"Claire! Claire!"
Claire, feeling a bit frazzled, looked all around trying to figure out who was calling her. The giant stack of books in her arms tottered dangerously. Charlie sprang out of nowhere, catching Claire's heavy Chemistry book before it hit the floor.
"Good morning, Claire," Charlie said sweetly. He reached for her books. "Here, let me take those."
"Thanks, Charlie," Claire muttered. She led him down the hall in the direction of her locker. "What's up?"
"Oh, I was just wondering what you were doing tomorrow night. Friday night," Charlie said.
"I don't know. Why?" Claire asked.
"I was hoping we could hang out," Charlie said.
"Oh-well, I might have to baby-sit," Claire said slowly. Inwardly, she cringed. She knew she didn't have to baby-sit.
"Oh," Charlie said, obviously disappointed. "Well, if you don't have to, I kind of made some plans."
"Ok," Claire said. She took her books from him. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I'll let you know if things change."
-xXx-
Sayid shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He felt like Boone was staring at him, but every time he looked over to check, Boone would look away. He hated being under Boone's finger. It wasn't fair.
First, of course, it sucked that Shannon wasn't allowed to date him. Second, it sucked that they had to date in secret. (No, really, it was kind of fun, in a Romeo-Juliet kind of way, but how depressing is that, what with the suicides at the end?) Third, it sucked that Boone had found them out and threatened to use his new information as blackmail.
Boone should just mind his own business. Doesn't he have his own love life to deal with?
Sayid glanced over again. Boone seemed to be studiously taking notes. Whatever. Boone sucked, but that wasn't going to get in Sayid's way. If he wanted to date Shannon, then that's precisely what he planned to do.
-xXx-
"Hey, Claire," Shannon greeted quietly. She leaned up against the locker next to her friend's. "How are you today?"
"Pretty good," Claire said brightly, glancing at Shannon. She looked terrible. "Shannon, what's wrong?"
"We've been found out," Shannon said. "Sayid and me. By Boone."
Claire made a noise of disgust. "I'm sorry, Shannon."
"I don't think he's told anyone yet, though," Shannon said. "At least, I don't think."
"So there's still a ray of hope," Claire said. She patted Shannon on the arm and closed her locker. "Walk with me a bit. What are you doing tomorrow night?"
"I don't know yet," Shannon replied. "What about you?"
"Well, Charlie asked me out," Claire said.
"Oh, Claire! That's so exciting!" Shannon exclaimed. She noticed the face Claire made. "It's not exciting?"
"I don't know," Claire said. She smiled involuntarily at the thought of Charlie. "I just- I don't know. I said no when I didn't mean to."
"I think you should change your mind," Shannon said. "I mean, you like him, right?"
"Yes," Claire said. She hesitated for a moment. "I suppose you're right. I'll find him later and tell him I'll go."
"Excellent," Shannon said. "At least one of us will be having a nice normal fun relationship."
"What do you mean?" Claire asked.
"Well, Sayid and I can't exactly date out in the open like I'd like," Shannon said. "Who knows though, maybe we can after Boone spills."
"Ok, that's you," Claire said. "What about Kate and Sawyer?"
"Yea, I don't think so. Come on, Claire. It's Sawyer. Either it won't end or it'll end badly. That's his pattern, even if it isn't Kate's," Shannon said.
"I suppose," Claire said, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe it won't be so bad as you think."
"Hopefully you're right. I've got to get to class." Shannon said good-bye and walked off.
-xXx-
"So anyway," Kate continued, "Nikki totally wants to do me in. She gave me the dirtiest look when I took her seat. And her boyfriend- Paulo, or something, he's just creepy. He'd do anything Nikki told him to, even murder, I bet." Kate looked at Sawyer. "Sawyer?"
"Yeah," Sawyer said, shaking the glassy look out of his eyes. "You were talking about your sister's boyfriend. Crazy, that."
"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" Kate asked. Sawyer looked at her apprehensively, but she was smiling. "I don't have a sister."
"You don't? I thought you said you did," Sawyer said, taking a drink of his milk.
"No," Kate said. "So what are you doing this weekend?"
Sawyer hesitated. "I'm not sure. I might have a project to work on. You know, for Spanish."
"Since when do you turn down dates to work on a project for school?" Kate asked. She had yet to lose her smile.
"Well, it's important, you know. I might be able to get out early, though if you wanted me to."
"No, if it's important…you go and work on your project, and I'll give you a call on Saturday night," Kate said.
"Ok, good."
"So what kind of project is it?" Kate asked.
"Oh-just-just a group thing. You know the like," Sawyer replied, his eyes shifting restlessly over the crowd.
"Sure," Kate's smile faded a little. "Who're you working with?"
"Just some girl in my class," Sawyer said. "Look, honey, I have to go catch Jack about something. See you later?"
"Sure," Kate said. Her smile was completely gone as Sawyer got up from the table and she was left to speculate about his Spanish partner.
-xXx-
Ana walked cautiously through the house, following the path that Mrs. Shephard had described to her. She was careful not to touch anything, afraid her fingerprints would mar the perfectly polished things all around. Slipping out the back door, she found herself on a patio in the middle of a gorgeous garden. Just around the corner was a bench. Ana headed for it.
"Jack?"
Jack sat up straighter. "Ana-what are you doing here?"
"Just came to return your chemistry book. We must have taken each other's by mistake," Ana said, holding out the book in her arms.
"Oh, right. Here, let me go get yours," Jack said. He slipped into the house and returned moments later with Ana's book.
"Thanks," Ana said. She nodded to him and took a few steps to the door, but changed her mind. "Hey, Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you a question? You've been pretty out of it the last couple days. Is anything wrong?" Ana asked.
Jack's face contorted into a grimace before he was able to come up with a mask. "No, nothing's wrong."
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't mean to gossip, but I've been-hearing things lately," Ana said slowly.
"What do you mean? What've you been hearing?" Jack asked quickly.
"Oh-I just overheard, ah, Sarah, actually. She was talking about you behind your back. I won't bother to go into detail," Ana said.
"Oh, right, that." Jack sat down heavily on the bench. "We go on one date and suddenly I'm her funniest anecdote."
"It's not that bad," Ana said, sitting down next to him. "I'm sure that not everyone believes what she says. She's all gossip."
"Yeah, well. What girl is gonna want to go out with me once they hear about how horribly I apparently treated Sarah?" Jack scoffed.
"There's a lot of girls that would want to go out with you, I'm sure," Ana said.
Jack shook his head and sighed, as if to say, "Yeah, right."
"No, really. I mean, I think you're a great guy," Ana said. She touched Jack's arm gently to get his attention.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Ana replied.
Jack looked at her. His eyes glinted in the sunlight. He smiled briefly before leaning in to kiss her on the lips.