breakfast Club

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Claire let out a sigh as she sat by her desk, trying to think up of the ten tongue twisters assigned for French class. She couldn't think of one. Her mind was travelling to the weekend, where she was going to spend eight hours in detention. She couldn't believe that it had come to this. It wasn't as if she was a delinquent. Even though her mother was upset with her, she hoped that her father would find some way to get her out of it.

Claire knew that she wouldn't be able to finish the remainder of her homework this evening. She pushed back her chair and headed downstairs for dinner that had been prepared. As she made her way to the table, her father sat at the head of the table with her mother a chair away from him. That empty seat once belonged with her brother before he left. Claire approached the table and took a seat to her usual spot, next to her father. She looked down at her plate of food and contemplated whether she should even eat it. She couldn't help but feel nauseous at the sight of it, even if the dinner looked delicious.

She glanced over at her father, who was looking at his newspaper whilst eating, and then she looked over at her mother, who was pouring a glass of wine for herself…a little too much in Claire's opinion. The silence that hovered above the dinner table was something that Claire wasn't new to. It had been so long ever since she could remember her parents having a decent conversation with one another. Claire took a deep breath before finding the courage to speak. "So…about tomorrow—"

"Don't," her mother interrupted and took a sip of her red wine. "We discussed this Claire. It was wrong to skip class and go shopping. You're going to serve detention."

"You're being too harsh on her," Claire's father said as he put down the newspaper and looked at his wife. "It was one time for God's sake."

"And one time turns into many times," her mother shot back at her husband, "I don't want a delinquent for a daughter."

Delinquent? Claire thought and looked at her mother with wide eyes. Why was that word so unsettling for her? It wasn't as if she was doing anything terrible at school. She was upholding her reputation. "I'm not a delinquent mom," Claire said to her, "and dad is right, this was just a big misunderstanding."

"How?" her mother asked her. "When we got a call from the principal that my daughter didn't show up in school, you had no idea how that made me feel!"

"She isn't just your daughter Linda," her father said, "she is mine too and I agree with her. I'm sure there is a way to fix this."

"No," Linda said as she held her hand in the air towards her husband, "there is nothing to fix here, Tim. She is going to detention and that is final. I am so sick going against my words all the time!"

Claire noticed the red blush on her mother's cheeks, but it wasn't the kind that she would get when she felt timid. Perhaps it was a bad idea to bring this up at the dinner table. Maybe Claire should have only spoken to her father about this but deep down, she felt that her mother also needed to know.

"I think you've had too much wine," Tim said as he looked at his wife's features, "no one is going against your words, get that through your head."

Claire took a deep breath and wished that she could make herself invisible. This argument was getting out of hand and they weren't getting anywhere.

Linda took her plate of food in her hands. "Don't be condescending to me, Tim. I've had enough of this. You are going to serve detention Claire and that is that. And when you get back, you're grounded for the rest of the weekend." With those words, she took her plate of food and wine glass and walked away from the table.

Claire watched as her mother walked away from them. She then looked over at her father who let out a puff of air. "Forget about what she said," her father said to her. "The wine is getting to her."

To Claire, it was a sad sight when she saw her mother like that. Just one glass of alcohol and she couldn't think clearly. "About going to detention or being grounded?" Claire asked him.

Tim wished that he could help his daughter through this 'detention' situation. However, it was out of his hands. If his daughter didn't show up in detention, then she would have to serve another one…and Vernon didn't look like the type of man who would be bribed. "About being grounded," he said to Claire, "we all make mistakes kiddo."

Great Claire thought and looked back down at her plate of food that had gone cold. Eight hours wasted away at school just because her father wasn't man enough to help her out.