"Hi Ally-cat," John chirped. Allison just kept drawing. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to blow off the next class with me," he said, wagging his eyebrows at her. She spared him barely a glance.

"Hi, JB," she said. Bender scowled. Allison kept drawing. Bender watched her draw with rapt attention while deciding if he wanted to go to the 2nd lunch hour for more grub or hang here for a while. He was done with classes for today, but he made a note to attend science and lunch tomorrow.

"Why are you painting on the wall?" He asked her. The picture was coming along pretty well, he noted.

"I ran out of paper to draw on," she replied.

Bender grinned.

"So, you decided to deface school propriety instead. I approve."

She just nodded. There was a pause, where neither said anything.

She slightly turned, "Do you want to draw with me?" She asked.

"I thought you'd never ask." He took a brush. "What are we drawing?"

"We are drawing secret symbols on the wall. I made a deal with Satan for ultimate power in exchange for sacrifices, I offered the entire school. These symbols are for marking the chosen destination."

Bender stared at her for a full minute. Then he erupted in a fit of laughter. Allison just went back to painting.

"Are we going to tell them? Bender asked, watching her. She chewed on their bottom lip, lost in thoughts of dire.

"I've thought about telling Andy, but then I chickened out." She paused, her voice breathless, "Don't ask me why..."

"I won't, but would if they find out," He spoke in a suffocated whisper, "do you think they'd be pissed?"

"Well, that's why I chickened out."

Brian hated gym class and wished he had the nerve to ditch like Bender. He had thought about lying, using the excuse of not having the proper shoes to participate, but was afraid the coach wouldn't believe him and would call his parents. With all that had happened, he was feeling somewhat brave. He decided not to dress for gym and instead read a book on the bleachers. If Coach Griffith asks, I'll make up the first thing that pops into my head, he thought. Just then, Andy and a group of athletes walked into the gym, and at that moment, Brian had another idea.

"Hi," Brian said, smiling unsurely, while slowly approaching the group of five.

"Hi," Andy said back.

Brian smiled, lighting up his entire face. Andy smiled too, but he was hyper-aware of the others giving them the stink eye. This was either the bravest dumbest thing Andy had ever seen someone do. Brian was a jock's fantasy for bullying, and yet Brian had dared to walk up to Andy, surrounded by some of the worst kind of jocks, to prove he would say Hi. Andy was honestly impressed.

"Are you lost, nerd?" a disdainful voice asked.

Andy turned to the direction where the voice had come from. It was Gus Polinski the quarterback.

Brian stopped dead in his tracks looking as if he was about to faint any moment and was clutching a book close to his chest.

"Brian…" Andy said, torn between being hysterically amused and just plain hysterical.

"Andy…" Brian gulped and squared his shoulders. and marched up to Andy, stopping a few steps before meeting him face to face.

The other jocks looked either too dumbfounded to move or murderous.

"Clark," Gus said slowly. "Why is that nerd talking to you?" The tall boy's eyes narrowed.

Brian flinched at the vicious tone, smile disappearing. Andy wanted it back. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Chet butted in.

"Ah, the little fag probably heard about Hairy-Larry and wanted to have a firsthand experience. Right, fag?" He jabbed a finger at Brian's chest. Brian took a small step back, eyes wide. Andy gritted his teeth.

"Look- "Andy started to say but was interrupted again.

"Well, who are we to deny him such an experience," Gus laughed. He turned to Andy, not noticing his dark expression. "Clark, would you like to do the honors?" Brian was looking at him, face unreadable. Andy wondered if Brian was thinking about what he had told the others about Larry Lester.

"No," Andy said slowly.

"Uh, that's great, that means we- "Gus started, but Andy interrupted.

"I don't think you understand," Andy said calmly. "I didn't mean I don't want to do it." The others stared at him, not quite understanding what he was trying to say. "I meant that no one is going to do anything like that to him. Ever," he simplified.

"But…You-Larry-" Chet started.

Andy shook his head. "I never should have done that to Larry. It was wrong." The guys all screwed their faces up.

"What happened to you, Clark? Did you get brainwashed on Saturday?" Gus snorted.

"No, the opposite," he shrugged. He moved to stand next to Brian, casually removing Chet's unruly hand that was grappling Brian's upper arm tightly. He threw one arm around Brian's shoulders. "Brian's a cool guy. You mess with him, you mess with me," he told them evenly.

There was dead silence for a moment.

"Ooh, I get it, Clark! Clever!" another guy, Gary Nash, suddenly exclaimed. Everyone turned to appraise him. Gary grinned. "Don't you see? He befriended the nerd so he could get good grades. I guess in exchange you promised you'd let him hang around with us, yeah?"

There were various sounds of understanding and agreement from the other guys. For a brief moment, Andy wondered if he should just leave it at that. It would certainly make things easier in the long run. But then he chanced a glance at Brian. Despite his height, Brian looked rather small. Defeated. Andy sighed.

"Nope," Andy said. Everyone turned to face him again. "Like I said, Brian here is a cool guy. I did become friends with him on Saturday, but not because he was going to do my homework. I'm doing well enough." Andy felt Brian tense up. He unconsciously drew him in closer.

"But, he's just a nerd, a total dorkwad," Gus spit out.

Andy ground his teeth.

"That nerd," he empathized the word, "has a name. It's Brian. He's a friend. If you have a problem with that, I don't give a shit, but you'll leave him alone from now on." He took a breath. Brian was staring at him like a child would stare at Santa.

The other jocks were staring at him as if he'd grown a second head. Then everyone started talking, or rather yelling at once.

"I don't believe you, Clark!" Gus exclaimed, yelling louder than anyone else. "I mean, what, are you like, fucking each other? Are you a fag? Why the fuck would- "

Andy's reflexes kicked in and he punched him. Gus went stumbling back almost falling to the ground.

"What the fuck?" Gus yelled, holding his nose, blood could be seen trickling down. "Don't even bother trying to hang out with the team again, you fuck!"

"Don't worry," Andy nodded, "I have a bunch of new friends to hang with now," he replied. "Come on, Brian," he said, tugging the lanky boy quickly away from the flock of jocks.

Brian followed, gaping like a fish. Andy didn't stop walking until he could disappear into a different hallway, away from the view of his former athlete friends. Then he stopped, turning to Brian.

"Are you insane, Brian?" he said, not quite yelling, but it was a close thing. Brian cringed. "They would have murdered you if I hadn't said anything! Why would- you had no idea if I'd stand up for you! Jesus," he exhaled.

"But you did, didn't you?" Brian smiled.

Andy groaned, "Yeah, but even I wasn't sure if I would. I was thinking all night about what I'd do if I saw you are Bender, and I honestly hadn't decided by the time I came through these doors today." He looked at Brian, who was still smiling. "But I guess you took matters into your own hands, yeah?" Andy snorted, prompting a giggle out of Brian.

Brian gave him an innocent look. "Yeah...I'm sorry, I didn't know it would come to blows like that, though," Brian said. "You're gonna have detention again, aren't you?"

Andy shrugged, "Maybe," he said trying not to think about it.

Brian lowered his head in shame.

"No, don't do that, Brian," Andy told him. "And besides, I won't be alone. Bender has fifteen Saturdays to sit, remember? Won't be too bad."

"But- won't your dad be pissed?" Brian fidgeted.

"Yeah, he will. "Andy gave an uncertain smile.

Last Hour...

Brian headed down the hallway and closer to his destination, his friend, Russ Bainbridge, from the physics club, and Wyatt Donelly from the math club caught up to him.

"Hey, Brian!"

"Hey, guys. What's up?" He replied half-heartedly.

"Err…. Oh! I got a new telescope from my dad yesterday! It's super cool, wanna try it out?" He lied, he wanted to ask about Claire. All the guys were in awe of what they'd seen at lunch today.

"Hey, big guy we saw you with the prom queen at lunch!" Wyatt blurted out, unable to contain his glee.

Distracted by reaching his destination, he brushed him off and said, "You know, what? Maybe later..." and motioned towards the football field. He felt a hand on his arm, stopping him from exiting.

"What are you doing Brian? Physics is that way, that's…wasteoid city." Russ whispered the last part like it was some inferno where demons roamed and chaos ensued.

"I know." Brian shrugged and walked away.

"Hey, John. Gimme some of that."

"Brian?! What are you doing here?" John stood up and walked over to the bleachers where Brian was standing.

"What? I can't have a joint?" Brian questioned.

"What are you doing here, dork?" Jimbo or Jim Baker, asked aggressively while stomping his cigarette out intimidatingly. He began stalking closer.

Brian stiffened and took a step back, "I just wanted a joint. Just because I'm a nerd doesn't mean I can't smoke."

"What are you doing here, Brian?" John asked again. At the same time, motioned his hand to Jimbo signaling that he'd 'handle' the visitor.

Brian took a sigh. "What happened since lunch?"

John guided him towards the school and asked him, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, John. I know that we talked about this, but I thought it might be different. I thought 'The Breakfast Club' was something real."

"Look, I know we're friends and lunch was fun, but this is the real world. Don't let lunchtime and weekend fun cloud your judgment on life."

"For a guy who spends most of his day high as a kite, you're philosophical."

"Here, now beat it," John placed the biggest joint Brian had ever seen into the palm of his hands, "If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you." His expression was that of delight despite such harsh words.

Brian replied, "Ye-yeah, sure. No one needs to know."

"Good." John broke away from their conversation and started walking back towards Jimbo.

Brian was thinking about all that had occurred today while trying to light his joint with the matches he lifted this morning, but he was having no luck with the wind picking up. The nice cool March day was starting to become downright cold. He moved over by the dumpster, hoping it would block the wind.

"Brian?" A familiar female voice drew him back to reality.

"Claire? What are you doing here?" She and Angela emerged from Angela's car parked by the dumpsters. They'd talked about how they'd cope with the aftermath of leaving the popular group, "I could ask you the same thing," Claire said, her eyes sparkling with admiration. She watched him bravely approach the very dangerous-looking kids Bender hung out with and score a joint.

"I-I just, you know, had this thing…" He waved the joint around and smirked.

"Hey, Angela. How's it going?" Brian asked.

"Same old, same old." She nodded with a smile.

Brian nodded back.

A moment later, Andrew and Allison appeared from somewhere in the parking lot. The girls giggled because Andy was wearing some of Allison's lip gloss. It was obvious the two had snuck away to make out.

"What are you guys doing here? Really? First Brian and now you guys? What does a guy have to do to get some peace around here?" John approached them, exhaling smoke.

"Hi, John," Angela breathed.

"Hi," he replied, his eyes softening as he looked at her. Her very presence stilled his anger and the way she said his name... He was afraid to ask himself why she had this effect on him. "So, Sport-o, you got detention?" Bender looked at Andy and inhaled his smoke.

"You heard about that, it just happened two hours ago," Andy shrugged.

"Yeah, just heard you broke that asshole's Gus Polinski nose," Bender said, sounding delighted. "I heard he was crying like a little girl the whole way to the nurse."

"You say that like that's a good thing," Brian said doubtfully.

Bender smirked idly at him, "And who said it isn't?" He quipped. Andy tried to hide the chuckle but failed utterly.

"Yeah, but only two more Saturdays. I told Vernon that Gus had used derogatory terms and threatened a fellow student, that I defended. It's cool," he added quickly when he saw Brian's face fall.

"I got detention for next Saturday too," Allison said suddenly. Andy raised an eyebrow.

"For real, is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Allison nodded.

"What did you do?" He asked, but what he wanted to do was take her back to his truck and kiss her some more.

"My plot to assassinate the teachers was discovered," she said her eyes darted in another direction.

They all stared at her in confusion.

Brian coughed, muttering "habitual liar" under his breath. And passed his joint to Andy.

"She defaced school propriety and confessed when we got caught," Bender replied in her place.

Andy sighed. Ah, that made more sense. "You are a bad influence on everyone, aren't you," he mockingly scolded Bender. "What's next, you take us all to Vegas and we blow our money on booze and strippers," He inhaled his joint.

Brian choked at the idea, and Bender let out a startled laugh.

"Hey, to be fair, she was already painting when I found her," Bender chuckled. "I only assisted."

"Uh-huh, and you're telling me you left before you got caught," Andy said hesitantly and passed the joint back to Brian.

"Nah, but it was just Carl who caught us," Bender said. "Wasn't even going to rat us out, as long as we'd help him clean, but missy over there insisted." Brian and Andy turned to Allison.

"Why in the world did you do that?" Andy asked.

Allison smiled, "I knew You and John would be there," she said causally.

Andy blushed slightly and raised his eyes toward the cloudy sky.

"Aww, you're pretty cute when you blush," Bender cooed mockingly.

Andy rolled his eyes, not bothering to reply. He felt Allison grab his hand, and he blushed harder.

John just handed Claire, and Andy a Ziploc bag full of joints. "Help yourself."

"Bender is such a bad influence on all of us, right?" Brian said inhaling his joint.

Andy just laughed. "That he is."

"So, we're doing this, eh? John asked, "The "Breakfast Club", defying society's standards and all that crap." He winked at Angela, knowing he'd break all the rules simply for her.

They all went quiet.

"We're done with our snooty group," Claire said holding her hand up as if she were pleading allegiance to the flag.

Angela nodded in agreement her eyes locked on John, and a soft smile played on her lips. And his eyes lingered on her face, memorizing every detail. They stared as though hypnotized.

"Well, I already told the other guys from wrestling off, so,"

"I- I guess?" Brian started. "I mean, I'd like to, but, uhm, if you guys don't wanna, it's- "

"Shut up, Brian," Bender and Andy said simultaneously. Andy continued, "To 'The Breakfast Club'!"

Brian smiled and lifted his joint towards Andrew and Bender.

"To 'The Breakfast Club'." Everyone repeated.

Bender lifted his fist into the air and everyone repeated.