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Chapter 36 Still September
Engaged
4th week of September 2020
School sucks! That's the topic of the day! School SUCKS!! School takes my Claire away from me for several hours each day, and then, when she gets off, is she just free to play with me?
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…when she gets home from school, is she just available to hang out and spend time with me? NO! She has homework. MAN! This never used to bother me! I can't believe how much of a difference being engaged is making everything! It's just so long and hard…
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I can't believe how much of a difference being engaged is making everything! The wedding day seems so far away, and the waiting is very difficult!
Man I need to go for a swim! I saved and closed out the file, and jogged out of the house and to the beach. I hit the icy water and swam as fast as I could straight out from First Beach. I swam away the frustrations, letting my muscles pull through the water. The salty water of the Pacific Ocean stung the tiny scrapes on my legs from the berry bushes I had plowed through on my way to the water, until my werewolf abilities healed the cuts as I swam. I cupped my hands and felt the pull of the resistance against them, pushing even harder out to sea. I started to feel the slight ache that accompanies strenuous exercise, and glanced over my shoulder back at La Push. I realized that I could barely make out James Island in the distance, and knew I would need to turn back now if I wanted to have any chance of returning to First Beach rather than ending up ashore in Canada or Oregon. I turned and swam back to shore letting the currents and the waves glide me part of the way. I decided to body surf into shore, and almost knocked a surfer off his board on my way. He was in total shock at seeing me only in a pair of long shorts when he was so clearly shivering in a full body wetsuit. Whatever, I wasn't in the mood today.
I knew I had work to do today, so I headed back into my mom's house. I opened my computer, and began to work on a web design for a new client, but found myself staring at a picture of Claire on my desk.
"Oh, forget it!" I said aloud even though there was no one in the house. I reopened the file marked Engaged, and began typing again.
I am really glad Claire is going to school, really, I am. I just miss spending time with her. I can tell she is having trouble with it a bit too, which makes it that much more troublesome for me. I just really want her to be happy.
I leaned back in my office chair, and thought over what had happened after school yesterday.
I picked up Claire and Marc from school as usual. Claire got in first, and then Marc. I reached down and grasped Claire's left hand in my right hand as I leaned over to kiss her. I felt the diamond dig into my fingers a bit as I gave her hand a little squeeze. I looked down to see that her engagement ring was turned around, so that the diamond was hiding in her palm, and it looked as if she were only wearing a plain band. I asked her why she had done that.
"Oh, it's just that some of the girls at school are harassing me about us being engaged." Claire said dismissively.
"Is it that nasty Tracy Longman again?" I had asked her.
She had laughed at that comment and told me, "She's one of them actually. You know, it just floors me that they can take Willow being pregnant in stride, yet freak out about me being engaged!" She had shaken her head in amazement at that comment, and was quiet until we arrived at her house and Marc had gotten out of the truck then she had spoken again. "The school counselor called me in to the office today. She was concerned, in her words, that the ring on my finger meant that I was being pressured by someone much older than me to 'grow up before my time'. I told her if she wanted to worry about that, maybe she should pay more attention to the girls who were actually having sex with older men and getting pregnant. Quil, she immediately got out a paper that looked like a report form and started asking me questions. I couldn't get anyone in trouble, especially not Brady, but I am worried for him once word gets out more about Willow. The way the counselor acted today, I think they might need to get married soon if they don't want her to file a report on him."
We had talked about that for a while, and decided we needed to go another round with Willow and Brady. Great, where's my headache relieving medicine?
A/N: The next chapter is mostly normal Quil & Claire interaction. I will post chapter 37 when the total reviews reach 286 for the story.