Claire groaned as her alarm clock blared again and again, the signal to drag herself out of bed and embrace another day. She climbed out of the warmth of her duvet and threw open her curtains with sleepy frustration, morning light pouring into her room like a flood. She sighed, eyeing the cloudless sky. It was going to be hot again. Claire shuffled over to her dresser, the top of it adorned in various photos of friends and family in different frames. The calendar on the wall next to the dresser had that day's date circled in a red pen: First Day of Senior Year. The day had been a long time coming and it had finally arrived.
With a heavy sigh, Claire stripped herself of her pajamas and changed into a plain green tee shirt and some jeans with minimal holes in them. The weather was still warm, the summer heat lingering with a laziness that infected everyone who breathed it. The long, blonde hair that Claire had proudly worked on growing out over the last few years now reached past her hips. Still, though, she tied it all up into a bun on the top of her head to keep her neck cool. Claire then grabbed her backpack and headed down the stairs to the kitchen.
Diana was already sat at the kitchen table, plates set for herself and her daughter. Claire quirked a brow as she took her seat and noted the empty seat where her father normally sat.
"Where's dad?"
"He had to head into work early this morning. He's working a lot of hours lately to go on that vacation this winter, so I make sure to pack him a nice lunch for him to take."
"Make sure there's no candy, mom. You know he can't have too much sugar. The doctor already warned him about his weight. He's getting a little tubby."
"Hush, Claire. Your father is not getting tubby." Diana chuckled and continued to eat her breakfast, pausing only to ask, "Are you ready for senior year?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
"Well, that's good. Oh, by the way," Diana gave an apologetic smile. "You'll have to give Jamie a ride to school today. Mariel had to go to the church early this morning as well, and she took their car."
"Mom!" Claire groaned in frustration and threw her head back. "Can't he just take the bus or walk or something? I hate riding in the car with him! He's such a backseat driver!"
"Claire, be nice. Mariel asked me for this favor, and you know I can't say no to her!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fine, I'll give the jerk a ride."
"Thank you, Claire-bear. You're the best."
"I know I am."
The mother-daughter duo shared a look before both of them burst into laughter. Once breakfast was done, Claire brushed her teeth, grabbed her keys, kissed her mom goodbye, then headed out the door. Much to Claire's surprise, Jamie was already waiting at the end of the driveway. He looked impatient as always, purple hair combed neatly but still refusing to be styled exactly how he wanted it. Claire narrowed her eyes at him as he walked up the driveway to lean on her car.
"Would you mind not dirtying up my ride? It's bad enough I have to take you to school. The least you could do is try not to scratch my poor baby."
"The least you could do is get out here on time and close your curtains when you change."
Claire's eyes went wide and her cheeks flared red with embarrassment. She scoffed and unlocked the car, tossing her backpack in the back seat roughly to vent her frustration.
"Ugh, you're the worst!" Once they were both in the car with the doors shut, she started in on him. "Why were you even looking in my window anyways, you creep! Hurry up and put on your seatbelt, jerk." Once he did so, but not without a roll of his icy blue eyes, Claire backed out of the driveway and set off for the school. One short drive filled with Jamie shouting traffic law violations at her and they made it to the campus in one piece. They stepped out of the car once it was parked and Claire turned to Jamie with a stern look in her eyes.
"Alright, listen up Jamie. Don't talk to me at all unless it has to do with family or stuff for student council. Got it? I don't want to interact with you any more than I need to and I know you feel the exact same way."
"You've got that right." Jamie adjusted his backpack on his shoulders with a scoff. "As if I'd want to hear your incessant shouting in my day any more than I already have to endure it." He walked away without another word and Claire rolled her eyes, making sure to lock her car before heading into the school building, passing up Jamie without a second glance.
The first few classes of the school day passed by quickly, talk of syllabi and ice breakers passing the time easily. Once it was lunchtime, however, Claire grew excited. She headed for the usual spot from last year: the old computer room. There, Claire got together with all of her friends to eat their lunches and chat, secluded and away from the rest of the school's population. She opened the door and was immediately greeted with screams of excitement from the girls who were already there.
"Claire!" A peppy redhead by the name of Ann greeted Claire, bounding over to her to envelope the blonde in a tight hug. Claire laughed and hugged the girl back. "How was your summer, huh? We hardly heard from you!"
"Sorry, ladies. I was busy working at my mom's office." Claire offered them an apologetic smile and they all nodded in return. Ann released her hold on Claire and the two went to the rest of the group to sit down. "What about you guys? What'd you do over summer?"
"I worked in my dad's kitchen! It was super fun, but I messed up a lot. My dad called it 'a learning experience' or whatever, and told me to put it on my resume anyways." Ann shrugged and turned to another girl. "What about you, Elli?"
The girl in question, a short-haired brunette with a delicate face, looked up from her thermos of soup. "Oh, me? I stayed home and helped my granny around the house. She's not feeling well again, so we spent the summer doing fun things indoors. She taught me how to knit! My little brother was a pain in the butt as always, though."
"He's still in elementary school, isn't he?" Claire asked with a raised brow. Elli nodded in response, busy putting a spoon of soup into her mouth.
"I wish this heat would go away." Another girl whom Claire considered to be her best friend of the group, Jill, sighed as she fanned herself with her hand. "Our air conditioning broke at home halfway through the summer so we were dying."
"Ugh, that sounds terrible. I need this heat to end before I sweat through every shirt I own." Claure huffed and began to fan herself as well.
"Well, have you tried not running everywhere you go?" Ann gave Claire a knowing look.
"I don't run. I hurry. Places to go, people to see, Jamie to avoid."
"Yikes, you still had to deal with him during the summer, huh?" Elli gave Claire a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
"Yeah, his mom kept sending him over whenever she had to go on a church retreat, so he was crashing at my place at least once a week. It was so annoying."
"Wasn't that weird? Didn't your parents care that you had a guy in the same house?" Jill asked with wide, violet eyes. She was skeptical of the situation, most likely ready to get the girls to all gang up on Jamie if he had tried something with Claire. Claire only shrugged her shoulders.
"Nah, not really. We've been doing that since we were little. He just sleeps in the guest room and we both have different bathrooms. We basically just avoid each other every time he's there and just pretend the other doesn't exist. Kind of like at school, you know?"
"Well, I guess if it's like that…" Elli's voice trailed off as she thought, then she spoke up again. "But, wouldn't it be different if it were anyone else?"
"What do you mean?" Claire quirked a brow in curiosity.
"Oh! What if it was someone else?" Ann took over, an excited glint in her eyes. "That would be so romantic, don't you think? Some guy spending the night at your house, only a room away. Sneaking around the house at night to see each other so you don't wake up your parents?" Ann hugged herself, a shiver visibly running through her. "That sounds so exciting!"
Claire could only roll her eyes at her friend's fantasy and continued to eat her lunch. She listened to Ann, Elli, and Jill go back and forth about the imaginary possibilities. Having Jamie around the house was so common that Claire never thought twice about it. Rather, she did her best not to think about it at all. However… Ann and Elli were right. Had it been anyone else, the situation would have been completely different. But in the end, it was just Jamie. The two avoided one another at all costs and kept out of one another's business. That was their relationship since they were younger and there was nothing more to be said on the matter.
The shrill bell ringing broke Claire out of her thoughts and she bid farewell to her friends as she headed for her next class. Thankfully, it was her elective period. Unfortunately, that meant Jamie would be there. The two shared a period for Student Council and, while it bothered her to no end, at least she held a higher position than him. Claire had won the title of Student Council Vice President while Jamie had gotten Treasurer instead. They were both beat out by another girl named Gwen, but at least Claire could hold her own victory over Jamie's head. Of course, she couldn't literally do anything over Jamie's head considering their height difference. He stood at a lanky six-foot-one whereas Claire was an entire foot shorter than him. Jamie was sure to bring that up often, much like she did her council position. They were equally armed with ammunition to irritate the other.
Claire entered the already bustling room and took her assigned seat next to the Student Council President, her eyes catching Jamie enter the room chatting with someone in a cheerful manner. Well, at least, as cheerful as Jamie could be. It was surprising to see him so social voluntarily, but Claire decided it wasn't any of her business and returned to looking over the agenda the secretary had handed out. Everyone took their respective seats and Gwen got started with the meeting, calling it to order. The plans for future events and solutions for any present issues were discussed and settled quickly and efficiently. The meeting ended rather early, around fifteen minutes still left in the period, and most of the council members spent the time chatting with one another and catching up on first-day-of-school gossip. Claire, however, remained in her seat and looked over the agenda once more. The year would be filled with several different activities aimed towards celebrating the seniors' final year in high school, but it sure looked expensive. Just how did they expect to pay for all of that with the budget the school had given them? It was a problem for the treasurer, sure, but as vice president Claire felt she had an obligation to make sure their plans were actually possible.
"This budget is ridiculous. Is this your doing?"
Claire looked up from the agenda to see Jamie standing at her desk, agenda also in hand. The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Obviously not, or this wouldn't be an issue. I just got this agenda today, so don't go pinning this on me. It was probably the event coordinator and the president who thought these all up. I'll see what I can do, since I have a problem with this as well. I'm not sure what I can do about it, though."
"Tch, some vice president you are." Jamie huffed and turned on his heel to go sit back down at his desk and look over the documents again. Claire sighed and put the agenda in her binder, making a mental note to talk to Gwen about the issue. She'd have some work cut out for her, it seemed.
When the school day finally came to an end, Claire's backpack had gained some serious weight. She had managed to fit most of her textbooks for the year in her backpack, carrying the other two in her arms as she headed out to the parking lot to her car. She put her backpack and books in the back of her car and sighed as she scanned the crowd of people for Jamie. Claire finally spotted him, his purple hair easy to spot in the crowd once he got out there, but he was once again walking with the stranger from before. He didn't seem bothered by their presence, much to Claire's surprise, and as he parted ways with them and headed for the car, Claire raised a brow at him.
"Who was that?"
"None of your business."
Claire rolled her eyes at his answer and got in the car, Jamie doing the same silently. Without another word on the matter, the two headed home. As they pulled into the driveway, Claire parked and turned to Jamie.
"Oh, by the way, Dad wants you and Mariel to come over for dinner to celebrate the first day of our senior year. If you don't want to just let me know so I can tell my parents."
"My mom has another church thing tonight so she won't be home until later. I'll come by if I'm hungry."
"Of course you'll be hungry. We're making spaghetti. You'll be able to smell it as it's cooking."
"... Fine."
"M'kay. I'll tell my mom to set another place for you."
With that, the two exited the car and went to their respective homes. Claire called out to her mom that she was home and headed up to her room to place down all of her textbooks. The first day of school and Claire already had plenty of work to do. She sat down at her desk and got started, putting herself into her work-mode until her mother called her down for dinner. The scent of garlic bread and tomato sauce filled the air and drew Claire down the stairs to the dining room. Much to her surprise, Jamie was already there with a plate in front of him.
"Oh, you're here already. I forgot to tell my mom." Claire turned to her mother with an apologetic smile. Diana simply rolled her eyes but smiled regardless. Claire took her seat next to Jamie and her mom sat down. Again, there was an empty seat at the table where Claire's father was supposed to be. "Is dad working late again?"
"Yes, again," Diana sighed. "You know how he can be. He's just got to finish the project he's working on."
"At least he's hardworking. It's a good trait to have." Jamie spoke up as he twirled some pasta on his fork.
"True…" Diana gave Jamie a pointed look. "But, don't you ever leave your family waiting for you, okay? Dinner with family is very important." She looked to Claire with a soft smile and Claire returned it before digging into her food. The three of them continued to eat together, speaking up every now and then with casual conversation about the kids' school day. Once the meal was done, Jamie wiped his mouth with his napkin and turned to Diana.
"By the way, my mom said that she has to stay late at the church again. She doesn't want me to be at home by myself and told me to ask if I can stay the night here."
"Oh, of course, honey!" Diana grinned, happy to have the company. "You can stay whenever you'd like. I'll give Mariel a call to let her know. Go grab your stuff from your house. Your room here is still the same."
Jamie nodded and got up, placing his dishes in the sink before heading to his house to grab an overnight bag. As Claire gathered the dishes from the table, Elli's words from earlier rang in her mind. If it were anyone else… Claire sighed as she washed the dishes. Perhaps it was best not to think about it at all. She pushed the thought from her mind and finished up with the dishes quickly, bidding her mother goodnight before heading back upstairs to shower. She did so as fast as possible so as not to waste water and changed into her pajamas in the bathroom and tying her hair up into a damp bun. She was walking back to her room when she bumped into Jamie in the hallway.
"Watch where you're going, short stack."
"Whose house is this, again?" Claire narrowed her eyes at Jamie, the two locked in a frustration-fueled staring contest before Jamie looked down at her pajamas and scoffed.
"Nice pajamas." Jamie pinched the sleeve of Claire's oversized tee shirt and Claire pulled it out from between his fingers, huffing. She adjusted her shirt and cloth shorts before turning back to Jamie.
"They're not made to impress, Jamie. I'm comfortable."
"I pray for your future husband."
"God forbid you trap someone into being your wife."
"People are too stupid and unreliable for me to even consider having a spouse."
"Oh, good, you'll die alone just like I hoped."
Once more, the two glared at each other in a stalemate in the middle of the hallway. Jamie was the one to break the stare first and he headed for the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. Claire rolled her eyes as she watched him and, once the door closed, she headed for her room, shutting her bedroom door. She hung her damp towel on the hook on her door and tossed her dirty laundry into her hamper, then took a seat at her desk. She pulled the agenda out from her backpack and looked it over with a sigh. There were so many activities planned… It was beyond her how Gwen thought it would all be doable. Claire grabbed a red pen and began to cross out activities that she deemed unnecessary. No water balloon fight, no bonfire, no barbecue, no carnival. Those were all either too expensive or just plain lame. If they wanted to keep the bigger things like the lock in or the beach trip, they'd have to make some sacrifices.
Suddenly, Claire's door opened and Jamie walked in with the agenda in hand. He shut the door behind him as he entered, gently since Diana was most likely asleep. Jamie was in his pajamas, a tee shirt and some plain grey pajama pants. Claire noted this, but decided not to call him out on it. Instead, she just quirked a brow at his entry.
"What do you want? It's polite to knock before entering a girl's room, you know."
"Whatever. I knew you were decent. I came because I want to go over this ridiculous agenda."
"Oh, right." Claire looked down at her paper. "I was just going over it myself. I'm crossing off the less important or undoable ideas in favor of the ones we can actually afford and that people would be more excited for."
"Good." Jamie pulled up the spare chair in Claire's room to her desk, making sure to stay a good distance away from her. "We don't have as much of a budget as last year's senior class, so we'll need to cut down on a lot. Even the events we do decide to do, they'll have to be changed. Let me see what you have so far." He grabbed the paper out of Claire's hands and, before she could grab it back or say anything, Jamie was up and walking around the room as he looked it over. Claire simply crossed her arms over her chest and sighed as she waited for him to finish. Once he finished reading it over, he grabbed her pen and placed a star next to the Lock In, the Senior Breakfast, the Senior Dinner, and the Senior Beach Party.
"Why did you put a star next to those?"
"We only need those ones." Jamie set the pen back down on the desk.
"You don't want to do the bonfire?"
"Good God, no."
"I figured." Claire chuckled and nodded her head. "I agree with you. This seems like a good list of activities compared to what it was before. It's much more affordable this way. The Lock In doesn't concern any costs for location, just for food and a movie to rent. There's already a projector in the gym."
"Exactly, and the breakfast we can do cheaply. We don't need to cater from anywhere too fancy. We could probably ask for parent volunteers to cook, anyways, or maybe ask the culinary class. The dinner and the beach party are the only two that really concern any large expenses."
"Sounds like a good plan. I'll bring this to Gwen tomorrow and hope she actually listens." Claire sighed and leaned back in her chair, but not far enough to tilt it. "I can't believe she wanted to do all of those other things… So ridiculous."
"She has the right intentions, just not the right budget."
"I suppose so."
The night had already settled long ago, the sun gone and the moonlight the only thing illuminating Claire's room through her large bedroom window. Claire turned to look at Jamie, who had been looking out the window since he took his seat again. 'If it were anybody else…' The words rang in the back of Claire's mind again and it made Claire wonder just how different the situation would be if it weren't Jamie sitting in that chair, but another boy. They certainly wouldn't be sitting there talking about student council agendas, that was for sure. Claire's cheeks turned pink at the thought and, embarrassed, she turned away from Jamie to stare at the wall instead. A photo of Jamie and Claire as children was pinned to the wall with a thumbtack, the two of them looking miserable in each other's presence even at ten years old. Diana and Mariel had gotten the two matching shirts to wear and forced them to wear the shirts for a photo. Claire chuckled at the look of irritation on their young faces and Jamie followed Claire's look with curiosity.
"You still have that picture?"
"Of course I do. You look absolutely ridiculous."
"So do you."
"A little, yeah." The two looked at the picture in silence for a moment, each absorbed in their own thoughts and unsure of what to add to the conversation. After a few minutes, Jamie stood up and grabbed his agenda from Claire's desk before heading to the door.
"Well, I'm going to bed."
"Okay, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Jamie disappeared behind the door, shutting it behind him as he left. Claire walked over to her bed with a yawn and crawled into the covers, reaching over to plug her phone in to charge it overnight. She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts taking over the silence of the room. Again, the words from before echoed in her mind. Jamie wasn't anyone else. He was Jamie, and their relationship was weird. Jamie wasn't someone had to be worried about being in her room late at night. He was just her neighbor who was an arrogant ass with no tact and no care for anyone besides himself. That was it.
Right?