Alive & Kicking (Stay Until Your Love Is)

4

Once the three boys had left the table, Allison and Claire sat in relative silence for a time.

Eventually, however, Claire glanced in the direction of the house, as if checking no body was coming back before she turned to Allison.

"Are you okay?"

Allison nodded, slowly. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

Claire sighed. "You said he wasn't coming, Allison..."

"Yeah, well I'm a compulsive liar, remember?" she shrugged.

"This was never going to end well," the redhead pointed out.

"Well I wasn't thinking about that, was I? I just... I wanted all of us to be together again," Allison told her, playing absent-mindedly with the hairband that was around her wrist.

"Some things are better left in the past," Claire said, throwing a pointed glance in the direction Bender had left in. "We were friends in high school and god knows that was hard enough... perhaps it's too hard now."

Allison looked Claire dead in the eye.

"You guys were the first real friends I had. I'm not willing to give up on that."

Claire sighed, rolling her eyes but conceding. "Okay, fine. Hey, is everything alright between you and Andy?"

"What d'you mean?" Allison asked, though her eyes were averted downwards again, telling Claire she knew full well what was meant.

"It's not like him not to jump in with John starts on you, that's all," she shrugged. "I thought he was cool with the whole LA thing?"

"I dunno... I dunno if he'll ever be cool with it," she said softly, staring at her hands. "I... I don't think his feelings are the same as they used to be."

Claire frowned. "What? Are we talking about the same guy? Andy is crazy about you."

Allison shrugged. "I don't think he can move past what happened. That was where yours and John's problems started too, wasn't it? When you told him you were going to college in Florida..."

Claire gave a soft snort of laughter. "I think our problems started way before that. But... yeah, it was the final nail in the coffin I guess. Jeez, Allison, are things really that bad?"

Just then, the door opened and Andy put his head out.

"We're gonna go play some pool," he said, directing the information at Claire. "It's probably best you guys... y'know... stay here or somethin'."

Claire nodded and as he left, she turned back to her friend.

"Ya," Allison muttered. "Things really are that bad."

=o=o=o=o=

"You wanna calm down?" Andy asked, as Bender smacked the white ball so hard it sent several of the others flying from the table.

Flicking his hair out of his face, Bender eyeballed him. "You gonna make me?"

"Come on fellas..." Brian began, nervously.

"Relax, Dweebie. I'm way past fighting with Sporto," Bender assured him, sitting on the edge of the pool table and lighting a cigarette. "So Jockstrap, you gonna tell me what the hell your crazy girlfriend was thinkin' or what?"

Resting the pool cue on the floor and leaning against it, Andy shrugged.

"How should I know?"

"Well if you don't know, we're all screwed," he declared, jumping down as Brian retrieved the balls from the floor and placed them back onto the table.

"Then we're all screwed," Andy muttered, lining up his shot. "I don't know what goes on in her head, full stop."

"Trouble in paradise?" Bender asked. "You mad she chose to stay here with her mom over you?"

Andy shot him a look. "I'm not 'mad'. I get why she wanted to stay here."

"So then what's the problem?" Brian asked, taking the pool cue from Bender, who was preoccupied with his cigarette.

"I... she can just be so stubborn at times," Andy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "And I reckon that shoulda been a decision we made together, y'know?"

"What, you think Allison is gonna let you have a say in what she does?" Bender asked, deadpan.

"No, I think Allison should let me have a say in what I do," he snapped.

"What do you mean?" Brian frowned.

"Change of plan," Bender told him, snatching the cue back from him. "You suck."

"It was like it was just decided, y'know? She didn't wanna talk about me transferring colleges out here or anything," he told them.

"Well... perhaps she didn't want you to feel as though you had to make big changes just for her?" Brian suggested.

"Or, she didn't want me around," he said.

"Please," Bender snorted, blowing a smoke ring. "You and her could barely keep your hands off each other all through senior year!"

Andy just shrugged.

Brian frowned. "Come on, man. You guys are solid..."

"Yeah, I thought so too. But now I'm not so sure," he sighed.

Bender considered them both for a moment, before dumping the pool cue back on the table.

"Come on," he said, snatching the soda from Andy's hand and placing it next to the cue.

"Where to?" Andy frowned.

"My van. You need somethin' stronger than a soda and after todays little surprise, so do I," he decided.

=o=o=o=o=