Five disparate high school students, Allison Reynolds, a weirdo; Brian Johnson, a nerd; John Bender, a criminal; Claire Standish, a prom queen; and Andy Clark, a jock, are forced to spend the day in Saturday detention. Having absolutely nothing in common, except for having to give up their day, they sit in the school library, and write an essay for a teacher, Richard Vernon. Being from such widely different backgrounds and having such completely different …showed first 75 words of 715 total…

…showed last 75 words of 715 total…was President. Once the kids have fought, smoked a doobie together, blamed their parents and bonded, the key question is raised: “Are we friends now or do we go back to our usual parts, our usual friends, and our usual ways? What are you going to do when you’re hanging with your friends and I walk by?” The whole thing explodes in a day and a half, but the process is instructive and revealing.