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"So tell me what I've missed." My mother said. It was almost noon as we both sat side-by-side at the kitchen table. It brought back so many memories and feelings-one's that I haven't truly felt in years. Surprisingly after my small night with Jake I slept nightmare free. I don't know how but I did.

I woke up a few hours ago around the same time my mother had woken up. She peeked her head into my room, much like she did when I was young. I decided to not put the chair up against the door, feeling as though I was actually safe here.

Safe. One thing I haven't felt in a long time. I've learned that we take too many things for granted, whether it being the privacy or the sane thoughts a large majority of people are blessed to have. I can't walk somewhere and think, "Is that him?" or "Is he coming to finish me off?". I don't know the man's true motives to why he did it. It could have been a random act or one that was thoughtfully planned out with intricate details meant to strike me to my very core-if so, he's doing a wonderful job.

I haven't felt this happy to be at home since Glen stepped into the picture but he's seemed to take the hint and made himself scarce. My mom has barely noticed, which I can't say I'm not happy about but her world used to be about Glen. I walked back into her life for what? Three days? And now she can't leave me alone for more than a few minutes. I have my old mom back, the one that I thought I lost. I'm surprised by her willingness to accept me back into her home, but I'll be forever grateful for receiving this second chance even in the most awful of situations.

I lifted my head up slightly to catch a glimpse of her face before returning to playing with my soggy cereal. "I started college?" I said with a dry laugh not truly knowing what to say to her. There hadn't been much that had happened.

"There has to be something. New friends, mean professors, boyfriends?" I smiled a little and pushed the bowl away from me, leaning back in my seat.

"Mom I haven't had a boyfriend since KC. I'm too focused on my studies to even have a friendship with anyone outside my dorm room." She laughed placing her coffee cup on the table and leaning forward, resting on her elbows.

"Clare you sound like me when I was in college. You need to be able to socialize." I shook my head giggling.

"No where in my college orientation did it ever say that I was required to have friends or socialize. It's simply something people elect to do. I on the other hand prefer to keep to my self with my nose in a book." She playfully rolled her eyes.

"My studious little girl." A loud cough from the bottom of the staircase caught our attention. We both turned to look over and see Glen with a sort of displeasure on his face. I resisted the urge to get up and leave but my mom was here and he just happened to walk in during our conversation, after all he does live here.

Glen walked past the small kitchen table, ignoring my mothers offer for a good-late-morning kiss. Making his way to the fridge he roughly opened the fridge taking out the milk and slamming it shut. My mom spoke up with curiosity and slight anger, "Glen, honey is everything alright?"

He gave us a small side glance before searching through the cabinets. Searching through the coffee mugs and with great force took a cup out of the cabinet slamming the it shut, causing both my mom and I to jump.

"Glen, don't be a child!" She raised her voice at him standing up from her chair. "I'm being perfectly reasonable here Helen! You're the one that's being a child. You're foolish and so naive!" I looked around the kitchen, avoiding Glen's murderous stare before pulling my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

"How in God's name am I acting like a child! Besides where the hell is this coming from?" Glen slammed the coffee mug against the counter and pointed towards me shouting, "Her!" My body froze at his accusation. What had I done? I didn't steal anything, I wasn't being a terrible person; I just wanted to come back home. What was so wrong about that?

"What is that supposed to mean!" My mother shouted at him. I closed my eyes shut, hoping to block them both out but I knew it was impossible. I'd never heard my mom yell like this before; Ever.

"You don't get it do you Helen?" His voice dropping to a low level. "She practically ruined your life for 2 years, do you not remember that? She's just gonna do the same thing but your just too damn blind to see that! If Jake ever pulled the crap that Clare pulled on you, I wouldn't let him back into my life!" That's a lie. He'd do anything for Jake, though it's not Jake's fault at all. I'm just saying, Jake is Glen's world-he's all bark and no bite.

My mother stayed quiet with an unreadable expression. Is she seriously gonna believe him or automatically listen to every word he says.

"Dad!" I heard Jake call from the front door.

Glen looked over at Jake seeming to calm down a small bit. I turned my head slowly to get a glance of the door. Jake stood in the opening with stern face.

"Let's go. Besides, this-" Jake gestured between both my mom and I "Is truly none of your business, now hurry or your gonna be late." Jake said in a stern voice. I looked over at Glen, not knowing what he was going to do or say next. Instead he looked down at the ground and walked out of the house. I breathed a sigh of relief when he left, not wanting to deal with anything he said.

What was my mom going to say to this little fiasco? Last time something similar to this happened she defended him stating "He's my husband." If the past is any indication, then I should start packing my things.

She slowly took her seat, neatly pushing her chair towards the table and resuming drinking her coffee. She had a solemn expression, once again truly unreadable. I watched as she placed her coffee cup back on the table, looking over at me. I wrapped my arms tighter around my legs. Without a word she stood up from her seat and walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, placing a soft kiss on my head. I leaned against her as she held me tighter.

"I don't know why Glen's acting like this.." You really don't?

"But you're my daughter and you always will be." She whispered, almost sounding on the verge of tears. "Nothing he ever says or does, will ever come between us again."

I have my mom back

xxx

The Next Day

"He was a wonderful man. And when a man is that special, you know it sooner than you think possible. You recognize it instinctively, and you're certain that no matter what happens, there will never be another one like him."

I read from my current novel, The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. After yesterday's emotional roller coaster my mom and I went to the book store and purchased a few best sellers. I haven't read a good book in well over a year and Nicholas Sparks has always been one of my favorite authors. Besides it was nice to read about someone else's problems, it gave me enough of a break from this hell called my life. Today seemed like a nice day to start reading, it was quiet and my mom and Glen were out of the house. So for the past 3 hours I've been sitting outside on the front steps of the house reading; The weather was perfect to be outside.

"Another romance novel, eh? You sure haven't changed since high school." I placed my book mark between the pages I was on and closed the book, looking up at Jake. He was getting out of his truck as he smiled at me.

"Is that a bad thing?" I playfully questioned.

"Nah." Jake said making a face. "I like people that don't change, I mean I sure haven't."

"True." I whispered. He leaned against his truck with a little smirk on his face.

"So-uh, sorry about the way my dad acted yesterday morning. I don't know why he said those things, none of them were true." Jake said as he scratched the back of his head. I bit the inside of my cheek, holding back my emotions. I hadn't gotten over it nor had I really felt any feelings towards his words. I blocked them out. It would just be another thing I have to cry over. But in a way I guess I saw his little outburst coming. Glen has always shown his disinterest in me.

"It's okay. Just-Just don't worry about it." Things feel silence between the both of us.

"I'm heading to Degrassi to fix their stage up; Nothing major, just a simple job. Wanna tag along? It shouldn't take more than a few hours." I looked up at Jake, holding my book close to my body.

"Sounds great."

xxx

"Okay, so meet me at the theater in an hour." I nodded my head.

"You took your phone right?" He questioned as I got out of the car, him doing the same thing. I nodded my head, rolling my eyes slightly.

"Yes I did." I said taking my phone out of my back pocket, waving it around. I hadn't turned my phone on in days, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a thousand messages from Bianca; She tends to worry a lot.

"Alright, see you soon." He said giving me a small nod and walking up the steps and into the school.

I looked at the appearance of my old high school, not seeing much of a change. Everything was well kept-as it had always been. I strolled up the steps to the front entrance. Through the glass door I could see that the halls were empty which relieved me. I wasn't in the proper emotional state to be surrounded by teenagers, running through the halls. I swung the door open, feeling the cool breeze of the air conditioner hit me. I reached into my back pocket and took out my phone, in case Jake needed to call me. I turned it on ready to see the flood of messages.

55 Missed Calls

30 Messages

Crap. I scrolled through my missed calls, all of them from Bianca. I pressed the call button, deciding to just get this over with. Within in the second ring Bianca answered.

"Finally! Holy fuck Clare where the hell are you?" Bianca sounded frantic, her voice filled with anger and great fear.

"Bee I'm alright-"

"Where the fuck are you!" She cut me off, practically screaming into the phone.

"I'm at my parents house!" I shouted back at her, but quickly lowered my voice, noticing the receptionist giving me an odd look.

"Why the hell are you over there? You haven't talked to your mom in forever!"

"I don't know okay, I just sort of ended up there."

"And your mom and Glen let you stay there?" I walked towards the award case as I continued talking to Bianca.

"My mom let me stay but it's obvious Glen wants me out." Bianca paused for a few moments before replying in a soft voice.

"So..are you gonna stay there?"

"I don't know yet, but I kind of like it." I said staring off in no particular direction.

"Okay, Clare you're scaring the living shit out of me. Lately you've been really off and then you take off in the middle of the night to your mom's place!" Her voice quieted down a bit.

"I'm just worried about you Clare." I wanted to reply with the most bland and over used reply, 'I'm fine' but Bianca knows there's something going on. I guess it's time to be honest.

"I just need to get away for a while because I'm not okay Bianca."

"Well alright. What ever's going on in your life I want you to take care of. Stay there as long as you need okay? Alli and I will be here to welcome you home when the time comes."

"Thank you Bee, this means so much. I love you."

"I love you too Clarebear." She said with a small laugh. "Oh, I think you might like what I'm about to tell you." I scrunched my eyebrows together and smiled.

"And what would that be?" I said deciding to start walking down the halls.

"Eli stopped by yesterday." My heart rate sped up as I waited for her to continue. "He came by to ask if you were there because you didn't show up to class. He seemed kind of worried, so I gave him your number."

"You gave him my number!"

"Calm down, he said he wasn't going to text or call you unless you did first. He said he didn't want to intrude or whatever. Want his number?"

"Um-Sure?"

"Alright, I'll text it to you-Hold on." I heard a male voice in the background as Bianca talked to who ever was there.

"I gotta go Clare, Drew wants to continue our date. Be safe, okay? Call me if you need anything, also don't be afraid to check in."

"Alright Bee." I pressed the end call button and sighed stuffing my phone into my back pocket, feeling it vibrate knowing that was Bianca texting me Eli's number.

I thought Eli had a family emergency and that he wouldn't be in class. I'm so confused about all of this, maybe I can text him when I get home and hope for an answer. Although it's truly none of my business, I still would like to know. I'll find out sooner or later...


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