I don't own the Breakfast Club

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After the earlier events that took place, Allison had wished that her classmates would stop looking at her. It had been a moment that she had stepped into. Facing off against the second-best wrestler on the team—now the first—she didn't think of the consequences before she had spat her nail at him. Regardless of her action, it had been more than satisfactory to knock him down his pedestal. He had his own group and coach that cherished him, but in Allison's eyes, Angelo was nothing but a troublemaker. He did exude the same charisma as Andrew did. Maybe the coach had been wrong to kick Andrew off the team, but maybe he had done the right thing. What it seemed was that each clique had its own group of toxicity, whether it be the athletes or the preps. Their own little group, it wasn't as enhanced.

Allison walked to her last class of that day. The good world of art where she could just escape and for the next hour before heading home. After her parents had come back from their trip, home life had basically been the same. Allison couldn't wrap her mind around that fact that her mother had noticed her when she had a different appearance, but she didn't bat an eye when Allison was back to her original style. Were they wishing for the daughter that they never had? Someone who kept herself on point with her style and demeanor? Someone like Claire Standish?

Allison didn't think that she'd ever be someone she wasn't. The moment that she let Claire do her makeup, it had been a moment where they bonded, no matter how much Allison squirmed from the pencil that Claire gently swiped under her eye. It had been enough for Andrew to see a different side of her, but he had also seen her in her original style…and that was good enough for her. Why should she be the one to make people happy, let alone her parents, when they weren't trying to make her happy? There had been a time where Allison had tried to get her parents' attention. It started with raising her voice, exaggerated mannerisms, to the point where she threw items on the floor. That seemed to get their attention, but they wouldn't bother to reprimand her. It's like they were waiting for Allison to become an adult so they wouldn't bother with her.

Allison was planning on giving them what they wanted. Once she was old enough, and found some form of income, she was going to travel to many countries that she had dreamed of going to. Finding someone and settling with them had never been part of her goals, but now that she had Andrew were a couple, her mind had changed. She hoped…no she craved that they would still be together after high school.

Allison settled in her usual spot at the table and looked outside. The rays of the sun gently made their way towards her table, accentuating the color of her hair. On a nearby tree, a cardinal chirped as it hopped from one branch to another. There was something special when it came to nature. It could either be calm or tumultuous. Other than the severe snowstorm that they had during winter break, Allison preferred to calm spring. Just then, Allison looked up as the classroom began to fill with her classmates and Susan took her spot next to her. Allison wondered how much Susan knew about the altercation she had earlier with Angelo, but it seemed that she had kept herself away from the gossip…or the gossip just hadn't reached her. However, that wasn't one of the things that Allison wanted to touch upon with her friend.

"So it seems like you and Brian have finally sealed the deal," Allison commented and beheld a small mischievous smirk upon her lips.

Susan furrowed her eyebrows and glanced over at Allison. "What deal?" she asked her.

"You and Brian," Allison clarified.

It was then that Susan shook her head at Allison. "Is that why everyone looked at be weirdly when I came back at the table?" she asked her, "I thought there was something going on, especially when John kept making those puns of his."

John had been clever by mentioning the word 'kiss' in the conversation that they had at their lunch table. Susan had been oblivious to them but Brian had been quick to catch on. Brian blushed while Claire reprimanded John and she and Andrew looked on with a smirk.

"I'm just glad that I didn't scare him," Susan confided in her with a chuckle, "he looked a bit…mortified that it happened. I'm just glad we got that over with."

Allison had heard of some relationship that were ruined just because a kiss was bad. It was the most frivolous thing to lose a relationship over but she was glad that wasn't the case for either Brian or Susan. Just like the rest of them, Allison believed they deserved to be just as happy. Then there was another that lingered in her mind. "Does Vernon know?" she asked her.

Susan opened her sketchpad and began to test the colored pencils that Brian had bought for her. She didn't answer Allison at that moment as she created streaks of color on a blank sheet of paper. Allison looked and wondered whether Susan was creating a picture of just a display of fireworks with each of the colors. Its texture was smooth and even, unlike the colored pencils that the art class possessed.

"No," Susan then answered Allison with a shake of her head, "and I don't know if I should tell him." Ever since Susan moved back with her uncle, it had been starting off from scratch. After she apologized to him for her prior behavior, she was still expected to tell him of her whereabouts. Part of her understood why, but a part of her also wanted to keep some things to herself. She didn't know if Richard knew about her friendship with the others. Her assumptions were that he did, yet he never had any reason to mention it. "But he did ask why Brian had his telephone number. Brian called his house when I moved back."

Allison's eyes slightly widened. She couldn't imagine calling any of her teachers, let alone the vice principal. She did imagine how Brian would have reacted upon hearing Vernon's voice. "What did he say?" she asked Susan.

"I told him the truth," Susan began, "I gave Brian the house phone number for any out of class tutoring sessions. He is the only one that tutors in physics and…knowing how bad my grade is I need more sessions than just an hour Tuesday and Thursday."

Allison couldn't help but contain her smile. "And spend some time with Brian," she teased her.

Susan held her hand in the air before letting it drop back on her sketchpad. "There's a bright spot to everything."

Susan couldn't imagine if Richard was ever to find out about her relationship with Brian. Her guess would be disapproval and disappointment. Two emotions that she wasn't foreign to but he couldn't control everything that she did. She hoped that he had also learned his lesson from last time, just like she had. When she moved back, they never had an explosive argument like last time, but Susan had sensed the awkward silence between them, yet his authority was palpable.

Their conversation came to a halt when their art teacher walked to the classroom. "Okay class," she began, getting straight to the point rather than giving a greeting to her students. Allison wondered if any of the teachers enjoyed their jobs here anymore. "I have finally graded your work on our lesson 'Naturalistic Realism.' Before I hand back your work, I would like to make an announcement."

It was rare that their teacher would make an announcement in their class. One of the many things that passed Allison's mind was retirement. Their teacher wasn't that old, but the number of years that she'd been teaching here and the gray streaks in her hair, it wouldn't be a surprise that she decided for an early retirement.

"Shermer High's art class has been selected to compete against schools across the districts in a biennial art competition," their teacher announced.

Allison heard some unexpected gasps as students began to whisper to one another but this. Seems like there was a lot of talent in this art class than she had expected. When this was held two years ago, no one batted an eyelash. Now, it seemed as if their teacher was expecting top-tier talent. Could this have been one of the reasons as to why she had been strict with her students' art? Allison didn't think that was fair. There were some students that had talent, some that tried their best in the class, and others who only took it as an elective.

"Those who are interested in competing, please submit to me one of your completed art projects to enter the competition. The chosen art projects will result in the student or students being entered into the competition," their teacher continued.

So more than one kid can compete from each district? Allison thought.

"There will be a first place, second place, and third place. First place winner will be awarded a scholarship to the art school of their choice and a $500 prize. Second place will be awarded a $100 prize along with a bundle of Sennelier paints and brushes. Third place will be awarded a $50 prize," the teacher finished.

"Wow," Susan suddenly spoke up after their teacher had finished her announcement, "for a second-place prize, those paints are expensive."

Art school of their choice Allison thought. When it came to what she wanted to do after high school, other than leave her life at Shermer behind, attending art school had not been one of her top choices. If she was going to attend, what was she going to pay it with if she didn't have any support? Now with the scholarship being an option, Allison began to consider this. The only problem was that she had never put herself out there in front of other people. They would be critical of her art and who knows what they would think of it. Allison looked over at the teacher who began to hand out the graded art assignments. This time, she wasn't being as openly critical about her students' artwork.

Susan thought about the competition. She had always wanted to get into a good art school, much to her uncle's disapproval. She wanted to prove that she was able to do it. That art wasn't a dead end for her and that she could become successful one day. However, the one thing that was in her way to being successful was her trepidation of criticism. She was aware of the competitive nature that artists had and how many of them fought to display their artwork. All the great artists that she had learned about had a bad habit or tumultuous lifestyle and the way that they made a name from themselves was after their death. Things had changed from they used to be but the criticism was always there. If Susan was going to give herself the change to grow in her art, she knew needed to be open to it.

The two girls looked up when their teacher hovered next to their desk. Susan had been expecting to know what her grade was on the bobcat picture that she had drawn. The teacher made no comment as she handed back the graded projects. Allison looked at the drawing of the tree that she had made on the spot. An A— with the comment stating: Good attempt but it lacked texture.

Susan let out a sigh as she looked at her grade. A B+. Not as bad of a grade as she expected but the comment follow the rules next time was unnecessary. How were artists supposed to be imaginative when they were restricted to the expectations of someone else's. Susan hoped that this competition allowed for free expression.

"How'd you do?" Allison asked her.

"Okay," Susan said. It had been her first B+ in the class so she didn't expect that it would affect her grade as much.

Allison glanced over at her bobcat drawing. She still couldn't believe why their teacher had been so tough on her about it. "Looks good to me," Allison complimented her drawing with a slight nod of approval.

At least it was a nice comment than what was written on her art project. Susan had thought about submitting this for the competition, but she didn't think that any of the arbiters would approve of her having a B+. She was going to have to look through some of her old art pieces for submission.

As for Allison, she had plenty of artwork that she kept in her drawers at home. However, there was one drawing that she had been very proud of during her day in Saturday detention. The only item that she needed to add was a little bit of glue, so the dandruff could withstand gravity. "Are you gonna enter the competition?" Allison asked as she looked at Susan.

If she was willing to get to an art school, it was the only way. "Yeah," Susan nodded her head, hoping that she sounded more confident than she felt. "Are you?"

Allison hadn't expected such an answer from Susan. For a girl who was reserved, she had wondered Susan would shy away from it. Allison wasn't going to let her friendship with Susan interfere with this competition, especially since the first-place prize sounded attractive. "Yeah," Allison confirmed with a nod of her head.

"May the best artist win," Susan said to her with a good-natured smile and the lesson began for the remainder of the day.