four eyes | claire standish ✅

twenty nine

"I was just thinking. I know it's kind of a weird time," Brian clarifies, "but I was just wondering, um, what is gonna happen to us on Monday? When we're all together again? I mean I consider you guys my friends, I'm not wrong, am I?"

 "No," Andrew answers.

 "So, so on Monday...what happens?"

 "Are we still friends, you mean? If we're friends now, that is?" Claire asks.

 "Yeah."

 "Do you want the truth?"

 "Yeah, I want the truth..."

 "I don't think so." The needle of a syringe is forced into Angel's heart, creating a burning sensation.

 "You mean with me and Johnny or all of us?"

 "With all of you..." The syringe in Angel's heart takes the blood. It forces her heart to stop as her face grows a bit pale.

So she had given Claire her first kiss for nothing? That question bounces off the walls inside Angel's brain, creating a throbbing sensation. A sigh passes her lips before she scoots away from Claire. The redhead doesn't notice.

 "That's a great attitude, Claire!" Andrew exclaims.

"Oh, be honest, Andy...if Brian came walking up to you in the hall on Monday, what would you do? I mean picture this, you're there with all the sports. I know exactly what you'd do, you'd say hi to him and when he left you'd cut him all up so your friends wouldn't think you really liked him!"

"No way!"

"Okay, what if I came up to you?" Allison wonders.

"Same exact thing!"

"You're a bitch!" John yells. For once, Angel agrees with him.

"Why? Because I'm telling the truth, that makes me a bitch?" she scoffs.

"No! It's 'cause you know how shitty that is to do! But you don't got the balls to stand up tell 'em that you're gonna like who you wanna like!"

"Okay, what about you, you hypocrite! Why don't you take Allison and Angel to one of your heavy metal vomit parties? Or take Brian out to the parking lot at lunch to get high? What about Andy for that matter, what about me? What would your friends say if we were walking down the hall together. They'd laugh their asses off and you'd probably tell them you were doing it with me so they'd forgive you for being seen with me." Angel keeps her eyes on the floor, hating the yelling.

"Don't you ever talk about my friends!" His voice has to have dropped an octave or two to be that deep. "You don't know any of my friends, you don't look at them and you certainly wouldn't think about speaking to any of my friends. So just stick to the things you know: shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW and your poor, rich, drunk mother in the Carribean!"

She kicks John's legs in anger. "As far as I'm concerned about what's gonna happen when you and I walk down the hallways at school, you can forget it! It's never gonna happen! Just bury your head in the sand and wait for your fuckin' prom!!"

"I hate you two!"

"Yeah? Good!"

Silence lays on top of the tension around the teens. It's broken by Brian clearing his throat before speaking. "I assume Allison, Angel and I are better people than you guys, huh? Us weirdos. Do you, would you do that to me?"

"I don't have any friends except Angel..." She gives the girl a kind smile. Allison isn't given one back, as Angel seems to have an anger-filled look on her face. It would be more menacing if wasn't for the trails on her face left by tears.

"Well if you did?"

"No. I don't think the kind of friends I'd have would mind."

"I just wanna tell, each of you, that I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't and I will not! 'Cause I think that's real shitty." A warm, happy feeling grows in Angel's stomach from Brian's little speech. It's taken out though when Claire opens her mouth.

"Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us."

"You're so fucking conceited!" Claire turns her sight on Angel, who bites the inside of her mouth for a moment, holding her composure. "You act as if everything is yours. You're so full of yourself."

"I'm not saying that to be conceited! I hate it! I hate having to go along with everything my friends say!"

"Well then why do you do it?" Brian wonders.

"I don't know. You don't understand..you don't. You're not friends with the same kind of people that Andy and I are friends with! You know, you just don't understand the pressure that they can put on you!"

"You just said a nerd doesn't understand pressure?" Angel lets the words roll slowly, trying to comprehend Claire's excuse.

"I don't understand what? You think I don't understand pressure, Claire? Well fuck you! Fuck you!" Brian starts crying into his arm. After a minute or two, he pulls himself together. "Know why I'm here today? Do you? I'm here because Mr. Ryan found a gun in the locker..."