Gutsy: A John Bender (Breakfast Club) Story

"NO"

"JOHN!" I hollered as soon as I got home.

A muffled, "What?" came from the upstairs.

I pounded up the staircase to John's room. John was laying in bed holding a book of all things in his hands.

"Are you reading a book?" I burst out in shock.

John glared at me, "Is that a problem?"

I fumbled for a response, "I..well...no. Um...just...uh.."

"Didn't think I would ever read a book?" John countered.

"Well, no. I mean I thought I could get you to read eventually, but this is so soon." I said lamely.

John smiled, "Then I guess I proved you wrong. Now, are you going to tell me why you came in here with your tail on fire?"

"Oh!" I said regaining my train of thought. "You are NOT going to believe what happened today."

"Vernon ran naked through the school?" John teased.

I laughed, "That would be unbelievable. Not quite that nutty, but almost as extreme."

John's eyes lit up with interest and he painfully pulled himself upright and swung his legs over the side of the bed so that he was facing me, "Tell me."

"Claire wants me to help her change. She came up to me at my locker today and said that you were right. Everything you said about her was accurate and she wants to be different." I rushed out thinking back to the strange encounter.

A hard mask slid over John's face extinguishing the light in his eyes, "No."

"What?" I said feeling an odd sensation of surprise and confusion.

"You heard me. I said no." John said coldly.

I stared at him in utter shock, "But why? Why don't you want me to help her?"

"Because she is going to either stab you in the back or use you or both." John said with the same coldness.

A cold worm of discomfort began to crawl in my stomach, "John, I really appreciate you trying to protect me, but you also don't get to call the shots for me." I said very carefully.

Anger leapt up in John's eyes and face, but just as quickly died. "Sit with me?" he asked patting the bed beside him.

I sat down next to him, tentatively reaching out to hold his hand. He wrapped his warm fingers around mine and gave my hand a gentle squeeze settling my nerves a bit.

"I know you can make your own decisions." John said. "But please trust me on this one. Claire will make you regret trying to help her."

The worm of discomfort turned into a bubble of pain inside, "Are you saying that just because she rejected you?" I asked.

John took my fingers and kissed them, "I wish I was. You're not the only one who can do some digging, Laura. I found some things out about Claire that would make you reconsider your offer."

John was serious. He meant every word he said and was now watching me intently for my response.

"What if I gave it a trial run?" I asked.

A huge sigh escaped John, "I can't stop you, but I also can't promise I won't say I told you so when she flakes off."

I sat and mulled over his words. He really meant what he said. Part of me knew that something was fishy with Claire, but another side of me went absolutely crazy because she was a challenge. I threw myself backward onto the bed with a huff.

"You know this is very difficult for me, right?" I said. "Everything about Claire makes me mad, but at the same time because she annoys me, I see her as a challenge."

John turned stiffly toward me, "You're just like me. Neither of us can leave well enough alone. I've seen that high you get off of walking the line. We both like it too much for our own good."

"That's exactly the problem! I get a huge rush just thinking about how all of this might play out. I love analyzing the angles." I said throwing an arm over my face.

John pulled my arm off my face, "You think too much."

"Will you help me?" I asked giving him my best pleading face.

"With Claire or thinking too much?" John said with a scowl.

I grinned up at him, "Both."

John let out a couple of choice words, "Listen ice queen, I'll help you, but no arguing if I tell you to call it quits with Claire. I got a bad feeling about this."

"I promise to be good," I said with a smirk. "But really, I promise I will listen to you."

"I don't like that look..." John growled.

I let out a sigh and let go of my ego, "Ok. I mean it. If you help me, I promise not to do anything stupid and listen if you say to stop."

"Good. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I just don't want you to get hurt." John said, finally softening.

I sent him my sweetest smile, "Thanks for looking out for me."