Tʜᴇ Lᴏsᴇʀs Cʟᴜʙ | ✔︎

5. Bᴏʀᴇᴅᴏᴍ Cᴀᴜsᴇs Pᴀɴᴅᴇᴍᴏɴɪᴜᴍ

"I am the eyes and ears of this institution,"
~Carl, the janitor

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After Harrington had left, the group of teens were left to their own ennui. With nothing to do, each of them found something to occupy them. All the while the clock ticked the same: slowly.

Michelle was indulged with the zippo lighter she had brought, tracing the image of a rose etched on it. Liz stared off into space, reminiscing on old memories. Peter carved into the wood of the table, jotting down meaningless things. Flash became fascinated with the string of his hoodie, tying it or pulling it further into one side then to the other. Betty was busy painting her perfectly polished nails with whiteout. Ned started sketching the Millennium Falcon on his paper.

Even if they found something to do, time still moved gradually. One by one, the students lost interest in their activity, and sleep laid heavily upon their eyes.

Principal Harrington looked none-too-pleased as he stared at the sleeping students. "Wake up," he yelled, but they all remained rested in their seats. He stared disapproving before sighing in exasperation. "Who needs to go to the bathroom?" At this question, all the teens rose a hand up in display.

Once arriving back, they went to their careless stage of boredom, but not all remained in the same seat. Michelle was ripping pages out of a English textbook, situated on top of the librarian's check-out desk. Peter was leaning on one of the pillars next to it. Flash had been stretching out his leg on the table Michelle had sat behind. Meanwhile the others remained on the seats they were assigned to.

Another scrunch ball of the textbook paper flew past Betty and she couldn't help but look at the direction it was coming from. "That's real intelligent," she commented. "You're right," Michelle replied lackadaisical, "it's wrong to destroy literature." She continued to rip out page after page. "It's such fun to read."

"And Mollay really gets me goin," another sarcastic response was thrown. "Molière," Peter corrected as he was sorting through the bookmarks the library provided. Michelle turned to him with a raised brow. Feeling her gaze, Peter's lips lifted into a slight smiled. "I love his work," Liz inputted. Michelle rolled her eyes at that and dropped the book carelessly, leaving a loud thump to echo in the large room. Peter was still smiling cockily.

"Big deal," Michelle remarked. "Nothing to do when you're locked in a vacancy." "Speak for yourself," Flash scoffed. Michelle stared at him incredulously, "Do you think I'd speak for you? I don't even know you're language."

Flash turned to Liz and Betty who were busy talking amongst themselves. "Hey," he directed to Liz, "you grounded tonight?" The popular girl shrugged, "I don't know, honestly. My mom said I was, but my dad told me to just blow her off." Michelle looked their direction. "Well there's this big party," Flash informed. "At Jackson's, right," Betty asked. "Yeah, his parents are in Europe. You goin?" Betty nodded in affirmative, but Liz still had a pending look. "I doubt it." Flash asked, "How come?" "Well if I do what my mom tells me not to do, it's because my dad says it's okay. It's like this big monstrous deal that's endless. And like any minute, it's divorce."

"Who do you like better," Peter questioned. "What," Liz was confused. "You like your old man better than your mom," Michelle restated for him. "They're both screwed," Liz answered plainly. "I mean, if you had to choose between them." Liz looked down thoughtfully, "I don't know. I'd probably go live with my brother. It's not like either one of them gives a shit about me. They just use me to get back at each other."

"Ha!" Ned, who hadn't spoken one word since their arrival, mocked the spoiled girl. Betty turned to him amused. Everyone else turned to him as well. "Shut up," Liz defended. "You're just feeling sorry for yourself," Flash said, approving the recent outburst. Liz turned to him. "Well if I didn't, nobody else would."

"Awe you're breaking my heart," the jock replied all tough. "Hey sport-o," Michelle called out. "What?" He turned to her. Michelle jumped down from where she sat and looked at him seriously. "You get along with your parents?" Flash eyed her, "Well if I say yes, I'm an idiot, right?"

This time Peter joined in, "You're an idiot anyway, but if you say you get along with your parents... well, you're a liar too." The room got tense with anticipation.

Michelle walked passed Flash, but didn't make it far without getting stopped by him. "You know something," Flash said as he shoved her jacket covered shoulder, "If you weren't a girl, I'd beat the shit out of you." She turned around to him agitated. "Can you hear this?" She displayed an upside down middle finger salute. "Want me to turn it up," she then asked while turning her hand to flip him off.

"Can you guys stop," Betty said standing from her seat to stop the commotion. "We all have parent issues, but let's not do something we'll regret." Michelle turned to her in disbelief, "Blondie?" At hearing that, Betty asked, "Yeah?" "You are a parents wet dream, okay? So sit your ass down before you hurt yourself."

"Do you always have to insult everybody," Liz asked her. "I'm being honest, Princess. I would expect you to know the difference." "Leave them alone," Flash called out. Michelle looked back at him, "And what're you gonna do 'bout it, if I don't?" "Two hits," they were now mano-a-mano with one another. "Oh yeah?" "Yeah," Flash confirmed, "Me hitting you, and you hitting the floor." "Well anytime then," Michelle challenged. But before they could proceed something so chaotic, they were stopped by Liz and Peter telling them to sit down and cool it off.

"Wimp," Flash mumbled as Michelle tried to walk away. "You really don't want to mess with me," Michelle said upon hearing him. "And why not," Flash asked, unthreatened. "Simple, really," Michelle explained treading backwards. "I'd kill you... I'd kill you and your fucking parents would sue me and it'd be a big mess, but I don't care enough about you to bother." Flash scoffed, "Right." He then heard a sharp metal like ding. Michelle had pulled out a switchblade she carried on the inside of her accustomed combat boots. This grabbed everyone's attention. Michelle proceeded to stab the blade into the wooden frame of one of the chairs behind the last empty table across Ned, sort of as to make a statement.

She sat back down on her original seat, and so did everyone else. Silence filled the room once more.

It wasn't until the janitor arrived that noise erupted once more. Humming as he walked in, Eddie, the janitor, saw the gloomy faces of the already depressed teenagers.

Michelle nodded in acknowledgment at him, to which he replied by asking, "Hey, Michelle, how ya doin?" She gave a thumbs up, but from the corner of her eyes, saw Peter look her way. "Your dad works here," he joked, causing a few giggles from the others. She rolled her eyes in response, before getting a devious idea.

"Eddie?" "What," the man turned to her as he finished cleaning out the trash bin. "Can I ask you a question?" His attention, as well as the others, were now on her, replying, "Shoot." "How does one become a janitor," she asked mockingly. "You want to be a janitor," he questioned back disbelieving. She put her feet up on top of the desk. "No, I just want to know how one becomes a janitor, because Thompson here," she gestured to the boy sitting in front of her, "is interested in pursuing a career in the custodial arts." Flash spun around from his seat, mouthing back a "fuck you." "Oh really," the custodian asked, still unamused. Michelle smiled evilly at Flash. The others giggled just a little more.

"You guys think I'm just some untouchable peasant? Serf? Peon? Huh," the kids had stopped, looking guilty and not up at him. "Maybe so... but following a broom around after shitheads like you all these years taught me something." Ned was the only one to not look peccant. "I look through your letters, your lockers," now all eyes focused on him, "I listen to your conversations, you don't know that, but I do...

"I am the eyes and ears of this institution, my friends," the teens all watched him weary and in awe as the tall, lean man, made his way out the library. Just a few seconds later though, he walked back in and pointed to the clock hanging above on the wall far behind them. "By the way, that clock is twenty minutes fast," he warned, then continued his journey out. All of them spun around to the clock whispering in confusion, except Michelle having already known this. Smirking and amused, she watched the older male who disappeared from the library, gaining a newfound respect for him.

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A/N: Eight more chapters to go. I'm still sticking to the original unscripted script of the movie, but some parts are changed because the movie version is a little dark. Hope you enjoyed this, see ya