I know it's super confusing. And I'm sorry for the mistakes. D: Bear with me! But it's supposed to be mysterious. Let's just say Josh knows more than he lets on. And Claire's as clueless as possible.
Dear Lord, another story! It's a Closh! A fantasy/thriller/romance that I'm currently working on. I finally settled on the title Sweet Disposition (awesome song by The Temper Trap!) because Josh has a sweet disposition towards Claire. And as you'll (hopefully) read the story, you'll see how Claire reacts to that. It's supposed to leave you hanging and wondering. It's the kind of story I've wanted to write. This was originally suppoesd to be a one shot but it screamed "new story" to me. So review and let me know if I should go on with this! (:
Unbold: Claire's POV
Bold: Josh's POV
Sweet Disposition
PROLOGUE
"Claire. Claire. Claire."
I heard my name being recalled over and over, but I can't tear my eyes away from the guy across the lab. I felt like he was the only other person in the room. And it took all of my willpower to not pounce on him so he'd be mine for the taking.
"Claire!" Dylan hissed as she slapped my arm.
"Ow." I groaned. "What was that for?"
The red head shook her head at me in disapproval. "Don't tell me you're spending half of the Biology period drooling over him." She frowned in disgust as she nodded her head over to his direction.
I gave her a guilty smile. "Half?"
She hit my arm again.
I winced. My pale skin was showing a red mark. "Would you care to hit my other arm the next time I say something that just so happens to piss you off?"
"School started almost 3 months ago and you're still not over your crush on him? You're already setting yourself up for some major trouble. Josh Hotz is bad news." She frowned as she adjusted the microscope we were using to check the cells of onion root tips.
I sighed in frustration and massaged my temples.
Josh Hotz was in the top of our class along with me and eight other kids who were too brilliant for their own good. Most of the kids at this school were from families that depended on their ancestral fortunes. My best friend Derrick and I, on the other hand, were of the middle class status. We considered ourselves well-off. Some of the kids begged to differ but that was their problem.
Speak of the devil. Derrick, soccer star and mad scientist, approached us. "Dylan, your whining is making my morning go sour."
She sighed and turned to Derrick. "Well, it's your fault for listening to me."
And on they went with their flirting….banter….whatever it was they had going on. All I knew was that they weren't just friends. If they were, the world would be deprived of something that was meant to be.
I turned around and felt a tap on my shoulder. I had the slightest hope that it would be Josh, but I set myself up for disappointment. It was probably Massie asking if she can borrow a pen or Nathan asking me to homecoming after I told him no a hundred times already. Stupid Todd. He just had to tell Nathan about how I wanted a date this year to homecoming.
It was Josh and he looked at me with dark curious eyes. We rarely talked but we talked enough to let each other know we had each other's backs. He was really sweet. Yet he scared the hell out of me because of this undeniable attraction I felt for him.
"Do you have a lab partner?" He asked me quietly.
I saw that Dylan was fully preoccupied with Derrick so it took it as a chance to get to know Josh better.
"Nope." I smiled slightly.
"Well, do you wanna be with me?"
More than you will ever know… "Sure."
…
Her hair looked softer today. Her posture didn't grow stiff when I was near her. She was relaxed. But I could feel her gaze on me. Her clear blue eyes blinked a couple times in frustration in another direction. She was talking to Dylan, who didn't particularly like me.
I can't believe she didn't know how I felt about her. I didn't know how she felt about me. Maybe she saw me as one of those wannabe cocky bastards who was a softie at heart. I wanted to know what she thought of me when she looked at me.
I decided to take that chance today and ask her to be my lab partner.
Once she said yes, I felt a warmth fall over me. It was an inexplicable wonder why I felt good by being near her. For a pair of top kids in the senior class, we were both pretty clueless about the Biology lab.
Her silky hair fell over her face as she leaned down to observe the microscope. I held my breath at her careful and precise movements. Those hands would probably never hurt a fly.
She looked back up at me. "Do you want to give a try, Josh?"
I nodded.
But what was I going to do about my so-called destiny that my family set out for me?
…
My heart was racing. Josh came up to me and asked me to work with him.
So when was the sky falling?
For some reason, I knew that he was staring at me when I was adjusting the microscope. I had to maintain my cool or else he'd think I'm some psychotic bimbo who worshipped the ground he walked on.
I let him look into the microscope. Though neither of us had the slightest idea what we were doing, we were thankful that our teacher had mercy on us as well as the rest of the students. Counting about a 100 cells in each slide would've been such a drag.
I didn't want my time with Josh to end. I sighed as the bell rang. He walked away, his thin, muscular silhouette moving farther away than ever.
…
"Remind me why I decided to come to this stupid dance with you, Massie?" I groaned at my good friend, who was busy fluffing her curls. She wouldn't shut up about how she had been slaving over making them look perfect for the occasion on the car ride over.
"Because we're friends and you need to get out more. You've been looking for her in this life like a maniac. Your letting your mask of being a regular teenage guy fade." She frowned like a pesky older sister would.
I sighed. "I gave you my word." I look dubiously at the double doors of the ballroom our school rented. "Let's go."
…
I was shocked to find Dylan and Derrick hitting it off at the beginning of the dance. I thought they would be one of those typical sappy couples that would find each other at the end of the dance, having wasted the entire night trying to find one another.
Pathetic, really.
I scanned the crowd of partying teenagers. Some of the girls gave me questioning looks. I hoped it was because they were jealous of my hair or my dress or something. I didn't give them a reason to despise me. But they gave me a reason to dislike them with a burning passion.
…
The second I set foot in the ballroom I felt her presence. I felt, and I hated to admit it, desperation to see her. I wanted to know her better.
Why did I suddenly want her more than I let on after all this time?
Because it's destiny.
Someone had invaded my thoughts. A shiver ran down my spine at having heard the voice. I knew it. My head began to throb and I wanted answers. I knew that my answers would lie with the girl of my dreams.
…
After sipping some Sprite served at one of the many tables that circled the dance floor, I started feeling a whole new sensation. I felt dizzy and confused, as if I'd just taken a pre-calculus test that I didn't understand at all. Only worse. I got up to see if it was all in my head. But I almost lost my balance. I leaned against the table. I wiped some sweat from my brow.
The time has come.
What the hell? Was I imagining things? I blinked several times. The vertigo I'd felt earlier had disappeared. I needed to distract myself.
I walked around the dance floor, trying to find someone I knew. I didn't dare try to look for Josh. I didn't want to look desperate anymore. Josh started wanting my attention because I was acting cool and unaware of him. Anyways, why did a girl's ignorance drive a guy to be interested in her? How did I even know if Josh was interested in me?
Lost in my thoughts, I felt a hand lightly grasp my wrist. I was standing in front of him. I turned to see his face. Josh's face.
"Josh." I gasped, blushing.
"Claire." He whispered. His eyes were glowing. He looked happy to see me.
It has been years since you two have connected like this. Your true hearts have awakened once again. The lives you currently live are not what they once were.
Memories swept over me. If it weren't for Josh's hold on me, I would've fallen to the ground from the immediate blow.
…
What? Who? Oh…
It was all returning to me. It made sense why I suddenly wanted her more than I let on.
She was my soul mate. She has been for a long time.
It was their sentence that tormented us with all this confusion and painful realization.
I wanted to put my arms around her. It's just that the memories were so overwhelming.
"…Claire." I said her name cautiously as if she herself could easily break. I wrapped her in a tight embrace. Not caring if anyone was staring. I couldn't believe I had been so foolish. Had let all this time slip away because of my stupid adolescent ways.
I didn't know that Claire was the one that I was meant to be with all along.
And this made things a lot less complicated. I sighed a breath of relief as I grinned down at her.
"I can't believe it." She said as tears fell from her heavenly eyes.
…
I don't know what came over Josh. But I knew that something was different. I wasn't who I thought I was. But I needed answers.
Josh touched my face and I shuddered at his touch. "What's wrong, Claire?"
The look of intimacy on his face was a little unusual for me. It seemed too soon for us to be getting this close.
I heard some stomping of heels coming over to us. I noticed the brunette from my Bio class. The cool and collected girl I've known for years had changed. Her easy smile vanished into that of serious business.
Massie glared. "What are you doing,?"
"What?" I asked.
"Relax, Massie. She is the one. The one the old man said I was meant to be with." Josh smiled at his friend. He squeezed my hand to reassure me that everything would be fine.
Massie's eyes widened. She looked at me as if I weren't just the girl she knew from her Bio and Psych classes. She knew a lot of things about us that I still had yet to uncover.
All of a sudden, the ground started shaking. Students were shrieking. I held onto Josh for dear life.
Something that looked like realization dawned upon the brunette girl. She gasped.
"You two need to split up right now and hang with your friends. Act like nothing unusual has happened."
"What?" Josh demanded while I said it in a lighter tone. It was obvious now that Josh and Massie knew something that I didn't.
Massie frowned at us. "You two aren't supposed to be seen together. Someone has interfered. And we are in some serious shit." And with that, she ran out of the ballroom. One thing I noticed when she was leaving was that her curls were highlighted with purple streaks I hadn't seen on her up until a few seconds ago.
