These are my thoughts on Claire. I always felt like she was really misunderstood, probably because all my friends say that I am like her. WARNING: My writing may be dark at some points.

As Claire's father pulled away from the place that she had dreaded this morning, but suddenly felt like her safe haven, she thought back to everything that had happened. Somehow in the course of a day she had made four new friends (she hoped one of them was more). They had all shared so much with one another, probably more than they had ever shared with anyone else.

Thinking back on it she felt guilty. They had all shared something so deep. Brian had tried to kill himself, Bender was abused at home, Andy was pressured to do things by his father, and Allison was ignored by her parents. Boy did Claire wish her parents would ignore her. Nobody realized it but she understood what most of these people were going through. Yet she couldn't share with these people what her family life was really like. Yes, she had told them that her parent's marriage was on the rocks, but there was so much more that she hadn't shared. And what she did share (the fact that she was a virgin), seemed petty compared to their stories.

She was brought out of her thoughts by her father saying "Claire-bear, who was that young boy I just saw you swapping saliva with back there." She always knew something terrible was going to happen when her father called her "Claire-bear."

"No one father, just some boy from school," was the best response she could think of.

"He didn't look like just some boy. You seemed very intimate with him. What exactly did you do today sweetheart." She knew know that she was in deep shit. He was calling her sweetheart and he only ever called her that before he beat her. But before she could stop herself she said "I could ask you the same question. What did you do today with that pre- pubescent secretary of yours."

Before she could react, she felt her father's fist meet the side of her face. It wasn't anything knew, he had done it before. The only thing she could worry about was the huge bruise that was probably forming. Oh well, nothing a little make- up can't cover up. And that was the last thing she remembered thinking about before everything went cold.

Next thing she knew she was being dragged across the lawn by her hair. Wow, it really hurt. Then she heard the door unlocking and the thought came to her mind, how could no one see this going on. She was then dragged across the threshold. Her head was killing her and her body wasn't co-operating, all she could do was prepare herself for the beating that was about to take place. Oh, and there came the first kicked to the ribs and then the next and then the next. This should be fun to cover up. Her body had become numb by this point and she had no idea what he was doing now. The room was spinning or was she? Who knew at this point? Next thing she knew everything stood still and then she heard the door close.

She collected herself. The beatings had become so frequent since her brother had gone off to college that she now had a whole routine set up. First, she went to the bathroom and took a look in the mirror to see the damage. Yep, a bruised had formed across the side of her face and then there were some scratches (probably from being dragged). She then took a look at her stomach. It was covered with black and blue marks. She hopped into the shower and watched the bloody flow down the drain. When she stepped out of the shower she tried to wrap herself up as well as she could, she was most definitely not going to a hospital. What would she say? "I fell." No that would never work. She put on her pajamas. They were pink silk, a gift from him. After every beating her father would feel so bad, he would go out and buy her something pretty. The diamond earrings were one of those gifts. That was one of the reasons she gave one to John.

She would be safe for a couple of weeks before he couldn't do it anymore and he would let all his anger out on her. It used to be a lot better because it was both her and her brother, but now it was only her.

She always vented through music. She would write a song to help her get through it and right now one was forming in her head. She grabbed her song book and began writing lyrics down.

I hope you like! Please review it would really help.