"Ann! You come back here and open this closet door!" Claire yelled, banging the closet door. She had been doing that for a little while. Frustration was an understatement to describe what she was feeling.
"Yelling won't help. So you can stop; same with the banging." the blacksmith apprentice rubbed his temples.
"And why the hell not?" the blonde demanded while she faced him, her back being against the closet door. "Don't ya wanna get out of here?"
"Yeah, of course I do; I'm just as angry at her as you are. But like I said, yelling won't help for one reason: the closet is soundproof."
"What?" Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "Who does that?"
"Ann, that's who."
"What in the world gave her that crazy notion?"
"Not what, but who; and that who would be Kai."
"Well, that certainly..." She paused for a bit wondering how Kai was involved but couldn't figure out how. "Actually," she continued, "no, it doesn't make sense. Kai?"
"Long story short: Kai really pissed off Ann one summer. In retaliation, she decided to lock him up in here. He then hollered all night long, disturbing anyone who wanted a good night sleep. Kai was lucky that the next day was a Thursday, otherwise I would have beaten the crap outta him." Claire tried stifling a chuckle but failed miserably. "And I guess Ann had troubles sleeping as well; so she soundproofed the closet. And the next time Kai pissed her off, let's just say it was quiet."
Although she found the story quite humorous, the farmer gaped her mouth open in shock at the blacksmith. "Whoa... I think that's the most I've heard you say like at once." she teased.
"Very funny, Cl-"
"Can we switch spots real quick? I wanna see if I can find some source of light like a flashlight." she quickly interrupted, changing the subject entirely. Before Gray could even answer, Claire crammed her way through to the back of the closet. "Thanks."
"It wasn't like I had much of a choice." he muttered.
"Don't get grouchy on me now, Gray. I certainly don't need it." she said as she rummaged through the back of the closet. "Dammit! Just my luck—nada." She snapped her fingers in remembrance. She had her cell with her which had a light in it. For some reason she had felt taking it with her; and she was glad that she did. Digging around in her overalls, she soon found it. "Figures..." she muttered as she tried turning it on, "Battery dead... now of all times." The blonde shoved her cell back in her overalls and began to think.
"Claire?"
"Gray, do you by chance have like a bobby pin or hair pin?" the blonde asked as she shoved her way back in front of the closet door.
"Why the hell would I have any on me?" he raised his voice, being a bit annoyed and bewildered.
"Gee, sorry for asking a question! I temporally forgot, okay? Sometimes I can't think straight, especially in..." she abruptly paused, trying to drown a resurfacing memory. No! she commanded herself, Uhh... change subject, yeah. "I'm gonna sit down since I don't wanna stand the whole time waiting for our release from this cramped up closet."
"Is there even room to sit? There's barely enough room as it is."
"There will be once you sit; so sit."
"Claire-"
"Siiiit." she dragged out.
He slide down the back wall of the closet as he muttered, "Claire, I'm not a dog."
"You could've fooled me. Now, good boy!" she patted his head which only fueled his anger.
But he quickly turned his anger into shock when Claire plopped herself in between his stretched out legs and leaned herself against his chest. He was thankful that the room was dark; otherwise his blush would have been visible, very visible. "You say or do anything I don't like, you'll wished we had never met." Claire sternly warned.
"If we never met, we or I should say I wouldn't be stuck in here."
"Smartass." the blonde muttered.
"This is so boring!" the pink-haired young woman dramatically sighed.
"I have to agree with Popuri on this, Ann." Karen spoke up, flicking her dirty blonde hair, "This party, no offense, sucks." Everyone else in the room seemed to agree, for the most part.
The ginger-haired waitress huffed in annoyance. "Fine." she began as she started to pack away the bored game, "We'll play something else."
"Yo, Ann! In like two moves I would've..." Everyone around the tanned traveler stared at him, not knowing what to think. "Nevermind then."
Karen began to laugh. "You were actually enjoying Monopoly? That has to be like the most boring bored game ever! It's too dam long!"
"I said nevermind." Kai repeated while adjusting his bandana.
"Sorry, I can't get it outta my mind."
That was an invitation for Kai to do his thing. "Really? So-"
"Why don't we play charades!" Ann cheerfully suggested after she placed the game back onto her shelf thus interrupting Kai's well thought out flirt. "I'll go first!"
"Before we proceed, does anybody know where Claire is?" Trent spoke up.
"And Gray..." Mary timidly added, not wanting to leave Gray out.
"Yeah, Ann. Just where the hell is my sister?"
Ann stealthily shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "I told you: they are occupied with stuff."
"Does it really take that long to look for a stupid broom?" Andrew crossed his arms. He had an inkling that Ann was up to something or already did something. "And for the record, we have a broom down here."
Ann played around with her braid, thinking of what to say next. "Maybe they're making out!" Kai cut the thick silence as he smirked. The doctor glared at the bandana wearing man while the librarian shifted in her seat. Both didn't like the idea of it. "Or maybe not..." Kai added soon after, "But one doesn't know these stuff." His smirk returned. The doctor clenched his hand, creating a fist.
"Why don't we play Truth or Dare!" Popuri piped up, changing the whole conversation and mood.
"Popuri!" Karen whined, "That's a kid's game!"
"So?"
"Soooo..."
"I don't see why not." Andrew cut in. "'There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.'" he quoted as he held a finger up like a scholar would when saying some profound. Everyone in the room stared at him, giving him blank expressions. Everyone except for Popuri that is; she gave a wide smile, happy that someone agreed. "That's the problem with you people: you guys don't appreciate or heard of the classics!" he slouched into his seat, "Claire would have gotten that right off the bat."
"Nevermind him, everyone." Ann spoke up. "He's still sour about the fact that I defeated him in Scrabble earlier."
He shot daggers at the ginger. "That's because you cheated!"
"I did not! You just can't stand that I won and you lost!" she waved her finger at him.
"I still wanna rematch!" he muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"And get whooped again?" she teased as she sat down beside him. "Good luck with that!" she grinned.
Andrew only glared at her then muttered again, "Out of the five of you..."
"What's that?" Ann held her ear towards him.
"Nevermind, let's just play."
"Alright!" Ann shrugged her shoulders. Scanning her friends, she then pointed at Cliff. "Cliff! Truth or Dare!"
"And then he was like-"
"Claire!" the blacksmith apprentice interrupted, getting quite annoyed, "Stop your rambling! You've been going on and on and on for the past... I don't know, but it's getting a bit redundant."
"Well, excuse me, grouchy. Just trying to have a conversation here."
"More like a one-sided conversation."
"Well, then, smartass, why don't you ask me something. Clearly I've been doing it all wrong." the farmer sarcastically remarked.
"Alright, I will, blondie." Claire gritted her teeth. "How was your day?"
"Besides the fact that some dumbass bird stole my rucksack and I had to go prancing around the forest for it when all that time my dog probably found it somehow? Fantastic!"
"I was there with you, remember?"
"Yeah, I do though I try not to." Gray only rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh, but I did buy a cow and a sheep today. Daisy and Cotton." the farmer proudly declared.
"Real original names."
"Oh, and you can do better?
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"Alright, smartass, give me six different original names."
"Well, I..."
"Thought so." Claire triumphantly exclaimed.
"Hey! Just because I can't immediately spew out six original names, that doesn't mean I don't know any."
"Suuure. Keep telling yourself that." Before the blacksmith had a chance to respond, Claire quickly continued thus changing the subject, "Sooo, how was your day?"
"Claire..."
"What? Just answer the dam question!"
"Fine." he muttered.
Claire waited for him to answer her question but received no answer. "Well?"
"I already answered your question."
"What? Just fine? Nothing else? Come on Gray. You can do better than that."
"What, you mean besides the fact that Gramps decided that it was fun to make me, his grandson, come into the Blacksmith on a day off and criticize me in the process for every dam thing? No," he contemplated, "other than that it really was fine... till the whole being stuck in a closet thing." Claire whammed her elbow into his side causing slight pain for him. "What the hell was that for, blondie!"
She whammed her elbow again into his side. "Since that last one was self explanatory..." she trailed off, "I'll explain the first one since you can't figure it out. You, Gray, are a whiny whimp or a dumbass, one of the two. And before you start throwing your temper..." she turned to face him even though she knew in the dark she wouldn't be able to see him, "Ya, I know what I said back in spring. And just because I understand your point of view that doesn't mean you are in the right. For crying out loud, Gray! It's called training for a dam reason! You can't expect to master it the first time you do it! It's common sense! Haven't you heard the saying 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.'?"
"But-"
"No buts, Gray. Your grandpa may give you a hard time, but he does it for a reason. It is your responsibility to suck it up and keep trying. Yeah, you may get grumpy, grouchy, angry, frustrated, and whatever else that comes with it, but that is no excuse to give up. If a lot of scientists simply gave up because of frustration and such, this world would be a hell of a lot different; and I don't want to imagine it."
Gray was quiet, too quiet. He knew quite well that she was right; but admitting it, that was somewhat difficult for him. He sighed heavily then spoke up, "I guess maybe I never really thought about that; maybe you're right..."
"You know dam right I am!"
"But-"
"Nah ah ah ah. No buts."
"No buts..." he echoed, defeated.
"Exactly!" the blonde exclaimed as she returned to leaning against his chest. She wasn't exactly comfortable doing so; but the closet was quite cramped; and it was the only way both she and Gray could sit relatively comfortably.
Quietness fell upon them for a while. This gave another opportunity for that one memory of Claire's to try to resurface again. Her mind struggled to keep it buried, but it was relentless. "Gah! When are we going to get the hell outta here?" she broke the silence in agitation, "I just can't stand it in here anymore. I just can't—I just can't..." she rubbed her face in a frustrated way.
"Claire, are you feeling alright?" Gray asked softly.
"What the hell is the suppose to mean, am I feeling alright? How's anybody to suppose to feel alright in this cramped up shoebox called a closet?" she snapped, slightly—just slightly—shaking.
"You're not claustrophobic, are you?" Just as soon as he asked her that, he regretted it
The blonde frowned as she crossed her arms but soon responded, "I have been in really crowded subways and buses which are way worse than this closet. So, no, not really claustrophobic exactly. It's just..." she sighed heavily then continued, "small closets and me don't mix. Ever since..."
"Ever since...?" Again, he regretted prying.
She sighed again, "Gray, you have to promise not to tell anyone, even my brother doesn't know; and I would like it to stay that way. And one more thing: don't scold Ann: she never knew."
"I won't."
"You better not!" She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then started her story, "Anyways, I was little, playing around, and my parents were fighting. Next thing I knew, I was being shoved into one of our closets. Why, I never knew; maybe I was in their way or something: I really don't know.
"The closet was dark, small, and cramped, much like this one. I remember being quite frighten in there, not knowing what to do or think. Didn't help when my parents were still arguing. I don't know how long I just did nothing in there—kind of hard to know since my mind was in an absolute jumbled mess. But I soon heard another voice belonging to my brother—he had been over at a friends house. I opened the closet door slightly to get a glimpse and saw my parents... they..."
Claire paused for a bit, trying to get her bearings; but a stray tear managed to fall from her face. "I then quickly closed the closet door after what I had witnessed... and I... just stayed in there for a while..." More tears watered her eyes, trying to fall down; but she tried to hold them back as best she could and did to some extent. "That day I found out why my brother would have..." She couldn't hold back the next wave of tears which resulted her breaking down.
That placed Gray in a very awkward situation. He didn't know how to handle someone crying. It wasn't as if he had any experience in it cause he certainly didn't. He gently spoke, "Claire, please stop crying. I'm sorry that I-"
"Don't be." she managed to choke out. "I'm not really crying cause of what I just told you... well, sort of. It's just... dammit, it takes being locked up in a closet for me to realize how much I had really really missed my brother in the last six years—the years I chose to forget him—and how much he really means to me. I guess I had been bottling everything up." And now of all times I decide to let it all out... She surprised herself on how much she said to him, even if almost every other word she choked on. "If I lost my brother again..."
The blacksmith placed his calloused hands on her arms and gently gave her a reassuring squeeze which surprised not only him but her as well. "You won't."
"Thanks, Gray." she said, slightly calming down. Her eyes began to feel droopy as silence once again befell them. She curled up against Gray, starling him a bit, then fell asleep.
"Finally, it's my turn." Andrew looked at each person, deciding who his victim would be in the game of Truth or Dare. But he didn't take long since he knew exactly who to pick. "Ann, Truth or Dare?"
"Uh, I'm screwed either way, am I?"
Andrew only gave a smug smirk.
"Fine, Truth." Ann muttered.
He thought carefully what to ask her. Three things he wanted to know from the ginger-haired waitress. One, did she cheat when they played Scrabble? Even though she said she didn't, he still didn't buy it. Though, as he thought through the first option, he realized that would be a waste considering she would just tell him the same thing. But dammit, he knew she did something but what?
The second question he was considering was did she like him. And he was very tempted to ask that. But he figured that would only cause a really embarrassing and awkward situation which he didn't want to be in.
Therefore, he picked his third: where was Claire?
"Ann, tell me the truth now: where is my sister?"
"I, uh... oh, look," the ginger stood up, "we are in need of more chips. I'll go get some more."
"Sit, Annie." She obeyed then immediately glared at him for calling her Annie. "Well, go on: tell us."
Ann stared at the floor then finally spoke up, "Claire. Upstairs. Closet... and Gray..." Her voice grew quieter as she said each word.
Everyone in the room, except for Kai, stared at her in disbelief. "Ann!" Andrew exclaimed.
"What, Kai was involved too!" she pointed at the purple-bandana-wearing man.
"Hey, man! You're not pinning this all on me! It was your idea! You just wanted my assistance!"
"Ann, just what were you thinking?"
"To get those stubborn mules to work out their differences once and for all! That's what! Someone had to do it, Andrew!"
"Oh, Ann..." Andrew stood up and grabbed her wrist then led or rather dragged her out of the room. She didn't protest since she knew where they were going. Both Trent and Mary followed not far off from them while everyone else remained in Ann's room.
When the four of them reached the second floor of the Inn and opened the closet, they beheld a sight of a sleeping Claire and a scowling Gray. Both the doctor and the librarian didn't know what to think of the sight. Before Trent had the chance to speak, Andrew spoke up, "Is Claire alright?" He knelt down in front of the two.
"She's fine. Just fell asleep." the blacksmith said, trying not to wake up the sleeping blonde.
The dark-haired man nodded at the blacksmith. "I'll take her to the unoccupied room." He then carefully picked up his sister, bridal style, which caused her to stir somewhat, but she remained asleep. Carrying her into the empty room located beside the room he stayed in, he gently laid her on an empty bed. He then slowly headed towards the door but soon stopped as he looked back at his sleeping sister. Peaceful—that was one word he used to describe his sleeping sister. A small smile appeared on his face. "My lil' Clairey."he mumbled.
"Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow." he heard his sister sleep talk.
All he could do was chuckle. "Even in her sleep."
He left the room and entered into the midst of a slight argument. "Like I said, nothing happened; we just talked!" the blacksmith said as he glared at the doctor. While they both were locked in a glare-off, Mary stood somewhat nervously beside Kai, who had decided that he didn't like the vibe in the room downstairs, and Ann frowned at the present situation.
"What the hell is going on? I leave for like what? A minute?" Before he was able to get an answer, Andrew quickly continued, "You know, I don't even think I want to know. But may I remind you that my sister is sleeping in that room." he pointed behind him, "And I don't want anybody to disturb her; so you two," he referred to Gray and Trent, "quit it or I'll make you quit it." He gave them a stern look which soon sent them downstairs, with Kai and Mary following.
"Well, what now?" Ann interrupted the recent silence, "The party is pretty much trashed... but it's not like I planned something elaborate or anything."
"Do you want to go out somewhere then?" As soon as he asked that, he mentally slapped himself. He was thinking of it but never expected to say it out loud.
"And ditch the party?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not. I always wanted to ditch a party."
"But you already-"
"Have before?" she finished his sentence. He nodded. "I know, but never my own before. I'm sure my dad's able to kick them out when the time comes. He always does anyways. But..." she trailed off, "it's getting dark out."
"So? Has that ever stopped you before?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Then what are we waiting for? Come on!" she practically dragged him. He chuckled at her actions. That cheerful woman always amused him.
As the two of them headed out of the Inn, Andrew just knew that the rest of summer would be not only eventful for his sister but also for him.
The farmer woke up to the bright sun beaming into her room. Opening her eyes, she looked around her surroundings then rubbed her eyes to make sure what she was seeing. "What the hell—ooohh..." she mumbled to herself as she sat up, "I must have fallen asleep at some point last night; that would explain why I'm in the Inn and not on my farm."
No kidding. You figured that out all on your own?
Shut the hell up...
Sitting on the bed, she thought back to the previous night—the night Ann had locked her in the closet with Gray. Although she was mad at Ann, she kind of didn't mind... much. She viewed it as an opportunity to get to know Gray a bit more, even though it was her that told more about herself than he did. But through his actions, she saw a Gray that she was certain nobody really knew.
Then her mind wondered to the little story she told him. Why the hell did I tell him in the first place? I never told anybody else before, even Kat and Kale don't know... what possessed me to do that? Dam closet... I'm never going near that closet again. I'm kind of glad now that I don't have one.
A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. The door opened and revealed a very cheerful waitress. "Good morning, sleepy head! I see you're awake now!" she chirped as she closed the door behind her with her foot.
"Ann," the blonde whined as she rubbed her temples, "do you have to be so cheerful in the morning? I just woke up."
"Looks like someone isn't a morning person." the ginger teased.
"I'm not even going to answer that..." the farmer noticed what Ann was holding, "What's all that food for?"
"Decorations." Claire rolled her eyes at Ann's sarcasm. "What do you think? It's for you to eat, silly!"
"All that? That's enough food to feed five people!"
"I know right? Can't go hungry!" Ann sat down at the edge of the bed. "And it's sort of an apology for locking you up in the closet with Gray. But dammit Claire you two had to work out your differences! I never did like seeing you two fight. Like much as I hate to admit it, but I sort view Gray as a brother I never had—but don't you dare tell him that! I would never hear the end of it from him."
The blonde chuckled, "Gray as a brother, eh? I'm not sure if he would take it as a compliment or an insult. Oh, and you do realize that Gray and I worked our our differences so to say before we arrived at your 'party'"
"Yeah, Gray told me that last night... but like I was saying, I didn't want you two to fight cause-"
"Ann, don't finish that sentence." Claire interrupted, knowing what her friend was going to say.
"Alright," the ginger smirked, "as long as you know."
"How can I not know when you constantly push for it."
"But Claire, you two would-"
"La la la la la!" the blonde shouted, plugging her ears. As soon as she was sure Ann was done, she unplugged her ears.
"Oh, Claire!" Ann laughed. "You're too much!"
"Ha ha, Ann. Can I have my breakfast now?"
"Yeah, here." She handed the blonde the tray full of food. "Oh, and I made your favorite too: your brother told me. And I'll say this: you, Claire, like strange stuff."
"What? Peanut butter on a pancake is delicious! I love it!"
"Yeah... I can't picture it."
"Your loss..." Claire said, chewing her food.
Ann stood up and headed towards the door. "You need some manners, Claire."
"I'm not the only one, you know."
"Very funny, Claire." the ginger remarked, opening the door.
Ann stepped one foot out of the room before the farmer shouted, "Ann!"
"What? I'm right here, you know. No need to shout!" the waitress said as she turned around to face Claire.
"Sorry, I just wanted your attention."
"Well, now that you have it..."
"Could you send my brother up? I want... I want to see him..."
"Sure." With that, Ann left the room, closing the door behind her.
While Claire ate her breakfast, her thoughts wondered to those six years she chose to forget her brother. She had chosen to do that for a reason, but now she wondered if it was the right decision. Maybe I should have ditched school and gone out to find him... But she quickly dismissed that since she knew her brother would have killed her if she had done that.
She sighed heavily as she finished her breakfast. After she pushed her tray towards the end of the bed, she grabbed her legs and pulled them closer to her chest. She held them there as her mind wandered again to her brother. And the more she thought about her brother, the more her eyes grew watery. A sudden knock on the door knocked her back into reality. She quickly wiped her eyes with her hands then watched the door.
The door opened. "I would have came up sooner but Doug wanted me to-" Her brother had turned around after closing the door and had seen her. Her hair was in a very messy ponytail, and she was still wearing what she wore the day before—her denim blue overalls and a red flannel shirt underneath. "Oh, Clairey..." he said as he took note of her somewhat saddened look on her face; he knew it quite well.
He plopped himself onto the bed, sitting right next to her. She immediately embraced him as if he would leave that very moment and soon started to cry into his chest. He placed his arm over her shoulder and gave her a slight squeeze. "What's wrong my lil' Clairey?"
"I don't want you to leave me ever again." she whimpered out.
"Sis," he took a deep breath, "I already told you back in spring that undomesticated equines-"
"Could not remove you. I know. It's just... I'm... sorry..." Her voice grew quieter.
"For what?" he asked, a little taken aback of what she had said.
"For... for forgetting you these past six years. I was angry and bitter. I acted-"
"Normal." he interrupted, "You acted normal for the situation, Claire. So don't work yourself up because of it." He gently rubbed her arm.
"I'm not really. It's... just only recently, I've begun to realize how much you really mean to me in my life and if I lost you again..."
"Stop right there, sis. I told you and I'll tell you again: I'm not going anywhere. You're not getting rid of me that easily."
A faint smile appeared on her face. "And I'm not letting you go that easily either..." They both sat on the bed in silence for a little bit before Claire spoke up again, "Andrew?"
"Yeah?"
"I... I forgive you... fully."
"I already knew that, Clairey." He smiled as he ruffled her hair.
"Course you knew. My brother. The one person who knows things before others do themselves." Except for the whole Ann thing... that—he's blinder than blind.
"It's a gift." he shrugged his shoulders, chuckling a bit.
"Not really, Jacky. More like a calculated guess with a hint of luck."
"Now there's something I haven't heard in a looong time; I believe I was six when you called me that. I still don't like it by the way."
"Yeah, well, you'll live. It's what you get for calling me Clairey."
"Aww, but I thought my lil' sis like being called that?" he pouted, knowing full well that she really didn't.
"When I was like five or so, yeah. But I'm not little anymore."
"But you always will be to me." He gave her a slight affectionate squeeze. "You know, I could always call you Bri-"
"No!" she shot up out of his arm and faced him, "You know dam well I don't being called that!"
"Then don't call me Jacky, and I'll never utter it. Deal?"
Claire stared at the man in front of her, not knowing what exactly to do or say. Definitely perfect for Ann... she thought to herself. "Fiiine. Deal." she finally agreed.
"Now," he began as he hopped off the bed, "Claire, sis, you, my dear, look terrible."
The blonde glared at her brother. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious, J—I mean... ya know, just get out."
He chuckled. "Love you too, sis." he remarked as he left the room.
Claire mumbled to the empty room, "Despite your flaws, I too love ya, you big lug." Always have in my own way.
Thanks for reading! A reminder: if you don't know any references that I do, just let me know - I don't bite :P
Feedback most welcomed!