others help John hide and make up reasons for the noise. The students pass the time by talking, arguing, listening to music, and smoking marijuana. Gradually, they open up and reveal their secrets and their poor relationships with their parents. Claire's popularity subjects her to intense peer pressure, and her parents use her to get back at each other during arguments. She is in detention due to skipping school to go shopping. John's father is physically and verbally abusive to him and his mother and, according to Vernon, is in detention for pulling a false fire alarm. Andrew is unable to think for himself as his father intimidates him to succeed in wrestling and view any form of weakness with contempt. He was sent to detention for taping another weaker student's buttocks together in order to look superior and win his father's approval. Brian is under such pressure from his parents to get good grades that he contemplated suicide after getting an F in shop class. He was sent to detention for bringing a flare gun to school for that purpose and his parents are not bothered by this attempt. Allison is a compulsive liar with neglectful parents and constantly steals random items for usage should she ever decide to run away from home. She admits that she merely showed up to detention for lack of anything better to do. They all realize that, despite their differences, they face similar problems. Meanwhile, Vernon complains to the janitor, Carl, that students today are less disciplined than they were earlier in his teaching career. Carl tells Vernon that he is the only one who has changed and that the students don't care what he thinks of them. Claire gives Allison a makeover, which sparks romantic interest from Andrew. Claire decides to break her "pristine" innocent appearance by kissing John. Although suspecting their new relationships will end when detention is over, they believe their mutual experiences will change the way they look at their peers. As the detention nears its end, the group requests that Brian complete the assigned essay for everyone and John returns to the storage closet, so Vernon thinks he never left. Brian leaves the essay in the library for Vernon to read after they leave. As the students part ways, Allison and Andrew kiss, as do Claire and John. Allison rips Andrew's state championship patch from his jacket to