FicWad

"You know, I never did forget about you," Claire said from her seat on the floor. She had her head leaning on John's shoulder as he sat going through her purse. He felt him laugh from underneath of her.

"Yeah, I always thought about you too; what you looked like naked, how good you were in the sack." She lifted her head up and smacked him in the arm.

"Well that's great to know!"

He laughed. "Relax cherry. I know about your chastity belt. A guy just can't help but wonder, you know."

She shook her head, but tried to hide the smile twitching at her lips. "I can't even believe you kissed me."

He turned to face her with an amused grin. "I can't believe you made out with me on the library floor!"

She laughed, but couldn't help but blush. She was glad that they were being civil towards one another finally. She had thought and dreamt about the day she would be able to find out how he'd been, what he'd been doing; the day she would get the chance and nothing and no one would be standing in her way. There were feelings that had been repressed for the last ten and a half months; feelings that hadn't risen again until now. She watched as he began looking through all of her lipstick tubes and mirrors. "You have way too much shit in your purse," He looked at her with a humorous expression of confusion. "...still."

She shook her head at him. "So where is that earring of mine anyways?"

"I hawked it off...ow!" He rubbed his arm. "Jesus, you don't have to be so abusive."

She glared at him. "Just answer the question."

He shrugged. "What does it matter?" He threw a tube of mascara back into the purse and pulled out her eyebrow brush. He began brushing his teeth with it, all the while smacking his lips and checking himself out in her compact mirror. He cocked an eyebrow when he finally noticed her staring at him. "What?"

"Where is it?" She was becoming more and more impatient with him. Sure she knew he wasn't the emotional type, but she had been telling him all of her feelings, why wasn't he doing the same? Did he not feel the same? Was he just playing her the whole time to finally get her included in that list of 'considered' girls?

He threw down the brush and mirror and stood up and walked back towards his desk. He bent over and dug into the pocket of his coat - which was hanging on the back of his chair - and retrieved a package of cigarettes. She folded her arms and glared at him. "Or is this just lie to Claire day?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, obviously getting annoyed. "I didn't say anything, let alone lie to you cherry!"

She glared. "Then why don't you just answer the question!"

"What the fuck does it matter?" He lit the smoke and stormed away from her, towards the front of the library. She chased after him and grabbed him by the elbow.

She narrowed her eyes. "Because I told you that I missed you, and that I wondered what went on with you! You can't even tell me what happened to a stupid earring!"

He rolled his eyes. "I have it...so what? What the fuck does it matter? What do you want me to tell you? That I polish it everyday and keep it in a gold safe? Well I don't, so back off!"

She seethed, he was not talking to her this way! "That's all I wanted to know! That you still had it and it meant something to you!"

He rolled his eyes and took a drag off of his cigarette. "Yes I have it!"

She started to smile. "Really?"

He rolled his eyes angrily. "Don't act like you can get whatever you want with me, princess." He took another long drag from his cigarette and stomped it out on the floor under his boot. He raked a hand through his hair and sighed. "You want it back?"

She folded her arms in front of her. "Why, you would be willing to meet me outside of detention to give it back? I figured this was 'one-time-thing-part-two' for you."

He glared at her and stomped angrily back to his jacket where he flipped open the front and dug into an inside pocket. He fiddled around for a moment longer and stood up after he found what he was looking for. And then he just walked back to her and tossed it at her chest. Like it was a piece of garbage. "No I wasn't...I just wanted you to have your shit back."

That hit her like a ton of bricks. She could not believe the audacity of that guy; calling her expensive jewelry - that she gave him - shit! She bent over and picked the tiny stud up off of the floor and balled a fist over it. "Shit? You are calling it shit? I cannot believe the nerve of you! You accuse me of not caring and being an ignorant bitch and here you are throwing my gift to you back in my face!"

John raised his eyebrows like he could care less. "It seems to me all you cared about was where that stupid thing was and I showed you."

She felt the heat rise to her face quickly. "You threw it at me, John!"

"You still got your answer, didn't you? Now shut up and go paint your nails or something." He drawled with a wave of his hand.

Her breathing became irregular and erratic and her fists balled so hard that her knuckles turned white; and then she started laughing. She started laughing so hard that tears came from her eyes. She leaned against the table with her right hand to keep herself upright.

John just stared at her with wide eyes. He looked scared to death, and that made Claire laugh even harder. He shook his hair out of his eyes and tried to act casual. "What are you laughing at, Cherry?"

She pointed at him, but still no words left her mouth as she just hiccupped with laughter. She dropped her hand and rested it on her thigh as she struggled to stand. Finally she wiped the stray tears from her eyes. "Oh god..." she took a deep breath and looked at him with a big smile on her face. "You are so cheesy."

His eyes went even wider, and she almost burst out laughing just at the sight of his face alone. "What did you just say to me, princess?"

She pointed at him. "You are so cheesy; I cannot even believe you tried to sneak that past me!"

He furrowed his eyebrows in complete confusion. "What in the fuck are you talking about?"

She smiled at him sincerely. "You tried so hard to act like you didn't give a fuck and you kept that earring on you the whole time." She mockingly gushed at him. "You carry it with you everywhere don't you?"

His mouth dropped open. "What? No way..."

She smiled her sweetest just to bother him. "That is so sweet, John!"

He shuddered, and then cringed, and then shuddered again. "Please don't ever say that again. It's just wishful thinking on your part." He scowled.

She laughed loud. "Aw, are you embarrassed?"

He turned around quickly. "Fuck off, cherry!"

She laughed harder. He pointed at her and was about to say more when Andy came bursting through the library door short on breath. And for some reason he was by himself. She was going to ask him what was going on, but John beat her to the punch. "Where's your baggage, Sporto."

Andy looked at him confused. "Huh?" His forehead was sweaty and his face flushed. And he looked completely confused. He turned around to the door again and he blanched even more when he realized that - in fact - he was alone.

He looked back at Claire and John and cursed, "Shit!"

... ... ...

"It's gonna be alright, Bry," She heard Andy whisper. She couldn't believe the turn events of the day. It was happening again...they were letting their walls down and getting each others' hopes up. She was worried that it was going to happen again on Monday too; that nothing was going to come of it and they would all be kicking themselves again and regretting it. There were always regrets when it came to this stupid breakfast club.

Brian wiped violently at his eyes. "I'm so sorry guys."

Andy shrugged and just gave him a light punch to the shoulder, "Don't worry about it man. And I guess," he raked a hand through his blonde hair and sighed. "I'm so sorry too. I didn't mean to just stand there and not do anything. I've regretted it for so long."

Brian nodded and shrugged. "I was just stupid to think it would have worked out the way we wanted it to, you know? Maybe I shouldn't of looked into it so deeply."

Allison swallowed hard and bit her lower lip. Andy just shrugged and sighed. "No Brian...that wasn't stupid. We were stupid," he gestured to himself and Allison. "And John was stupid, and Claire was stupid. We all made that mistake, and then made the mistake about not doing what we wanted," He paused. "And now we're regretting it."

"I'm not mad anymore," Brian admitted.

Allison cleared her throat. "But are you okay?"

Brian shrugged uncomfortably. "He was exaggerating a bit."

Allison shrugged again. "That's not what I asked you."

He smiled at her gratefully. "I'll be okay."

Andy smiled at the two of them and then stood up. "Maybe we should get back to the library, huh?"

Allison nodded and accepted his hand we he offered and hauled herself up. Brian, too, clambered to his feet and dusted off his pants. He looked around for a second, almost as if he finally realized where they were. "Gee, sorry guys. I didn't realize I came so far...what if Vernon..."

Andy waved it off. "Don't worry, Brian, as long as we're quiet then he won't find us. We just have to be quick."

Allison smirked. "And go through the cafeteria this time...there is a gate at the end of the activities hall."

Andy rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Brian cleared his throat. "So you guys work stuff out?"

Andy shrugged and Allison just shot her eyes to the floor. Had they? Sure they had been getting along fine for the last half hour or so, and they did figure out what had happened last year, but where did they stand now? Yeah he was handsome, and very sweet, but could it really work between them? Could she trust him to like her for who she was? There were still so many questions between them, but at the same time there was a little bit of an optimistic side in her heart telling her that she shouldn't fuck it up this time, and that she should just try it. For once in her pathetically anti-social life to wear her heart on her sleeve and take a risk. Was he worth that risk?

She was so caught up in thought that she didn't notice the water fountain on her right, or her overstuffed bag knocking into the side of it sending the top half of her belongings to the floor with a loud bang.

She stared back at Brian and Andy with wide eyes. They froze when they heard a loud, booming voice.

"Who's there!?"

... ... ...

Vernon froze in his footsteps when he heard the clatter on the floor. He knew damn well that it was not Carl. Carl did not carry things that 'clattered' on his cart.

Those little fucking turds were out of the room and he was going to get them this time. There was no way he was just settling for Bender this time either; oh those pricks were going to get what was coming to them!

He listened quietly; he stood frozen like a deer caught in headlights, even going as far as holding his breath so that he could figure out where they were coming from. And as soon as he heard a sneaker squeak from up around the corner he let off like a lion after its prey. He ran and spun around the corner, just missing a back. He saw the shoes - black shoes - running in the other direction towards the next hallway.

He ran towards them not even bothering to watch his steps around the fallen items that were left behind. Of course - knowing his luck - Murphy was there with him and he slipped on the said items and fell (for the second time that day). He landed hard on his back and held his eyes shut tightly.

"Fuck," he murmured.

He opened his eyes slowly and craned his neck to look around him. And they were tampons. Dozens of them. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. He knew that women and their 'problems' were disgusting, but he never, EVER thought he would have to touch one of those things. He stood up as fast as he could, bent over and picked one up, and tucked into his pocket for, further...erm, evidence. He looked at the remaining puddle around him and just shuddered, and began running down the hall again.

He heard the sound of pounding feet heading back towards the west end of the building - where the library was. He sped up his pace a bit, and hung a quick left hoping to get ahead of them so that he could cut them off. He knew that he could get through the school faster than they could; they were just dumb kids, and he was the principal - well the vice principal - but that was beside the point. This was his school and he wasn't going to let those brats get away with their little pranks this time.

He hung another right and headed north; their steps were getting louder, and from the inconsistent sounds, it seemed as if there were at least three of them.

But three heads were better than no heads.

He hung another left and headed directly down the main hall of the school that divided the east and west sides of the school. He was headed straight for the English department, and this hall was going to take him to one more hall, and then the library. He knew he had those pukes caught. He laughed at himself maniacally; his thin, dyed hair was flying in the wind, and his jacket was flowing at his hips. His eyes were wide and his tongue hung out the side of his mouth in anticipation. He turned the last turn and grabbed the body flying past him.

"You're mine you little bitch!"

... ... ...

Andy, Brian and Allison flew down the hallway. Andy was in front of Brian a couple of feet, and Allison was trailing him by just as much. Brian looked back every few seconds to make sure that she was still there. Andy was flying fast, and Brian was having a hard time keeping up with him so he could only imagine how hard Allison was trying not to straggle.

They knew that Vernon was hot on their tails. They knew because they had heard him yell, they had heard him fall, and they had heard his ever increasing foot falls echoing throughout the empty hallways of Shermer High. Brian's heart was racing with both dread and excitement. Bender wasn't here to get them out of this jam; they were on their own and he couldn't help but feel that it was his entire fault.

If he would have just kept his cool and not have snapped on them and yelled at them - if he would have kept his cool and just went and sat in the back of the library, rather than go out in the hall, then none of this would have happened. Andy and Allison wouldn't have had to go looking for him and get dragged into it. He hoped if anyone got caught it was going to be him. He didn't want to bring his friends down for this. It was unfair to them that he had to act like a little drama queen and run away crying. He was so angry at himself.

Andy flew around a corner to the right about fifteen feet ahead of them. Brian turned around and noticed that Allison had fallen behind. He slowed down and cupped a hand around his mouth. "Come on! You gotta hurry up!"

She waved him off and took long hard breaths. "Just go, I'll be fine."

Brian shook his head. "Come on! Don't quit we're almost there!"

She shook her head angrily. "It's my fault! He heard me! Just go, save yourself the trouble!"

Brian shook his head and sped up again; he couldn't believe that she blamed herself. He whizzed past the corner and saw that Andy had reached the library; they were only about forty feet away now. He raked a hand through his hair and passed the last hallway before he got to the library and stopped. He took long deep breaths and waited anxiously for Allison to come around the corner. When she did, she came at him as hard as she could.

She was only about seven feet away when a pair of arms in an ugly mustard yellow suit snaked around her. Her eyes widened and she squeaked loudly.

"Allison!" Brian yelled.

When Vernon appeared around the corner holding her by the back of her sweater, he grabbed Brian as well.

"Well two little shits down, three more to go!" He pushed them both towards the library roughly and laughed loudly.

TBC