Crooked Teeth- Death Cab For Cutie. It was one hundred degrees
As we sat beneath a willow tree
Whose tears didn't care
They just hung in the air
And refused to fall, to fall
And I knew I'd made a horrible call
And now the state line felt
Like the Berlin wall
And there was no doubt
About which side I was on
'Cause I built you a home in my heart
With rotten wood, that decayed from the start
'Cause you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
I braved treacherous streets
And kids strung out
On homemade speed
And we shared a bed
In which I could not sleep at all
'Cause that night the sun in retreat
Made the skyline look
Like crooked teeth
In the mouth of a man
Who was devouring, us both
You're so cute when you're slurring your speech
But they're closing the bar and they want us to leave
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
I'm a war of head versus heart And it's always this way
My head is weak, my heart always speaks
Before I know what it will say
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
There were churches, theme parks and malls
But there was nothing there all along.
Clare had just stepped out of the shower. She put her robe on, and wrapped her hair up in a towel to let it dry. She looked at her clock: 5:45. She still had about two hours until Eli came to pick her up, but she wanted everything to be perfect, and the more time she had, the better. She quickly painted her fingernails and toenails, while her hair was drying.
Clare decided to straighten her hair. She got tired of it being curly, so a change would be good.
She sat down at her makeup mirror, and looked for the perfect shade of eye shadow. She had to mix in some light pink with the red because it was too dark; she wanted it to match her dress. Then, she put on some eyeliner, and then some blush. Lastly, she put some lip-gloss on.
She took her dress off of her bedroom door and slipped it on. It was a little low-cut, but she figured Eli would appreciate that. Of course he would feel a little awkward, especially when they were downstairs taking pictures in front of her parents, but she knew they wouldn't say anything in front Eli.
She heard the doorbell ring, knowing almost immediately that it was Alli and Jenna. She ran speedily down the steps to answer the door, glad that she hadn't put her heels on yet. She would have fallen down the steps and probably would've broken something. At least she was wearing a red dress, that way if she started bleeding, it wouldn't look like there was a stain.
She opened the door, letting both girls inside. Alli was wearing, no surprise here, a pink dress. Jenna's dress was a mix of green and blue.
"Wow." Alli exclaimed. "You didn't tell me your dress looked that great!" She hugged Clare.
"Thanks, Alli." She smiled. She gave Jenna a hug too.
"And you certainly didn't tell us that it was so low-cut." She said when they pulled away from each other. Clare blushed. "So, are you and Eli gonna…you know?"
"Jenna! …Of course not! …It isn't my fault that this dress goes too low. But I'm not complaining. I guess he'll just have to leave the rest to his imagination, because he isn't getting anything tonight."
"Wow. That's harsh, Clare-bear."
"Well, that's just tough for him, then, isn't it?"
"Ugh, Clare?"
"Yeah, Alli?" She asked.
"Help me get my earring out of my hair." She complained. "It's stuck." She tried to tug at it.
"Don't pull at it, or it'll just get worse." She tried to untangle the earring from Alli's hair.
"Oww."
"Sorry." Clare said. "There." She said after a few minutes. "Um…So let's go upstairs."
As they were walking up the steps, Jenna asked, "Did your parents leave yet?"
"No. They're just in their room getting ready. I would love it if they left already, so they wouldn't be able to yell at me for wearing this."
"Well, what are you going to do when they actually see you in it?" Alli asked. They were in her room now. Alli and Jenna sat down on Clare's bed, while Clare remained standing. "Well, it's not like they'll say anything in front of everybody. But, I can just wear a jacket."
"Well, hopefully you don't get caught." Jenna laughed.
Clare laughed in agreement. "Hopefully…"
Clare picked her shoes up and put them on. Then, she put on some earrings, bracelets, and a necklace that Eli had gotten her for their anniversary, which was about a week ago.
"Ooh, that's cute." Jenna said.
"Definitely." Alli agreed, lifting it up. "Is it real?"
Clare nodded. "Yeah. Eli got it for me for our anniversary."
"Aww, that's sweet." Alli flipped it over. She couldn't read the tiny writing at first, but then decided that she didn't need to. It should be for Clare and Eli's eyes only. "That's adorable. …Do you love him?"
Clare blushed again. "Yeah. I think I do."
"Aww, that's so cute." Alli smiled widely.
The doorbell rang again. "It's only 7." Clare looked confused. "Eli shouldn't be here yet."
"Maybe he just wanted to be early." Jenna offered.
"Maybe…" Clare sighed. The doorbell didn't ring again, so she knew that her mom or dad had answered it.
After a few seconds, she heard the door close, but heard voices downstairs that did not belong to her parents. She couldn't exactly tell who it was, but it wasn't Eli…
She didn't want to go downstairs yet, so she waited. About 5 minutes later, her parents called her downstairs. "I'll be right back, you guys." She told Alli and Jenna, and then headed downstairs. She was surprised to see her three cousins downstairs. "What's going on?"
"Jennifer said that when she called last week, you agreed to babysit the kids." She tried to remember if she had ever agreed to that, but came up short. Wow, she despised her cousin now.
"When did I do that?" Clare asked.
"I don't know, honey. But, we have to go out, so I guess you'll have to stay home tonight." Her mother said.
"They'll be other proms." Her dad added in, trying to be genuine.
She sighed loudly, biting on her lip, and forcing the tears to stay inside. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could while wearing heels. She ran into her room, slamming the door, and ran to her bed. She buried her face in her pillow, letting the tears escape.
"What's wrong?" Jenna asked, rubbing her back.
Clare lifted her head up after a few seconds. "I have to stay home and watch my cousins." She said through sobs.
"Clare, your parents can't do that to you." Alli said.
"It's too late. They've done it already. ApparentlyI said I would watch them." She remembered now. It was at breakfast last week. She was thinking of a present to get Eli for their anniversary, and her cousin had called. She was really stressing about what to get Eli, and she would have said yes to anything, because she wasn't paying any attention to anything else. "You guys can leave. There's no point in waiting here if I can't go."
"Aww, Clare, we have to convince them to let you go!"
"It's not going to work." She sighed.
"Then we'll stay here, too."
"No, Alli, no… You can't do that. Just...just go!" She raised her voice a little. The two girls stepped out of the room. She quickly pulled out her phone, texting Eli. I have to babysit my cousins. I'm sorry. I can't go to prom.
It's ok. He replied. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.
She didn't respond. She was just too angry and depressed to talk to anyone… She didn't understand why her night had to be ruined. Nivea would be watching a movie, while her brothers, Ty and Corbin, were sleeping. She could have gone to prom anyway…
She decided to sleep, because moping would not make her night any better.
She woke up to the sound of her phone. She had received a text from Eli.
Are you still awake?
Yes. She replied.
The stars are really beautiful tonight.
She got out of bed and walked out onto her balcony. It was dark out, maybe 10 o'clock. She could hear music. It must be one of her neighbors. ...Someone cleared their throat, so she turned around. "Eli, what are you doing here?"
"Ssh." He put a finger to her lips. "Dance with me."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "So that's who's playing music." When she looks back, she'll be sure to see the hearse parked on the street.
"Mhmm." He wrapped his arms around her. They swayed to the music, but the song ended all too quickly. Several had passed before she could recognize one. Crooked Teethby Death Cab For Cutie.
They kept dancing, even after she was sure she'd heard her parents come home.
One line from Crooked Teeth stuck in her head: "'Cause I built you a home in my heart. With rotten wood that decayed from the start." There relationship had been started wrongly, but it was better than ever.