The Breakfast Club - Monday Morning

Chapter 12

The police left the school as soon as they realized there wasn't actually a student being held hostage. But just as Claire hoped he would, Mr. Vernon panicked and sent John home as soon as the cops left. Claire was waiting for him outside the main entrance, leaning against her car. His grin as he walked across the driveway was infectious.

"A hostage situation?" he asked, a little incredulous.

She shrugged like it was no big deal and tried not to look smug. "As a dedicated parent, I was a little concerned last Saturday when my student came home from detention and told me a student had been repeatedly shoved by a teacher then locked in a closet. I simply suggested the police might want to look into it as an assault on school grounds."

He practically jumped the last few steps to reach her, snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her off her feet into a hug. "You are incredible," he breathed into her neck. He set her down on the hood of the car, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and touching his forehead to hers. "My little criminal mastermind," he smiled.

She gave up trying to hold back the smug smile. She was so proud that her plan to dish up some revenge on Mr. Vernon had worked. "It was pretty good, wasn't it?"

"It was," he agreed with a kiss. "I guess Brian was right after all. We all have a little bit of Criminal in us."

"If that's true, you're the only one who knows how to unlock Criminal Claire. I've never met her before."

He grinned and kissed her again, like he couldn't help it. "So there's a special Claire, just for me?" he asked around kisses. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Only for you," she said against his lips. A nagging thought in the back of her brain wondered why she wasn't more uncomfortable with this conversation, but she brushed it away so nothing would ruin the evening she had planned.

After leaving the school, she'd gone home to call her friends and cancel her evening plans. She called her parents to verify they were still at her grandparent's house and wouldn't be back until Sunday and of course she was still spending the night at Diana's. Then she went to the phone booth across the street from the school and called the police. She'd sat in her car at the far side of the parking lot, waiting for the police to arrive and watching carefully as two cops ran up the stairs and into the school. When they left a little over an hour later, she pulled the car as close to the school as possible and waited for John to emerge.

She was done waiting.

"Come home with me. My parents are gone until tomorrow."

The sex felt awkward and weird, with only a hint of pleasure near the end. But after, John lay back on her pink, silky sheets, his hands firmly wrapped around her brass bed frame like he was her tied-up prisoner, and let her explore every inch of him. They laughed together when her touch tickled him, but her favorite moments were when she made him tense and gasp, veins popping from his wrists as he tightened his grip on the headboard.

She could have touched and kissed him all afternoon. So she protested when he finally took his hands from the imaginary shackles and placed them on her instead, flipping her onto her back. She wanted to keep touching him. But he gave her one of his half-grins and made her hold his gaze as he placed her hands on the bedframe, firmly wrapping his hands around hers so she knew to hold on tight. She could barely breathe, her anticipation was so heavy, but then his hands and mouth began to roam and her breath escaped in hurried gasps.