Disclaimer: I do not own the Breakfast Club…because if I did, I would totally release the extended version to all the fans who really, really, really want to see those deleted scenes. (Are you reading this, John Hughes?)
Summary: Monday doesn't turn out the way everyone expected. One-shot.
A/N: Please note the genre. This isn't meant to be a realistic, heartfelt exploration into The Breakfast Club's psyches.
A Day that Will Live in Infamy
Monday, March 26, 1984
Shermer, Illinois, 60062
Brian Johnson was having a bad morning.
First of all, it was Monday morning…as in, the Monday morning. The morning that the Breakfast Club was going to be reunited for the first time since detention. The morning that would test the fragile bonds of friendship that had developed under such strange, random circumstances. The morning that five teens were going to prove to themselves and the students of Shermer High School that stereotypes were a waste of time, that labels didn't define who a person was on the inside, and that no one had the right to tell someone who they were allowed to hang out with.
It was quite possibly the most important day in the history of the entire school.
Which is why Brian was so nervous. Plus, he hadn't quite finished his Calculus homework yet since he'd spent the entire day on Sunday practicing what he was going to say when one of Andy or Claire's friends told him that he wasn't cool enough to hang out with them. He was pretty sure that he had the confident, angry glare perfected, but he wasn't sure about his choice of words. Was it better to make an inspirational speech or just tell them to fuck off?
"Brian! What are you doing up there?"
Startled out of his reverie, Brian glanced over at the doorway to his bedroom. "Um…just putting my shoes on!" he called back.
"Well, hurry up!" his mother shouted. "We're waiting for you!"
"Okay!" he answered, looking around for his sneakers. He found them under his bed and shoved them on, tying them up as quickly as he could. When he'd finished, he grabbed his backpack from the floor next to his desk and made a break for the door. Just before he reached it, he stopped, turned around, and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He cocked an eyebrow, narrowed his eyes and thrust his chin forward in defiance.
Bring it on, jerks. Bring it on.
"Brian!"
Brian sighed. "Coming, mom!"
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"These are my friends." Pause. "My friends."
Claire sighed and put down the eyebrow pencil in her left hand. She'd been sitting at her vanity mirror for the last thirty minutes, practicing what she was going to say to her friends when she showed up to school and waved hello to the other four members of the Breakfast Club. Well, other three members. Andy didn't really count. It was Brian and Allison and John that she was worried about. And if she was honest, she would admit that it was that last name that worried her the most.
Oh, God, what if he tries to kiss me?
Claire released a desperate breath and let her head fall onto the slick surface of her vanity. She could see it all in her head like it was a bad dream. John striding purposefully towards her, his mouth set in a hard line, his eyes brimming with passion and determination. Him sweeping her into his arms, pulling her mouth firmly against his, kissing her soundly in front of the entire school, who could do nothing but stare. She could see Tiffany's nose turning up in disgust, Maria's mouth dropping open in horror, and Valerie's eyes widening in shock. She could see all of them turning away from her at the same time, their long, high ponytails swishing in unison as they walked away. She could see it all so clearly, as if it had already happened and she was just waiting for the instant replay.
Suddenly, she felt like she was going to be sick.
No, Claire, it doesn't matter. These are your real friends now. It doesn't matter what those bitches think. You don't need them anymore.
Claire took a deep, steadying breath and looked up at her reflection in the mirror. It's going to be okay, she thought. I can do this. She forced a smile onto her face and took another deep breath. It's going to be just fine…
And then she saw John walking towards her again, mouth curled into his trademark smirk, eyes brimming with mocking laughter. This time, there was another girl on his arm, one of the girls from his wallet, and she was smirking along with him, utterly triumphant. John blew Claire a kiss and walked past her, leaving her all alone with nothing but the sound of the entire school laughing hysterically behind her.
Claire leaned forward and put her head between her knees to prevent herself from hyperventilating.
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Andy wondered what it would feel like to punch one of his own friends.
It wasn't like he'd never been in a fight before. He knew what it felt like to break someone's nose, knew the sound it made when the bone snapped in two, knew the way his hand throbbed when he pulled away, knuckles bloody. Andy was no stranger to schoolyard rumbles, and he knew exactly how to defend himself in any given situation.
Except this one.
What if they make fun of her? What if they call her names? Andy sighed deeply and sat down on his bed to pull on his sneakers. He'd never had to physically defend a girl's honor before, but then again, he'd never dated a girl like Allison before. His list of ex-girlfriends consisted entirely of cheerleaders and members of the drill team, without exception. Any teasing or name calling from his friends on the topic of Andy's love life usually came in the form of crude comments about Andy's activities and abilities, and virtually none of them were directed at the girl in question. But Allison…now, that would be a different story. She was so unlike anyone that he or his friends had ever known, and he knew that his group would never accept her as one of their own.
Well, screw you, assholes. I'll hang out with whoever I want to.
Andy nodded with satisfaction, finished tying his shoelaces, and grabbed his car keys from the top of his dresser.
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Bender wondered what it would feel like to punch one of Andy's friends.
It wasn't the first time he'd thought about doing this. Hell, it wasn't even the first time he'd actually done it. But this time it was different. This time it was real. This time it was, dare he say it, personal. And John Bender didn't like it when things got personal.
As he laced up his combat boots, Bender thought back on his past run-ins with the members of the jock population. Not all of them had ended as peacefully as his confrontations with Andy. In fact, most of them had resulted in bloody noses and black eyes on both sides of the fight. He noted with satisfaction that he had given more black eyes than he'd received, and this fact continued to offer him a great deal of pleasure.
Bender stood up from his bed and walked over to the closet, where a few flannel shirts were sitting in a pile on the floor. He grabbed the one on top, a blue and grey plaid shirt with the sleeves ripped off, and layered it over the black long-sleeved t-shirt he was already wearing. Then he grabbed his denim jacket from the foot of his bed and slid it on over the flannel shirt as he started for the door. But before he could get any further, he stopped and turned around. Maybe it would be better to wear the steel-toed boots today, for maximum damage.
Bender smirked and turned the light off, disappearing down the hall. No need to be that cruel. Even the most dangerous of men gave their enemies a fighting chance.
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Allison sat in the backseat of her father's car, sketchpad balanced on her knees, pencil clutched in one hand. Her eyes were glued to the piece of paper in front of her, and she didn't look up, even when her mother reached forward and turned on the radio to drown out the silence.
She'd been working on her drawings all weekend, and by Monday morning there were fourteen of them in total, a series of sorts. She had used colored pencils on some, ink pens for others. The one in front of her was in shades of grey, a product of the charcoal pencil in her hand.
The subject of the drawings was, of course, Monday Morning. In fact, if she was going to give the series a name, "Monday Morning" would be a perfect choice. Each picture included all five members of the Breakfast Club huddled together on the school's front lawn, chins held high in triumph, surrounded by the snarling masses known by almost everyone else as "the rest of the school". She'd given the Breakfast Club swords and shields, just like the warrior knights her English teacher made them read about last semester, and their enemies carried similar-looking weapons. In one picture, a blonde-haired warrior in a blue tank top battled it out with an evil-looking man wearing a football player's uniform under his body armor. A beautiful girl with shiny brown hair watched from a few paces away, having already disposed of the cheerleader at her feet.
It was going to be a very interesting morning.
Brian was the first to arrive, taking his seat under the large oak tree on the edge of the school's front lawn, where the five of them had agreed to meet that morning. He glanced around nervously, taking note of the groups of other students that were already gathered on the lawn. Jocks, science geeks, band nerds, artists, punks, and girly girls; all of them were divided into distinct groups, which were scattered out over the lawn. No one had noticed Brian yet.
"So, we're the first?"
Brian looked up to see Andy standing above him, one hand cupped over his eyes to shade them from the sun. Brian jumped up and dusted himself off. "Uh, yeah, looks like it."
Andy nodded. "So, how was your weekend?"
"Oh, it was…good." Brian decided not to tell him about all of the time he'd spent in front of the mirror, practicing his confident glare. "How was yours?"
Andy shrugged. "It was fine." He decided not to say anything about spending Saturday night alone at his house instead of going to Stubby's party, where he'd be sure to run into people that, after a day in detention, he was pretty sure he didn't like anymore.
After a few minutes of idle chit-chat, a grey car pulled up to the curb in front of the school, and Allison stepped out of the backseat, sketchpad clutched in one hand. She watched the car drive away, then rushed over to the tree.
Andy smiled broadly when he ran up to him. "Hey," he said softly.
Allison smiled shyly. "Hi." She flipped open her sketchbook and thrust it under his nose. "Look," she said urgently.
Andy looked down at the picture. "Wow," he said after a moment. "Is that me?"
Allison looked down at the figure he was pointing at, a strong, muscled blonde man in full body armor. "Do you like it?"
Andy nodded. "Yeah."
"Am I in there?" Brian asked, stepping forward to look over Andy's shoulder.
Allison nodded and pointed to a guy using a giant textbook as a shield. "Right there."
Brian grinned. "Cool. Who's that?"
Allison squinted. "Which one?"
"The one using her purse to hit the cheerleader over the head."
Allison looked down at the picture again. "Oh, that's Claire."
"Did someone say my name?"
Brian, Andy and Allison looked up to see Claire standing a few feet away with her hand on one hip. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a solid pale blue t-shirt, along with the same leather jacket she'd worn to detention.
"What are you wearing?" Brian asked.
Claire looked down at her clothing, then back up at the other three. "I decided to make a change."
"A change?" Andy echoed skeptically.
Claire nodded. "Gone is the old Claire, the prissy girl who looked down on others to make herself feel better. This is the new Claire, the one who doesn't care about her reputation or what people think of her." She smiled triumphantly, waiting for them to respond.
There was a moment of silence before Brian asked tentatively, "What do your clothes have to do with the way you treat people?"
Claire paused uncomfortably, considering this for a moment. "I don't know," she said finally, exasperated. "It's, like, symbolic or something."
Brian frowned. "What does it symbolize?"
Claire let out a frustrated sigh. "Why do you always have to ask so many questions, Brian?" Without waiting for him to respond, she looked over at Andy and Allison. "Where is John?"
Andy shrugged. "He's not here yet."
"Well, is he coming?" she asked.
Andy shrugged again.
Claire sighed. "The bell is going to ring any minute now. Where is he?"
"Lookin' for me?"
Everyone whirled around to see Bender standing a few feet behind them, smirking.
Claire rolled her eyes. "You're late."
"Nice to see you, too, Princess." He walked over to the group and glanced down at the sketchbook in Allison' hand. "Is that me?" he asked, pointing to a man with long, dark hair and a pair of heavy combat boots. He was using a huge diamond earring to stab a football player in the arm.
Allison nodded happily. "Yep."
Bender nodded and looked out over the front lawn, where the groups of students were still standing around, talking amongst themselves as they waited for the bell to ring. The other four followed his gaze, and all of them stood there for a moment in silence, like an army looking out over an enemy camp.
"Well," Brian said finally. "I guess it's time."
The others nodded, and together they stepped out from behind the tree and started walking towards the front of the school. They gazed out over the lawn, watching the other students very closely, waiting for the moment when someone would spot them and nudge their friends in the ribs, pointing out the strange group of people walking past.
But it never happened. The Breakfast Club walked until they'd reached the very center of the lawn, then stopped and looked around. No one was staring back at them.
"Maybe they don't see us yet," said Brian.
Andy shook his head. He'd seen a few people glance over at them as they'd passed by, then turn away without doing anything that suggested that they were surprised or offended by the idea of five people walking together across the lawn. "No," said Andy. "No, something's wrong."
"Hey, Claire!"
All five spun around, poised for combat.
A girl with long blonde hair ran up to the group, her denim skirt swishing with every step. "Hey," she said cheerfully as she approached.
Claire frowned. "Hey, Maria."
The girl looked down at Claire's clothing, then back up at the redhead's face. "Are those new jeans?" she asked. "They look like Calvin Kleins."
Claire took a deep breath. "No, they're just some off-brand," she said casually.
"Really?" Maria asked, eyes wide. "They're so cute!"
Claire nearly choked on her own spit. "Excuse me?"
"I said they're really cute. Great cut." Maria glanced over at the other four members of the Breakfast Club, who were watching her curiously, waiting for the moment when they'd have to start defending themselves. When she saw Brian, her face lit up. "Hey, Brian!" she exclaimed.
Brian's face flushed. "Uh, hey, Maria. Um…how are you?"
Claire's eyes widened. "Do you know each other?"
Maria turned back to her and nodded. "Uh huh. We're lab partners in Chemistry." She glanced down at her sparkly pink watch. "Hey, I have to go. I'll see you in class, Brian." With one last wave, she was gone.
No one spoke for at least ten seconds. Finally, Claire turned to Brian. "You two are lab partners?"
Brian blushed again. "Uh, yeah."
Claire nodded. "And you just conveniently forgot to tell me about this?"
Brian looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Um, I forgot?"
Claire let out an exasperated sigh, and Andy rolled his eyes. "Can we just focus, please?" he asked.
"On what?" asked Allison. "No one's even noticed us."
Andy shook his head as he glanced around the lawn. After a moment, he spotted his friend Greg from the wrestling team. "Greg!" he shouted.
Brian's eyes widened. "What are you doing?" he hissed.
"We're going to have to face them sometime," Andy pointed out. "Why not now?"
Brian could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "I don't know. It's just so…" He swallowed deeply and took a deep breath. "…sudden," he finished lamely.
"It's okay," Andy assured him. "We're all in this together."
Brian nodded. "Right."
A few seconds later, Greg walked up to them, eyebrows raised expectantly. "Hey, man," he said, looking at Andy. "What's goin' on?"
"Nothing's going on," Andy said pointedly. "Just hanging out with my friends."
Greg glanced over at the others and nodded politely. "Hello." When he saw Claire, he smiled. "Hey, Claire."
Claire nodded curtly. "Greg," she said stiffly.
Greg frowned slightly at her unwelcome response, but didn't say anything.
Andy put his arm around Allison's shoulder. "Greg, this is Allison."
Greg looked over at Allison and smiled. "Hi, Allison."
Andy pulled her a bit closer. "She's my girlfriend."
Allison glanced up at Andy. "Your what?"
Andy looked down at her. "My girlfriend," he whispered, sounding as though he were explaining something to a three-year-old.
Greg glanced back at Andy. "I didn't realize you had a girlfriend."
Allison pulled away slightly. "I'm not your girlfriend."
Andy's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"
She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I don't belong to you. I'm not a piece of property."
Greg was starting to look uncomfortable. "Well, it's, uh, nice to meet you, Allison."
Andy hardly noticed that his friend was still standing there. "Piece of property?" he echoed, still glaring at Allison.
She rolled her eyes. "Stop being so macho about everything."
Greg cleared his throat. "Well, I'll leave you two to work this out." He started backing away from them, offering the group a hesitant smile. "Later, man."
But Andy wasn't paying attention to his friend anymore. "What was that all about?" he shouted.
Allison blew her hair out of her eyes. "We never agreed that I was your girlfriend."
Andy frowned. "I thought it was obvious."
Allison cocked an eyebrow. "Did you even ask me?"
Andy glared at her. "Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked flatly.
"No."
"What?" he exclaimed. "I thought you said--"
"I said that you never asked me. I never said I'd do it."
Andy thought that he was going to explode. "Why not?"
Allison looked unfazed. "We've only known each other for two days."
"You have my patch!"
Before Allison could respond to this, Brian stepped in. "Um, guys?"
Andy looked up, irritated. "What?"
Brian paused. "Uh, we're still here," he said, motioning towards Claire and Bender.
Andy released an irritated sigh and turned away, muttering something about never getting his patch back. Allison just reached down and put her hand in his. Andy didn't look over at her, but he did stop talking to himself.
Suddenly, Claire spotted her friends Tiffany and Valerie walking across the lawn, laughing loudly over some private joke. Tiffany glanced over in Claire's direction, breaking into a wide grin when she saw her friend. "Claire!" she yelled, waving wildly. She grabbed Valerie's arm and started dragging the other girl with her as she made her way over to where the Breakfast Club was standing.
"Hey, Claire," said Valerie, snapping her gum. She scanned the rest of the group, smiling briefly at Andy. But when she got to Bender, her smile disappeared completely and her jaw dropped open.
"Uh, Claire?"
Claire felt a little shiver of excitement run down her spine. "Yes, Valerie?" she asked innocently.
Valerie couldn't stop staring at Bender. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?"
Claire nodded. "This is Brian…and Allison…and you know Andy, of course."
Valerie nodded, but she didn't look over at any of them. Her eyes were still glued to John Bender's face.
"And this," Claire said dramatically, "is John."
Valerie let out a breathy little giggle. "Hi, John."
Bender lifted an eyebrow and nodded. "Hello." His voice was low and deep, and it was undeniably the sexiest thing Claire had ever heard. She glanced over at him, frowning, but he just shrugged innocently and looked back at Valerie.
Valerie still hadn't looked away from Bender. "So, are you the one that spray painted "ass wipe" on Mr. Buckner's convertible last semester?"
Bender nodded, hardly able to contain his grin.
Valerie bit her lip to suppress a giggle. "God, that was so funny."
Claire cleared her throat. "Valerie, John is my boyfriend."
Bender glanced over at her, eyebrow cocked in surprise. "I am?"
Claire glared at him, hoping he wouldn't go down the same road as Allison and embarrass the hell out of her. "Yes," she growled. "You are."
Bender smirked. "Right." He looked back at Valerie. "I'm her boyfriend," he told her.
Valerie's face fell, but she looked back at Claire and smiled. "Really? That's great."
Claire paused. "It is?"
"Yeah, of course." Valerie looked back at Bender and smiled. Bender smiled back. Claire elbowed him in the ribs.
Tiffany tapped Valerie on the arm. "We've got to go," she reminded her. Tiffany glanced back at the Breakfast Club. "It was nice meeting you all."
The five teens waved awkwardly as Tiffany dragged a very reluctant Valerie away. When the girls had disappeared from sight, Claire turned and looked at Bender. "What the hell was that?" she demanded.
Bender did his best to look innocent. "What?"
Claire wasn't fooled. "You just hit on my best friend!"
Bender cocked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that boyfriends weren't supposed to do that."
Claire flushed and let out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever," she muttered.
Bender just smirked and looked over at Andy. "So, where are all your asshole friends, Sporto? I was looking forward to practicing my wrestling moves this morning."
Andy scowled at him. "If anyone's going to beat up my asshole friends, it's going to be me."
Bender held his hands up in mock defense. "Touchy, touchy. Who peed in your Gatorade?"
"Why can't I be the one that beats up Andy's friends?" asked Brian. "You think I'm weak because I'm a nerd or whatever, but I have just as much of a reason as either of you do, maybe more, and it's not fair that--"
"Shut up," said Bender and Andy simultaneously. Brian glared at them, but did as he was told.
Claire rolled her eyes. "Obviously it doesn't matter anymore anyway, seeing as how none of them are here." She paused and looked over at John hesitantly. "What were you going to do if my friends were rude to you?"
Bender shrugged. "I don't know? Flick 'em off?"
Claire looked dejected at this information. "Really? That's all?"
Bender scoffed. "What, you wanted me to beat them up, too? I think that's going a little overboard, don't you?"
Claire rolled her eyes. "No, I just thought that maybe you'd do something fun…creative."
Bender thought about this for a minute. "I could flash 'em."
Claire narrowed her eyes. "Flash them?" she asked skeptically.
"Sure. Why do you think I wear the long coat?" He smirked. "And while they're distracted, you can punch them in the face."
Claire's eyes widened. "Really?" She allowed herself a small smile. "That could be fun," she said wistfully.
"Again," Andy interrupted loudly, "we're forgetting that no one is looking at us."
The group lapsed into silence once again, each of them staring dejectedly out over the front lawn, which was filled with laughing, smiling students, none of whom seemed even remotely interested in the five teenagers standing in the middle of the lawn.
"Maybe no one cares."
"That's ridiculous, Brian," said Claire. "Of course they care."
"I don't know," Brian continued, scanning the lawn. "It doesn't look like anyone has even noticed us."
Claire looked out over the lawn, her breathing becoming slightly irregular in her desperation. "Why not?" she shrieked.
Brian glanced over at her, worried. "Um, I don't know. Maybe they just don't mind?"
Claire took another ragged breath. "I worried about this all weekend!" she exclaimed. "I imagined every scenario possible, considered every angle. I was going to tell off my friends!" she shouted. "Why haven't they noticed? Is the entire school that self-absorbed?"
"I have an idea," said Bender, grabbing her by the waist. Before she knew what was happening, he was kissing her deeply, dipping her slightly so that she had to throw her arms around his neck to keep from falling over. She clung to him for the few seconds that it lasted, and when he pulled her up and released her from his arms, she didn't let go right away, too stunned to stand up straight on her own.
There was a moment of silence before the entire front lawn erupted into applause.
Claire turned slowly to face her audience, her face heating up when she saw that for the first time all morning, everyone was staring at them. And almost no one looked disgusted. Next to her, Bender bowed.
"Stop it!" she shouted, hitting him in the arm. "Do you think this is funny?"
Bender nodded. "Kind of."
Claire turned to the rest of the Breakfast Club, who looked just about as confused and uncomfortable as she did.
"Do you understand any of this?" she demanded, looking directly at Andy.
Andy shook his head. "I didn't realize our friends were so…nice."
Claire turned back to look at Bender. "Are your friends going to act like this, too?"
Bender shrugged. "Most of them don't even come to school on Mondays. They're too hung over from the weekends."
Claire felt like she was on the verge of tears. "I just don't get it," she said again. "I just don't understand. I thought this was going to be harder. I thought we would have to fight to be accepted. Isn't there anyone that hates the idea of us hanging out together?"
"Well, there's always your dad," Bender offered, attempting to cheer her up.
Claire sighed. "He's out of town on business this week."
"Your mom?"
Claire shook her head sadly. "She thought you were cute."
Bender considered this for a moment. "Well, that's true," he admitted.
"Maybe we should just be happy about this," Brian said tentatively. "Maybe this is a good thing."
Claire sighed. "Maybe."
"Come on," said Bender, putting a hand on her back to lead her away. "I have a couple of ex-girlfriends that would love a good catfight."
"Really?" Claire asked hopefully. She paused, then nodded. "Yeah, okay."
Brian, Andy, and Allison trailed after them, following them into the building. Just before they reached the front doors, Brian glanced over at Andy, head held high.
"I could have beaten up your friends, you know," he told him.
Andy reached out to pat him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you could have."
"Really, I could!" Brian exclaimed. "I've been taking karate lessons after school. I'm almost a black belt! My instructor said that I'm one of the fastest learners he's ever seen and that…"
The rest of his speech was drowned out by the sound of hundreds of other students talking and laughing as the front doors shut behind them.
A/N: Hope no one's too disappointed by the lack of smack downs and cat fights. ;) Please let me know what you think!