*Author's Note*
Sorry, Sorry, Sorry! I know I'm late and have been MIA about posting while y'all waited patiently for an update! Obviously, my life has been a little crazy but the truth is that with all of the changes happening in my life I just haven't been in a head space to work on my sweet Quil and Claire! But I want to thank the people that commented asking if I was going to update soon. That was seriously the reason I had enough motivation to get this chapter out! So remember that hearing from you guys is always appreciated and I cannot wait to hear reactions to this chapter! Also, if you are ever confused and wondering when in the world I will ever get around to posting again, check my twitter! t's specifically dedicated to my fanfiction and I usually do a good job of reporting what's happening, what I'm working on, and when I'll be updating again! It's JessMissedHer or MissedJess is my twitter handle! Can't wait to hear from you! Hope you enjoy!
xoxo
Jess
CHAPTER 9
The rest of the weekend past quickly it felt like Claire had blinked and then missed it. On Sunday, Quil took Claire down to La Push to visit his mom, who she hadn't seen in about six months and then had to pretend that everything was the same between them as it had been for the last few years. Quil's mom was on a strictly need to know basis of not fully knowing or understanding everything (or sometimes anything) about the wolves. Quil had already decided he didn't want his mom to know that he was currently dating a sixteen-year-old Claire. She knew that Claire was Quil's imprint but didn't fully understand what that meant and just seemed to always expect Claire to be around as an accessory to Quil.
Quil seemed eager to leave once his mom finished asking her about cheerleading and had started to move on to questioning her about the boys at her school that she must be dating. They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying First Beach even though the constant drizzling rain never let up. Quil wanted to go back to Chubbies again but Claire blatantly refused to go anywhere where they might have the possibility of running into Tina again. They got back to Claire's house in the late afternoon where Jamie immediately begged them to take him to see a movie. Claire took one look at her mom's exasperated face and agreed to his request without even so much as a look at Quil for his opinion before her mother had a chance to lose her cool like she was clearly about to.
They took Jamie to see the latest Disney movie that had come out over the holidays. It was about wolves and Quil kept laughing hilariously in all the wrong parts at the inaccurate portrayal. Claire spent more time watching and laughing at Quil's and Jamie's reactions than the movie itself but cried at the always emotional ending just the same. By the time the movie was over, and they got Jamie home and ready for bed it was past nine thirty and Claire could hear her parents locked away in their room arguing in not always very subdued voices. Quil helped Claire get Jamie situated in bed and they were just making it to Claire's room when her parents decided to make their appearance.
Claire could still hear her mom pacing in their room, but her dad opened the door and seemed surprised to see them in the hall. He quickly looked back and forth between the two of them heading into her room before he looked down at his watch and then back up to say warningly, "You two better say goodnight now…" before turning to glance behind him at his wife.
"But it's only-" Claire started to say but her dad cut across her.
"I'm serious, Claire. It's a school night. Say goodnight and then Quil needs to go."
"It's okay, babe. I'll see you tomorrow." Quil said stepping in front of her to cut her view off from her dad before he kissed her softly.
"Okay…" she said hesitantly before looking up at him and saying, "I love you!"
"I love you too." He said with a smile before he turned around to head down the stairs. "Night, Robert." He said as he past.
"See you, Quil." He responded casually though seeming distracted. As soon as they heard the front door close behind Quil he turned to Claire and said,
"You better get to bed now." as he turned to head back into his room.
"To bed?" Claire muttered to herself in confusion as she went into her room. It wasn't even ten and Rachel wasn't even home yet.
She got ready for bed quickly before she went to sit on her mattress and pulled out the manga novel she had taken from Rachel. She tried to relax for the next few hours but just seemed to feel more and more keyed up as the night went on. She finally flipped off her lights and got under the covers. She thought lying down in the dark would help her to relax but instead she just felt a growing anxiety about going back to school the next day. She had been kept so busy the whole weekend with her family and Quil that she hadn't even thought about going back to the school she had been so desperate to leave behind.
She started to feel like she was going to have an anxiety attack and rolled over to pull her phone off the charger and quickly call Quil. It was past midnight, but she knew that he didn't have patrol, so he should be able to answer. He didn't though, and Claire was getting fidgety and stir crazy. She suddenly knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at all until she had at least some exposure to Quil.
She got out of bed quickly and moved around her room and bathroom throwing things back into her duffle bag she had never unpacked from Tennessee. She grabbed her backpack and went into Rachel's room through their shared bathroom to find her at her desk working on a homework assignment that was clearly due the next day, she looked up when Claire came in.
"Hey, I'm gonna spend the night at Quil's. Can you drop Jamie off at preschool tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that's fine." She turned to answer seeming shocked and confused as she looked at Claire clearly ready to leave. "How are you getting there?"
"I'm just going to walk, it's not far... I know I'm just not going to be able to sleep until I see him…. And Mom and dad both have early days tomorrow, so they won't even notice…"
"Okay…. Well.. I'll see you at school?" Rachel asked concerned.
Claire scoffed and said, "Yeah, at school… that should be fun!"
Rachel gave her a sympathetic face, "Try not to stress about it."
"Easier said than done….. but it's fine. Quil will make me feel better." She said confidently. She was just backing out to sneak down the stairs when Rachel said, "Hey, Claire?"
"Yeah?"
"You're not going to go hook up with Quil or anything are you?" Rachel asked concerned.
"What? No! Rachel, I'm pretty positive he's actually asleep right now… no, the only sleeping together we'll be doing will be literal." Claire assured her, taking a step farther into the room to convey her sincerity.
"Okay good." She nodded as she turned back to her homework before looking back quickly and saying. "You know…. Just because Quil is older doesn't mean you have to have a more mature relationship…."
"Oh, I know! Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything we'd both just regret." Claire assured her. Rachel just nodded in response in a way that made Claire feel concerned.
"You too… you know that, right?"
"What?" Rachel asked confused.
"Just because Travis gave you a promise ring and told you he loves you doesn't mean you have to have a mature relationship." Claire assured her confidently.
Rachel just smiled as she nodded her head and said, "I know."
Claire smiled as she backed away before turning and making her way out of her bathroom and remembered to grab her phone charger before she quickly snuck down the stairs and out the backdoor since it would draw less notice than the front before she quickly walked the five minutes to Quil's shop she hadn't been to in five weeks.
She instantly felt a sense of coming home as she came up to the door of the shop and reached to turn the handle. The door was locked which made sense since it was getting close to one in the morning. Claire looked around trying to think of the best way to get in if she couldn't wake Quil up. She walked around the corner of the building and looked down to see a big rock sitting on the ground next to the wall.
She picked it up to find a spare key underneath. She laughed out loud when she realized that she knew Quil's brain so well it had taken her less than ten seconds to find his hidden key. She let herself in before she locked the door behind her again and made her way up the stairs to his apartment while her anticipation grew with every step she took.
By the time she made it to the door on the landing her heart was pounding, and she swallowed a little nervously before she opened the door. It was dark inside, and she could see Quil sleeping in his bed like she had expected him to be, with Butch asleep on his doggy bed. She was surprised that neither of them had woken up when she quietly opened the door but was grateful she hadn't disturbed them as she snuck in and dropped her duffle and backpack by the door. She slipped off her shoes and unzipped the jacket she had thrown on top of her pajama tank top before she grabbed her phone charger out of the front pocket of her backpack where she had stuck it. She took the spare key for the shop she had just grabbed and then quietly walked around the bed where she set her jacket and the key down on the coffee table before she went to the kitchen where she quietly filled a glass of water from the sink. She saw Quil start to stir a little when she turned on the tap before she crept where she put her glass on the coffee table only a few feet from her side of the bed and then connected her phone to the charger that she plugged into the wall before stuffing it between the pillow and the mattress since there was no nightstand on her side of the bed before she climbed under the covers.
She tried to lay flat on her back to go to sleep as she listened to Quil breathing the same way she had slept in Tennessee, but her heart just seemed to keep pounding hyperactively. Finally, after what felt like an eternity later Quil rolled from his side facing away from her to his back and she immediately took the opportunity to roll over to him and wrap her arm around his chest as she pulled her leg up to wrap around his where she bent her leg and hooked her foot below his knee. She sighed, finally comfortable as she tucked her face into the space between his shoulder and his neck. He pulled his right arm up to touch her arm across his chest and placed his hand on her shoulder. He seemed to wake up a bit as he sighed out quietly to her, "Hi."
"Hi." She said back just as quietly since she was finally tired enough to go to sleep.
She yawned as her pulse finally slowed and she stretched herself lower onto the mattress so that she was deeper under the sheets as she held on tighter to Quil. She was just drifting off when it finally occurred to her that Quil wasn't wearing any clothes besides his underwear that he normally slept in and she wondered if she should be concerned about sleeping in his bed with him like that. But she was tired and didn't want to over think things, so she just brushed the thought aside as she quickly fell to sleep across Quil's chest.
Claire woke up the next morning to her backup alarm blaring on her phone. She must have slept through her 6 o'clock and 6:15 alarm. She had to untangle herself from Quil before she could roll over and find her phone under her pillow. The ringing alarm just got louder as she pulled it out from the pillow muffling it causing Quil to groan at the interruption to his sleep. She quickly turned it off before she double checked the time. She knew that it had to be six thirty from the ring tone of the alarm, but she just couldn't believe it was actually that late from how tired she was.
She groaned as she let her face fall completely into the pillow while she muttered "Crap…" to herself, school would be starting in forty-five minutes and she seriously needed to get moving. She had rolled over on top of Quil's arm to reach her phone and she could feel him pulling at her and curling his fingers in against her stomach as he sleepily tried to get her to roll back to him. She pulled her face back up to breath and blew out a mouthful of hair before she ignored his silent offer to go back to bed with him as she quickly rolled off the mattress.
Now that she was waking up a bit there was a panic starting to set in about being late for school. She ran to her duffle bag yanking off her tank top from over her camisole as she went. She threw it on the floor next to her bag before she opened it to pull out her toiletry bag. She stood up and stripped off her pajama pants to reveal her pink lace panties underneath. She dropped her pants on the floor next to her tank top before she ever stopped to wonder for the first if she should really strip all of her clothes off in Quil's apartment right in front of him. She quickly turned to evaluate his reaction and was relieved to see him still facing her side of the bed away from her with his eyes still closed. She blew out a breath before she grabbed her whole duffle since it had her clothes in it and quickly shut herself in the bathroom. She started the shower so that it would heat up as she started digging through her toiletries looking for her shampoo, conditioner and razor. She realized she had forgotten to pack them in her rush to get there the night before. She bit her lip in a panic since she didn't have time to go home to shower before school.
She looked up to see Quil's Old Spice shampoo sitting in the shower next to his razor. She just scoffed at herself before she stripped the rest of her clothes off and quickly got in the now too hot shower. She figured they were dating now anyways and he wouldn't mind sharing, right?
At least that was what she hoped as she grabbed the shampoo that smelled distinctly masculine and got to work on her hair before using his razor to shave her legs with his body wash. He didn't have any conditioner, so she just gave up and hoped out of the shower five minutes later. She was grateful that the small bathroom had steamed up so much from her hot shower as she got out and didn't freeze immediately like she usually did. She quickly grabbed a towel from off the rack and wrapped it around herself as she dug for clothes in her duffle bag. She had packed so quickly that she hadn't really packed at all and had simply taken what she hadn't unpacked from her bag yet. She dug through to find the only underwear she had was a couple pairs of elastic workout thongs she had bought for cheer and a new pushup bra that was an electric purple.
She sighed as she settled for what she had and was simply grateful to have found clean underwear at all at this point. She pulled her underwear on after quickly ripping tags off and used the towel from around her body to wrap around her hair as she looked for clothes. She quickly assessed the options in her bag before she pulled on a pair of cropped brown linen shorts that came mid-thigh and a plain dusty pink V-neck t-shirt with a white fitted blazer over top of it. She had bought the shorts and the blazer separately in Tennessee and had never worn them before. She was surprised with how much she liked the outfit especially when she was working with such limited options. It was something she probably wouldn't have normally put together but had reminded her of the way the other Claire at the airport had put herself together and decided if it worked well for her today she would need to log it away for future use.
She quickly shoved aside her duffle bag as she took the towel out of her hair that was a tangled wet mess from its lack of conditioning. She pulled some lotion out of her toiletries bag and rubbed it onto her smooth legs before she pulled out her toothbrush and then used Quil's toothpaste since she had clearly left hers at home with everything else. She stuck it in her mouth as she tried to yank a brush through her hair for a minute before giving up and digging through her bag again as she tried to simultaneously brush her teeth. She was incredibly grateful when she found a bottle of hair oil at the bottom of her bag and quickly poured a copious amount in her palm before rubbing it all vigorously through her hair. She was finally able to pull the brush through it before she toweled out the moisture one more time and hung the towel back up.
She rinsed her mouth in the sink before packing her toothbrush back up and applying a primer to moisturize her face. She grabbed her duffle and then opened the door to find Quil sitting up in bed like he had just woken up and looking a little confused. She hadn't noticed but his hair was definitely shorter, so he must have had it cut after he had left the night before. It was shorter on the back and sides with a little extra length at the top that had plenty of volume right now after he had just woken up and made her smile in response.
"Hi!" She said brightly as she dropped her bag by the door again and smiled at him. She ignored how late she was already running as she shoved her wet hair aside and moved to the bed to climb on to his lap and greet him excitedly.
"Hi." He responded a little confused as he wrapped his arms around her back where she was kneeling between his legs as he sat in bed. "You look nice." He said sincerely. She just laughed since her hair was still dripping wet and she hadn't had a chance to do her makeup yet.
"Thanks!" She said as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I like the hair cut!" She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her fingers through the back of his hair.
"Thanks. Have you been here all night?" He asked.
"Maybe…" she admitted coyly with a small shrug.
"Everything okay at home?" He asked obviously concerned.
"I think so…" she responded still concerned about her parents. "I was just really nervous about today and wanted to be with you instead of alone."
"Well, then I'm glad you came." He told her as he rubbed his hands comfortingly up her back. "How did you get in after I locked the door to the shop?" He asked surprised and confused.
"I found your spare key." She said as she pointed to the key she had left on the coffee table as Butch jumped up on the bed to lay next to the two of them together.
Quil laughed in response before he said easily, "Just keep it for next time."
"Are you sure?" She asked concerned that she was pressuring him into something.
"Yeah, of course. Who else would I give it to?" He said confidently, "Hey, why do you smell so different?" He asked her suddenly sounding concerned.
Claire started laughing at the thought before she said, "I smell like you, Quil."
He just raised his eyebrows and cocked his head in surprise as she explained, "I may have borrowed your shampoo…. And your body wash….. and your razor…."
Quil laughed before he said sarcastically, "Oh, is that all!?"
Claire bit her lip before she admitted, "…And your toothpaste….. Sorry! I forgot everything, and I didn't have time to go home to get ready…"
"Claire, you can use whatever you want…. Especially if it involves you waking up here next to me." He told her confidently as he tightened his arms around her and pulled her closer. She beamed up at him in response before she caught a glimpse of the clock on his night stand that read, 7:02.
"Eh! I'm going to be so late!" She squeaked nervously before she looked at him and asked, "What are the chances that you have a blow dryer here?"
"Um, one hundred percent zero" he said.
Claire cracked up in response, "One hundred percent zero? That makes no sense!" She replied as he pulled his arms from around her back to her waist where he started tickling her mercilessly while he said, "It makes perfect sense! There is one hundred percent zero chance that I have a blow dryer here!"
He laughed as she fell over onto her side almost landing on top of Butch as she collapsed to try to escape his tickles. She sighed as she placed her casted wrist on his leg next to her and felt completely contented for a second before she remembered the time in a panic and said urgently, "I gotta get ready!" She pushed up against his legs, hopped up and ran back to the bathroom in a hurry.
"So, who is it that you're dressing up for at school?" Quil teased her from his spot on the bed as she started fish-tail braiding her hair around her cast from behind her right ear to over her left shoulder.
"Uh… can't I just be trying to impress you my first week home?" She asked from the bathroom.
"Um, I want to say yes because I really like that idea except for the fact that you are literally getting ready as you run out the door!" He replied, and Claire laughed before she responded.
"I am just REALLY worried that today is going to suck…. Everyone is going to be talking about me and how I disappeared the day that Bennett started dating Macy…."
"Maybe it won't be that bad…" he said optimistically as he made his way into the bathroom before grabbing his toothbrush from around her.
"Uh!" She said nervously as she made it over her shoulder with the braid. "I really hope so! I just wish you were going to be there with me to help me through it!"
He wrapped an arm lovingly around her waist as he mumbled, "I'm sorry, baby." around his toothbrush before he leaned around her to spit into the sink before he rinsed his mouth and said honestly, "I love you, Claire, but I have no desire to go back to high school!"
"Uh!" Claire scoffed teasingly at him as she rolled her eyes and bounced nervously before she grabbed a hair tie from her toiletries bag and wrapped it around the end of her braid. She grabbed at her makeup bag and started urgently applying a taupe colored eye shadow.
"Did you know that Jake was planning on redoing high school with Renesmee before she got pregnant the first time!?" Quil told her in disbelieve like Jake was somehow the world's biggest idiot.
"I believe it… Jake would do anything for his imprint…" she teased as she pulled out an eyeliner pencil and started below her eye before working back all the way to the top of her lash line. She used her finger to blend out her lower liner, so she wouldn't look so much like Rachel going through her goth phase a few years back.
"I'd do anything for you… there are just some things I'm willing to beg you to not ask me to do…." He teased simply.
Claire smiled and rolled her eyes at him as she grabbed her mascara and started vigorously layering away at her lashes.
"Well fortunately for you, I'm never going to ask you to repeat high school." She assured him.
"Hallelujah for that!" He said as he stepped all the way behind her to wrap both of his arms around her as he watched her do her makeup.
She chuckled as she grabbed a nude colored extra thick and glossy lip-gloss and started heavily applying it to her lips before she stuck it in her back pocket to take to school with her before she grabbed her bronzer and a brush and started buffing out under cheeks then hitting her hair line and then dropping it for her blush. She quickly dipped the same brush against it before she swiped it across her cheeks and then threw everything back in her makeup bag on the side of the small sink. She grabbed a pair of sparkly, long dangling earrings from the side pocket of her toiletry bag and stuck them in her ears before she grabbed the rose gold watch Rachel had given to her for Christmas and slapping it to her wrist. She grabbed the small travel sized can of hairspray before she looked at Quil in the mirror over her shoulder and said,
"You better stand back…"
He took one look at the can in her hand and immediately dropped her waist and stepped out of the bathroom before she closed her eyes and sprayed it directly into her face to hopefully set her makeup before moving around to hit her hair with it all in one shot before she threw it back in her bag and ran out of the bathroom for her duffle. She looked at the clock behind her as she grabbed a pair of socks and started pulling them on, it was 7:17.
"Eek! School just started!" She squeaked as she started pulling on her navy-blue converses. "How quickly can you be ready to take me to school?"
Quil shook his head before he said simply, "Just take my car."
"What?" She said shocked as she quickly tied her shoes, "I can't take your car!"
"Why not? I'm not going to be ready to take you any time soon." (he gestured down to his body where Claire wished she had enough time to notice more that he was still only in his boxer briefs.) "Plus I work here, remember? You'll be back by like what, 2:30? I don't need to go anywhere before that." He reasoned.
"Alright, if you're sure…" she agreed since she really needed to go as quickly as possible. "Keys?" She asked as she grabbed her backpack off the floor and stood up.
"Here!" He said as he went to his nightstand and then surprised her when he started digging through the drawer instead of tossing her his keys that were on top of it. He pulled out an extra set of keys to his car before he tossed them to her. "There's your set."
"You want me to have a set of keys to your car?" Claire asked in shock.
He rolled his eyes at her and shrugged his shoulders like he was exasperated at her disbelieve.
"We can talk about it later!" She reasoned quickly as she slid the keys in the front pocket of her bag as she backed to the door.
"Did you get something to eat, yet?" He asked her.
She shook her head as she opened the door and said, "I don't have time. I'll have to wait for lunch."
He had sat back down on the edge of his bed after tossing her the keys from his nightstand, but he quickly reached into the still open drawer and said, "Here!" before he tossed her a power bar.
"Thanks!" She said as she vaguely wondered how long it had been in there. She was backing out of the door in a rush to get to the car when Quil said,
"Wait, you forgot something…"
"What?" She asked confused as she went through her mental checklist and looked at her duffle and toiletry bag she had left on the floor.
He cleared his throat significantly and she looked up to see him smiling teasingly at her as he patted his cheek with his index finger. She laughed as she quickly crossed the room letting the door smack back closed behind her before she reached him and put her hands around the back of his neck and into his hair as she bent to softly kiss the side of his cheek where he was still sitting on the edge of the mattress. He quickly reached his hand behind her and started brushing the back of her thigh from the inside of her knee to just under the hem of her shorts that fell just above the middle of her thighs and then raised his eyebrows at her in approval of her soft legs. She rolled her eyes before she held his face still to kiss his lips softly for a minute before she pulled back and said, "Bye, Quil!"
"Bye, baby!" He said obviously happily contented with her goodbye.
She rushed quickly to the door calling behind her, "I love you! You have lip-gloss all over your face!"
She was already hurrying down the stairs when she heard him call after her, "Uh-oh, don't tell my girlfriend!"
She laughed as she ran to unlock the door to the shop before hurrying to the Camaro and pushing the button on the handle to unlock it. She was grateful that Quil had preset her seat setting as she hit the second button and started the car as she threw her backpack into the passenger seat. As soon as her seat was in position she used her awkward right hand to force the car into reverse before hitting the gas and pulling out forcefully though surprisingly smoothly.
Thanks to the power in the Camaro (and having a thorough knowledge of which corners to avoid where the local cops liked to set speed traps) Claire made it to school in three minutes so that the late bell was just ringing as she pulled into a spot halfway up the student lot. She figured she was already late, so she pulled her gloss out of her back pocket and reapplied what she had just kissed off all over Quil's face. She took a deep breath to savor the feeling of tranquility that seeing Quil and then being in his Camaro had left in her before she grabbed her bag and ran for the school making sure to lock the car behind her.
She was becoming too familiar with the sensation of every single head turning to stare at her as she walked in late (and slightly out of breath) to algebra two. She blushed as a mass of flurries greeted her entrance. The teacher took one look at her before rolling his eyes and going back to copying an equation out of the book onto the board. Claire tried to act like the entire class wasn't talking about her as she quickly made her way to her empty seat next to Bennett.
Bennett was smiling hugely at her like he was absolutely psyched to see her. "Hey, Claire! It's so great to have you back again!" He said excitedly as he leaned across his desk to kiss her surprised cheek the way they had at the bonfire, apparently this was a regular greeting between them now. Claire was just grateful that Macy didn't have this class with them. "You can finally explain all of these equations to me!" He continued as the whole class started buzzing in response to his greeting.
"Uh, hi Bennett… good to see you!" She responded a minute late as he pulled back from her cheek with a curious look on his face like he knew a secret before he said meaningfully, "Had a good first weekend back, did you?"
Claire didn't understand his meaning and pulled her book out of her bag as she said confused, "Yeah, it was good."
He chuckled before he looked back at the board and said in an even more loaded tone, "I bet it was!"
"Okay, what are you taking about?" Claire finally asked quietly while looking directly at him.
He bit on the end of his pen while he pretended to be pondering an equation as the teacher turned to look at them just like everyone else in the room was. Claire quickly started flipping through her textbook at random just to appear busy. As soon as he turned back to the board Bennett leaned across the aisle to tug softly on the end of Claire's still wet braid and said teasingly, "I didn't think Quil's shower was even big enough for two people…"
Claire gasped as she immediately brought her left hand all the way across the aisle to smack at his chest hard. Fortunately, he was a wolf and it didn't actually hurt him, but it was a loud smack and they immediately had the entire classes attention again. Claire looked directly down at her book while she felt her face burn which she was sure wouldn't help to correct Bennett's crass assumption. She realized that he must have smelled Quil and his body wash all over her and her wet hair when he went to kiss her cheek. She heard him chuckling at her reaction as he copied the problems off the board.
"It wasn't like that!" She insisted into her textbook knowing that with his now advanced hearing he would easily pick it up.
"How many ways are there to take a shower together?" He laughed across the aisle at her.
"Shhh!" She whispered dramatically as at least four heads turned back in their direction after obviously hearing his comment.
Bennett looked apologetic as he realized how many people overheard his flippant remark.
Claire waited a solid two minutes until the class had gone back to paying attention before she turned sharply to Bennett and whispered.
"We didn't shower together! I stayed the night last night and showered there this morning but that's it, so can you please stop before you ruin my reputation even more!"
Bennett looked surprised and regretful as he said, "Okay, I'm sorry, Claire. I was just messing around!"
Claire huffed out, agitated and flustered for a moment before she decided she needed to let it go and said, "It's fine…. It's just not exactly the reputation I want and it's basically the one I already have…"
Bennett nodded and seemed perplexed before he said, "There's got to be something I can do to fix that, right?"
Claire softened at his willingness to do anything to help her and smiled at him before she said softly, "Yeah! Don't make sex jokes about me and Quil in first period algebra!"
He chuckled in response before the teacher turned to give them the stink eye and they both immediately became instantly focused on the lesson.
The rest of the morning was an interesting mix of having to constantly pretend she didn't know that all the whispers around her were about her and avoiding Macy in home economics where she was blatantly ignoring Claire's existence. The thing that Claire didn't understand was why with each passing period it seemed like the whispering grew louder and more insistent instead of fading off. By the time lunch came around Claire literally couldn't move anywhere in the school without causing a huge stir. People would grow silent and stare at her when they caught sight of her before moving to the extremes to stay out of her way and then continuing their whispered conversations the second she had passed by.
Claire was just counting down the seconds until school would end and she could leave. When she realized that she had Quil's Camaro at the school with her she was immediately tempted to just give up on the whole thing and run for dear life but remembered how many weeks of the semester she had already missed and knew she needed to stick it out if she planned to avoid summer school due to a lack of credits.
She was standing in the lunch line waiting to pay for her salad when her friend Katie ran up to her and said shocked and confused, "Claire, you're dating a twenty-five-year-old!?"
"What?" Claire asked shocked. She and Quil had agreed weeks ago that it was best if no one at school knew they were dating and she had been there all of three hours before the news had apparently broken. "Who told you that!?"
"I can't say…" Katie said unhelpfully like she was being loyal or something. "So, it's true then!?"
"No! Of course, not!" Claire immediately assured her as she took a step forward in the crowded line. She wasn't actually dating a twenty-five-year-old so it wasn't even a lie.
"Then whose car did you drive to school this morning? It's all over that you showed up in some fancy muscle car just to make it clear to Bennett that you moved on to bigger things!" Katie replied concerned.
Claire just stood there with her mouth hanging open having zero explanation to give that would explain that away. She snapped her mouth shut and took another step forward in line as she shook her head vigorously before she said, "No, Katie! I mean I did have to borrow the car but it's not like that! Really!"
Katie rolled her eyes taking Claire's answer as a confirmation of the rumors and unfortunately Claire was next in line so there wasn't anything she could do as Katie walked away toward their table. Claire quickly paid for her lunch and then went to follow Katie to the usual table that they sat at but stopped when she saw Katie sitting back down across from Macy who was whispering intensely into Bennett's ear next to her while continuing to turn to cast dirty looks at Claire as Bennett frowned down at the table while he listened to whatever Macy was railing into him about. He turned to her and started to whisper something back looking agitated, but she seemed to shut him down by cutting him off with a look that said she was not messing around. He huffed like he was frustrated but nodded at her before she seemed satisfied and turned to face away from him. Claire quickly decided that she did not want to get within ten feet of them and turned to scan the room for a different table to sit at.
The problem was that as soon as she looked away from Macy and Bennett she noticed that everyone around her was staring at her like they were waiting for her to break into song or something. She swallowed nervously in response before she finally spotted an empty table towards the back of the room, the only problem was that she would have to walk past her usual table to get to it. She quickly started moving, desperate to get out of the unwarranted spot light. Every table she past immediately became silent as she walked by. Her heart was pounding as she moved closer to the table where all her friends were sitting with Macy and Bennett. Every single one grew completely silent before they turned to watch her walk past except for Bennett who seemed to be determinedly making eye contact with Macy and having some sort of silent argument with her.
The intention was obvious to Claire, Macy was putting her foot down. If Bennett so much as made eye contact with her Macy was clearly going to make sure he regretted it. Claire did her best to not appeared bothered by the situation of now being ostracized as she walked past quickly and made her way to the empty table. She immediately sat down and pulled Rachel's manga out of her bag wishing she had the same lunch schedule as her sister so that she wouldn't have to eat alone.
She tried earnestly to focus on the graphic novel in front of her and not on all of the whispers and stares around her as she ate her lunch. She pasted a solid ten minutes in total agony wanting to flee the school again and wondering if leaving the country this time would get her far enough away. She managed to maintain her composer as she imagined which places Quil would most want to go and what they would do together in different exotic locations around the world. Claire lost herself so completely in the daydream planning as she stared happily at her salad instead of the abandoned book in her front of her that she was completely shocked when the chair next to her pulled out and someone sat down. She looked up in surprise to see Macy's use-to-be boyfriend Caleb, the senior who was also on the football team, sitting right next to her.
"Hey, Caleb!" She said surprised. She hadn't seen him since that day Bennett had imprinted on Macy and he had left lunch early.
"Hey, Claire." He said casually like they saw each other every day. "You mind if I sit here?"
She laughed before she gestured around her and said, "Take your pick, I have a few seats to spare if you haven't noticed."
He chuckled at her response and nodded while Claire noticed that he hadn't brought anything over with him. She took another bite of her salad since she hadn't ever had a one on one conversation with Caleb before and wasn't sure what she should say.
"You're looking good." He noted. "Where ever you ran off to these last few weeks really paid off for you."
"Um, thanks…" she answered a little awkwardly. "Tennessee. That's where I was. I went to work my aunts ranch in Tennessee."
She couldn't explain why she felt the need to explain this, but it was suddenly incredibly important to her that he knew that while she had run away she was at least productive and hadn't spent her time wallowing in pain.
"Cool." He answered a little vaguely before he looked over at the table where they both used to sit and then clenched his hand that had been laying on top of the table into a fist.
It suddenly occurred to Claire that the last few weeks she had been gone couldn't have been the best for him here either.
"How are you doing with everything, Caleb?" She asked sincerely. "Things here must have been great…" she finished sarcastically.
He scoffed out a chuckle before he looked back at her and said, "Yeah getting dumped by a sophomore for Bennett Callahan isn't exactly the dream."
Claire frowned and nodded sympathetically imagining his pain. She noticed that at least two tables next to them seemed to have stopped all conversation just to watch them.
"But I don't need to explain it to you, you know exactly what I'm talking about… who would have thought that Bennett'd turn out to be such a douche?" He continued annoyed while shooting another look back at the resentful table.
Claire just shrugged with a noncommittal look on her face. She knew there wasn't really anything she could say to make him feel better about the situation and she had no explanations to give him for why Bennett had seemingly dumped her or why he had suddenly decided he needed to be with Macy like his life depended on it.
"But hey," he said suddenly making direct eye contact with her next to him before he put his hand directly on her bare thigh high enough that the tips of his fingers were under her shorts. "I did hear a rumor that you were into trying new things now that you're done with him… we can get out of here if you want."
Claire was shocked at his completely unexpected come-on but had enough of a clear head to remember that because so many people were already watching them, if she wasn't careful the whole thing would turn into a huge scene.
She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand off her leg before immediately dropping it and turning her face to look past him. She whispered with her face next to his so that he could hear her, but it wouldn't look like she was talking to him as she distinctly said, "Caleb, I don't know what you heard, but I'm not the kind of girl that's into 'getting out of here and trying new things'… no matter who Bennett is dating."
"Come on…" he responded confidently completely unfazed by her rejection as he snaked his hand below the table to her waist so that his hand was on her hip as he slowly lifted his fingers under her t-shirt so that he was touching the skin of her stomach as he said. "Macy was hesitant at first too, but she definitely wasn't complaining by the time I was finished with her... actually she was screaming my name…"
"Get off of me!" Claire snapped loudly as she smacked his hand away from her with her cast as she stood up. "Don't touch me, Caleb! And don't talk about Macy like that! I don't care what she did to you, she's my friend and I don't want to hear it!"
She didn't realize that she had yelled it at him until she looked around to see the entire cafeteria staring at her.
"Whoa! Okay, you're way overreacting…" Caleb responded calmly as he held his hands up in a small surrender.
Claire immediately grabbed her bag and Rachel's manga off the table before she said quietly since she still seemed to have the entire rooms attention on her but with complete confidence, "Stay away from me, Caleb."
She went to walk away but he had grabbed her left wrist to hold her there.
"Can't you just chill and sit down and talk about this for a minute?" He asked like she was being completely ridiculous. She was still facing away from him towards the doors of the cafeteria and noticed Bennett stand up as he shook off Macy's hands that were obviously trying to hold him there before he started walking toward them. He was still forty feet away and Claire desperately wanted to end the situation before she needed Bennett to break it up for her.
"Uh, no I can't! Now let me go, Caleb!" She said warningly while looking down at him.
He looked at her with an annoyed expression on his face before he looked past to see Bennett thirty feet away and incoming and dropped her arm before he said, "Damn. So uptight!"
Claire immediately walked away without looking back.
"Are you okay?" Bennett asked her the second she reached him, clearly frustrated and concerned about what had just happened with her and Caleb. She just bit her lip and shook her head slightly as she went to walk silently past him since she didn't trust herself not to cry and had no desire for this to be any more of a scene than it already was.
He wouldn't let her just walk past though and put both of his hands on the tops of her arms as she tried, so that she had to turn around and face him.
"Claire?" Bennett asked in concerned frustration while she noticed his hands shaking roughly on her arms.
"Just let it go, Bennett. You aren't helping things here!" She whispered back surprisingly calmly while gesturing with her head at what seemed to be the entire room still watching.
He hesitated to let her go while he shook harder than ever. Claire had been about to pull away and just walk out when she suddenly realized that he was losing full control and his shaking went beyond regular human emotions. She hesitated for a microsecond before she realized that she couldn't just abandon him to potentially phase right there in the cafeteria.
She blew out an agitated breath before she took a large step forward, closing the gap between them. She wrapped her casted arm around his neck while she threaded her left under his arm and around his back and hugged herself to him as tightly as she could before she stood on her toes and whispered to him.
"Just breath, Bennett. You can do this. Just breath!"
He was still shaking violently, and she squeezed him tightly as she tried to contain his explosion with her own body. He just moaned to her softly like he couldn't contain it within him.
She closed her eyes to shut out the room of witnesses around her as she whispered into his ear. "Close your eyes."
He seemed to stiffen slightly like he was shocked by her request.
"Close your eyes." She repeated softly with her chin on his shoulder. "We aren't here…We're at First Beach… It's just you and me and there isn't anyone else around, okay?"
She felt him nodded desperately as her body shuddered with each of his vibrations. She immediately shoved Quil as far out of her mind as possible knowing exactly how upset he would be if he knew she was attempting to contain Bennett's reaction instead of running from it.
"Just breath with the waves, Bennett. In. Out. In. Out." She told him calmly doing her best to sync her mind with his and force everything around her away from herself. "It's so peaceful… There's so much motion, but it's so consistent… Just like you, Bennett. It's going, going, going, just like you are, but it's still calm too, you know?"
She felt him bark out a small laugh at her description of him as his shakes seem to space farther apart.
"That's it! Just imagine the waves, Bennett. Breath with the waves!" She told him confidently. "In and out… just like the tide, alright?"
She felt him nod and breath slowly as his tremors seemed to reduce to quivers. She kept going since it seemed to be working.
"The tide rolls in….. and out….. breath in….. and out…." She directed him as she felt him obediently follow her commands until he seemed to take one huge breath in and pull his last shiver deep with inside himself before he stopped breathing and was completely still.
Claire held her own breath and waited for a moment before he blew out and was no longer shaking. She pulled back and opened her eyes as she put her hands on the tops of his arms and forced herself to look only at him.
"You good?" She asked sincerely as she looked directly into his eyes that now seemed about a thousand years older and like he had the wait of the entire world on his shoulders.
He just nodded silently at her before she looked around to see the entire room staring mesmerized at them including Caleb still sitting at the table she had abandoned twenty feet away.
She felt Bennett squeeze the top of her right arm above her cast and say, "Sorry, Claire… that was…. stupid…."
She shook her head slightly before she asked, "You really, okay, Bennett?"
She didn't want to let go of him until she was completely sure. He nodded his head emphatically as he said, "Yeah, I just saw that asshole grab you and I completely lost it…. Man, Quil is going to be so pissed!"
Claire quickly dropped his arms, sure that he would be fine and started to back away as she whispered softly so that only he would hear, "You let me worry about Quil, you go find your girlfriend…." since she had seen Macy walk out in a huff when she had hugged herself to him and put her head on his shoulder before she closed her eyes.
Bennett looked back at the table he had abandoned in shock like he had completely forgotten about his girlfriend, "Shit! Mace!" He said softly while rubbing at his jaw in the same way Quil did when he was stressed or agitated. Claire just shook her head and turned her back to him and everything else in the stupid high school that was determined to tear her down and walked out of the cafeteria to the sound of complete silence while every pair of eyes stared at her. She reached the door as quickly as she could and pushed it open to make her escape only to run directly into the dean.
"Ms. Young! Just who I was looking for! Would you please escort me to my office to discuss your attire?" He said in the same borderline creepy way he always seemed to speak to her.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…" Claire muttered in complete disbelief, she hadn't even shut the door on the scene in the cafeteria behind her yet.
He just raised an eyebrow and cocked his head as he looked at her seriously and then placed a hand on the top of her arm before reaching the other one out to indicate that she walk ahead of him. She moved quickly until she was out of his reach and then marched as quickly as she possibly could down the hall to his office.
When they reached the dean's office, Claire waited with her arms folded defensively across her chest as the dean opened the door and then ushered her in.
"Okay, what is this about? I'd really just like to get to class…" Claire began before they had even walked past the receptionist's desk and into the dean's interior office. She noticed a small pile of yard signs leaning against the wall that all read 'Re-Elect City Councilman Witmore. The man you can trust!'
Claire had forgotten that the dean was on the city council but immediately thought he probably wasn't nearly as trustworthy as he wanted to seem.
"Please, have a seat, Miss Young." The dean said calmly like he had all the time in the world to keep Claire for as long as he liked.
Claire blew out a sigh of frustration as she sat in front of his desk. She was completely caught off guard and immediately felt uncomfortable when he chose to sit in the seat next to her instead of across the desk from her like she had expected him to. She quickly slid to the extreme far end of her seat as she faced her body towards him instead of sitting side by side. She didn't even try to hide her discomfort from this man who she never wanted to be left alone in a room with.
"Relax, Claire." He said casually while obviously noticing her posture. "I just want to have a conversation. I'm here to help you…."
"Can we leave the door open, please?" Claire immediately asked not trusting him in her personal space where he was sitting only a foot away from her.
He sighed like he was annoyed before he said, "If that makes you more comfortable…."
As he stood up to open the door again Claire took the opportunity to move her chair six inches farther away and then turned it to face his chair so that when he sat down again he would be across from her instead of to the side. She could hear him mumbling something to the receptionist but couldn't tell what he said as he turned to notice her movement.
He sighed again, and it instantly remind Claire of Caleb's reaction to her moments earlier when he had said she was overreacting. He sat back down and angled his seat towards her so that he could look directly at her.
"Okay, Claire. Why don't you tell me what's going on here…" he said like he was amused as he gestured up and down at her from her converses to her white blazer and braid.
"What? My outfit meets all of the dress code requirements…" Claire said as she forced herself to grab onto the arms of her chair to keep from folding her arms across her chest. This man made her feel incredibly uncomfortable and she didn't want to give him any more power over her by acting defensively.
"Technically yes… but the dress code is also on a case by case basis that is left to my personal discretion." He explained as he put his fingers together in front of his mouth before he seemed to examine her from head to foot. Claire shivered in response and immediately caved and folded her arms across her chest as she crossed her legs and sat in as defensive of a posture as she could.
"So, then what's wrong with it that you felt the need to pull me in here?" Claire asked trying to keep her voice steady and even instead of accusatory. She was suddenly grateful that she had made him leave the door open after the way he had looked at her a moment earlier as he seemed to take in her entire outfit.
"…. It's provocative…." He seemed to justify before saying, "This isn't just about your outfit today though… I'm concerned with some behaviors I've seen from you and some reports I've been hearing…."
Claire just raised her eyebrows at him before she said, "…Like?" She had never had any problems in school ever before and besides the incident with her ripped jeans and sheer white shirt she had never even been to the dean's office. She hadn't even been to school in five weeks and she couldn't see how her current outfit could possibly be construed as provocative since she was wearing a t-shirt and a blazer even if she was wearing shorts.
"Like the reports that you were propositioning Bennett Callahan to take a shower with you this morning in first period…." He answered while continuing to stare at her like he was evaluating her reaction.
"What?" She scoffed out with a laugh. "Who told you that!?"
The dean simply shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to the side while he seemed to continue his never-ending gaze of visual appraisal.
"Well, it's not true…. Feel free to bring Bennett in here and ask him, he'll tell you that never happened…." Claire said reasonably.
"Because I could expect him to admit to it if you did proposition him?" He asked skeptically.
"Yes." Claire answered simply knowing that Bennett would never lie about it even if she had propositioned him.
He just looked at her skeptically for a moment before he seemed to switch tactics and said, "Let's talk about your outfit…. Why did you choose to wear this today?"
Claire looked down at herself to realize that while she was crossing her arms together so tightly she was squishing her cleavage up and out of her shirt due to the new push-up bra she had never worn before. She immediately dropped her arms to her legs as she rubbed them down to her knees, wishing that her palms weren't sweating. She evaluated her blazer over her t-shirt and then her shorts that came down farther than her cheerleading skirt did and tried to think of a defense for an outfit that she didn't think needed defending.
"Because it was clean." She answered a little rebelliously before looking up to make eye-contact with the dean again.
"You weren't trying to get a reaction?" He questioned like she was toying with him.
"And what kind of reaction exactly are you insinuating I'm after?" Claire answered coldly while refusing to let his eye's roam her anymore by maintaining a strong eye contact.
She expected him to become angry or annoyed but was surprised when he put a hand on the arm of her chair and leaned towards her with a sympathetic look on his face before he asked kindly, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather talk with the door closed?"
"No!" She immediately said, "I mean, yes! I'm sure! If you try to close the door again, I'll leave…."
"Claire, no one is going to hurt you... this is a safe space…" he said kindly while making her feel more uncomfortable than ever by refusing to leave her space that he had invaded.
She resisted the urge to yell at him to just tell her what he wanted so that she could go and opted to just sit quietly while she waited him out. Claire froze when he reached his hand that wasn't against her chair and brought it about three inches above her right leg crossed over her left. He held it hovering over her above the skin between her knee and shorts.
"A good measuring stick might be…" he began slowly. "Would it make you uncomfortable if I touched your leg there?"
"Yes!" She answered confidently while giving him her most dirty look.
"So, then don't you think you're shorts are probably too short?" He reasoned like he had just won a brilliant deductive argument.
"No, you misunderstand me." She answered while shaking her head. "It's just the thought of you touching me that makes me uncomfortable, not my legs…."
He looked angry for the first time as he pulled his hand from over her leg back but left his hand on the arm of her chair. Claire noticed him look towards the door again before looking back at her and she suddenly went from uncomfortable to frightened and a little panicked.
"Claire, I don't think you understand the position you're in here…." He said in a tone that seemed to be both warning and seductive.
Claire suddenly felt furious as she realized the position he had just put her in. She now had to refuse to be a young girl that let herself be intimidated and harassed by a man that had some modicum amount of authority over her life. She uncrossed her legs and she saw the dean glance down and notice with what appeared to be a satisfied expression on his face.
"Now…" he started to say more reasonably before she used both of her feet on the floor to sharply push her chair back and out of his grip before she stood up and grabbed her bag in one motion as she started walking out the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked quietly but authoritatively.
Claire didn't respond as she walked out the door to the waiting area where she noticed for the first time that the receptionist's desk was now empty. She heard the dean behind her and saw him reach out a hand to grab her arm before she turned around to face him as she jerked out of his reach while staring at his hand. He pulled back without touching her as he said,
"You can't leave yet. We aren't finished here, and I haven't dismissed you." He answered in his professional reasonable voice again.
"Oh, we're finished here." Claire said confidently as she grabbed the handle of the door to the hall. "Don't come find me, don't talk to me, and definitely don't look at me again!" She said warningly as the bell for class rang and the halls started to fill with students.
She turned and yanked the door open before she walked out without looking at his reaction. She was relieved as she heard the door snap shut behind her. She maintained her quick pace through the halls, walking purposefully as students all around her continued to stop what they were doing to stare at her. She couldn't even see them through her eyes that were filled with the tears she refused to shed.
"Claire!" She heard a boy's voice yell, but she didn't stop as she walked past. She thought it might have been Bennett, but she also thought that their voices sounded enough a like that it could also be Caleb.
She walked all the way through the school and didn't pause as she shoved the doors to the parking lot open and walked out without a backward glance at the teachers and students filing into classrooms for fifth period. She walked directly to the Camaro, pushed the button on the door that beeped when it unlocked and then threw her bag on the passenger seat and started the car as she slid in. She immediately yanked the car into reverse and pulled out without even looking behind her.
She forced herself to drive at a reasonable speed instead of just hitting the gas pedal to the floor and peeling out like she was dying to do as she pulled out of the parking lot and then steadily made her way back home to Quil. It wasn't until she pulled up to the shop two hours early with the garage door opened and Quil raising a truck up on the lift that Claire finally stopped for the first time since walking out of the dean's office. She put the car in park and then brought both of her hands up to the top of the steering wheel where she held on to it like it was a life preserver as she pressed her forehead to the back of her shaking hand and cast, closed her eyes and silently let the tears fall free.