I don't own the Breakfast Club

Enjoy!

It was a nice moment while it lasted. Susan wished that John didn't have to break up their little 'meeting' but it made Susan look forward to the other future 'meetings.' The students situated themselves to their original tables and they unpacked their lunches. John was sitting between Claire and Andrew, as he was up to his little tactics in bothering them.

"What's in there?" John asked Claire.

Out of all the things that John had said and asked of her, this one had to be one of the dumbest questions. "Guess," Claire said matter-of-factly and glanced over to him. She noticed that he had no food with him. "Where's your lunch?" she asked him.

"You're wearing it," John smirked.

Claire let out a sigh and turned her attention back to her food. "You're nauseating."

John then reached over for the Coke can and threw it over his shoulder towards Allison. Allison had her hand in the air and grabbed it without looking up. Damn, good catch! John thought and then turned his attention back to Claire who had finished unpacking her lunch. She had some type of food neatly set out in front of her with a weird looking sauce. "What's that?" he asked her.

Another strange question. Everyone knew what this food was. "Sushi," Claire said and looked at John. She then chuckled when John repeated the word and explained what it was. "It's rice, raw fish, and seaweed."

John made a face at that food combination. "You won't accept a guy's tongue in your mouth and you're gonna eat that?" he asked her.

What else could she expect from him? "Can I eat?" Claire said and then turned her back to John to eat her lunch.

"I don't know," John said, "give it a try." As Claire was starting to eat her lunch, John watched as Andrew began to pull out a numerous amount of food from his lunch bag. Three sandwiches, a carton of milk, a banana, an apple, an inflated bag of potato chips, and a bag of cookies. Either he needed the energy or this guy was just very hungry.

Once Andrew had finished unpacking his lunch, he picked up one of his sandwiches and noticed Claire and John looking at him. "What's your problem?" he asked them.

From the table behind them, Susan opened a container that was filled with last night's dinner. Macaroni and cheese with paprika seasoning. The lunch would have been more appetizing if it was warm but cold was just as enjoyable. She pulled out a small plastic bag and sprinkled in chopped pieces of carrots and celery. In a small container she poured some mayonnaise and mixed the contents together until she had created a macaroni and cheese salad. She took a bite of her food before she realized how loud of a crunch both the carrot and celery had. The perfect bite!

That sound didn't go unnoticed as Andrew, Claire, John, and Brian turned their attention on her. "Hey Picasso," John said to her, "Bugs Bunny called and wants his teeth back."

Susan raised an eyebrow at his comment before taking another bite of her food with another satisfying crunch. "Tell Bugs to hop along before Elmer Fudd gets to him. His teeth won't save him in that."

John looked at Susan for a beat before ducking his head from her and hiding a chuckle. Just then, his attention was diverted over to Allison where he noticed her pouring a bunch of sugar sticks all over her sandwich. She then took a handful of Captain Crunch cereal and mashed the two slices of bread with each other. Don't tell me you're gonna eat that John thought and before he knew it, Allison took a bite from the sandwich with a satisfying crunch.

What the hell are they looking at? Allison thought as she stared back at her classmates in silence. Aside from Claire's posh lunch, Andrew's banquet, Susan's ordinary lunch, and whatever Brian had, Allison believed that she was the most creative out of all of them. She remained quiet and continued to eat her food and watched as Andrew, Claire, and John turned their attention elsewhere. Finally she thought. Now she could enjoy the rest of her food in peace.

John got up from his seat with a Coke can in his hand. He approached Brian's table, pulled away his lunch bag, and set the Coke can in front of him. "What are we having?" he asked Brian.

Brian turned his attention to John when he sat next to him. Why did he take his food suddenly? His mother wouldn't be happy to hear that he let someone take his lunch. He would have to hear her whole 'I cooked this just for you 'speech. "Just your standard regular lunch, I guess."

John nodded his head and reached inside the bag and pulled out a thermos. "Milk?" he asked.

"Soup," Brian answered. He leaned forward to reach for his lunch bag but John slapped his hand away causing Brian to pull back. He watched John pulling out a juice box. "That's apple juice."

"I can read," John glared at him and emptied the remaining contents of his lunch. "PB and J with the crusts cut off. Well Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?"

Brian wasn't quick to catch John's joke and he answered, "No, Mr. Johnson."

Playing along, John gave him an understanding nod with his head. Slowly he got up from his seat and said, "here's my impression of life at big Bri's house." He walked over to the back of the tables, so the rest of the students got a better look at him:

"Son."

"Yeah dad."

"How was your day, pal?"

"Great dad. How's yours?"

"Super! Say son, how'd you like to go fishing this weekend?"

"Great, dad. But I've got homework to do."

"That's alright son. You can do it on the boat."

"Gee!"

Susan looked from John's interpretation of Brian's homelife. At first, she was impressed at how quickly John was able to change from one character to another. Then her eyes fell on Brian. He made to reaction towards John's interpretation.

However, John was not finished yet as he bought Brian's mother into the picture:

"Dear isn't out son swell?"

"Yes dear, isn't life swell?"

Then, John put his arms around two invisible figures and pretended to kiss them on their heads. He then turned to Brian and punched the air to where Brian's place would have been around his arm.

Brian swallowed at that gesture. The way John interpreted it, he wished that he had that type of relationship with his parents. No matter how hard he tried to be the perfect son, there was no way of pleasing them. John 'punching' him was like a punch to the gut for the right things that he did for his parents, and still getting criticized to be better.

Andrew felt the discomfort from Brian. He looked at John and asked, "All right. What about your family?"

"Who mine?" John asked and pointed to himself, "that's real easy." He walked to the back of the tables once more and put on another act. This time, from the kind man that he portrayed, this one was the complete opposite. John lifted his finger in the air and made it look like he was pointing it to the invisible version of himself:

"Stupid, worthless, no-good goddamn freeloading son of a bitch. Retarded, big-mouth know-it-all, asshole jerk."

"You forgot ugly, lazy, and disrespectful."

"Shut up bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie."

"What about you, dad?"

Claire watched as John portrayed a repetitive argument between himself and his father. The louder John got, the more discomfort she felt. She felt herself flinching when John screamed and threw his fist in the air and then threw his head back when his father 'punched' him. She noticed the anger and faraway look in his eyes.

Brian was in as much shock as Claire was. "Is that for real?" he asked him.

John looked over at Brian. "You wanna come over sometime?" he asked.

"It's all part of your image," Andrew commented and looked at John, "I don't believe a word of it."

"You don't believe me?" John asked.

"No," Andrew answered.

"No?" John felt like his voice cracked when he asked, and he hid it by swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Did I stutter?" Andrew challenged him.

John felt angry. How could he lie about something that affected him physically, emotionally, and mentally? He may consider himself a tough guy but he hoped that no one else went through what he was going through. He slowly approached Andrew's table and lifted the sleeve of his shirt and leaned down towards Andrew. "Do you believe this?" he asked and showed him a cigar burn on his arm. "It's about the size of a cigar."

Claire craned her neck to get a better look before looking away at the sight of the cigar burn. Oh my God she thought, the image fresh in her mind. She bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything. He was angry and the last thing that she needed was a tongue lashing from him.

"Do I stutter?" John emphasized, causing Andrew to pull away from him. He pointed back to his injury. "See this is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage." He pulled away from Andrew and walked to the back of the tables. "I don't think that I need to see with any of you anymore."

John felt that it was better to get away from them before he unleashed his anger. It was bubbling up inside of him and he took it out on a couple of books that were lying on a display table. He climbed on the table and reached up the stairs and climbed onto them. He landed on the top of the steps and sat down, his back facing the rest of the group.

Allison looked up at John. In some form, she could relate to what he was going through. While he got the abusive attention from his family, she got the abusive silence from hers. A part of her wanted to go over to John and offer some form of comforting words. However, her intuition warned her that he didn't want to be bothered by anybody.

Claire raised her eyes and looked at Andrew. "You shouldn't have said that," she said to Andrew.

He knew that he shouldn't have…right after John presented him with the injury. "How did I know?" Andrew asked Claire, "I mean, he lies about everything anyway." Deep down, Andrew could see some parallels. It seemed that his father was no different. His idea of 'tough love' was to push Andrew beyond his limits until he lost his stamina. Even if he went further than his previous practices, he was still seen as a loser.

Susan took a deep breath. John's outburst sent a memory in her mind when her grades had slipped and Vernon confiscated her art supplies. He had taken everything it his arms and had managed to ruin one of her paintings alongside with it. He had assured her that it was accidental, but at that time, Susan didn't think so. She packed closed her lunch container and stuffed it back in her bag. Then, she got up from her seat and went to the one person that she felt needed someone to talk to.

Brian felt someone tapping his shoulder and he turned around to see Susan standing behind him. She pointed to the chair and he nodded for her to sit.

"You doing okay?" she asked him.

Brian shrugged his shoulders at her. A moment of silence passed between them as Brian tried to find the right words. "I wish my life was as swell as Bender made it to be."

Susan looked at his with a curious expression upon her eyes. "It's not?" she asked him.

"Far from it," Brian said as he kept his eyes fixated on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Those two ingredients seemed to go so well with one another. The perfect harmony of flavors…and yet, it would taste like poison when he took a bite from it. He pushed his food away.

Susan looked at his attitude towards the food. "What happened?" she asked him.

The truth was going to spill out eventually. Brian wished that he was just as brave as John was. "How does it feel getting a grade that you studied so hard for and wind up with an A—?"

It didn't take much to think about. Considering how her grades had slipped in some of her courses, she would have been ecstatic. "I would be happy," she answered him.

"It's common sense right?" Brian said, "not to my parents. The last time I bought an A— home was in middle school. It's been A+ ever since." That was half the truth. "You better not let your grades slip away, young man or you're in big trouble," Brian imitated his mother. "I didn't raise a son to be a failure in his career. Not in this household," he imitated his father.

Susan saw him clench his hand into a fist and tears springing up in his air, but he refused to let them fall. "I bought home an F before," Susan said, "and I hid it from my grandmother and uncle. That was until, the report card came." A slight chuckle escaped her lips at the memory. "Here was my grandmother, 'devastated' by my grade when she mostly cares about playing gin rummy. Susan young ladies excel in their studies. If you want to be an accomplished woman, you must do well in your courses. Then in comes Uncle Richard; Susan I warned you about your grades. Until you get your grades up, I will be taking away your art supplies."

Brian let out a scoff. High expectations and controlling from both angles. "It's so weird hearing you call him your 'uncle,'" Brian confessed to her.

"It's even weirder that he works here," Susan said to Brian and they both exchanged a smile with one another.

"Did you get back your art supplies after that?" Brian asked her.

"Eventually, yeah," Susan answered, "just as long as I didn't have any C on my report card."

"Ah you got off easy," Brian replied. "Do you need any help in your courses? I can tutor you if you want."

Upon his offer, Susan couldn't help but smile. Being tutored by him was also another way of them spending time together. Others may see it for academic reasons, but to her, it was something more. "I am doing fine for the most part… but physics is kicking my butt."

Brian perked up when she said that. "I'm in the Physics Club," he reminded her when he made it vocal earlier in the day. "I can help you if you're struggling."

A grateful look glazed over Susan's eyes as she smiled at Brian. Suddenly, a high-pitched squeak come from behind her and she turned around to look. Aside from Andrew and Claire who were finishing up their lunch quietly, Allison had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Susan wasn't sure what Allison's eyes were saying but that small smile was evident enough of what she thought of their interactions.

"We can set up a t-time to meet…during study hour or, or after school…or even on the weekends," Brian continued. He made it look like he had a lot of free time on his hands. During the weekends, he would be studying for subjects that the teacher didn't even assign until the incoming weeks.

A small smile came upon Susan's lips. "You'd give up your weekend to tutor me?"

He could feel a rush of heat upon his cheeks when Susan said that. He didn't meant to sound so upfront with her on that. "Y-Yeah if you want to. I-I'd have to check with…you know, with my parents first."

"Why?" a voice suddenly startled both Susan and Brian as they turned around to see John Bender back to his seat, staring at the two of them. For someone so loud, they thought that he would have made some noise coming down those stairs. He made a playful face at them with a wry smile upon his lips, "come on big Bri, end the suspense already."

Andrew and Claire suddenly turned around when they heard John's voice. Even to them he had come out of nowhere. Claire looked over at Susan and Brian and curiously wondered what John was referring to.

Brian shook his head and pushed back his chair from Susan. "It's nothing," he said.

"It sure didn't look like nothing," John said as he leaned forward and rested his elbow on his knee and looked at the two of them as if he was studying them.

Susan looked over her shoulder and peeked over at John. "We're just having a conversation," she said to him.

John slowly nodded his head. "I can see that. However, I wanna know why Brian here wants his parents' permission? Can't think for yourself?" When Brian didn't answer, John leaned back on his chair. It was then that his eyes caught sight of Susan's abandoned sketchpad. He reached out a grabbed it nonchalantly.

"No!" Susan yelled as she got up from her seat. However, it was too late. John was already flipping through the pages.

Some pictures seemed lighthearted than others. The most recent pictures were of them in detention but others had drawings that were depicted with red, black, and blue. There was a picture of a woman, her figure in light shades as she stood in a dark room that seemed to swallow her. The other picture depicted her with flames of fire coming out of her mouth and the other picture, was a picture of her eye and a streak of tear falling. Apart from the sketches that he had pocketed, these were something else. He got all types of emotions in just three pictures. He looked up and saw Susan standing in front of him. He closed her sketchpad and handed it to her that she protectively held against her chest. John pointed at her, "tell your uncle that he can go and screw himself."

Susan's eyes widened when he said that. For sure Allison had overheard their conversation, knowing that smirk upon her lips, but John? Unless he had overheard them earlier before lunch.

"Who's your uncle?" Claire suddenly asked Susan.

Before Susan could answer, John jumped in, "that's between her and Brian."