I woke up and I couldn't figure why I was on my couch. Or why I was sort of sitting up. Or why there were people around me. I looked at the people's faces and realized it was Si and Jace. My head was on Jace's shoulder and his head was on top of mine. My legs were laying beside Si. Simon's head was on my thigh and his body was lain out across the rest of the couch. This was normal when we were kids. It felt great waking up like a little kid again. I didn't want to wake the boys up, so I closed my eyes again and laid there for a while. I heard a faint click and opened my eyes to find Jon standing in front of us with my camera.
"What the hell are you doing?" I whisper shouted.
"Taking a picture. You three are too cute." Jon didn't seem to understand why I was whispering. He just went ahead and talked normal.
"They are sleeping. You need to be quieter." I hissed.
"Well, doesn't look like they are waking up." This time he whispered. "So, what's up?"
"I was laying here peacefully until your face and my camera showed up."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about you and Verlac. Were you drunk or something?"
"No, I was not drunk. I'm still not drunk. We are dating. What's it to you?"
"I'm your big brother. And I thought that you and Jace were together. You know, since he was following you around all day Friday."
"He's my friend. He can do that. How did you know about Seb and me anyways?"
"I saw the pictures."
"Pictures?"
"Yeah. There's some on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Oh, and Mom told me last night. I heard we were having him over sometime. Know when that'll be?"
"Wanna miss it?" I was hoping he would say yes. That would have been better.
"Actually, no. I would love to come and meet Verlac. Maybe we could be friends."
"Ha! Yeah, right. Like you were great friends with Anthony?"
"Hey, he was a dick."
"He was not! You were the dick!"
"Come on. He was a total dick to everyone except you."
"Well, that makes me feel great."
"Anyways. I think I might like Verlac. He seems okay so far. Mom thought he was great."
"Okay. Well, I have to talk to him and see when he isn't busy."
"Okay."
"Why do you have my camera?"
"I was taking pictures. Isn't that obvious?"
"Let me see." I moved and both Jace and Si sat up straight at the same time.
"What happened?" Si asked the same time Jace asked, "Where am I?"
Jon and I started laughing and, soon enough, Jace and Si joined in.
Once the laughing died down, Jon said, "Oh, by the way, Mom didn't make breakfast. She left with Dad before they saw the kitchen. I think that was good because you three would have been trouble."
And of course, Simon broke out into song. "'CAUSE I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE WHEN I WALKED IN!"
Jace came in with him now. "SO SHAME ON ME NOW, FLEW ME TO PLACES I'D NEVER BEEN! TIL YOU PUT ME DOWN! OH I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE WHEN YOU WALKED IN! SO SHAME ON ME NOW, FLEW ME TO PLACES I'D NEVER BEEN! NOW I'M LYING ON THE COLD HARD GROUND!"
Simon started singing by himself again. "OH-"
"Okay. That's enough. I am going to leave now." Jon said and took a quick glance at Jace. "Don't forget to ask Sebastian about that dinner." He walked out of the room after he said that.
"That was fun. Now what?" Si asked while standing up.
"Um. Breakfast, I guess."
"We are eating pancakes! No question about it!" Jace yelled while walking to the kitchen.
"Did you all have fun, Sweetie?" Mom asked as she came into the living room. I was laying on the couch and reading Paper Towns by John Green.
"Yeah. We had a lot of fun. Si had to leave about two hours ago. Jace left about an hour ago." I replied without looking up from my book.
"What did you all do?" Mom asked while sitting down at the end of the coach.
"Stuff." I was too absorbed into my book to pay much attention.
"Like what?"
"We did..." I kept reading and forgot to answer the question completely.
"Will you put that book down and talk to me? I want to know."
"Yeah. Sure." The question didn't process and I kept reading. The next thing I knew my book was being taken from my hands. "Hey!"
"Next time listen to me."
"Okay!"
"What did I ask?"
"Um... I don't know."
Mom let out an exasperated sigh. "What did you, Jace, and Si do?"
"Oh. We swam, watched Doctor Who, and made cake, cookies, smoothies, and popcorn. This morning we watched Sherlock Holmes and just kind of hung out." I replied.
"Did you clean up your mess in the kitchen?"
"Yes."
"Okay, that's good. Thanks for that. Do you know when Sebastian will be able to come over for dinner?"
"Um, I haven't asked yet. Let me text him."
I took out my phone and texted Seb. When are you free for dinner? My mom wants to know.
The message came back a few seconds later. Next Friday night? It might be too early for just a week later. I know that your parents have to work a lot.
Okay. I'll tell my mom. She's interrogating me! Ahh!
Haha! Have fun with that! See ya later?
Yeah. Well, it might have to be Monday. I'm sleeping tomorrow and working on art.
Okay. See ya Monday. Meet me by the flagpole. I am walking you to class.
"What are you smiling about?" I hadn't realized I was smiling. Seb could be so sweet though.
"Just Seb. He said next Friday. That okay?"
"Yes! That's perfect! Okay, so I'll have to just get a lot done at the studio. That means I won't be here much. I'll get Luke off work and Jon will be here."
"Does Jon have to come?" I whined.
"He wants to meet Sebastian. He is being a good brother."
"Fine."
"Well, I am going to work on dinner."
"I'm going up stairs. I'm not really hungry. I had a lot of food."
"Okay. If you want anything, it's in the kitchen." Mom handed me my book back and walked into the kitchen.
I walked upstairs to my room, turned on the music, changed into sweatpants and sweatshirt, and laid down in bed. I listened to about three songs before I fell asleep.
The weeks went by pretty fast. Sunday I was on Skype with Iz about my clothing choices for the week. She didn't feel like coming over and helping. Fine with me. I'm not getting up early anymore. I also worked on a painting and listened to music. I finished my book and slept. Such an exciting day. The two weeks Seb has walked with me to all my classes. Jace walked with us the first three days. The other days he left us alone. I have no clue what he did. It was now Friday and the last period of the day. Jon told me that he would drive me home after football practice, so I have to sit on the bleachers. The bell finally rang and I started to pack up my stuff.
"Need any help?" I looked up to see Jace looming over me.
"Uh, I don't think so." I picked my backpack off the floor and put it on my back. "Are you walking with me today?"
"Well, Seb most likely won't like that."
"Seb isn't here. His parents picked him up early. And you're my friend. He has no say in that."
"Okay. So what time is he coming over?"
"I think 6."
"What are you doing until then?"
"Well, Jon is taking me home." We made it to my locker and I opened it and started to put my stuff in. "I have to wait until his practice is over. So pretty much sit on the bleachers till 4:45. After that, we go home and help Mom get stuff ready."
"I could sit on the bleachers with you. Keep you company?"
"Sure." I closed my locker and started walking to the bleachers with Jace.
"You have to listen to this song. It's amazing!" Jace started playing a song. We had been sitting here for about thirty minutes.
"What's the name?"
"'About the Rain' by Ron Pope." Jace then started to sing and his voice was like an angel's.
I woke up in a sleepy airport bar all by myself,
And the waitress stared and asked me,
"may I get you something else?"
So I thought for a moment,
And before I grabbed my bags,
I said,"I'll have one more whiskey;
Then one more after that."
On the plane to Baltimore,
I met a red haired girl,
Who's brother works in futures;
What that means, I am not sure.
I could've sworn
I saw myself in her haunted sea green eyes,
When we landed,
I stood up and smiled, then we both said goodbye.
All I know about the rain,
I learned from keeping dry,
The hardest part of loving you,
Is that you were never mine.
On the cab ride back to my hotel,
I lost the afternoon,
And watched the clouds roll endlessly;
My thoughts returned to you.
I wonder if you sleep well in that bed which you have made,
Or if at night your dreams return to the one you sent away.
All I know about the rain,
I learned from keeping dry,
The hardest part of loving you,
Is that you were never mine.
And the loneliness that's tortured me,
Each moment of my life,
Has turned the boy who saw it all,
Into a man that's blind.
If truth is not the answer,
I will pay my debts in blood,
In surrendering all that I have,
I'll prove I'm not enough.
All I know about the rain, I learned from keeping dry,
The hardest part of loving you, is that you were never mine.
All I know about the rain, I learned from keeping dry,
The hardest part of loving you, is that you were never mine
"That was great! The song was beautiful and your voice! I never knew you could sing!" The song was wonderful. I would have to listen to it again later.
"Thanks. I know. My voice is like an angel's. So beautiful."
I rolled my eyes and got out my headphones. "I want to listen to some music. My phone is dead. Can I use your's?"
"I want to listen too." I gave him one headphone and I used the other and we listened to music until the practice was over.
"Hey, Clare! Hey, Jon! Can you two come help me?" We had just walked into the house and Mom already needed us. This was great.
"Let us put our stuff up! Down in a minute!" Jon yelled for both of us. I ran up stairs and threw my backpack down. I ran back down and started to help Mom cook. Jon had to set the table and then help cook. Thirty minutes later we finally finished. Mom had cooked a roast. It looked great, but we had to wait on Seb.
"You told him at six, right?" Mom asked while pouring herself a glass of wine.
"Yes. He should be here soon." I replied.
"Let's hope. I didn't just waste thirty minutes of my life for nothing." Jon said with a smirk.
"I'll call and ask if he's almost here." I walked into the living room and dialed Seb's number.
It rang four times and then went to voicemail. "Hey, this is Sebastian. Leave a message and I'll get back to you." Huh. That's weird. It's never gone to voicemail. Maybe he just forgot his phone at home or something. I left a message just in case and hung up. I walked back into the kitchen.
"What did he say?" Mom asked right when I came in.
"He didn't answer. I left a message though. Maybe he doesn't have his phone."
"Okay. Well, we can just wait then."
We waited for about twenty minutes. He still didn't show. Jon went to his room ten minutes earlier and Mom has had about two glasses of wine and working on a glass of water. I have been staring out the window with my phone in my lap. I didn't know where Seb was. He normally isn't late. Maybe there was traffic and is late from getting back from where he was with his parents. A lot of possibilities went through my mind. None compared to what happened. When my phone started buzzing I jumped a little and answered the phone. I didn't read who it was from.
"Hello?" I said. I was hoping it was Seb, but there was muffling sound on the other side. Finally I got an answer. It was Iz.
"Clare. You need to come over here. Now."
"Why?"
"It's Seb."
"What's happened?"
There was a pause before Iz replied. "There was an accident."
So, here is the new chapter. Sorry that it's so short. Hope that you all liked. Sorry 'bout the cliffy. Something is about to happen!