I DO NOT OWN THE BREAKFAST CLUB. SHOUTOUT TO POPPY471 FOR SWITCHING FROM CLAIRE TO ALLISON.

Bender and Allison's Apartment. Chicago, Illinois. August 26, 1984.

(Allison's POV)

"You threw water in his face?" Bender asked, looking impressed.

Luke was recounting his break up with Claire for Bender's benefit, who had been out the night before when Luke showed up. Out doing who knows what. As usual he'd been vague and I'd learned to not press too hard, it just ended up with Bender defensive and complaining about having a ball and chain for a girlfriend. No one could tie him down.

"Yeah, right in the face. He deserved it."

I served Luke a plate of blueberry pancakes, then set a plate down for Bender too.

"Thanks," Luke said absently. "I got tired of it, the constant insults and no help from Claire. So I returned the insult and stormed out. Claire followed me and–"

"Did little princess Claire Bear get what she had coming to her?" Bender interrupted.

Luke's face collapsed from defiance into defeat. "I guess so. We broke up."

I rubbed Luke's shoulder as I sat down with my own plate of pancakes.

"It's really for the best, Luke," I said. "She was relapsing into her old ways and it was making both of you miserable."

"It still hurts."

"Fuck her, you can do better. Maybe you can meet a new girl who is not a bitch, at your college." Bender was always for moving on. Like maybe if you moved on quickly enough, you could outrun the pain. He'd brushed off his aunt's death. His uncle was still mourning the loss of his wife, but Bender was over it. So he said. I guess he believed it, too.

Luke looked so crushed, I patted his hand. At least Luke was real enough to admit it when he was in pain.

Bender forked the last bite of pancake into his mouth and pushed his chair away from the table. "Gotta go to work. She's not the only fish in the sea, Luke." He clapped Luke on the shoulder and left, slamming the door on his way out.

"I know, but maybe I need to stay away from fish for a while." Luke's head was down and he seemed to be fighting tears. I patted his hand again, and he grasped mine. We sat that way for a while. Then he squeezed my hand and released it.

"I guess I need to get going, too. English comp in an hour." He looked at me. "Thanks for understanding."

I cleaned up the breakfast table. Bender was the only one who had finished. I only had the appetite for a few bites, and Luke hadn't touched his at all.

I thought Luke had probably heard our fight, when Bender got home last night, and tactfully feigned sleep. It was after two when he got home, well after bar closing time. What had he been doing after the bar closed? I could only think of one thing, something female, and said so.

The same old fight played out again. Why was I so untrusting? Couldn't he even get out for one night without all this bitching and moaning? Did he really need being dragged down like this?

I snapped.

"Most men do not come and go with no explanation to their partners. You can go out whenever you like, but I'm supposed to be here, obediently waiting for you. That's bullshit. That's not the way a relationship should work. And you don't go out every once in a while, you go out 3 and 4 times a week. And now you can't give me a good explanation of why you are home so long after closing time. You expect me to put up with all of this! You know it's not right!"

"Yeah, whatever. Bitch bitch, moan moan. I'm going to bed." And that was the end of it, for him. If Luke had not been sleeping on our couch, I would have slept there.

Instead, I lay sleepless next to Bender, who was soon snoring.

Now I was cleaning up a breakfast I was never thanked for; by Bender at least. Luke had given thanks. Luke appreciated things. Claire was just the same as Bender. She was more polite, but she took so much for granted. I was expecting a call from her, after the break up. She always counted on having me to dump her shit on, and rarely listened to my shit. I was a good listener and tried to be nonjudgmental, unlike her new friends. She'd probably be ashamed to be seen with me on Loyola's campus, but she could always count on me to dump on. I was sick of that, too. I was not a dumpster, a receptacle for poor treatment and lack of gratitude.

The phone rang. I decided to let the answering machine pick it up.

It was Claire.

"Oh, Allison," she wailed. "Luke threw water at my grandfather and we broke up! I have to talk to you. Give me a call as soon as possible."

I thought about this. Would I return her call? I agreed with Luke, that she was treating him terribly. I couldn't stand it anymore, listening to her whiny, self centered bullshit. She would expect me to take her side.

I changed my mind. I would talk to her now.

I dialed and Claire picked up immediately. "Hi Claire. It's Allison."

"Oh Allison, you got my message! Thank god! I feel so terrible. You wouldn't believe what happened, Luke broke up with me."

Without my usual quiet, understanding tone, I said, "I know all about it. Luke spent the night here."

"So you know how crazy he went! Why did he do it?"

This was a rhetorical question, but I answered it. "He did it because you never went to bat for him. You never stood up for him. You took him for granted and treated him like shit."

"What?" I could hear Claire's shocked incomprehension over the line.

"I said, you took him for granted and treated him like shit."

"How could you side with him? Aren't we friends?"

"I'm not taking sides, simply stating facts. And we aren't really friends. You just use me as an emotional maid, ready to clean up your messes without complaining."

"I can't believe you're talking to me like this! After all I have done for you!"

"You better believe it, because this is the last time I'm talking to you. Goodbye."

I hung up and unplugged the phone. I didn't want to hear the phone ringing and her shouting at me through the answering machine. It felt good to have that weight off my shoulders. I'd been carrying Claire around emotionally, ever since she and Luke got together. No more.

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