The Resolute [ j.b ] - The Breakfast Club

Chapter One

"... And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They're quite aware of what they're going through..." - David Bowie

"I've never done this before." Tina's eyes flickered towards the building beyond the passenger window. Those were the only words she could coherently muster at the moment. 

Diane smiled as she looked at her granddaughter, and the woman's hands went to cup her chin gently. 

"It's just eight hours, sweetheart. And when that clock strikes four, I'ma be here waiting, ok?"

Tina nodded absent-mindedly and looked down at her lap, fiddling with the hem of her skirt, causing her Nana's words to hardly register. Diane's eyes softened the more she gazed down at the young girl, and she removed her hand from Tina's face to cup her shoulder comfortingly.

"Cheer up, kiddo. It's not that big of a deal. You did what you did, and there's no changing that," Tina's doe orbs shifted abruptly to the aging woman, and she looked at her grandmother indifferently.

Tina let her stare linger on the woman's face for a long moment. 

"I guess you're right," she shrugged. Leaning over to give Diane a chaste kiss on the cheek, she stopped mid-way and looked at her Nana's tender, crystal blue eyes. "And I'm not sad, Nana," Tina felt the need to clarify, "just not thrilled."

And with that, the teen kissed her Diane farewell while her fingers curled on the car door handle. She shuffled her petite frame out of her Nana's yellow, flower-stamped Volkswagon and walked across the street towards her dreaded destination. She clutched her faux leather satchel tightly to her chest and carried onward, her heels clicking against the gravel cement as she navigated around the other three cars that had been lined up against the school drop-off. She faintly heard the sound of tires screeching to a halt, but the faerie-like teen hadn't bothered to turn her head, too engrossed in her own. Once Tina approached the pull-door, a gloved hand clad in black linen fishnet halted her, latching onto the handle.

Tina looked up, alarmed at the stranger's abrupt intervention. Her brown doe eyes slowly sized up the senior before her, and she quickly noticed the familiar murky brown trench coat and red cotton scarf that had been carelessly wrapped around the man's neck.

Though the person's clothes were easy to recognize, his eyes were concealed by a pair of ultra-black aviators, and the man's shaggy tousled brown hair hid most of his features. To Tina, he definitely looked much older with his full physique than the remainder of the student body, so with narrowed eyes, she skeptically asked him,

"Are you a teacher here?"

The man scoffed, some combination of indignation and amusement. He briskly shoved past the willow-bodied girl with his buffing figure and entered the school building. A faint, "As if," could be heard as his footsteps echoed through the halls.

Tina huffed and grit her teeth. A small moment passed where she rolled her eyes and adjusted the strap of her satchel. 

"Rude," she muttered under her breath, visibly annoyed, but she quickly fixed her resolve and proceeded into the building.

Her bangs blew up as she roughly opened and shut the door, causing a gust of harsh wind to ride up her skirt. She swiftly pushed down the fabric before navigating through the corridor, trying to spot the media center as fast as possible before the clock struck seven. Her velvet clogs frantically pattered against the vinyl floor until they skidded to a halt at the frames of the already opened wooden doors.

Tina's eyes vaguely skimmed the vacant space. It was hard to see if anyone was in the room with the way the building was designed and where Tina currently stood. But Tina knew that there were three rows of tables, two columns, each one assigned three chairs. And they were placed in the direct center of the school library with a thin pathway in between. She knew that much, which meant her guess of the room being empty was probably wrong.