I wasn't planning on a sequel, but we'll see how it goes :)
"Freak"
"Trash"
"Slut"
"Fangbanger"
Claire had been called names for most of her life, had been different most of her life too. But the past two weeks had been on another level, unlike anything she'd experienced before. For one, she was officially dating the scariest male vampire in Morganville, and because of this it seemed, everyone in Morganville hated her for it. Well, everyone human anyway. The vampires had got over the new situation with surprising ease, but Claire got the feeling it was only because they viewed her as some sort of "pet" of Olivers, one that was going to be disposing of eventually.
Sighing heavily, Claire climbed the metal steps up to her new home above the Common Grounds coffee shop where she now lived with Oliver. She had to drop her carrier bags to search for her key, which had wormed its way past her textbooks to the bottom of her bag. It was only when she looked up to put the key in the lock she saw the graffiti.
"Fangbanger" was popular, as was "slut" but the biggest one was "freak", written in all capitals diagonally across the wood. The breath caught in her throat and tears sprang to her eyes, but she pushed them all down and focused on just getting into the apartment. Gathering her bags up she crossed the threshold and kicked the door shut with her heel behind her. It was only then that she allowed the façade to crumble and collapsed against the door, sliding down it until she was sitting on the floor. Drawing her knees up she put her head in her hands and let the tears fall.
After a few minutes of self-pity however, Claire forced herself to get up and take the shopping into the small kitchen. Doing so, she wondered if people would ever move past her and Oliver being together. Her mind automatically started to shift towards Michael and Eve, but a tight pain in her chest told her to avoid that thought. Too late, it allowed time for a niggling thought in the back of her head to make itself known. Words like "Slut" and "fangbanger" didn't generally make her upset. She'd never been called a slut in her life before this, and "Fangbanger" she could deal with. It was "Freak" that got to her. She knew that. And so did the residents of the Glass House. She really didn't want to believe that no matter how angry they were, Eve and Michael would share that sort of personal information with others so the graffiti artists would know where to hit for maximum pain. Shane though… she pictured his face the last time she had seen it. His handsome face twisted in pain and disgust and absolute loathing as he looked at her and Oliver…. No, her with Oliver. It's not fair! A little voice cried inside of her. He cheated too! Conveniently everybody else seemed to have forgotten that bit… or it hadn't been leaked outside of the Glass House.
Gritting her teeth, she angrily filled the mini fridge with as much as it would take, then moved onto the cupboards. She had begun to limit her shopping trips to once a week, her endurance of the stares and the whispers wearing thin after the first three trips when she'd run out of edible food. Oliver, living alone, had nothing but blood packs in his fridge, and being a vamprire, had no clue what humans ate, so it fell to herself to buy food. She didn't mind that, it was just the constant judgement from the outside world that she had to subject herself to anytime she went somewhere public. At the minute, the university campus and Myrnin's lab were the only places she could find peace outside of the apartment.
Finished packing away the food, she flopped onto the sofa and switched on the tv. After five minutes of channel surfing, she was bored. She got up and restlessly paced the room, rearranging things, not cleaning exactly, because there was nothing to clean. Everything was pretty much spotless. She couldn't even cook because it wasn't anywhere close to tea time. Oliver's shift at Common Grounds didn't end for another couple of hours. She tossed the idea of going there and hanging out in his office until he finished around in her mind, then rejected it. She'd only feel like a nuisance, and walls or not, she could feel the stares of his customers.
Her hands itched for something to do, books to shelve, clothes to hang, something, but that was impossible, because she hadn't even got close to gathering the courage to get her stuff from her old house yet. She sat down again, then stood up. She considered making a cup of tea. This is ridiculous. Just go over there, get your stuff, come back. It's already been two weeks, how much longer are you gonna leave it? Huffing out a breath, she stared at the cardboard boxes leaning against the wall, an impulsive buy from the supermarket when she was feeling brave, neatly wrapped in cellophane, ready to be folded and used. Looking at the clock, she put more thought into the idea. At this time, Eve would be working. Michael might be up, but would probably be out doing guitar lessons. Shane… her heart sank. Who knew where was right now. She pictured herself walking in and seeing Shane on his xbox, or making a sandwich in the kitchen, and cringed. But if you leave it later, you might have to face all three. Biting at her ruined nails, she debated. Then, quickly before she could back out of it, she grabbed the boxes and her keys and left for the Glass House.
Arriving outside the door, Claire hesitated, debating whether to knock or go straight in. She still had a key, but walking in just didn't feel right. "Are you looking for your friends?" a voice called out from nearby and she almost jumped out of her skin. Looking to the side, she saw the elderly Mrs Patterson from next door sitting on her porch. "Uh… yeah" unsure how much the old woman knew, her answer was hesitant. "Oh, that's a shame, I think they have all gone out dearie." The relief made Claire sag. Leaning against the doorframe, she fished her key out of her front pocket and waved it in the air. "That's okay, I've actually got my key with me".
Walking into the cool air of the house hit Claire with a sudden feeling of sadness. Everything here held a memory for her. The stain on the sofa where Shane had spilled a beer when getting over excited about a video game. The dent in the wall from one of their many fights that had simply never been repaired. The dusty monopoly board left open and in the middle of a game on the side table. Pushing down her feelings, Claire climbed the wooden stairs swiftly, wanting to be out before anyone came back. Pushing open the door to her room, she noted with some relief and sadness that no one had been in her room since she had left. Opening a window to replace some of the mustiness with fresh air, she opened a few boxes and started to pack.
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