I don't own the Breakfast Club

Enjoy!

Claire's remainder of the week had been uneasy. Ever since Tuesday, where John had shared with her that secret spot, she hadn't expected for her father to be overly protective of her. On Tuesday, when she had John walked back to the school grounds, her father's BMW was parked on the spot where he always waited for her. Just thinking about that site that she and John shared was enough to make her heart flutter. It was just them and the nature that they were surrounded with. John had been very gentle with her, as if she was a porcelain doll, and Claire appreciated the affection that he gave her.

When Claire had said her goodbyes to John and gotten inside her father's BMW, that's when he began to fire numerous questions.

"Who is he? Why is he dressed like that? Do I know anyone from his family? What's with the James Dean guise? He looks dangerous…like a criminal. Don't tell me your associating yourself with someone like this, Claire!"

When they had gotten home, Claire was glad to be out of the car. Her father didn't give her the chance to defend John as he went on and on talking about the family's image. However, his words were not enough to stop Claire from seeing John at school. Every time that her father came to pick her up, Claire would be there standing next to John. It wasn't as if she was doing it deliberately, even though John had told her that he'd be outstanding in that capacity of using him to get back at her parents.

On Friday, that day had been a bombshell. When Claire saw her father's car approaching the school's parking lot, she knew for certain that he had seen her with John. It was as if John had sensed her anxiousness. At that moment, he leaned in and told her, "if you wanna get outta there, you know where to find me Red."

Claire knew what he was referring to. Their spot by the lake. If Claire was being true to herself, she would want to be back in that beautiful place than at home. However, she couldn't always escape her troubles. The moment that Claire had gotten inside the car, that's where she had faced her father's anger.

"Claire what did I tell you? For the past couple of days, I told you not to associate yourself with that low life. I don't want to hear it! You know how much this tarnishes my reputation as a Standish. Do you realize what can happen to me and to the family if you are seen associating with someone like this? Is this how you want your future to be?"

Her father had never been this angry before with her. He didn't even give her the chance to explain herself and that choice that she had made. She was with John because she had realized that she was partaking in a façade. A façade that made her feel exhausted. To keep up with an image, where she realized deep down, she wasn't a part of anymore why should she continue that charade at home?

When Claire arrived home, her mother had sensed the tension in the air. Claire headed upstairs before she was questioned, giving her mother the path to question her father.

"Tim what was that all about?" Linda asked her husband who let out a defeated sigh.

Sometimes Tim wondered why he was constantly competing in his life. Wasn't work enough? "I don't know Linda," Tim said to her, "Claire thinks she can start dating whoever she wants."

"Oh?" Linda asked as she bought a cup of hot tea that she had made. Aside from the usual alcoholic drinks that she would have during dinner, tea was always welcomed in the afternoons. Linda had no idea that her daughter would start dating anyone, let alone in a place like Shermer High. It wasn't that Shermer High was a terrible school. After all, some of her friend's children also attended. "What did he look like?"

"Like a rebel…only with a cause," Tim told her. He let out a sigh and shook his head. "I knew something that was going on the beginning when I picked her up from Saturday detention."

"What happened?" Linda asked.

"She kissed him," Tim told her, "when I asked her who he was, she told me he was just a friend. He seemed more than just a friend. She's grounded for the weekend."

"Like she should," Linda agreed, which came as a surprise to Claire. Her parents rarely agreed on anything. "Can't tarnish the Standish name. That already happened once."

And that was the moment where Claire had decided to cease her eavesdropping. She could tell that just by the sound of her father's voice, he was disgusted of that fact that she was dating a 'criminal.' What surprised Claire was that she expected her father to support her decision and her mother to be against it.

Claire spent the remainder of the afternoon in her room. The discussion from downstairs had ended and she was glad that she could have some peace and quiet while she started her studies for the upcoming exams. This was part of the curriculum that she didn't look forward to. Claire hated having to sacrifice some of her sleep to study for exams. Lack of sleep made her look haggard that not even an excessive amount of makeup would hide. However, ever since her brother leaving and her parents' tumultuous relationship, studying as well as some retail therapy had served as a solace to her.

Claire read through the French grammar in her textbook. The memorization of the sentence structure was easy. The way Mrs. Dubois structured her exams was a section for writing, which involved translating words and sentences from English to French, a listening section, as well as an oral. The one difficulty that Claire had was her pronunciation and Mrs. Dubois was always nitpicky about it. In her class, Claire never bothered to partake in any of the study groups, even though she knew that they'd be helpful.

After spending a good hour on French, Claire decided to take a break. It would have been nice to leave her bedroom and go out for some retail therapy but she knew that the moment she stepped out, her would be sent back upstairs.

Whatever Claire thought. Sometimes, she didn't know which sides she had her parents on. It was exhausting. The words that her mother had said downstairs, made Claire realize how much of a grudge they were still holding after what had happened to them. It was a long time ago, before Claire had gone to high school and yet, her parents kept that bitterness…to the point where they rarely called their son.

Claire looked over at her telephone resting on the counter by her bedside. It had been a longtime ever since she had called him. She wondered how he was doing. She knew that she shouldn't do it, especially after her father informally grounded her, but she didn't care about that. She had to talk to him. Picking up the receiver, she held it by her ear and pressed on 0. "Hello operator," Claire said, "connect me with Christopher Standish in Paris." She gave the operator the number, which she had recited by heart ever since the last time they had spoken.

The dial tone came from the other hand until it was disrupted by a voice. "Bonjour," Christopher greeted.

Claire smiled at the sound of his voice. "Bonjour! Ça fait longtemps."

"Claire?" Christopher asked her, "it's you!"

Claire let out a small chuckle. "How did you know? Wait, let me guess…my pronunciation."

"Dead giveaway," Christopher chuckled, "how've you been? I haven't heard from you since New Year's."

Claire shrugged her shoulders as if Christopher was sitting in front of her. "I've been trying to get through. You know how it is."

"You know it," Christopher agreed with her, "nothing too bad I hope."

"No," Claire shook her head, "it's…you know how I thought I had everything figured out when I got into high school?"

Christopher chuckled. "How can I forget? You were excited to start. You had a literal plan on who you wanted to be and what you wanted."

"Yeah well, things didn't really work out. I mean, it started out fine when I started. Now…I feel like I don't know what I am anymore," she told him.

"What happened?" Christopher asked her.

Claire let out a sigh. Since her parents weren't willing to listen to her, then it was her brother who would. "It all started when I got Saturday detention."

"What?" Christopher yelled at the other end of the line. "You? Detention?"

"I skipped class with my friends to go shopping, okay?" Claire told him.

"Wow," Christopher said, "mom and dad must've been really happy about that."

"Try mom," Claire said, "dad really didn't give a damn about it. Anyway, I was in detention with four other people and being with them made me realize that there's more to me, and us, than how we are seen."

"Where are you going with this?" Christopher asked her.

"You know how mom and dad always saw me," Claire told him.

"Yeah," Christopher nodded his head, "'the little princess,' 'daddy's girl.' I was there for all of it."

"And I knew how they saw you," Claire pointed out.

Christopher let out a sigh at the memory. "Don't remind me. I'd rather not revisit the time when I was seen as 'a disappointment' or 'a failure' just because I decided to take my own path in life."

Claire knew all about that. Their father wanted Christopher to go to the best schools in Chicago and continue the family's legacy. However, Christopher had decided to take the year off and discover what he wanted to do. He had gotten himself a girlfriend that their parents didn't approve of and that had been the breaking point for them. "It seems the same thing is happening to me."

"Oh come on Claire," Christopher said, "I doubt mom and dad would disown their only daughter."

That was one word that Claire feared. If she was disowned, she couldn't have the things that she had been raised with, let alone the money that were being saved up for college. "I don't know Chris," Claire sighed, "it's like we're supposed to keep an image just to please our parents, you know? What about us though? Where is our happiness in all of this?"

"Guess happiness doesn't exist in the Standish family," Christopher told her. "Mom and dad think that showering us in luxuries and parties is enough to make us happy."

"It's exhausting!" Claire exclaimed.

"I don't miss them one bit," Christopher said with a shake of his head. "I'm just happy here with my job, my little apartment, and the many cafés and restaurants that surround me."

"I wish I could live there with you," Claire blissfully sighed. France sounded like paradise and a much better place than a gloomy town like Shermer, Illinois.

Christopher smiled at the other end of the line. He wished that he could help Claire, but there wasn't anything that he could do at such a distance. "What happened after detention?" Christopher asked, bringing them back to the topic.

Oh yeah Claire thought. They had really deviated from that conversation. "Let's say detention was an interesting experience. I got together with a guy…the type of guy that my parents would call the police on."

Claire moved the receiver away from her ear as Christopher let out a guffaw at the other end of the line. "No way!" Christopher said as he gathered himself from the laugh. "Claire you didn't!"

A mischievous smile came on Claire's lips. "I did…and dad saw my kissing him when he picked me up after detention."

"I wish I was there to see his face," Christopher said.

"He was very confused at first. Then when he picked me up after school on Tuesday, he saw me again with him," she continued, "and now I'm grounded for the weekend."

Typical Tim Standish behavior Christopher thought as he rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that his goody-two shoes sister had stepped out of her zone and did something that was considered unfathomable to the family. He thought he was the one that had the guts to do it, but Claire, he had to admit that he was proud of her. "How do you feel about this guy?" he asked her.

"It's…something," Claire told him. "He was so mean to me in detention. Wouldn't leave me alone. But now that me and the rest of the group became friends, me and him took it a step further."

"And you like this guy?" Christopher asked her.

A question that Claire felt corner with. She had to admit to her feelings. She did find John to be charismatic, but his behavior was unappealing on Saturday. However, their interactions after Saturday to where they were now, he seemed to tolerate her…to the point where they kissed and they both enjoyed it. Claire didn't know where their future would be, but she had to admit that she was glad that they had reached this point. "I think that I do."

"Then that's all that matters," Christopher told her, "screw everyone else."

"It's hard to do that when you're living with them…or see them in school," Claire said.

Christopher had been in the same boat as Claire during his last year in high school. Everyone was so picky with the people that they hung with that when he stepped out of his group, he felt that he shunned by the rest of his supposed 'friends.' "Just so you know, those that don't stick by you are not your true friends."

Claire learned that the hard way. She could have saved herself the hurt if she had stayed with her usual group of friends. Then she wouldn't have any issues with Jennifer or the others. Yet, she would be sacrificing her happiness to be the person that she knew that she wasn't. She just couldn't take the pressure of it anymore. "You got that right," Claire agreed, "hopefully mom and dad would start to see."

"Have they said anything about me?" Christopher asked her.

Claire's grip tightened on the receiver. She hadn't heard her parents say anything when she was present. In private, she just didn't know.

"Nah," Christopher spoke up for her, "why would they?"

"Hey, don't be like that," Claire told him, "so what if things didn't work out? That doesn't mean you're not their son."

"They have a nice way of showing it don't they?" Christopher said with a chuckle that to Claire sounded like he was hiding his disappointed. "Anyway, thanks for calling me. I needed some distraction from all these files I must go through."

"You're still working?" Claire asked, "it's late over there. It must be like," she turned and looked at the clock on the wall, "almost eleven."

Christopher let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. "Work never ends, but at least it keeps me busy from everything else."

He was just as hardworking as their father. At least Christopher had found a way to get back on his feet after what had happened. "I'll let you get to it then."

"And don't take months to call back," Christopher scolded her, eliciting a laugh from Claire. "You take care alright?"

"You too," Claire smiled. With that, they hung up. Claire let out a sigh and looked at her phone. At least there was someone in the family who was understanding. She felt that Christopher was right. Many people didn't stick by her when she changed. As for her parents, they may fight but she knew that they wanted the best for her…sometimes, they just didn't know what she wanted.