Bulletproof
Claire Lyons loved the fall. Not because it meant school again, but because of the beautiful weather. She loved the red, the orange, the yellow and the brown of the leaves as the twirled and danced to the cold floor. She loved having to break out the light sweaters and jackets and the new jeans to fight off the chills in the air. And she loved that after the pretty colors and warm weather were over that winter came, bringing snowflakes and hot chocolate with it.
Another thing Claire loved?
Her boyfriend of a year and a half, Cam Fisher. He was perfect in every way imaginable. He was charming and caring, protecting and loving, humerous and dashing. He was perfect for Claire. Every Monday he sent her a dozen roses, every Friday they went on a date, every Saturday they hung out at his house or her house, and every Sunday they did homework at the park. It was almost too perfect to be true, to perfect to last.
Which is exactly why it didn't.
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Claire sat in the passenger seat of Cam's Ford Fusion Hybrid, humming along to Jack Johnson and looking out the window. The trees were already shedding their red and orange leafs, and Claire watched them circle the ground before finally landing. Cam had his hand on Claire's knee, but he was being quiet, which was unlike him. Claire wondered why. Could it be because school was starting on Monday and he was nervous that they wouldn't have any classes together for their junoir year? That was possible, but Claire didn't think that was it. She pondered this until her two-story house came into sight and they were parked in her driveway.
"So I'll see you tomorrow, at the usual time?" Claire asked, leaning in and pecking Cam's lips.
"Uhm, Claire, wait a sec." Cam cleared his throat, and Claire sat back in her leather seat, waiting for him to speak.
"Yes?"
"I've been thinking about it a lot, and I don't think we should do this," Cam motioned his hand in between him and Claire, "Anymore." Claire just looked at him, a half smile still on her face and her ears buzzing in her head.
"What?"
"I don't think we should date or see each other anymore. I think it would be better if we were just friends." Cam ran a hand through his thick black hair.
"You're dumping me?" Claire asked, shocked. What had she done? She thought things were perfect between the two.
"Well... Yes. I hope we can still be friends after this Claire," Cam said, looking at Claire with his blue and green eyes.
"Oh-kay..." Claire said, dazed. Was this really happening to her.
"I'm sorry. I'll see you around, okay?" Cam brushed his lips over Claire's forehead.
"Okay," Claire said, getting out of the car mechanically. Cam gave her a quick glance - almost a pity glance - before putting the car in reverse and swinging out of the driveway and driving away. Claire stood on the edge of the grass and watched his car go, just as the tears started to fall.
'That's the last time I'm going to get out of Cam's car,' Claire thought, still looking after him. Right after that thought, another one his Claire. 'I'm never going to kiss Cam again,' Then, one last thought. 'Cam's not my boyfriend anymore.' That's when Claire knew she was going to lose it. She ran into her house, but paused in the family room, right in front of the step.
"Hey sweetie, how was the-" Jay Lyons paused and looked at his daughter, "Claire, what happened?" He asked, and Judi Lyons looked up from the television at her daughter, both pairs of eyebrows furrowed together.
"He- he dumped me." Claire said, then dashed up the steps into her room. She slammed the door and locked it behind her, then crash on her bed. She heard her parents mumbling downstairs, then heard them climb the steps before rattling her door knob.
"Claire, what happened?" Judi asked through the door.
"We were in his car, and he said that he thought it would be better if we were 'just friends'!" Claire yelled to them, her face soaked with sniffled as her parents whispered back and forth outside of her door, and then went back down stairs. Claire just couldn't believe it.
She and Cam were supposed to be together forever. He told her he loved her a million times, and she said she loved him a billion times. Did that mean nothing to him? What about all those late night kisses? Anything? Suddenly, Claire felt bile rising up in her. She raced to the bathroom in enough time to hurl into the toilet. Was this going to be her life without Cam? She couldn't survive this heartbreak.
Claire picked up her Motorola Backflip and press speed dial one. She waited for six rings before she heard the other line pick up.
"Hullo?" Massie Block, Claire's best friend said on the other end.
"Massie, I need to talk to you," Claire hiccuped, the tears still pouring from her eyes.
"Oh hey ClaireBear! What's up? Massie yelled to her, the background noise still deafening. Claire knew that Massie was at a party.
"Massie, Cam broke up with me," Claire sobbed.
"What?" Massie asked, and the background noise receaded a little.
"Massie, Cam dumped me!"
"OhmyGod, Claire, are you okay?" Massie asked, sounding concerned.
"No." Claire said, wiping her eyes.
"Claire, wait one sec..." Massie said, just as Claire's phone died. Claire glanced at the black screen, then threw the cell phone into her room and layed down on the tile flooring, heaving her cries out. Claire didn't know how long she was there until she heard the click of her door unlocking.
"Claire?" Massie said, stepping onto the white carpet.
"I'm in here." Claire replied, sniffing.
"Thanks Mrs. L," Massie waved to the door, just as it shut again, "Hey C. You're mom made you an EFETOM, and I brought pretzel M&M's, three six packs of Hershey's bars, four pints of Ben&Jerry's and cream soda. You okay?" Massie held up three plastic bags and two big milkshakes.
"No, I'm not." Claire didn't even bother to sit up. Massie sighed, put down their milkshakes and plastic bags, and walked over to Claire.
"Listen babe, I know it's hard, but you at least have to get up," Massie tugged on Claire's torso, pulling her into sitting position. "That's better." Massie flicked on the lights and got their food. She handed Claire her extra-frozen-extra-thick-Oreo-milkshake - her dad's treat for when things got bad - and a straw. Claire stuck the straw in the drink, and sucked.
"It came out of nowhere," She blurted before putting her lips back to her drink.
"They usually do. What did he say?" Massie asked, opening a Hershey bar and popping three squares in her milkshake. Claire winced at the memory.
"He said that he didn't that we should date or see each other anymore, and that it would be better if we were 'just friends'." Claire said, sucking at the end of her glass. Most of the time she couldn't even suck the Oreo chunks through the straw, but this time, things were different.
"Pfft, asshole. 'I think', my ass. Listen Claire, I know that what I'm about to say isn't going to be what you want to hear, but when he says that you're going to be friends, he doesn't mean it. For a while, you might smile and exchange a 'hello', but those will go away. You two probably won't get back together again." Massie said. Claire realized that she wasn't being very comforting.
"Hand me a Chubby Hubby," Claire replied, holding out her hand. Massie gave her the pint, along with a few M&M's.
"Alright, so I'm not being very comforting, but what do you want me to do? Lie? Tell you that he's just being stupid and he's going to come begging on his knee's tomorrow with a diamond necklace, pour his heart out and crying for forgiveness?" Massie asked, making a Hershey bar and M&M sandwich.
"Yes," Claire almost laughed.
"Well too bad. I love you too much to do that. But things will get easier, I promise." Massie swiped her ash brown hair out of her eyes.
"Mass, what am I going to do?" Claire looked at Massie, finally seeing that she was probably half stoned, yet she was acting no different from her normal self.
"I don't know C," Massie sighed, popping the top off of one of the cream sodas and handing it to Claire.
"I mean, I don't understand how you can say you love someone one second, then just stop loving them the next," Claire started crying again, scooping ice creaming out and finishing it with a swig of soda.
"Umm hmm," Massie said, shaking her head, and leaning forward to wipe Claire's tears, "But hey, we'll make it through, together, I promise," She whispered to Claire, looking deep into her sky blue eyes.
"Okay," Claire replied, stuffing her face with more ice cream. She and Massie spent the rest of the night, talking about Cam. Finally, when Massie passed out in Claire's bed at three o'clock, Claire went into her bathroom and looked at her reflection. On a normal day, Claire might be pretty, but tonight, her straight platinum blond hair hung limp at her shoulders and her sky blue eyes drooped and were stained red from the tears. Claire realized that this - all of this - wasn't her fault. It was Cam's. He had done this to her, manipulated her, used her and threw her away. Claire looked at her reflection as she made a promise to herself.
She would never be used like this again. She would never have a heart break this bad over a boy. She wouldn't fall for Cam Fisher again... Maybe. But she knew that she would be strong, independent and live through this.
Claire Lyons would be bulletproof.
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yes, i know, i'm the worst. ANOTHER story, after i put one on hiatus and while i'm in the middle of two other and thinking of starting a whole nother story. but i couldn't fight this idea anymore. :)
what did you think? please tell me i did okay with this! i really hope i did! ;)
and this one is dedicated to: desiree, kailin, goodbadandeverythininbetween, dusty714, ramisaphobia, lisa, veronika, and thepowerunleashed. thanks for being awesome people! :)
and any hits on my future ideas...? :)
and i know that it says bp whenever i separate the chunks, but by NO MEANS do i support the real-life company BP. hehe... :D
anyways, after all my rambling, reviews? they (sometimes) make me update faster! ;D
xoxo, join. me. in. the. thunder