[Disclaimer: Don't own Degrassi or Katy Perry]
I know I promised this update three weeks ago but I had a really hard time writing this. I have a few different versions of parts of this chapter that I was not happy with. It took me a long time but I was not going to give you a product that I myself wouldn't read and didn't like. So better late than never! Besides, the length of this chapter might make up for my absence. Thank you all for your patience and kind reviews as always. Thanks to my beta WhatEverHappened.
I posted a new oneshot called Do You Want to Fly with Me? a few days ago. Check it out and tell me what you think.
Review, Review, Review!
Clare let herself fall like a pancake onto her bed. The sweet lavender smell of the duvet made her smile and relaxed her even if it was only a little bit. After a few minutes she flipped on her back and looked out the huge bay window of her room that overlooked the ocean. The sun had gone down just a half our ago and the moonlight cast a glow into her room.
She'd been in California for two weeks now. The few days her cousins and aunt let her get used to the three hour time difference from Toronto to Los Angeles and gave her the chance to get rid of the jet lag. Charlie, Clementine and Olivia had welcomed her with open arms and in the very short period of time that had passed, had already made her feel like their fourth sister. She talked with her dad every two nights, and he had joked at first about how high her cell phone bill was going to be at the end of every summer month.
She and Charlie were inseparable from the minute she stepped into their Venice Beach oceanside home. It was as if the nine years they'd been apart hadn't existed. Clementine was quiet, but full of wisdom at her young seventeen years. Because she, Charlie and Clare were close in age, Clementine and Charlie's friends intermingled and all hung out together. Olivia, nineteen, was the only odd ball out, she was taking courses at the local college for the summer but made the extra effort to be with them even if they were a little young for her age.
After Clare was used to the time difference, her cousins had dragged her to every theme park and cheesy tourist attraction there was within a one hundred mile radius. The first and second weeks of Clare's stay were spent at Disneyworld, California Adventure, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Sign, Knott's Berry Farm, and Star Tours. The four girls were worn out by the end of the day and in that short period of time Clare had blown through a third of the money her father had given her for the entire trip.
She was gazing out the window at the setting sun when Charlie barged into her room. She jumped onto Clare's bed and poked her repeatedly. Between theme park visits they'd hung out with Charlie's friends and everyone commented on how they looked like fraternal twins. The girls laughed and remembered when they'd pretend to be twins when they were little, going as far as trying to deceive their parents.
Clare stared at her cousin; they had the same hair color only that Charlie's was straight and the same huge blue eyes, obviously from their mothers' side. The differences between them were that Charlie was perpetually tanned from being in the sun all day every day and Clare was half an inch taller.
And well, their styles differed completely, but that was beside the point.
"Let's go out," Charlie said, continuing to poke Clare.
Clare groaned, throwing her arm over her eyes, "I'm tired."
"Get up you bum, we're just going to the beach," Charlie explained, "some of my friends will be there."
"Okay," Clare said excitedly, sitting up. She never said no to going down to the beach, which was only yards away from their house.
They ran down through the house and down the deck's stairs into the sand.
Some of Charlie's friends greeted them. There were a few new people that Clare didn't know. Katie, one of Charlie's best friends, had really taken to Clare in the few days she'd known her. She hugged Clare as if she'd known her for years.
"C'mon, we're going to have a volleyball match, girls against boys," Katie explained, pulling Clare by her hand to the girls' side of the net.
"In the dark?" Clare asked.
"We have the moonlight silly," Katie stated as if Clare should have known.
"We have our team," Katie announced.
"Isn't Charlie going to play?" Clare asked.
"Ew," Charlie walked by dragging a chair from her deck, "I hate sports."
"Losers, I mean ladies, do you have your team?" a boy asked cockily from the other side of the net.
Katie stomped her foot. "Wait a minute," she raised her hand to wave him off.
Clare caught a glimpse of the boy who'd just insulted them. She couldn't really distinguish any of his features, but he was a good few inches taller than her.
"Okay Clare, this is Manny," Katie pointed to one girl who smiled kindly at Clare. "And they are Sofia, Darcy, and Blair. Girls, this is Clare, she's Charlie's cousin who is here for the summer." The girls greeted her and the boys groaned from the other side of the net.
"Girl talk later," the cocky boy from before said, "we want to beat you already."
Katie rolled her eyes, "That's Jake, Nate, Fitz, Marco, Vince, and Beck. There Jake, now we can play."
Jake smirked, "We'll be playing, and you'll be losing."
Clare raised her eyebrow, and got into the position Katie gave her.
Jake served and Clare's return, which the boys missed, made them gasp collectively.
It was Clare's turn to smirk. Jake caught her eye and he looked at her wearily. The rest of the game went by viciously, the boys got ahead quickly and the girls struggled to catch up. But with Clare on their side, they managed to eventually tie them.
"Game point," Charlie shouted from her chair where she was keeping score.
Clare wiped them sweat from her forehead. It was the boys' turn to serve. Marco served weakly and Manny returned it easily. Fitz slapped it hard and the ball came flying at the girls.
"Katie!" Darcy shrieked. Katie dove into the sand and it flew back up. Clare jumped and spiked it over. None of the boys reacted quickly enough and the ball hit the sand with a hard smack.
"Girls win!" Charlie shouted from her seat.
The girls ran to hug Clare and the boys looked awestruck. The teams dispersed and everyone started to just talk and hang around, getting drinks from the cooler that had been brought down.
Clare walked down the shore and stood on the cool wet sand, enjoying the way the ocean tide washed up just high enough to wet her toes. A cough came from behind Clare and she turned around quickly to see who it was. Jake walked towards Clare with a smug smile decorating his face.
"You should've warned me you knew how to play," he said, "I wouldn't have been so easy on you."
Clare laughed once, "Sure, whatever."
"How long have you played?" He asked, genuinely interested.
"Just this year on my school's team," Clare answered.
"You're good," Jake said honestly, "a worthy opponent."
"Hmm…should I feel special?" Clare asked sarcastically.
Jake smiled, "You should."
"Maybe, I'll go easy on you next time," Clare told him, walking back to the rest of the group.
"Please don't," Jake said, running to catch up with her.
Clementine ran outside just as Jake and Clare rejoined the group.
"Clare, your phone is ringing!" She shouted.
Clare left the group to answer her phone.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Clare!" Adam shouted happily into the phone.
"Adam!" she squealed into the phone.
"You haven't called! Did you forget about us already?" Adam joked.
"Of course not," Clare sighed, laying on the couch in the living room. "I've just been out almost every day since I got here."
"Busy bee, that's good," Adam remarked, "How is it?"
Clare looked out the kitchen's far glass wall that overlooked the ocean. "Magnificent," she whispered.
"Damn, that good huh?" Adam laughed.
"Really, really good," Clare said.
She could hear Drew in the background, whisper-chanting "tell her I miss her" loudly.
"Is that Drew?" Clare asked.
"Yeah, he misses you. If you couldn't hear his obnoxious chanting," Adam retorted, "He also says that he is expecting presents, plural, as in more than one gift."
Clare laughed, "How are things over there? And I really miss you goons too."
"Fine. We're not having as good a time as you Ms. I-Live-On-the-Beach-Right-Now but we're having fun," Adam mocked.
Clare stayed quiet on the line for a few moments before whispering, "How is he?" She was referring to Eli.
"Eli…Eli is fine. Don't worry about him," Adam assured her, but Clare could hear the trepidation is his voice.
xXx
Elijah Goldsworthy was most certainly not fine. In fact, some might say that he was downright miserable. Adam was a dirty liar.
Eli was still stuck on bed rest for two more weeks and then he'd have to get used to the crutches. But at least then he could leave the house.
He was going mental, to be perfectly honest. There were only so many shows he liked on TV and after that, he was stuck watching a Gossip Girl marathon. Don't get him started on Chuck and Blair….or Serena and Dan for that matter. But at least now he had some kind of topic for conversation with Alli.
Adam and Drew had all but moved into Eli's house until he was off bed rest. Since both Clare and Fiona had gone for the summer, Alli was alone and out of guilt Adam invited her to hang out with them. She glared at Eli the first few days over what happened with Clare but now she was civil, even wishing him well-being with his leg.
Eli felt that it was a good start.
Julia had come to visit him one afternoon. The weather had been gloomy and sad; he'd spent the whole morning dreaming of Clare only to have his entire day sufficiently ruined with her visit. Eli was still sorry, and she was still pissed. Julia explained that she was only there because she'd heard of his accident. Then, with an air of finality, she told him he deserved it for breaking her heart, as well as Clare's. She gave him a good slap on the same cheek Clare did and stomped out of his room and out of his life, telling him that she wanted nothing to do with him next year or ever again.
That was perfectly fine with Eli.
He fell back against his bed with a groan. He loathed being stuck inside his house like a criminal. He was counting down the days until he could drag himself around on crutches. He just wanted to be able to leave.
Eli wanted to know how Clare was, wanted to hear her voice and know what she was doing. He wondered if she missed him half as much as he missed her.
Suddenly, Drew and Adam barged into his room without knocking. Alli was on their heels carrying something in her hands.
"We let Alli pick the movie," Drew said, "she won't tell us what it is but here's to hoping it's not Twilight."
Eli groaned.
"It's not," Alli glared. "I'm making you all take a good dose of sensitivity training."
She pulled The Notebook out of her gigantic purse filled with God only knew what else. The boys stared at the cover and groaned simultaneously.
"Oh hush," Alli said, loving this a little too much.
"What's in there?" Eli asked, pointing to the cloth covered thing she'd set on his desk.
"Oh," Alli said, remembering. "Since I'm making you watch this movie I made you guys brownies as compensation."
Drew jumped up from his seat to grab one, "You're my new favorite…..don't tell Clare."
He reached into the tray but Alli slapped his hand away.
"What?" Drew asked incredulously.
"For after the movie," she said mischievously.
"You're pure evil," Adam eyed the tray longingly.
Drew crossed his arms like a spoiled child, "You're no longer my favorite."
Alli only laughed at them.
She put the movie in and made Eli make room for her on his bed. "Come on, your leg's not that broken anymore and I refuse to sit on the floor!"
Eli rolled his eyes but made room anyway. There was no point in arguing with Alli.
The movie started and throughout it Drew cried that the brownies were calling to him.
Alli only smiled wickedly every time.
Eli agreed with Adam, she was the most evil of girls.
xXx
Clare trudged down the stairs tiredly. Charlie was seated at the breakfast table with a plate of food in front of her.
"Oh good, you're up," Charlie greeted happily.
"Good morning," Clare served herself and joined her cousin at the table. "Where's everyone?"
"Olivia went to class early to finish an assignment, Clementine is still asleep and my mom is probably at one of the bakeries by now," Charlie informed her.
"Okay, so what are we doing today?" Clare asked excitedly.
"I'm going to teach you how to surf," Charlie said simply, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes.
Clare swallowed uneasily, "How hurt am I going to get in the process?"
"Very hurt," Charlie teased, "lots of falling. I called in for reinforcements."
"Reinforcements?" Clare asked, taking a sip of her orange juice.
"I'm a good surfer, but not great, I asked my friend to come help. He's amazing. He's been in a few small competitions," Charlie boasted.
"Cool," Clare said finishing up her breakfast.
The girls finished eating and went to change. Charlie emerged from her room in a black and purple bikini while Clare opted for a pair of short shorts and a bikini top.
"C'mon, we have to get our surfboards," Charlie said and walked towards the garage. "You can have Clementine's. Mom bought us all surfboards when we moved to this house but she was too scared to learn."
Clare stared at the gigantic, oval piece of think wood. It was intimidating in the most exciting way.
"Let's go," Charlie said, grabbing a bucket filled with what looked like large bars of soap.
Clare grabbed the surfboard, surprised by its lightness and followed her cousin through the house out to the deck.
"So who did you call in for back up?" Clare asked, noticing that there was no one on the beach. There was some clothing thrown carelessly on the sand a few yards away from the waters' edge.
"He's probably in the water already," Charlie shrugged. They walked onto the hot sand and ran all the way to the shoreline to cool their feet. They dropped their surfboards on the sand and looked for their guest.
"Is that him?" Clare squinted at a figure peeking out from the opening of a wave. She wasn't wearing her glasses, making it difficult to see.
"Yeah, Jake's always showing off," Charlie laughed.
"Jake? The obnoxious guy from the volleyball game?" Clare groaned.
"He's obnoxious and arrogant all right but he's also really sweet when you take him out of competitive mode," Charlie explained.
Out of the corner of their eyes they could see and hear someone wading in the shallow water. Jake was making his way over to them.
"Hey," he greeted, slightly out of breath. Clare tried not to stare at his toned body by staring at her surfboard and hoping the deep blush she probably had would recede quickly.
"Hi Jake," Charlie greeted easily, "let me formally introduce you to Clare. My cousin, imported to us all the way from Toronto."
Jake met Clare's gaze and smirked. "With a wicked serve to boot," he stuck out his hand and Clare shook it, hoping her hand wasn't trembling.
"And this is Jake, arrogant, obnoxious, but once you open him up he's a plush teddy bear inside," Charlie mused teasingly from the ground.
"You forgot good looking," Jake pretended to look offended.
"And modest," Clare piped in and Jake turned to her and winked.
"So surfing," Charlie clapped excitedly. "You're teaching Clare how to do it."
"I thought you both were," Clare said quickly.
Charlie snorted, "I couldn't teach you what to do to save my life…and yours. I can't explain, I just do!"
She laughed and ran towards the water, surfboard tucked under one arm.
"Afraid of me Clare?" Jake asked teasingly.
Clare rolled her eyes, "Of course not."
"Good," Jake picked up one of those bars that looked like soap and tossed it at her. Clare caught it with one hand.
"Fast reflexes," Jake noted, "that's good to know and it might help you with this."
"What do I need a bar of soap for?" Clare asked.
"It's not soap Canada," he joked, "it's wax for your surfboard. We wax them so we can sit, lay or stand on them and we won't fall off. The wood of your board gets really slippery in the water."
"Canada?" Clare asked, "Really?"
"I like it," Jake teased.
Clare rolled her eyes and started waxing the board. Jake dropped to his knees next to her and put his hand over hers. "Not like that," he whispered, "first make big Xs on the board then big circles then go up and down parallel. There has to be a thick layer because the water wears wax away quickly."
Clare nodded and finished waxing her board. She and Jake went into the water, and he was helping her learn to balance on the board.
"Ouch," Clare said as she raised herself up from water for the umpteenth time. Balancing on the board was not as easy as Jake made it look. She'd fallen into the water multiple times.
"You're thinking about it too hard," Jake said, straddling his board. She tried to ignore the way little droplets of water trickled down his face and body. "Are you distracted by something?" he asked knowingly.
"No," Clare said curtly, blushing a deep pink.
"Then let's go, do it again," Jake teased. Clare huffed agitatedly in reply. "We're going to sit here all morning and afternoon until you get it right. Might as well do it over and over again until you get it right, or else all your going to get is sunburn."
Clare felt like pushing over his board. Instead, she lay on the board with her arms on the rails. She started pushing herself up and brought her legs forward quickly, left leg in front. She moved to straightened up slowly and after a few seconds found herself underwater again.
She swam up to the surface and found Jake looking down at her with a smug smile on his face. "Stop locking your knees, you can't stand straight up on a board," he reminded her.
"Right," Clare replied. She tried again, remembering this time to not lock her knees. She was finally on her feet and let her mind go blank, trying not to over think every movement she made. She opened her eyes and smirked in Jake's direction. "I did it."
Jake stuck an arm out to her board and Clare knew what he was going to do at once. "No Ja-," but the next second she was underwater again.
She popped up and swam to Jake's board. "What did you do that for?"
"You were so used to falling, I figured once more couldn't hurt," he joked.
Clare sunk back into the water and used all her strength to topple Jake over as well. He landed in the water with a splash and she couldn't stop laughing.
Jake glared at her before unleashing his wrath. He splashed water at Clare, who was laughing too hard to defend herself properly. She started splashing him back, getting closer little by little. After a few minutes of fighting, Jake unexpectedly grabbed her wrists, a last attempt to defend himself.
Everything still around them at once and a gasp got caught in Clare's throat as she noticed their proximity. She looked up at his light green and brown eyes which found her blue ones. They locked for a few moments before Clare pulled her wrists away. Jake put his arms up in surrender, smiling smugly at her throughout the entire exchange.
Clare pulled herself up onto her board, "What's next?"
Jake climbed on top of his board and they spent the rest of the afternoon on the water. By the time the sun started to set, Clare had almost mastered surfing. But only after falling at least one hundred more times.
They swam back to shore and Clare loved the sore feeling in her muscles. She dropped to lie back on the sand, not caring about how it would all stick to her wet skin. Jake opted to sit on his surfboard to avoid getting a coat of sand on himself.
"How did it go?" Charlie asked, walking in their direction.
"Great," Jake replied.
Clare had her eyes shut. She was enjoying the last rays of the sun warming her skin. "Where did you go?" She asked Charlie.
"I was just down the shore from you guys, there were some great waves down there," she said enthusiastically. "Katie rode this huge monster of a wave."
"Sorry you had to miss out Jake," Clare said with a small smile on her face.
"I was entertained just fine Canada, watching you fall was hilarious," he joked.
Clare stuck out her tongue. "I'll be better than you by the end of the summer," she said nonchalantly.
Charlie retreated to her house, tired from the long day, leaving her cousin and her best friend to keep up their flirting.
Clare felt the sunset being blocked by a shadow. She opened her eyes to see Jake holding himself above her with a smirk.
"You're on Canada."
xXx
Eli was ecstatic. He'd gone for more x-rays and was cleared a week early. He was handed a pair of crutches and spent three days doing physical therapy at the hospital, just to make sure everything was really fine.
After almost a month of what felt like solitary confinement, Eli just wanted to get out. The day after his physical therapy ended Adam called to invite him to watch one of Drew's summer season soccer games. Eli accepted without a second thought and waited for his friends to come pick him up.
A few minutes later Drew honked obnoxiously, as he usually did when picking anyone up. Eli limped out of his house on the new crutches.
"He lives!" Drew shouted from the driver's seat. Eli rolled his eyes in reply.
Alli was smiling in the front seat and Adam was situated in the back. Eli slid in next to him and put his crutches on the floor.
"Why are you back here?" Eli asked.
Adam snorted, "We picked up Alli and she forced me to move."
Alli turned around to face them, "I hate sitting in the back. The front people open their windows and the wind blows my hair everywhere."
"We wouldn't want Princess Alli to have a single hair out of place and cause a scandal," Eli teased.
"Watch it gimp," Alli retorted with one of her trademark evil smiles, "I won't hesitate to throw your crutch out the window."
Eli put his hand to his heart dramatically, "We outnumber you."
"I'll buy Drew a box of cookies and he'll be on my side," Alli laughed.
Drew nodded from the front seat, "She's right. I'm easily bought."
Alli smirked and Adam hit his head with the palm of his seat from the back seat. "How are you my brother? Don't worry Eli; I'm still on your side."
They arrived at the park a few minutes later. Drew quickly left to join his team on the field. Adam, Eli, and Alli went to sit on the bleachers. Alli pulled out a magazine from her purse and immersed herself in the glossy, shallow pages of gossip and fashion.
"Have you talked to Clare?" Eli asked carefully. He hadn't worked up enough guts to give her a call and obviously, she hadn't either. It had been three grueling weeks without hearing her light voice.
Adam fixed the beanie on his head and pursed his lips. "Yeah, a few days ago actually," he said.
"And?" Eli asked.
"She said she was having a lot of fun. She went to visit all the tourist clichés first and now she's just going to spend time with her family," Adam explained.
"But…how did she sound to you?" Eli asked.
Adam turned to him and gave him a sad smile. "Clare sounds really, really happy," he answered honestly.
Eli ran his hand through his thick, black hair. "That's good then. That's what's important."
"Have you talked to her?" Adam asked.
Eli shook his head, staring out onto the field.
The game started a few minutes later but Eli paid no attention to it. His mind was somewhere else entirely. He wondered what Clare was doing at this exact moment. The only time he paid attention to the game was when Adam hit him as a signal that Drew's team had made a goal and he should get up and cheer.
"Hey," Alli piped up, "Is that Mr. Edwards?"
The boys turned to her with confused expressions. She was pointing at something across the park. They looked towards where she was pointing. Sure enough, it was Mr. Edwards. He was walking with a pretty, blonde woman.
"Dude, do you think he's on like a date?" Adam asked.
Alli shrugged, "Sure looks like it."
"Has he dated anyone since Clare's mom?" Adam asked.
Eli shook his head. "I don't think he wanted to…when Clare was so little."
Adam and Alli nodded. The boys went back to watching the game and Alli went back to her magazine.
An hour later the game was done. Drew's team won and they decided to go out for pizza to celebrate.
Drew dropped them off afterwards and Adam told him discreetly once again that he should call Clare. Eli hobbled up to his room and played with his phone for a few minutes before finally going to his phone's contact list and looking for her name.
Eli pressed the green button once he highlighted her name and lifted his phone to his ear.
xXx
Clare was surprised to learn that Jake was a constant presence in the house.
"I'm here every day, this is practically my second home," Jake explained when they were having lunch in the kitchen a few days after he taught her to surf.
Olivia walked by just then, camera in hand, about to leave for her photography class. "Yeah, Charlie let him in, fed him once and he just kept coming back," she stuck out her tongue at him and ruffled his hair as she walked by. "Bye guys, I'm going to my class."
Stacey came bursting through the front door like she was running away from fire.
"Mom, is everything okay?" Charlie asked quickly.
"No, my staff at the boardwalk bakery here in Venice Beach all got sick. I need you three to go in and just finish the day for me. If I had known earlier that my staff was sick, I wouldn't have opened shop but Molly showed up sick and opened anyway. I told her she could go home the second you three showed up," Stacey explained quickly.
"Sure mom, we'll go," Clementine answered for all of them quickly. She grabbed her keys from the tiny rack and the four of them walked towards the garage.
Stacey called out after them, "Call Katie, see if she can come help too. Olivia will be at the bakery right after her photography class. Don't burn down my store. I have to go the Rodeo Drive franchise but I'll be with you guys as quick as I can."
Soon enough they were in Clementine's car and on their way to pick up Katie, who was quick to say yes when they asked her for help.
Katie jumped in the backseat of Clementine's small car. Jake, Clare and her were pretty cramped and the only way to alleviate the problem was for Jake to move his arm. It looked like he was trying to put his arm around Clare. Jake thought nothing of it but when he turned around to look out the window, Katie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Clare.
Charlie laughed from the front seat and Clare glowered at them both. Even Clementine was fighting a small smirk from appearing on her face.
"What's so funny?" Jake asked, completely oblivious to the situation.
"Nothing," Charlie answered quickly, through another fit of giggles. Katie was covering her mouth with her hand to stop her own laughter.
Jake looked unimpressed and rolled his eyes, "You girls are so weird."
Clementine pulled up to the parking lot designated for employees of boardwalk shops and restaurants. She parked her car and the five of them walked down the long pier to Stacey's first of many bakeries.
Clare stared at the young woman who she assumed to be Molly looking ready to die in front of the register.
"You can leave now Molly, thank you," Clementine said gently.
Molly quickly grabbed her purse and things. She informed them that they might have to make more cupcakes for the afternoon rush and left.
"Feel better," Charlie called out as she was leaving.
"Alright, let's burn the place down!" Katie yelled, throwing her arms in the air.
Clementine smacked her arm, "Not on my watch."
They fished some extra employee shirts from the back closet. The girls tried not to laugh when Jake put on his baby blue shirt. Charlie kept trying to take pictures of him with her phone.
"Settle down children," Clementine said in stern voice.
"Children? You're only two years older!" Charlie teased.
"I'm the only man here now, I'll hold down the fort. Don't you worry your pretty little heads about it," Jake sighed.
All four girls crossed their arms and shot him disbelieving looks. He just smiled and shrugged. They all smacked his head once and got to work.
Customers flew in and out of the bakery all afternoon. Olivia showed up to help as well.
"Were running low on the popular cupcakes," Clementine panicked. The dessert families were going to start filing in soon.
"Clare, take Jake with you and bake," Charlie told her, "Katie and I will decorate."
Clare followed Jake into the back and he flipped through the pages of the bakery's own recipe book.
"Do you know how to do this?" He asked.
"I'm an excellent baker, thank you very much," Clare looked at the recipe book and groaned.
"What?" Jake asked.
"I forgot our measurements are different," Clare sighed. "Whatever, it can't be that different we just have to follow the steps."
"If they taste terrible I'm blaming it on you Canada," Jake teased.
They worked on five different batters and put in at least five hundred cupcakes into the three huge ovens.
"Think that'll last until closing time?" Jake asked.
"It better," Clare asked, "I can't carry another bag of flour or sugar ever again."
Jake laughed.
"What?" Clare asked.
"You have red velvet batter on your chin," he told her, "and flour in your hair."
Clare narrowed her eyes at him, "You have batter flecks all over your shirt."
Jake dipped his finger into the empty vanilla batter bowl and scraped the sides. He walked up to Clare and smeared it on her cheek.
"You have vanilla on your face," Jake said nonchalantly.
Clare's jaw dropped. She grabbed the bowl of carrot batter and wiped her finger across the edge. She brought it to Jake's face and made from his forehead to his chin.
"You have carrot on yours," she said innocently.
They stared each other down for a few seconds before arming themselves. Batter splatters flew across the room. Jake and Clare laughed the entire time. Finally Clare stopped waving a white utensil as her flag.
"I surrender," Clare said laughing, "we have to clean or my Aunt Stacey is going to freak."
Jake surveyed the room. They'd gotten some batter smeared across the machines, but most of it was on them. He took a step towards Clare, who was starting to clean herself off.
She looked up at him and smiled before laughing.
"What?" Jake asked, smiling back.
"You have carrot, red velvet and strawberry batter on you," Clare giggled.
"Listen sweetie, you don't look any better than I do right now," Jake mocked.
"You don't think I look pretty?" Clare batted her eyelashes in an exaggerated manner. "How will I ever live with myself?"
Jake laughed and took Clare's hand in his, "I didn't say you didn't look good."
Clare froze and blushed staring at the floor. Jake tilted her head up towards his. Elsewhere in the bakery, Clare's phone was ringing.
"Missed a chocolate spot," he said, "right here." He ran his finger right under her bottom lip. He brought it up to his own lip and sucked off the sweet batter.
Jake leaned in towards Clare again and surprisingly, she found herself leaning towards him too. Their lips brushed momentarily.
"Clare!" Charlie screamed, barging into the room. Her mouth dropped at their proximity and she had a grin on her face. "Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
Clare pulled away from Jake completely. He had a smirk on his lips as he looked away from her.
"You guys sure had fun," Charlie teased, making Clare blush furiously.
"What did you need?" Jake asked her.
"Oh yeah!" Charlie said, and handed Clare her phone, "Eli's on the phone."
Clare's eyes widened, "Eli. Oh my God Eli! Okay…I'll uh…be right back Jake." She snatched her phone out of Charlie's hand and practically ran out of the room.
She walked into what she assumed to be her aunt's office. She shut the door gently behind her and sat down before lifting the phone to her ear.
"Hello?" She asked timidly.
Eli's dark laugh came from the other end, "You sure know how to make a guy wait Edwards."
"Sorry," Clare squeaked.
"Forget about it," Eli said. "How…uh…are you?"
"I'm great," Clare replied honestly. "How are you? How's your leg?"
Eli sighed, "I'm good. Felt like I was losing it from being locked up in my house. But I'm on crutches now, I'm free."
"That's good Eli," Clare said.
They talked a few more minutes, but the talk was awkward at best. At least the ice was broken though.
Clare sighed and ran her fingers through her flour covered hair. She walked out of the office and went bake to the baking room. Jake was wiping off the counters. Clare bit her lip and started helping him clean. Neither mentioned their almost kiss.
They closed up the bakery at ten and Stacey thanked them all for helping her out at the last minute. Jake didn't speak more than a few words to Clare the rest of the day.
The girls dropped off Jake at his own home. Charlie invited Katie to stay the night. When they got home, they went straight outside to turn on the fire pit on the deck. They snuggled up on lawn chair with huge blankets and ripped open bags of graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows for s'mores.
Charlie crawled over to Clare. "What happened? You've been serious since Eli called."
Clare shook her head, "It's a really, really long story."
"We've got time," Olivia said comfortingly, taking a bite from her s'more.
Clare told them the whole story. From the mixed messages to her encounter with Julia to fake dating Declan to their make-out on his bed to his broken leg and the day she left. They listened silently and Clare was very proud of the fact that she didn't shed a single tear. Every day it got easier to think about. Every day it hurt a little less.
"Boys are morons," Clementine scoffed, and it made Clare laugh once. Clementine was never one to be so rude.
Katie nodded, taking a bite from a chocolate bar, "I concur."
Aunt Stacey sat next to Clare and wrapped her arms around her tightly. "Is this what has been bothering you? Your dad…mentioned that you were acting weird…differently…is it because of what was going on with Eli?"
Clare nodded.
"Oh sweetheart," Stacey cooed, "you just have to remember that above anything else Eli was your friend. You'll get over him and everything will be okay."
As Clare went to sleep that night she recited what her Aunt said like her own personal chant.
xXx
Eli woke up that morning feeling more tired than usual. He couldn't get over how awkward it was when he was talking to Clare. They used to be able to talk about everything and anything.
Something had been broken and both of them knew it.
The conversation felt half forced. The realization made Eli feel like crap. He unintentionally messed with Clare's emotions and pushed her away.
If he shut his eyes tightly and focused on nothing else, he could still feel her warm skin under his fingers, her soft lips pressed to his in the most amazing way. He fucked up.
That stupid saying of not knowing what you have until it is gone has never been more true for Eli than at this moment. Clare was…everything.
She was the one who would bring him down from anger, bring him up from sadness, and share happiness with him. He was the one she would call in the middle of the night when she had nightmares.
It was just past midnight and Eli was finally beginning to fall asleep. He had stayed up late finishing an assignment for history with Drew over webcam. His rubbed his eyes furiously and crawled under his duvet. The October winds made the almost leafless tree branches click against his window in a rhythmic pattern. Just as his eyes slipped close his phone began to vibrate from the nightstand.
Eli groaned and reached over with his eyes still shut to grab it. He absentmindedly clicked the green button and brought the phone to his ear.
"Drew, let me go to sleep," Eli muttered, "your mother won't kill us for a half assed C grade assignment worth nothing. You have the rest of the semester…not to mention the rest of grade nine to just above half ass assignments."
A small whimper on the other end of the line caused Eli's eyes to snap open.
"Clare?" He asked.
"I…had another nightmare," Clare cried softly, "I could see the car hitting her…her body smashed under the weight of the car. I swear I could hear the screeching breaks and breaking metal."
Eli looked at the clock on his nightstand, 12:21 am.
"I'll be at your house in fifteen minutes, open your window," he said into the phone.
"You don't-," Clare said but Eli cut her off.
"I'm already on my way," Eli snapped his phone shut. He swung his legs over the side of his bed. He slipped his feet into a pair of tattered up vans and opened his window.
The chilly October air sent a shiver down his spine. Eli grabbed a hoodie from the pile of clothes by his bed and put it on. He shrugged down at his pajamas and decided to leave them on…he'd be sleeping anyway.
Eli carefully climbed down the side of his house. He landed on the dried grass with a soft thud. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Eli made the journey to Clare's house.
He climbed up the trellis that was once under her window and knocked gently on the thin glass.
Clare threw open her curtains and unlocked the window, opening it out for him. She stepped back and Eli climbed in. He shut the window behind himself and turned to Clare.
Her head was down and she had her arms wrapped around herself. Since Eli had started high school they hadn't seen each other much during the week. She looked so small and fragile. He gently put his fingertips under her chin and tilted her head up.
Eli's heart broke when he saw Clare's eyes shining with tears. She threw her arms around him and sobbed quietly into his shoulder.
"It was so terrifying Eli," Clare whimpered, "I could hear her screams and then…blood…I swear I could smell it…the salty iron was everywhere."
Eli wrapped his arms around her in a protective manner. He walked them over to her bed and pulled her into his lap. He rubbed her back comfortingly.
"It was just a nightmare Clare," Eli whispered, "that's all it was."
"I know," Clare said, "but it was like I was there, frozen. I could see the car coming but I couldn't move her out of the way or scream for her to move."
Eli kissed her forehead and continued to comfort her until her tears subsided. He rubbed her back until her breathing evened out and she was asleep, cradled against him.
His eyes drooped slightly. He was too tired to walk back home this late. Eli decided to just wake up extra early and sneak back home.
He laid Clare down in her bed and slid in next to her. Just as he was beginning to slip into deep sleep, Eli felt Clare unconsciously curl into him. He wrapped his arm around her and it was one of many nights in which they fell asleep together.
He missed her so much. Eli didn't lie when he said that Clare made up half of him. He just didn't know that other half was practically consumed by her too.
Eli sighed and got up from his bed. He crutched his way to the bathroom. After wrapping up his cast in the necessary protection, Eli stepped under the cold water. It instantly finished waking him up. He finished showering and got back out.
He changed and stepped out of his room, towel drying his hair.
"Adam and Drew called," Cece said as Eli made his way into the kitchen, "they said they'd be here in a few minutes."
Eli nodded and slipped on his shoe. He grabbed a piece of toast and decided to wait for his friends outside.
True to their word, Adam and Drew showed up a few minutes later. Well Drew anyway, Adam was nowhere to be seen.
Eli crutched over and got into the passenger seat.
"Where's Adam?" Eli asked after he greeted Drew.
"We were leaving the house when Alli called; she was bent on guilt tripping one of us into going shopping with her. We tried fighting her but Adam finally cracked, felt bad that she would have to go alone," Drew explained.
"Alli's scares me," Eli said honestly.
Drew laughed, "That makes two of us. I told them I'd pick them up from the mall when they were done. So do you just want to go to record store? There's a few new albums out that I want to buy."
Eli shrugged, "Sure. But do we have enough room for all of Alli's bags?"
"I sure hope so," Drew sighed.
Drew parked outside the record store. They walked inside the store and parted ways immediately, their music tastes differed dramatically. Eli was looking through some new releases and cringed at how similar all of these new pop-punk bands sounded nowadays.
Eli walked to the back of the store and sifted through the store's surprisingly great vinyl collection. He was going through their collection of Led Zeppelin records when Drew walked up to him holding a few hip-hop and rap albums in his hands.
He knew Drew had something on his mind when he began looking through the vinyl as well. Since when did Drew listen to Black Sabbath? Eli ignored it with a roll of his eyes, if Drew had something to say, he was probably just figuring out how to say it.
"So did you call Clare?"
"Wow, way to be subtle," Eli replied.
"It's my gift…Adam told me you two hadn't talked…wow, we sound like girls," Drew shook his head.
"Yeah, I did," Eli said, "but it was so awkward…it felt…like I don't know…something was missing."
Drew nodded, "I get it but you have to push through that awkwardness. You two were the closest pair of best friends I've ever seen. You still want that, don't you?"
Eli nodded. "That's not all," he mumbled.
"What?" Drew asked.
"Nothing," Eli replied.
"No, you're hiding something," Drew said. "What?"
Eli shook his head.
"Oh my God. You love her, don't you?" Drew asked.
Eli turned to his friend with wide eyes.
"I know what lovesick looks like," Drew shrugged. "When did you-?"
"Like…the minute after she left my house," Eli cut him off.
Drew pursed his lips, "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I'll see when she gets back, I guess," Eli muttered, "I have to figure things out."
Drew's phone rang. Adam was calling to ask for him to go pick him and Alli up at the mall.
"Let me pay for these and we'll go get Adam," Drew walked up to the front counter.
"Speaking of Adam," Eli brought up once they were on the road again. The mall was only a few blocks away. "Don't tell him…he's still kind of mad at me…for what I put Clare through, I know."
Drew nodded, "No problem."
Five minutes later they pulled up to the mall. Adam and Alli were already waiting outside. Each one had their arms full of bags, but both Drew and Eli suspected that the bags in Adam's hands were also Alli's. Drew got out of the car to help them. Eli really couldn't with his leg and all.
Through the open door Eli could All on the phone, laughing. He could hear bits and pieces of her conversation.
"Surfing?" She asked as she stuffed multiple bags from the same stores into the trunk.
"Oh my God. Is he cute?"
Eli rolled his eyes, typical Alli.
"You've got boys pining after you all over the continent," Alli giggled.
Drew climbed back in the car. Adam followed suit while Alli lingered outside a few more moments, finishing her conversation.
"Hi guys!" Alli greeted happily as she buckled up next to Adam.
"Damn Alli, did you clean out the mall?" Eli teased.
Alli shrugged, "There were sales in all of my favorite stores. I cannot be held accountable for my actions."
"I am never doing that again," Adam sighed.
"Hush, you had fun with me," Alli said flirtatiously and they all noticed the small blush that spread across Adam's face.
Eli smirked.
"Oh my God!" Alli yelled.
Drew slammed on the brakes.
"What?" He said quickly.
"I forgot to show you. I was just talking to Clare. She learned to surf!" Alli squealed with delight.
She pulled out her phone and went to her photo album. She pulled up the pictures Clare had sent her and showed them to everyone.
One of the pictures was zoomed in on Clare, who was riding a pretty big wave. Her long, curly hair was flying behind her and she had a huge smile plastered on her face.
Eli felt something twisting inside. He missed her so much.
Drew side glanced at Eli and shot him a look as he passed the phone back to Alli.
xXx
Charlie decided to have bonfire that night. She invited everyone she knew and within hours the beach behind their home was littered with Charlie's, Olivia's, and Clementine's friends.
The full moon shone brightly over them.
"Having fun?" Charlie asked Clare.
"Yeah," Clare replied.
"You okay? I know it's been a few days since you talked to him," Charlie said.
Clare smiled widely, "I'm fine. I think…no, I know that I'm getting over him. He's my best friend and that's all I want him to be."
"Good," Charlie smirked mischievously, "because Jake is here and you guys have some unfinished business."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Clare said, trying to sound normal.
"Clare Diana Edwards, I dare you to try and lie to my face. You and my best friend were about to suck face in the bakery kitchen," Charlie teased.
"Okay…so maybe we were…but I leave in a month and a half…I can't….have a relationship and then….I won't do the long distance thing," Clare explained.
"Oh God Clare, I wasn't saying marry Jake, but a summer fling is good for everyone," Charlie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Clare blushed but didn't turn down the idea. "I don't know," she said simply.
Charlie pouted and walked away when a cute boy beckoned her over. Clare was not alone for long though. Katie popped up next to her a few minutes later. She hugged her and pulled her towards the fire.
People were all around. Manny and Darcy were handing out long streamers on sticks and sparklers.
"Here," Manny said, handing Clare two sparklers. She gave some to Katie as well and the girls went to turn them on by the flames of the bonfire.
Katie and Clare danced around with their sparklers and a few other people. Clare couldn't remember the last time she felt so…free.
She was walking backwards and didn't notice the person whose back was also to her. She ran into it and jumped back immediately.
"I'm sorry," Clare said.
The body turned to her…it was Jake.
They stared each other down before Jake smirked, "It's fine, Clare."
He started walking away and Clare reached out for him. "Wait," she called out.
Jake turned back to face her.
"What?" He asked.
"Can we talk?" Clare asked shyly.
They walked away from the crowd of people. Jake took her around the house where it was dark and they could not be seen.
"Yeah?" Jake questioned.
Clare cleared her throat slightly, "About the other day…"
"Nothing happened Clare. And nothing will," Jake said coldly.
Clare's face fell, "Why not?"
"I won't be that guy Clare…you've got a boyfriend or whatever at home…I won't be the guy you cheat on him with," Jake said.
Clare furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about? I do not have a boyfriend."
Jake rolled his eyes, "Don't lie Clare. You practically ran out of the kitchen when Eli or whoever called."
"Eli's not my boyfriend," Clare stated. "He's my best friend. That's it."
Jake stopped, "Really?"
Clare nodded, biting her lip.
"Oh, then…this changes things," he smirked.
Clare stepped closer to him, trying to be confident.
"You look beautiful," Jake smiled. Clare looked down at the purple dress hugging her body. She silently thanked her cousins for convincing her to wear it.
"Thank you," Clare replied, feeling her cheeks warming.
Jake chuckled softly.
"What?" Clare asked.
"You're cute when you blush," he said honestly.
Jake moved his face closer towards hers. Clare gasped and he pulled back a bit.
"I'm only here for the summer," Clare whispered softly, "whatever happens here…won't go farther than that."
Jake smiled reassuringly, taking her hands and placing them around his neck.
"I know," he replied, in a tone of voice just as low as her own, because any louder would break the spell. "I'm okay with it…if…if you are," he swallowed slowly.
Charlie's words rung in her head, "A summer fling is good for everyone."
Clare felt all inhibition melt away. She bravely stepped forward and closed the space between them.
Jake moved his lips slowly against hers and rested his hands at her hips, rubbing his thumbs in small circles.
They pulled back briefly, their breaths mingled as they tried to regain oxygen.
"God, you don't know since when I've wanted to do that," Jake panted.
Clare smiled smugly, "Since?"
"The night you beat me at volleyball," Jake admitted.
She rolled her eyes and took a few steps back as Jake pressed her up against the side of the house. This time he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers more aggressively. Clare responded eagerly, threading her fingers through the ends of the hair at the nape of his neck.
Clare would never have done this with someone she wasn't serious about.
But there was something about Jake. Maybe it was that he was honest, sometimes brutally so. Clare had learned that whilst he was teaching her to surf. He kept telling her she sucked and wasn't getting it right. Maybe it was how laid back and "go with the flow" Jake was. He didn't want drama in his life and steered clear of the few petty arguments that erupted in Charlie's circle of friends. His being extremely good looking certainly helped as well.
She sighed into their kiss and pressed back harder.
Clare didn't know what attracted her to Jake so much, but she decided she was not going to fight it.
xXx
Eli was wobbling around his room. He was determined to have this cast off as soon as possible. The crutches hurt his armpits and they fell all the time. He'd probably use a cane for a few weeks when his cast came off but that was better than the crutches.
Clare had called him the other night. The phone call was less awkward and she told him about her family, about Charlie's friends and the things they'd done together.
Her tone was one he hadn't heard in a long time. She was happy, her voice was light and she giggled throughout her descriptions. Eli knew her eyes were probably sparkling; something had put the shine back in her eyes.
Something that wasn't him, Eli had only taken away the shine. Something or someone else had given it back to her.
He wondered if she would carry that shine back with her to Toronto.
Eli's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the front door open. He heard Randall Edwards' voice all the way from the living room.
"Eli," Cece yelled, "come down for lunch."
"Be right there," he yelled back.
He maneuvered himself down the stairs using the cane whilst holding onto the railing for dear life. He limped into the kitchen and sat down next to Randall.
"Hello Eli," Randall greeted him. "How's your leg been?"
"Hey Randall," Eli replied. "It's much better thanks. I'm dropping the crutches soon."
"How's Clarabelle doing?" Bullfrog asked.
Cece smiled excitedly, "Yeah, how is she?"
"She's doing great. I talked to her just before I came here. She was going to go scuba diving with her cousins today," Randall informed them, "she's so happy to be spending time with her mom's side of the family."
"I bet," Cece said.
"Aren't you going to go spend some time there too?" Eli asked. Clare had told him about it during their first call.
"I was," Randall explained, "but my law firm just got this huge case and I can't take time off. But Clare is fine with it, she's soaking up as much time with her mom's family as she can. A few of Helen's other brothers and sisters are flying in for some family reunion Stacey decided to throw for Clare."
"That sounds so wonderful," Cece gushed.
"It is," Randall smiled thoughtfully, "I haven't heard Clare so genuinely happy in years."
Eli looked down at his plate and lost his appetite.
"All she does is talk on and on about how wonderful it is," Randall laughed.
"Bet she wants to stay out there," Bullfrog joked.
"I was joking with her on the phone and told her we might as well move out there."
Cece laughed.
"Clare was ecstatic. She'd move there in a heartbeat I think," Randall said.
Eli wanted to leave the room but his leg was hurting at the moment and he didn't want to move it.
"Is that something you could do?" Cece asked, now serious.
Randall wiped his lips with a napkin. "It's not completely impossible. My law firm has branches all over the United States and some parts of Europe. All of Helen's family lives in different parts of the States. My parents are gone and my brother lives in England. The only person really tying us down here is Clare's grandmother, Helen's mom, but even she's getting to the age where she can't be alone anymore and Stacey wants to move her out with her to California."
Eli felt his heart stop at least six different times while Randall spoke. They could leave. They could leave at any moment. Clare could be gone forever.
Bullfrog took a sip from his beer, "Have you given a lot of thought to this?"
Cece was gripping her fork, Clare was like the daughter she never had.
"Yes but I'm only giving it thought. I'm not going to up and change Clare's life right now. She knows I'm only kidding and she'd never want to leave here anyway. I told her she's letting all the sun and ocean water clog up her mind. Stacey's invited her back to her home during every break and I think that's enough for now," Randall said.
Eli sighed in relief but his mind was reeling.
"You okay baby boy? You haven't touched your food," Cece pointed out.
"My leg's bothering me. I'm not really hungry. I think I'm just going to go lay down," Eli said. "Nice to see you Randall, say hi to Clare for me next time you talk to her."
"Of course, I hope your leg heals soon," he replied.
Eli climbed up his stairs slowly and called Drew. He showed up about an hour later, after Randall had left.
"Alright, what's up? Your phone call was frantic and you made me lose against Adam at Mortal Combat," Drew walked in and jumped on Eli's bed.
"She wants to move out there. Clare wants to stay in California and never come back. She hates me and I chased her away. She wants to be as far away from as possible," Eli said too quickly.
"What?" Drew asked.
"I said that Clare doesn't want to live here anymore. She wants to move to California. I chased her away. She hates me," Eli dropped down next to Drew.
"Clare's moving?" He asked.
"No," Eli answered.
"Then calm the hell down. You sound like a chick out of a sad romantic comedy. Clare doesn't hate you. She's hurt, there's a difference. She doesn't want to move anywhere; she's probably just excited to be with her family Eli. She hasn't seen or really heard from her mom's side since she died. Can you blame her for being happy?" Drew said. He hit Eli's head gently.
"God, what the hell is wrong with me?" Eli sighed.
"I don't know, but it's funny," Drew laughed.
"Glad my life is amusing you," Eli retorted.
Drew jumped up from the bed, "C'mon, get up you sap. I'm getting you out of here."
Eli grabbed his cane and pulled himself off the bed.
"Where are we going?" He asked as they walked down the stairs.
"Drive around, pick up Adam from Alli's house and make fun of him because they're not even together yet and she has him whipped. Get your mind off Clare for a little while," Drew said.
"Sounds like a plan," Eli mumbled, leaning back into the car seat.
xXx
Clare was exhausted. Aunt Stacey had organized a large party for Clare and family appeared from all over. She was overwhelmed by the amount of family on her mother's side. But the weekend was over and the families had all gone back to their respective parts of the country.
Clare dropped backwards onto her bed and closed her eyes. There was a slight throbbing in her head.
She felt the bed dip and opened her eyes. Jake was sitting at the foot of the bed with a smug smile on his face.
"How did you get in here?" Clare asked, sitting up. She felt a little over exposed in her short denim shorts and white tank top, but Jake didn't seem to mind.
He leaned in and kissed her. "You forget that I practically live here. The sliding kitchen door was open, by the way."
Clare rolled her eyes, "So you just waltz whenever you want?"
"Pretty much," Jake replied, "I can leave though, if you want."
Clare crawled over to him. "No one is kicking you out," Clare teased.
"Good," Jake said, tentatively placing his hands on her bare thighs and pulling her onto his lap. "Because I wouldn't get to make out with you right now that no one's home and that would kind of suck."
"No one's home?" Clare asked.
"Charlie left to go see Katie when I walked in. She told me you were up here," Jake said.
"Okay," Clare said slowly and a smile formed on her lips.
"Okay?" Jake raised an eyebrow.
Clare tapped her chin with her index finger and pretended to think long and hard, "I'm sure we can find something to do."
Jake smirked and for a second Clare froze, reminded of Eli's smirk. Jake wasn't doing it right. She shook her head and pushed Eli's face out of her mind. Jake gave her a weird look.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing," Clare said quickly, "just shut up."
She pushed him down onto her bed and kissed him hard. Her fingers tangled in his hair and his hands run up and down her thighs softly. Clare shivered at his touch and he pulled away, there was a smug smile on his face.
"We can't…," Clare breathed, "over clothes only." She briefly stunned herself with her words, but didn't take them back. She didn't want to take them back.
Jake nodded and kissed her again. Despite being given permission, Jake's hands stayed on her hips. He could sense her nervousness and didn't want to push her. They kissed until their lips were swollen.
He gently pushed Clare off of him and sat up. "We should stop, don't want to get too carried away."
Clare visibly relaxed. "Let's go swimming?"
Jake nodded, "Change, I'll wait for you outside."
He walked out of her room, shutting the door softly behind him. She jumped up from her bed and threw open her closet. She rifled through the two-piece bikinis Charlie and Olivia had bought her from Victoria's Secret as a joke.
Clare bit her lip as she examined each one carefully. She'd been going out to swim and surf in short shorts but they chafed her thighs. Plus she tired of having to pull of wet denim at the end of the day. She sighed and finally just closed her eyes and picked one blindly.
She changed into it quickly and stood in front of her mirror. The bottom rose a little too low for her taste but there was nothing she could do about it. Clare fought a smile when she realized that she filled out the top quite nicely.
She ran outside and found Jake lying flat on the sand. An arm was thrown over his eyes to block the sun. Clare walked towards him slowly, enjoying the warm sand under her feet.
Clare cleared her throat to get Jake's attention. He removed his arm and peered up at her. She heard him choke on his breath when he noticed what she was wearing and smiled.
She offered him her hand and pulled him to his feet. Jake couldn't stop ogling and it made Clare giggle.
They swam out at least a mile into the ocean and Jake teased that a shark was going to eat them.
Clare swam back to shore faster than she knew she was capable of.
Jake laughed, "There are no sharks that close to shore, Canada."
"Fine, then let it eat you," Clare smiled.
"Can I ask you something?" Jake asked. He sat down next to her and leaned back on his elbows.
"Um…sure," Clare hooked a piece of hair behind her ear turned to him.
"When your friend Eli called, you completely freaked out on me. You said that he wasn't your boyfriend and I believe you but….," He trailed off.
"But what?"
"I get the feeling that there was something there."
"It's…..complicated," Clare turned away from Jake.
"I don't want to push but I was just wondering," Jake said.
"You really want to know?" Clare asked.
Jake shrugged, "If you want to tell me."
"I don't," Clare sighed, "but not for the reasons you might think. I've gotten past that and I want to leave it behind."
Jake sat up and kissed her. "Okay," he smiled.
xXx
"Two weeks," Eli sighed. School started in two weeks. Clare would be back two days before school started up again. He knew he wouldn't see her until the first day of school though; she'd be busy shopping and whatnot. His cast was finally off but he was still limping around with a cane.
"I know!" Alli squealed, "I'm tired of hanging around you three losers."
"Hey!" Drew laughed. "That loser," he pointed to Adam, "is your boyfriend."
"My loser," Alli kissed Adam's cheek. She giggled when his face turned beet red.
Eli made the sound a whip being slapped with his mouth, Drew laughed.
"Shut up," Alli said. They were in her empty bedroom. She had coerced the boys into helping her paint her room before school started up again.
"Bye bye pink vomit," Eli said as he painted his assigned wall.
xXx
"I can't believe you're leaving!" Charlie wailed.
"Two days Charlie," Clare said, leaning back in her chair.
"It feels like you just got here."
Clare felt herself getting misty eyed, "Shut up, I'm going to punch you if you make me cry."
"Okay, okay, sorry," Charlie sniffled and went back to her task.
Tonight was Clare's goodbye party and Charlie was currently straightening out Clare's long hair.
"We're back!" Olivia shouted, running into the room and jumping on Clare's bed. Clementine walked in behind her flopped down next to her sister.
"Here," Clementine tossed Clare a paper bag.
She eagerly ripped into a bag and pulled out a little white box.
"Where are my new glasses?" Clare asked.
Olivia, Charlie, and Clementine giggled. A few days ago they'd been at the beach and Clare had taken off her glasses to swim. When she came back her glasses were nowhere to be found. Clare new that Charlie must have taken them and hidden them. When Aunt Stacey offered to replace them, Clare didn't really miss her ugly old frames.
"We changed the order. No more glasses for you. Get used to contacts because you are no longer hiding your eyes," Olivia said.
"The prescription is on the box so don't lose it. When you go back home you can continue ordering them wherever you do," Clementine told her.
Clare sighed and opened the box, "I'm going to poke my eye out trying to get these in."
"Only the first few times," Charlie teased. She was holding the hot flat iron to Clare's hair.
"Are you going to miss it here?" Clementine asked.
"Of course," Clare answered. "I loved it here."
Olivia snorted, "Please, you're not going to miss us, you're going to miss making out with Jake every chance you two got."
Clare blushed and her cousins laughed.
A nasty smell suddenly covered the room.
"What smells like hair burning?" Clementine covered her nose.
"Charlie take the flat iron out of Clare's hair!" Olivia yelled.
A terrified gasp came from behind Clare.
"Oh my God," Charlie repeated over and over again.
"What?" Clare asked. She turned her head and her eyes widened with horror.
In one hand, Charlie had the flat iron, which was actually emitting steam from how hot it was. In the other hand, Charlie held a handful of reddish brown hair.
Clare gathered all of her hair in one hand and brought it her face.
A large chunk of the bottom half of her hair was gone.
Clare let out the loudest, most girly scream ever.
"My hair!" Clare screeched. She looked to the floor and saw that there were a few strands of her hair all over it.
"It's not as bad as it looks," Olivia jumped from the bed and ran to them. "We can just cut it to even it all out."
Clementine sat silent on the bed, her eyes wide with worry.
Olivia pulled Clare to the bathroom and wet her hair to curl it again. She sat Clare on the toilet and ran out of the bathroom. A minute or two later she came back with a black bag. Olivia pulled out a pair of salon scissors and a comb.
"Stay still," Olivia commanded.
Clare clenched her eyes shut and focused solely on the sound of scissors closing around hair.
"I'm done," Olivia said about twenty minutes later.
Clare opened her eyes and was horrified by the amount of hair that was in the trash can.
She walked back to her room, where Charlie and Clementine currently sat silently. Clare looked in the mirror and smiled. Her hair was just above shoulder length and curled nicely. She let out a relieved breath.
"Clare, I'm so, so, so sorry," Charlie said. She looked two minutes away from crying.
Clare smiled, "You better be. But whatever, Olivia fixed it. Hair will grow back." She hugged Charlie to assure her everything was okay.
"If it's any consolation," Clementine said from the bed, "you look really, really pretty with your new hair cut."
"She does, I'm amazing I know," Olivia said smugly.
"Thank you," Clare said.
"Girls," Stacey shouted from downstairs, "Katie's here. People are starting to arrive. Are you done changing?"
"Be down in a few minutes mom," Olivia shouted. "We had a little bit of a crisis."
The girls went to their separate rooms to change.
Clare walked outside and saw that Jake was waiting for her on the deck.
"Hi," Clare said to get his attention.
"Hey," Jake said and turned to her. He smiled and kissed her.
"Oh God, please with the PDA," Charlie made a disgusted noise and walked onto the beach.
Clare stuck out her tongue and kissed Jake again.
"You look beautiful," he whispered in her ear. "Why did you cut your hair though?"
Clare huffed, "Charlie burned my hair with the flat iron, so I had to cut it."
"Well, you still look amazing," Jake said with a laugh.
"Not funny," Clare smacked him gently.
They walked off the deck and joined everyone else. Katie ran over and threw her arms around Clare.
"You can't leave!" Katie screamed, "You're staying right here. We'll hide you in the basement or something."
Clare laughed.
The night went by smoothly and soon enough the party was over and people started leaving.
People said goodbye to Clare and told her to come back soon. Katie announced that she was staying the night and helped clean the garbage off the sand.
The girls went inside to give Clare time alone with Jake.
"Will you come back tomorrow?" Clare asked sweetly.
"Yeah," Jake replied. "I can't believe you're leaving."
She leaned her head on his chest, "I know. I wish I had more time left."
"You'll come back though right?"
"I will. Or maybe you could visit me in Toronto," Clare winked.
"Only if you promise to keep me warm," Jake whispered suggestively.
Clare said goodbye to Jake a few minutes later and went back inside.
"I said fling Clare, not fall in love with the kid!" Charlie teased.
Katie laughed and handed Clare a present, "A parting gift!"
"You didn't have to," Clare said quickly.
"I know," Katie said sitting down on the carpeted floor of the living room.
Clare opened the box to find a simple purple frame that held a picture of her, Katie, Charlie, Jake, Clementine and Olivia from their second trip to Disneyland that summer. Jake's arm was around Clare waist and everyone had a huge smile on their face.
"Thank you Katie," Clare whispered.
Katie nodded and popped open a can of soda.
"My turn," Aunt Stacey said walking into the room. There was a pretty big box in her arms.
"Aunt Stacey you really shouldn't have, you did enough just letting me come live with you this summer," Clare said.
"Oh hush, I spent very little money on this and I know you'll love it," Stacey said she set the box down in front of Clare.
Clare lifted the lid carefully and peered inside. Amidst the purple tissue paper sat an old looking photo album. She took it out and flipped through the pages quickly.
"Is this my mom and dad?" Clare pointed to a picture that looked like Helen and Randall in their early twenties.
"Yup," Stacey said, "they're just pictures of your mom growing up and a bunch of when she was dating your dad. Some of the pictures have little stories on the side, like the one of when your dad met your mom. We were at a baseball game for his university and he hit her with a ball on accident. I made sure he apologized and then told him to take her out. Your mom was hesitant at first because we were still in high school and he was a freshman in college but I made sure to cover for her when she went out with him."
Charlie snorted, "So are you telling me I can date a college guy if I get Clementine to cover for me."
Stacey knocked her daughter over the head with a pillow, "No, you can't."
"Well, we got you almost the same thing Clare," Clementine said pulling out another photo album.
"But instead we filled it with pictures of this summer and our own faces because Lord knows how conceited we are," Olivia teased.
Clare laughed, "Thank you for everything. I'm really, really going to miss you."
"No crying," Aunt Stacey said. "We can cry when we drop Clare off at the airport and that's it."
"We're going shopping tomorrow," Charlie exclaimed excitedly.
"Why?" Clare asked. The last thing she wanted to do on her second to last day was waste time shopping. She'd rather spend it surfing, swimming or with Jake.
"Well, new hair, no glasses," Katie said, "we might as well finish off "new Clare" with a whole bunch of new clothes."
"Ew," Clare said, "I'd rather go surfing instead."
"Night surfing," Charlie said.
"No thank-," Clare started.
"Too bad," Olivia said, "all of us voted and you lost."
Clare groaned.
The next day was spent at the Beverly Centre in Los Angeles. Clare's arms hurt from the bags she was carrying. She had ropes burns on them by the end of the day.
"I think I need another suitcase," Clare said as they were leaving.
"We can buy another one," Clementine pointed out.
"What am I going to do with so many new clothes?"
"Wear them dummy," Charlie said.
"You're helping me pack my stuff," Clare groaned.
By the end of the day Clare was all packed for her midday flight the next day. She bit her lip as she paddled out on her surfboard.
Jake hadn't shown up.
The girls surfed under the moonlight for a few hours. The waves weren't very big but that was for the better since they couldn't really see. Clementine snapped a few more pictures that she would print out and give to Clare for her album.
The next morning Clare woke up as the first rays of sun started shining. She tiptoed down the stairs since everyone else was still asleep. She walked onto the beach and sat by the water, letting it graze her toes.
"Hey," a gruff voice said from behind her.
Clare turned her head and saw Jake walking towards her.
She smiled, "Hi, what are you doing here so early?"
"I guessed that you'd be up to soak in as much sun and ocean before your flight," Jake told her, "and I was right."
"You didn't come yesterday," Clare accused, "I was waiting when I got home from the mall."
"I know, I'm sorry, but I was getting you a present," Jake said.
Clare noticed the white bag in his hand. Jake held it out to her.
She opened the bag and took out the black box inside. She opened that as well and inside there was a snow globe.
She took it out and shook it. Inside there was a volleyball net and a volleyball on the ground.
"Did you know you can get snow globes made?" Jake asked.
Clare shook her head.
"Me either and I drove by this tiny place where they make different mementoes and stuff," Jake said.
"Cool," Clare said shaking the snow globe to see the sand whirl around the tiny ball.
"Yeah, so I took water and sand from this very part of the beach to the guy who makes it. You're taking sand and ocean water home from right here in that little globe," Jake explained, "and the net and ball are supposed to from the day we first met."
"You're cheesy," Clare teased, "but I like it…no I love it. Thank you for this. I get to take the ocean with me."
Jake shrugged, "It's nothing."
"It's beautiful," Clare whispered. She kissed him slowly and realized exactly how much she'd miss Jake. He had put her back together in a few short weeks.
Jake responded eagerly, this kiss more aggressive than any of the ones they'd shared before.
Clare pulled away and leaned with her back against Jake's chest. He held her close and pressed kisses into her shoulder.
"We're so sappy," Jake said suddenly, "what happened to summer only?"
Clare shrugged and lifted her head to kiss his jaw. "I don't know, but I like it."
"I'm going to miss you a lot," Jake whispered, "maybe more than I should. Should I be sorry?"
"No," Clare replied, "I'm going to miss you too."
They sat together on the sand until Stacey called them in.
"Clare your flight leaves in two hours! We have to get you to the airport," Stacey shouted.
They pulled away reluctantly. Jake helped Clare up and she grabbed her snow globe before heading inside.
Her cousins had brought down her suitcases and they were all piled up by the front door.
"I'll help you take them out to the car," Jake whispered.
Clare nodded and they dragged her bags out of the house.
"Have a safe flight," Jake said after he shut the trunk. He turned to leave; Clare furrowed her eyebrows and grabbed his arm. Her family was waiting inside patiently, giving them time, but she knew she had to make this quick.
"That's it?" Clare asked.
"What Clare?" Jake asked.
"C'mon, don't be like that please," she pleaded softly.
"I don't know what you want me to say," Jake said sincerely.
"I don't know either," Clare replied honestly.
"This sucks," Jake scratched the back of his head, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't. We shouldn't. I'm sorry."
Clare nodded, "We can't control our emotions."
"Do you…feel the same way?" He asked, there was a glint of hope in his eyes.
She shook her head, "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," Jake assured, "you aren't the one who broke our agreement. You weren't the one who fell in love with the other."
Clare swallowed and felt a tight knot form in the pit of her stomach.
"I care about you a lot," she whispered. Clare stepped forward and hugged him tightly. "I know it's not the same but I really do care about you."
Jake took a deep breath and let it out slowly, he wrapped his arms around her. He buried his head in her curls, inhaling the smell of coconut and vanilla of her hair.
"Guys we have to go," Charlie called softly from the front door. She felt guilty; this was all her idea in the first place.
"Okay," Clare pulled away from Jake. He pulled her back gently and kissed her softly.
Jake kissed her forehead one more time and smiled. "Be safe."
She nodded and Jake left quickly.
"C'mon sweetie," Aunt Stacey said walking out.
Katie ran out of the house and gave Clare a tight hug, "Keep in touch, okay?"
Clare nodded, hugging her back, "Promise."
"And don't worry too much about Jake, we'll keep an eye on him," she assured Clare.
"Thanks," she pursed her lips.
They climbed in the car and the drive to the airport was silent. Olivia took the front passenger seat while Clementine, Clare, and Charlie squished in the back seat.
The drive felt very short and soon enough they were in front of Clare's terminal.
Everyone got out of the car. A short, stocky teenage boy came with a cart to help Clare get her bags to check-in. He stood aside politely while Clare said her goodbyes.
Olivia was the first to step up and hug Clare. She kissed her cheek and smiled. "You're the fourth sister, okay? Call if you need anything. I'm going to miss you. Charlie's going to be so much more quiet now that her partner in crime is gone."
Charlie stuck out her tongue, wiping away a few stray tears.
Clementine pulled Clare into a hug and discreetly slipped in a few extra pictures Olivia had taken without her noticing. She said nothing but then again Clementine never said much. Her actions always spoke for her.
Clare and Charlie looked at each other for a moment before bursting into tears at the same time. They hugged tightly. "I'm going to miss you so much," Charlie wailed.
Clare nodded into her shoulder, "Me too. You did so much for me! Burned my hair, broke my glasses purposely, and practically made me a new person."
Charlie laughed through her tears, "I'm sorry again about your hair."
Clare giggled, "You have to come to Toronto; you just have to."
Charlie nodded and pulled away.
Clare threw her arms around her Aunt Stacey and cried freely. "Thank you so much for everything. I loved this summer so much and I love you all too. Thank you for bringing me closer to my mom too."
Stacey squeezed the young girl tightly, "Your mom would be so proud of you. You're turning out to be exactly who she prayed you would be."
Clare cried harder.
"Call me when you're home safely, and if you need anything don't hesitate to pick up a phone okay?" Stacey said.
Clare nodded and turned away from them with a small wave. The boy followed her with her bags to the check-in line.
The flight was long and boring, again. She slept through most of it.
"Fasten your seatbelts please," a too perky flight attendant's voice came through the speakers. Clare woke up and rubbed her eyes. "Ladies and gentlemen we are about to land at Toronto Pearson International Airport. For those of you visiting, welcome to our beautiful city. For citizens flying back, welcome home."
Clare shook her head and snatched her bag out of the overhead compartment once the airplane had almost cleared.
She felt the jet-lag pulling at her and carefully walked to the baggage claim. A jolly old man handed her a cart and Clare dropped all of her suitcases onto it before leaving to find her exit.
She yawned as she walked out into the cloudy Toronto day. The airport was way less crowded than LAX and Clare found herself smiling. She spotted her dad at the end of the pick-up lane and ran over excitedly.
"Kiddo," her dad said, "miss you so much."
"I missed you too dad," Clare said wrapping her arms around him.
"Tell me all about your vacation," Randall said as he loaded her bags in the car. "You come back to me barely looking like the girl I dropped off."
Clare laughed and began the retelling of her entire stay – minus a few details of course.
Thoughts?
Clare's burned hair was inspired by real life! Last May I burned my own hair with the hair diffuser...
