I don't own the Breakfast Club

A/N: I wanted to say first, thank you for the reviews thus far. For this chapter, I tried to condense some of their conversation in terms of keeping this fic rated 'T.' Some things were not as avoidable as others were. There are trigger warnings in this chapter.

Enjoy!

The students regrouped and sat down at a section of the library in a circle. Brian and Susan sat together with Andrew and Allison while John and Claire sat across from one another. Each of the students felt that it was nice to be sitting together for once, without any fights or Vernon interfering every now and then. A series of questions were asked around the room, until it was Claire's turn to ask one. "What would you do for a million bucks?" Claire asked Andrew.

"What would I do for a million bucks?" Andrew asked before giving it some thought. "I guess I'd do as little as I had to." And forget about competing. I'd be rich.

"But that's boring," Claire commented.

"How am I supposed to answer?" Andrew asked her.

"The idea is to search your mind for the absolute limit," Claire told him. "Like would you drive to school naked?"

Susan stopped sketching when Claire proposed that question. To her, that didn't sound like 'an absolute limit.' An idea suddenly came in her mind. The thought of opening an art gallery had been something that she considered, but that would mean facing the criticism from others about her artwork. Unless she reached higher and became a director of the gallery.

Andrew laughed at the question that Claire proposed. "Would I have to get out of the car?" he asked her.

"Of course," Claire nodded.

"In the spring or winter?"

"Doesn't matter," Claire shrugged, "spring."

"In front of the school or the back of the school?"

"Either one," Claire answered and waited what Andrew had to say.

"Yes," Andrew answered and Claire was left with a surprised look upon her face.

Allison waited for the right moment to jump into the conversation. After Andrew answered, she opened her mouth to speak. "I'd do that," she said and everyone turned their eyes on her, "I'd do anything like that I don't need a million dollars to do it either."

Claire narrowed her eyes at Allison and shook her head. For someone that hadn't talked all detention, she sure was quick to join their conversation. "You're lying," she calmly accused Allison.

"I already have," Allison looked at Claire without batting an eye, "I've done just about everything there is, except a few things that are illegal."

This should be interesting Susan thought and looked at Allison intently to see what she had to say. The more Allison talked, the more interesting secrets she had.

Allison's lips titled into a smile as she revealed what she was talking about. "I'm a nymphomaniac," she said to Claire.

Susan's pencil made an audible sound when it dropped from her hand. "Allison!" she exclaimed with a look of shock on her face. She saw that smirk upon Allison's lips and she couldn't tell whether Allison was proud of it or if she was just teasing everyone in the room.

Claire continued to narrow her eyes at Allison. There was no way this girl in front of her had ever done something like that. "Lie," Claire stated but she could tell by the looks of the others in the room, they were curious about why Allison was doing such a thing.

"Are your parents aware of this?" Brian asked her.

"The only person I told was my shrink," Allison answered him.

"What did he do when you told him?" Andrew asked her.

This was a conversation that Susan did not have a particular interest in. If Allison wished to tell her private life, which it seemed that she already was doing, it was her choice and Susan was not going to judge her for it. While the group went into their discussion, she picked up her pencil and tried to block out the conversation that the rest of her classmates were engaging in. She looked at the light sketches that she had done before she dropped her pencil. Picking up where she left off, she made the lines a bit bolder and erased any extra lines. So far so good she thought as she began to add details to the clothes that her classmates wore. Out of all her classmates, Andrew's and Brian's clothes were the easiest to draw since they didn't require too much detail. Then she went ahead and filled in the details for John, Allison, and then Claire. The moment that she looked over at the redhead, she could see the look of discomfort on her face until she let it all out.

"No!" Claire yelled, "I never did it!" Her response was enough to break Susan out of her concentration and look up from her sketchpad.

A moment of silence filled the room as everyone looked at Claire. When everyone was pressuring Claire to answer, Allison felt that they were taking it too far, but she was hesitant to jump in and stop them. At first, Allison was shocked at Claire's response. The girls in their social circle were sought after and Claire was no exception. To Allison, it seemed that Claire had different values than her friends and it was at that moment where Allison realized that was one of the things that made her different. "I never did it either," Allison confessed, "I'm not a nymphomaniac. I'm a compulsive liar."

Another personality trait that Susan didn't know about. She didn't know how to feel about that. The friendship that she had formed with Allison and the things that they talked about during the week, they seemed genuine. There was more to learn about Allison than she originally realized.

Claire was livid upon Allison's confession. "You are such a bitch! You said that just to screw me over!"

"I would do it though," Allison said, "if you love someone it's okay."

"I can't believe you," Claire shook her head at Allison. "You're so weird. You don't say anything all day and then why you open your mouth you unload all those tremendous lies all over me."

"Doesn't feel so good being on the other side, does it?" Susan asked as Claire looked at her.

"What are you even talking about?" Claire asked her.

"It's pretty simple," Susan said, "all the people that you and your friends talk about and the lies and rumors that you spread about them. How do they think they feel?"

Claire let out a light scoff and tried to hide it with a small smile. "Do you think that we have gossiped about you? We have better things to talk about."

Susan shrugged her shoulders, unfazed by the comment that she made. "It wouldn't surprise me if you have. Unless you follow Jennifer's lead."

Claire leaned her head against the wall and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Oh my God," she commented. From the beginning, her and Jennifer had been great friends. Now, it seemed like she was trying to outcompete Claire in everything that she was doing. Who had the best nail polish, the best clothes, the best lipstick, who was going to Prom Queen, and who even had the best date in the school. "I don't follow Jennifer's lead."

Susan's eyes hardened when Claire said that. "So Jennifer telling you to grab my canvas is not following her lead? Wow Claire, I didn't think of you being sheeplike."

"Shut up," Claire shot back. "You're the one to talk after you threw paint at us and ruined our outfits which is why you're here in the first place."

John laughed at what Claire said. He could feel the glare in her eyes, and yet, he didn't care for it.

"You did what?" Brian asked and he looked at Susan with wide eyes. However, Susan didn't have a chance to answer when Andrew jumped into the conversation.

"You're just pissed off because she got you to admit something you didn't want to," Andrew jumped in before a fight broke out between Susan and Claire.

Claire let out a sigh and placed a hand on her forhead. "Okay fine," Claire admitted, "but that doesn't make it any less bizarre."

"What's bizarre?" Andrew asked her, "I mean, we're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better hiding it than others that's all."

Andrew did have a point. His classmates, as well as his teammates, seemed to be these perfectly sculpted human beings that could do no wrong. They were worshipped by those that they considered beneath them, despised by those who were outcasts, and they deemed themselves to be untouched. What he had learned in these past couple of hours was that no one was perfect.

Claire narrowed her eyes at Andrew. The varsity letterman? Really? "And how are you bizarre," she asked him and upon her question, Andrew remained silent.

Allison looked at Andrew but when he didn't answer, she spoke up. "He can't think for himself."

Andrew nodded his head. "She's right," he spoke up. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Do you guys know what I did to get in here?" He noticed his classmates shaking their heads before he continued. "I taped Larry Lester's buns together."

Claire stifled a laugh while Brian looked at Andrew in shock. "That was you?"

"Yeah," Andrew nodded, "you know him."

"Yeah I know him," Brian said.

"Then you know how hairy he is, right?" Andrew continued, "I heard that when they pulled the tape off most of his hair came off and some skin too."

"Oh my God," Claire commented.

Andrew turned to look at Allison. "And the bizarre thing is that I did it for my old man. I tortured this poor kid because I wanted him to think that I was cool." Andrew swallowed the lump in his throat at the mention of his father. "He's always going off about, you know, when he was in school. All the wild things he used to do. And I got the feeling that he was disappointed that I never cut loose on anyone."

The memory washed over him as he replayed it again in his head. It was something that he wanted to forget about and hoped that Larry had forgotten about it as well. But he knew that it would be marked on him for the rest of his life…and there was no way that Larry would ever forget about that.

"So I'm sitting in the locker room and taping up my knee," Andrew continued, "and Larry's undressing a couple of lockers down from me. He's kind of skinny. He's weak. And I started thinking about my father and his attitude about weakness. And the next thing I knew, I jumped on top of him and started wailing on him. And my friends, they just laughed and cheered me on. And afterwards, when I was sitting in Vernon's office, all I could think about was Larry's father…and Larry having to go home and explain what happened to him…and the humiliation he must have felt."

Andrew could feel the tears beginning to sting his eyes when he recounted that event and even as he talked about it, he could feel himself getting humiliated for acting inhumane to someone that did nothing wrong.

"It must have been unreal," Andrew continued. "How do you apologize for something like that?" He was not expecting an answer from anyone. "There's no way. It's all because of me and my old man."

His father's words, the intensity that he had to push him to a point where he didn't recognize himself. "God, I hate him!" Andrew declared and balled his hand into a fist. "He's like this…he's like this mindless machine that I can't even relate to anymore."

"Andrew! You've got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family. Your intensity is crap! Win! Win! Win!"

Andrew leaned back and muttered under his breath. "You know sometimes I wish my knee would give, then I wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore. Then he could forget all about me." And leave me the hell alone he thought.

The group was quiet when Andrew confessed. Brian had his eyes covered with his hand. A part of him was shocked what Andrew had done that to his classmate, but the pressure that Andrew must have felt from his father was all too real for Brian.

Allison had tears in her eyes as she looked at Andrew. For someone who was a champion, he also had his moments of weakness and he was conformed into something that he didn't want to be.

Claire felt terrible for having giggled at Larry's unfortune, but she felt just as terrible for Andrew and the pressure that he was put in.

I won't tolerate….That was a sentence that Susan had been faced with far too many times after her mother's death. I won't tolerate this artwork, I won't tolerate these grades, I won't tolerate your future as an artist. Why did adults think that they could control her future?

As for John, he was not a stranger to this type of behavior. There was no 'tough love' in what Andrew described and anyone who didn't see it, was clearly blind. "I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling," he commented.

Brian removed his hand from his face. "It's like me, you know, with my grades."

Everyone turned their heads to look at him. The perfect student who was probably on his way to being the valedictorian for their class, was having an issue with his grades?

"Like when I step outside myself and when I look in at myself, you know," Brian continued, "and I see me." He remained silent for a moment and truthfully said, "and I don't like what I see. I really don't."

Susan could see the faraway look in Brian's eyes when he confessed. She understood that he felt the pressures of always getting good grades but there was still time to rectify them.

Claire looked at Brian for a second. "What's wrong with you?" she asked with a concerned tone of voice, "why don't you like yourself?"

"Sounds stupid but…it's because I'm failing shop," Brian confessed. "We had this assignment to make this ceramic elephant and we had eight weeks to do it. We were supposed to…it was like a lamp. And when you, you know, pull the trunk the light was supposed to go on. But my light didn't go on. I got an F on it. I've never got an F in my life."

Typical nerd John thought when Brian poured his confession to the group.

"When I signed up for the course, I thought I was playing it real smart 'cause I thought, I'll take shop it'll be such an easy way to maintain my grade point average."

"Why'd you think it's be easy?" John asked him.

"Have you seen some of the dopes that take shop?" Brian asked as he managed to look at John.

"I take shop," John said to Brian. "And we're in the same class. You must be an idiot."

"I'm an idiot because I can't make a lamp?" Brian asked him.

"No, you're a genius because you can't make a lamp," John told him.

Brian was perplexed at whether John was being serious or sarcastic. "What do you know about trigonometry?" he asked John.

"I could care less about trigonometry," John fired back.

How could not care about it and be in Shops Class. "Bender, you know that without trigonometry, there'd be no engineering?" he asked him.

"Without lamps, there'd be no light," John answered him.

"And without imagination, there'd be no lamps," Susan spoke up as Brian and John looked over at her. "There's more than one way to design lamps to be fitting in any room. It doesn't matter if the light doesn't turn on right away. The beauty of it is to try again."

"Not when you have eight weeks to do it," Brian told her, "I tried to calculate and measure every single position of that lamp, and still no light and he's saying that trigonometry doesn't matter."

Claire looked from one boy to the other and jumped in before a fight broke out between them. "Okay, so neither one of you is better than the other one," she said.

Allison then spoke up, which was a relief to Claire. "I can write with my toes. I can also eat, brush my teeth."

"With your feet?" Claire asked not knowing if she was being serious or just lying to them again.

Allison looked directly at the group, an indication that what she was stating was true. "Play Heart and Soul on the piano."

Susan pointed at Allison with her pencil. "Now that I would like to see."

"I can make spaghetti," Brian piped up.

A popular dish…and one of my favorites Susan thought as she smiled at Brian.

Claire looked over at Andrew. "What can you do?" she asked him.

Andrew knew that if he tried, he would find a talent within himself other than wrestling. A sarcastic smile came upon his lips. "I can tape all of your buns together," he answered.

"I can draw just by looking at objects…or even subjects," Susan jumped into the conversation. She took a deep breath and turned her sketchpad around for her classmates to see.

All five students lean in to look at her drawing, each one of them making a comment at how realistic the drawing looked. It was a picture where Susan had captured all five of them sitting in a circle. "Where are you in the picture?" Claire asked, as she briefly removed her eyes from the sketch that Susan had done of her.

"The artist doesn't draw herself," Susan answered her.

John motioned to Susan with his head. "Why don't you show us the rest of your drawings?"

Susan pulled the sketchpad close to her and closed it. "Maybe some other time," she said as she looked at John.

"Why not?" John asked her, "you'd think that we would judge you?"

Kind of Susan thought. Even though John had given his own indirect comments about Susan's drawings, she didn't feel comfortable yet to let everyone else see her sketchpad.

"Do you have any favorite artists?" Andrew spoke up catching Susan by surprise. This was the first time that he had directly interacted with her.

Susan nodded her head. "I do," she said to him. "not anyone current though. I do like the classics though. Van Gogh, Magritte, Pollock, Picasso," she said as she looked at John when she mentioned the latter. "But I'm trying to develop my own style of drawings and paintings. I also want to get into sculpting."

"Isn't that an advanced class?" Allison asked her. "You'd have to take a beginner's course first."

"I know," Susan said as she leaned her head back and looked at the ceiling. "I've been trying to push my uncle into letting me take the beginner's course in the summer but he just won't let me."

"Why do you need to go to your uncle?" Andrew asked her, "couldn't you just ask you mom or dad?"

Susan knew that Andrew meant well with his question. "I would if they were around," Susan answered him and she noticed the change on expression on Andrew's face.

Claire was curious to ask her about what she meant but decided against it. She could feel that after she had grabbed her canvas upon Jennifer's orders, Susan may have felt resentment towards her. "It's your choice on what you wanna do," Claire said, "he can't take that away from you."

Susan was surprised at Claire's support. A small smile formed on her lips as she leaned against a chair behind her. "You don't know my uncle."

"Have you showed him any of your drawings?" Claire asked her, "what you did was…" she trailed off and tried to find the right word to say but not give her too much credit. "Great. I think that you should show him what you have done so he'd know why you want to take those classes. I mean," she lightly laughed, "the idea of taking summer classes is beyond me but whatever makes you happy."

John then turned his head towards Claire. If she had been present in the office with both, he was sure that she wouldn't want to reveal anything to the group. He then looked over at Susan who silently stared at Claire, debating if she wanted to tell Claire to 'shut up' or just answer her questions. "I wanna see what Claire can do," John jumped in and turned his attention to Claire.

Claire's eyes turned over to John when he interrupted her conversation with Susan. "I can't do anything," she answered him.

"Now everybody can do something," John said, almost condescendingly.

Claire thought about and a smile formed upon her lips. "There's one thing I can do." She then shook her head. "No forget it, it's way too embarrassing."

"You ever seen Wild Kingdom?" John asked her, "that's guy's been doing that show for thirty years."

"Okay," Claire said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a tube of lipstick. "But you have to swear to God you won't laugh," she said and looked at John who made the cross sign. "Okay," Claire said, "can't believe I'm actually doing this." She placed the lipstick inside her shirt and rubbed the top of her lips along the tip of the lipstick. She lifted her head and presented the color of her lipstick on her lips with a smile.

Brian, Andrew, and Allison applauded her for doing so, followed by John who gave her a sarcastic clap. "Where'd you learn that?" Andrew asked her.

"Camp, seventh grade," Claire answered and then looked over at John who continued to sarcastically clap.

"That was great Claire," John commented, "my image of you is totally blown."

Claire looked at John when he said that and wiped off the makeup from her lips.

"Don't do that to her," Allison told John, "you swore to God you wouldn't laugh."

"Am I laughing?" John asked Allison and then his attention was diverted towards Andrew who threw an insult at him. "Why do you care what I think anyway?" he asked Andrew, "I don't even count right?"

Oh no Allison thought. Not this again.

"I could disappear and it wouldn't make any difference," he reiterated Andrew's words from this morning. "I may as well not exist at this school, remember?" He looked away from Andrew and then at Claire. He could easily see how devastated she looked after John humiliated her. "And you don't like me anyway."

She felt angrier than she felt humiliated. "You know I have just as many feelings as you do and it hurts just as much when somebody steps all over them." Maybe Susan had been right with what she had said about her group talking behind other people's backs. However, it hurt more when she was confronted by them.

"God you're so pathetic," John said, "don't you ever compare yourself to me, okay? You got everything, and I got nothing." He could see the tears that were threating to spill from her eyes, but he didn't care. They were nothing alike and how dare she make that assumption! Poor little rich girl John thought. "Freaking Rapunzel, right? School would probably shut down if you didn't show up. Queenie isn't here!" His eyes then fell on the diamond earrings. "I like those earrings Claire," he taunted her.

"Shut up," Claire whispered.

"Are those real diamonds, Claire," John taunted her.

"I bet they are. Did you work for the money for those earrings?"

They're a family heirloom Claire wanted to tell him. "Shut your mouth."

"Or did your daddy buy those for you?" John pushed her.

"SHUT UP!" Claire screamed at him.

"I bet he bought those for you," John continued, "I bet those were a Christmas gift, right? You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner year that the old Bender family! I got a carton of cigarettes. The old man grabbed me and said 'hey, some up Johnny!'" he said as he grabbed the front of his shirt and imitated his father once again. "So go home and cry to your daddy. Don't cry here, okay?"

He couldn't believe how out of touch with reality this girl was. Life wasn't as perfect as she made herself out to be. What was she crying for about anyway? Like he said, she had everything that her parents gave her, and he got nothing.

Within the silence, Susan shook her head. "Family issues," she said with a sigh, "everyone has them one way or the other…nobody is perfect."

Andrew watched the exchange between John and Claire. He felt like he related with John one way of the other. He was acting out his father's attitude onto Claire and Andrew had done the same onto Larry. "My God," he then spoke up, "are we gonna be like our parents?" he asked the group.

Claire turned her tear-streaked face towards Andrew. "Not me," she said and then turned her eyes towards John who looked at her. "Ever."

If Susan turned like her mother, it would drive Vernon up the wall. If she followed what Vernon wanted to her follow, she would go crazy herself.

"It's unavoidable," Allison spoke up, "it just happens."

"What happens?" Claire asked her.

"When you grow up, your heart dies," Allison stated.

"Who cares?" John dismissively asked.

A single tear streaked down Allison's face. "I care," she told him.

Brian took a deep breath. "I was thinking…I know it's kind of a weird time but I was just wondering what is going to happen to us on Monday when we're all together again? I mean, I consider you guys as my friends." He could tell by the silence that was in the room, his classmates were probably debating on what to say. "I'm not wrong am I?" he asked them.

"No," Andrew answered him.

"So…So what happens on Monday?" Brian asked.

"Are we still friends you mean?" Claire asked, "if we're friends now that is."

"Yeah," Brian answered.

Claire looked away from the group. She knew that what she was going to say was going to hurt all of them, but she couldn't risk it. Not after what she had gained to be to where she was. "You want the truth?" she asked and looked at Brian who nodded his head to her, "I don't think so."

"With all of us or just John?" Allison asked her.

"With all of you," Claire answered.

Wow Susan thought as she looked at Claire. Then again, she wouldn't be missing out on anything with Claire. Who wanted to talk about the latest fashion or gossip out irrelevant things?

Andrew glared at her. "That's a real nice attitude, Claire."

"Oh be honest, Andy," Claire said to him, "if Brian came up to you on Monday, what would you do? I mean picture this, you're there with all the sports. I know exactly what you'd do. You'd say 'hi' to him and when he left you'd cut him all up so your friends wouldn't think you really liked him."

Andrew glanced over at Brian, who was looking away from Claire. Just like his team, these people were also on his team and he wouldn't leave them behind…no matter how much one of them get on his nerves. "No way," he said to Claire.

Allison looked at Andrew when he gave that response. Good for him she thought. Her eyes then moved over to Claire. "What if Susan and I came up to you?" she asked her.

"Same exact thing," Claire responded.

"You are a bitch!" John yelled at Claire.

Susan made a silent nod with her head. "He's got a point there."

"Why?" Claire demanded, "because I'm telling the truth? The makes me a bitch?"

"No!" John responded, "because you know how terrible that is to do to someone. And you don't got the balls to stand up to your friends and tell them you're gonna like who you wanna like."

"Okay what about you, you hypocrite?" Claire shot back, "why don't you take Allison and Susan to one of your heavy metal vomit parties?"

Allison and Susan exchanged a look with one another and shared a laugh. Susan didn't know about Allison but she wasn't into those types of parties. Then again if that got onto her uncle's nerves, she was all for it. "Rock on," she said as she held up three fingers in the air.

"Or take Brian out to the parking lot at lunch to get high?" Claire continued, "or what about Andy for that matter? What about me? What would your friends say if we were walking down the hall together? They'd laugh their asses off and you'd probably tell them you were doing it with me so they'd forgive you for being seen with me."

John felt his nerves tick at the mention of his friends. No one from her little social circle would turn their heads towards him or his group of friends. "Don't you ever talk about my friends!" John snapped at her. "You don't know any of friends, you don't look at any of my friends, and you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of friends! So you just stick to the things that you know; shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW, and your poor, rich, drunk mother in the Caribbean—"

Claire raised her foot and kicked John. "SHUT UP!" she yelled and tears furiously began to spill down her face.

"As far as being concerned about what's gonna happen when you and I walk down the hallways of school, you can forget it cause it's never gonna happen. Just bury your head in the sand and wait until your freaking prom."

"I hate you," Claire told him.

"Yeah? Good!" John shot back at her.

Their argument was intense. But John did make a good point. After spending almost eight hours in this place, learning about one another, and confiding in one another about their personal issues, everything would return to normal on Monday? Out of all the people in the group, Susan knew that her and Allison would still be friends and she was thankful for that. For Claire, she could forget about that when she made it clear that they wouldn't be friends. For Andrew, she didn't know where it would stand. For Brian, he had offered to tutor her and she hoped that it would lead into something. As for John, he was a mystery.

A tear slipped from Brian's eyes after the argument. He shouldn't expect anything more from the preps, the jocks, or the rebels of the school. Why would they want to hang out with the social outcasts? "Okay, then I assume Allison, Susan, and I are better people than you guys?" he asked them. "Us weirdos?"

Susan's breath caught in her throat when Brian said that. He would consider her on Monday after all. "Would you…would you do that to me?" Brian asked as he looked at Susan.

"No," Susan answered without any hesitation, "I wouldn't do that to my friends…unlike some people in this room."

Brian knew whom she was referring to and then looked at her when she continued. "It's like artwork," she said, "many different elements go into it…that's what makes it so special. Just like the friendship in this room."

Brian gave her a nod of his head and then looked over at Allison. "Would you?" he asked her.

Allison looked over at Susan before answering. "No," she said to him, "I don't think the kind of friends I have would mind."

Brian wanted his tears to stop but they continued to flow. "I just wanna tell each of you that I wouldn't do that," he said, "I wouldn't and I will not."

Claire looked over at Brian. "Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us."

Allison, Brian, and Susan exchanged a look with one another. Anger welled up inside of Susan when Claire said that. "I don't look up to any of you," she said to her, "after what your friend did to my painting on Monday and how you and rest of the group supported her. You want to know how I look up at you? I don't."

Brian let out a defeated smile at Claire. "You're so conceited Claire," he said to her, "you're so full of yourself. Why are you like that?"

"I'm not saying that to be conceited," Claire cried, hurt from that assumption that Brian gave her and hurt from the words that Susan directed at her, "I hate it. I hate having to go along with everything my friends say."

You sure didn't hate it when you grabbed my canvas Susan glared at her.

"Then why do you do it?" Brian asked her.

"I don't know," Claire shook her head and wiped a tear from her cheek, "you don't understand. You're not friends with the same kind of people Andy and I are friends with. You know, you just don't understand the pressure that they can put on you."

Brian's jaw dropped and he pointed to himself. "I don't understand what? You think I don't understand pressure Claire?" Anger took over him. "Screw you!" he cried and then buried his face into his arm.

"Oh Brian," Susan sympathetically said as she reached out her arm and put her hand onto his shoulder.

Brian flinched when she touched his shoulder, not expecting anyone to show sympathy. Slowly, he relaxed at her touch. "You know why I'm here today?" he asked everyone in the room, "do you?!"

A moment of silence hovered above them. John looked at Brian expectantly at what he had to say. It was out of character for Brian to blow to Claire like that and John didn't know that Brian had it in him to do it.

"I'm here because Mr. Ryan found a gun in my locker," Brian confessed.

Goddamn John thought.

"Why did you have a gun in your locker?" Andrew asked.

"I tried," Brian continued, "when you pull the trunk on it the light's supposed to go on. It didn't go on."

Susan didn't have the courage to ask him about the weapon and she was glad that Andrew was brave enough to ask. "What was the gun for Brian?" he asked him.

"Just forget it," Brain avoided eye contact with the group.

"You bought it up man," Andrew told him.

Brian hesitated. He finally took a deep breath and stated, "I can't have an F. I can't have it and I know my parents can't have it."

Jesus Christ John thought. All this just because of a freaking 'F.' His parents are screwed up more than I thought.

"Even if I ace the rest of the semester, I'm still only a B," Brian said. "Everything's ruined for me." Anger took over his emotions and he slammed his fist against a chair, causing Susan to flinch at his actions. "I was considering my options you know."

"No," Claire shook her head, "killing yourself is not an option."

"Well I didn't do it, did I?" Brian looked up at her, "no, I don't think so."

Allison stared at Brian. "It was a handgun?" she asked him.

Brian looked away from the group. "It was a flare gun. It went off in my locker."

Andrew tried to keep it together. "Really?" he asked but then he couldn't stop himself from laughing at Brian's explanation. He tried to contain his laughter when Brian told him that it wasn't funny but he too, started to laugh as well.

In the end of It all, Brian was glad that he didn't do it. "The elephant was destroyed," he said to the group with a lighthearted smile upon his lips.

Susan put a hand on his shoulder once more. "Who cares about an elephant?" she said to him, "you're the only one that matters."

Allison was glad that there was a shift in the mood. She bit her lower lip and then looked at her peers. "You wanna know what I did to get in here?" she asked them. She saw everyone looking at her, expecting something out of the ordinary given the type of personality that she had. "Nothing. I didn't have anything better to do."

"And the mystery is solved," Susan commented, until the whole group broke out into a fit of laughter.

Through all of that, everyone was glad that they were able to move onto something that was lighthearted and funny. Something that they could all relate to.