Battle of Love

Chapter 1

CLARE

As I walked down the street with my bag slung over my shoulder, I remembered what happened just an hour ago:

"Yeah well, mom, I don't think I can handle this anymore!" I yelled at my mom's face for the umpteenth time since Jake and Glen moved in.

"Honey, you need to stop being so dramatic. Maybe we should call your fa-"

"Dad? Really? You want me to go from one house of imbeciles to another? No. Not happening. I'll just pack my bags, and find somewhere to live where people might actually care about me. I can't believe your making me do this again." I muttered the last part, hoping she wouldn't hear it. But of course;

"No one is making you do this Clare bear. We all want you to stay. Actually, you know what? You are a minor. You have to stay if I say so. And you, Clare Diana Edwards, are not going anywhere. You are grounded."

"You're freaking unbelievable! Fine, I'll stay and be miserable! I hope you're happy!" I screamed, slamming my bedroom door with all the strength I could muster.

I heard her quiet sobs get farther away until they reached what I presumed to be her room. Geez, I'm dramatic? Is she the one who is forced to hear Jake's disgusting screams through a thin wall? Is she the one who has to live with her brother and pretend that nothing happened with him prior? Is she the one who has no friends and wants to die on a daily basis? No, I'm fairly sure that was me, so she needs to stop whining.

About 30 minutes after me and my mom's fight, it was 7:30ish. Jake came home with some whore, probably one of those strippers he met at his new job. Who knows (or cares)? Anyways, so I was having a blast, sitting on my bed listening to Jake and his whore in one room and my mom still crying in another when I hit a realization.

It was Friday night, and I was home, doing absolutely nothing when I could be out drowning my sorrows at that new club/ arcade thing they just built downtown. It was only like 20 minutes away, and I could probably get some guy to buy me a few drinks if I dressed the part.

Maybe I can go steal the chick's clothes from Jake's room. OBVIOUSLY she doesn't need them right now. I snickered to myself. How does my mother not care about what Jake is doing? Whatever, that's beside the point. I got up and looked through my closet. I picked out one of my less demure numbers, a black lace tank dress. Simple, yet sexy and easy to move around in. I paired it with some adorable golden heels I just recently bought, a pair of diamond earrings, and my cross necklace, of course. I put on a decent amount of makeup then grabbed my purse and proceeded to sneak down the stairs and out the front door.

So here I am, on my way to the town's new hotspot. It's called The New Dot, and I've heard nothing but great things about the club. The arcade, on the other hand, I have no idea. It doesn't matter anyways because I don't plan on going to that part. I arrived at the huge building, and went inside. There was a lobby-type area that was really modern and impressive. On the left was a huge entrance with a sign that read ARCADIA. Yeah, no thanks kiddies. I went through the entrance on the right that was labeled DOT 2.0.

The place was huge and there were lights flashing every which way. Music blasted loud enough to make my bones vibrate. The dance floor was packed with grinding bodies, and I saw the bar in a section off to the right. I went and stood near the bar, looking for a guy to get me a drink. I spotted a tan muscular guy leaning against the wall, nodding his head to the music. I couldn't really see his face because he was standing in a shady spot. He'll do. I thought to myself. Might as well give it a try.

I walked slowly up to the man, hiking my dress up a little for effect.

"Hey, are you waiting for your girlfriend or something?" I asked in a flirty voice. The guy turned his head towards me and I gasped.

"Clare Edwards, aren't you a little young to be here?"

"Sav! Um hi! I was just um... looking for my friend. Sh-she came in here and I can't find her now." I stuttered. Wow, that sounded believable. I'm busted.

"Clare, what are you doing here? The friend excuse, really? You should go," He replied, sounding a little agitated.

"I'm not leaving, I just got here! C'mon, for your sister's BFF?" I pleaded, fibbing a little.

"No, Clare, you don't need to be in this kind of setting so young. Let's go." He pulled me by the elbow to the entrance of the club.

"I'll tell Jay over there," he said, motioning to a buff guy against the wall "to make sure you don't come back. And by the way, I know that you and Alli aren't friends anymore. You should go home."

And with that, Sav walked back over to the bar and started to make out with some older chick with glasses.

Well this sucks. I looked around the lobby. There were a couple of kids by the entrance of the ARCADIA. There was no way I was going back to my own personal hell called home. I just wanted to escape. I wanted to have a good time, all by myself. I made my way into the arcade.

To call this place a mere arcade, would be the worst injustice I've ever heard. It was humongous, probably the size of ten DOT 2.0s. There were games covering almost every inch of the first floor, save the pathways, and I could see that there was a second floor just as full. A roller coaster twisted throughout the entire room. Teenagers were everywhere, and I felt a little nervous. Big crowds of kids my age kind of suck. I guess one could call me an introvert. I made my way into the crowd, going for a game that had caught my eye. Suddenly, my shoulders were pinned against a wall and I was staring into the eyes of Mark Fitzgerald.

"Fitz! What are you doing! Get off of me!" I shouted at the deranged kid, squirming in his tight grip.

"Clare, why don't we go somewhere and have fun. I heard from someone that you like to do that these days. You've changed, Saint Clare, haven't you?" he chuckled darkly.

"You jerk!" I said, pushing him off of me.

"Come back here bitch!" I heard him yell at me.

I walked away swiftly, weaving through the crowd, not caring that I bumped into several pissed off kids. I entered a door that said LASER BATTLE X EMPLOYEES. In the dark room there were several teens with black and red laser guns. A dozen televisions lined the walls, showing security camera angles. A man with a bad comb-over was talking to the group.

"The ONLY rule is that you all have a jolly good time," comb-over man said creepily.

I slipped over to the side of the room and grabbed a gun. May as well get my escape here.

"Kay, y'all can go in now," the guy exclaimed.

A metal wall slid up, revealing a dimly lit cavern-like room.

"What the...?" I questioned quietly.

I've never seen a laser tag game look like this. There was a big crate in the center of the room that looked to be full of food. The majority of the kids ran past it, further into the cave, leaving only a few kids dumbfounded and staring at the crate. I looked at the other teens, recognizing a familiar face at once.

"Adam! Hey!" I greeted him.

"Oh, hey Clare, I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, I kinda snuck in after this perv came on to me. Do you know what's going on here?" I said, motioning to the crate.

"No idea. Eli?" Adam called.

None other than Elijah Goldsworthy, my ex, came over to us. "Yes? What the hell is up wit- Oh, hey Clare. I didn't know you were here." he said, glancing at me.

"So I've been told. No, actually I just got here."

"She snuck in," Adam said bluntly.

"Oh, you're still the little devil, I see." he smirked.

"I guess you could say that... What kind of a laser tagging place is this?"

"Well, I was just about to ask the same thing. Is that Wonder Bread?"

Sure enough, when we went to go survey the crate, it was full of bread loaves.

"Um... maybe we get extra points if we make a sandwich?" Adam guessed.

"Yeah, Adam, that must be it." I chuckled sardonically.

"I don't know. But we better get out of the open. Wanna be on our team, Clare? Until we're the last three, that is. Then its every man for himself." Eli said cockily.

"Still so smug, I see," I said, mimicking him with a grin, "but sure, teammates."

"Let's go then!" Adam yelled. By now, we were the only three in the middle of the large cavern. Obviously we were easy targets. Eli, Adam, and I descended into the dark catacombs. It was a little damp, and we seemed to be delving farther underground.

"Cask of Amontillado much?" I whispered and held my gun tight in my hands. Eli laughed.

"Why, are you scared Fortunado?" he said raising his eyebrows.

"Well, when you put it like that... no. As long as you didn't bring a trowel or anything,"

"Does this bring back memories! You two talking, me having no idea what you mean," Adam said frowning.

"Its from a story, Adam. And, no of course not Clare. I brought a gun" Eli said evilly, his teeth gleaming in the lamplight.

"As did we all. Now will you two just be quiet. I think I can hear someone..."

We all shut up and listened. There was loud laughter in the distance.

"These suckers are going down!" Adam whisper-shouted.

We hid inside a small crevice in the wall and waited. The laughter was coming closer. I was pressed up against Eli's front. I felt just a tad awkward, and scooted forward, smacking into Adam in the process.

"Whoa there, Edwards. Enjoying yourself?" Adam blurted. My face burned and I scooted back again. Eli was silently cracking up; I could feel the way his chest was shaking.

"Oh shut up!" I whispered.

Suddenly, the laughter was right in front of us. Go time.

Hey guys, so this is kind of my first fan fiction. I mean, I've written more, but none that I deemed worthy of posting online. It may or may not get a lot more dramatic. And, I'm leaning towards the dramatic side... Anyways, I hope someone reads it and tells me what I could do to improve it, or what they enjoyed. Thanks peoples! -Lindsey