One of us is lonely, one of us is only waiting for a call

Sorry for herself, feeling stupid, feeling small,

Wishing you had never left at all.

Chapter Twelve

Not-So-Expert Advice

Clear almost considered not going to school the next day, just avoiding Tod, Alex and Adrienne and trying to convince herself that things would just take care of themselves without her interference. What she really was dreading was walking into French class and trying not to feel like the Whore of Babylon in front of Adrienne and all of her friends, who had surely heard all about what had happened yesterday at the Green Igloo, as well as Alex and Tod. However, she also knew that if she didn't show her face in school then Adrienne would add another layer to her story.

All she got, however, for her deciding to go to school that day was ending up late because had spent the better part of the morning deciding whether or not her grandparents would believe her if she said that she was too sick to go to school. Clear realized that being late was for the best anyway, since she didn't need to run the risk of running into Adrienne and her posse or getting cornered by Alex to talk about just what had happened yesterday.

The first three periods of the day passed too quickly as far as Clear was concerned and by the time French rolled around she had convinced herself that it would be best to drop the class right that second and take Spanish. Or even German would be easier then facing her selective classmates that afternoon. However, by that time the front office was closed and she had no chance but to trudge to the foreign language hallway and enter room 213 as though it was any other day.

Clear pretended to ignore Adrienne's death stare as she entered the room and headed toward her desk, which suddenly felt as though it was in the middle of a war zone. The tension between Alex and Tod was almost too much to bare and as soon as she entered, it got enough worse, though she did her best to act as though she didn't even notice. Clear didn't greet either one of boys as she sat down, pretending to dig through her backpack from something very important. Neither Tod or Alex said a word either, staring straight ahead and paying more attention to their teacher then they had since the first day of class.

As soon as the bell rang, Clear jumped out of her seat and was one of the first students from the classroom, wishing to get as far away from the room as she could before Adrienne could think of something smart to say about what had happened the previous day. She was somewhat relieved to have gone through the whole day without talking to either Tod or Alex, though she wasn't quite sure that it was a completely good thing; it also meant that Tod hadn't forgiven her and probably never would.

Clear pushed through the throng of students that crowded the hallway and finally made her way to the parking lot, which was even more crowded with the mixture of buses and seniors with their own transportation. It was days like these that made her happy that she could simply walk home, so that she didn't have to do with the confusion of getting a ride and she could be home quicker then if she rode a bus. Besides, walking gave her a chance to focus her thoughts and figure out what she was going to do about Tod. If he didn't come around, she figured that she'd just have to let go and move on, as difficult as that whole idea sounded to her.

The sound of someone calling her name caused Clear to turn around, abandoning her thoughts for the time being. Instead of seeing Alex, or Tod like she had inwardly hoped, she saw Billy Hitchcock, the semi-dork from her French class, riding toward her on his bicycle with his hat on backward and a smile upon his face. "I thought that was you, Clear." He said as he stopped beside her, the tires on his bike squealing at the quick halt.

"Hi Billy." Clear mumbled, not really in the mood to be chatty with anyone, especially someone she barely knew.

Billy, however, didn't seem to pick up on her unwillingness to talk and began to walk along side of her, rolling is bike along. "You look depressed about something, troubles at home?" He questioned innocently, as though they had known each other for years. When Clear gave him a strange look, he explained, "Sorry, my mom's a therapist."

Clear decided not to say anything, about anything, as she continued to walk along the sidewalk, wondering if Billy would get bored of talking to her and move on to someone who would actually be willing to talk. Billy, however, didn't seem at all bothered by her silence but instead seemed to actually have more to say despite it. "Anyways, you have the relationship trouble look." He told her quite matter-of-factly, nodding his head. "I know that feeling well, Cynthia Pastor doesn't know how to let a guy down easy."

At first, Clear wanted to laugh but realized that he was being completely serious and laughing would probably do nothing but further ruin his Cynthia Pastor damaged ego. Instead, she just looked over at him and smiled slightly, touched somewhat by his honest boyishness. "Thanks for the diagnosis, Billy, but-" She was cut off by the sudden sound of someone blaring on a car horn, which caused both her and Billy to jump.

Billy and Clear turned to see who had honked and saw a rickety blue Mustang drive by with Rory Peters, the only stoner on the football team, at the wheel and Carter Horton in the passenger seat, leaning over to bang on the horn once more. Billy frowned as he watched the car pass, feeling foolish for allowing himself to be frightened by Carter Horton. "Carter you dick!" He shouted after the car, even though it was now too far away for his shout to do much good.

Clear rolled her eyes once more, turning to face Billy once more. "As I was saying, thanks for the concern but I'd really rather be alone right now, if you don't mind." She said, hoping that he wouldn't take it offensively.

Billy smiled and nodded, climbing back onto his bike. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow Clear." He said, and with that, pedaled down the street leaving Clear alone once again.

* * *

Alex saw Tod heading down the sidewalk, making sure to keep up a quick pace so that he made sure to stay away from anyone who wanted to talk to him, which would be the person he had at one pointed considered his best friend. This has got to stop, Tod can't stay mad forever, he thought, though he wasn't quite sure that was true and so he quickened his own pace so that he would be sure to catch up with his friend.

"Tod, I've got to talk to you." Alex called out when he got near enough, but his friend didn't even bother to turn around. "Tod." He was now walking along side Tod, who had no choice but to look over at him.

"What?" Tod asked harshly, making it obvious that he held Alex just as responsible for what happed yesterday as he did Clear. "Don't tell me you have something to explain too. I understand what happened, no need to explain." Even though casting aside his best friend and girlfriend was killing him, he realized that there was a point in life where one needed to draw the line. He know considered that line drawn.

Alex looked taken back by his words for a brief moment before he said, "Just listen anyway. What happened yesterday never should have happened, I don't know how things got so messed up. I didn't mean to hurt you and Clear didn't either, but it wasn't her fault; if you have to be mad at someone, which I understand if you do, then be mad at me. I kissed her, Clear didn't have anything to do with happened." He paused, unsure of what to say next. He hadn't expected to get so far in the first place, and now he didn't quite know where to go. "I think you should think about forgiving her." Alex said after a moment's thought, even though he really wanted Tod to forgive him.

Tod studied him for a moment before nodding slowly, indecisively. "I'll think about it." He muttered, turning away from his friend and heading back down the sidewalk. Alex watched him go, knowing that if Tod wasn't in the mood to hear anything else he had to say, then it would no good trying to persuade him to listen.

* * *

Clear was sitting in the living room, trying to concentrate on her algebra homework when the doorbell rang, which was a surprise; her grandparents didn't really have anyone that would come around to visit and she didn't have any friends herself. Unless it was Tod...

When Clear answered the door, however, she found that it wasn't Tod at all but Bree Scott and Rachel Campbell from the Green Igloo. She didn't know what to say when she saw her ex-coworkers standing at the door, so Bree decided to do all of the talking. "Hey, Clear, I know you weren't expecting us but Rachel and I thought we'd come by and see how you were doing." She explained.

Rachel frowned slightly. "Actually, I didn't really want to come but Bree thought it would be a good idea. She said that it was a good idea for me to stay in touch with people outside my anger management class." She grinned as she spoke, which caused Clear to laugh as well in spite of herself. She stepped aside to let her friends inside, motioning for them to sit on the couch.

"We got your address from your employee file that Stricken hasn't thrown away yet." Bree explained as she sat down where Clear had been seated only moments before. "We also wanted to come by and give you the money you earned from working at the Green Igloo for two days. It's only twenty dollars, but we managed to talk the boss into giving it to you." She fished through her jeans pocket and pulled out a folded check, handing it the brunette.

Clear smiled, pleased that they had come by, even Rachel, who seemed to be much more friendly now that they weren't working together. "Thanks for stopping by you guys." She said genuinely, glad that they were providing her with a distraction so that she didn't wallow in her problems.

Bree smiled and opened her mouth to say something but Rachel spoke before she had a chance to. "We wanted to know what happened between you and that guy after he ran out of the restaurant after you yesterday." She explained with shameless interest, causing Clear to cringe inwardly.

"Well, we talked...then he kissed me." Clear answered with a slight frown, pursing her lips. "It would have been great, if my real boyfriend, who now my ex boyfriend, hadn't picked that exact moment to arrive at the restaurant to apologize for acting so strangely earlier that day."

"So he caught you." Rachel mused, nodding her head slightly. "In my opinion, you're better off without either one of them. The guy from yesterday had a strange face...eyes too far apart."

Clear stared at her, trying to figure out if Rachel was being serious and giving her a strange form of shock therapy. She tried to think of something to say, either defensive or in agreement but couldn't come up with a word.

"I agree with Rachel." Bree said at her silence. "I don't think you would have been happy with either of them. If you were going out with Tod then you would have wanted to be with whats-his-name. And if you were going out with the other guy, you'd feel guilty around Tod. Plus, the guys wouldn't be friends anymore and what would happen when you broke up? See, you couldn't have been happy." She nodded to accent her point, as though she was agreeing with her own words.

Clear leaned back against the couch as she thought about the girl's words, realizing that she was speaking the truth. If Tod did forgive her and they got back together, who's to say that Alex still wouldn't be interested in her and she certainly would still be interested in him. In the process of dating Tod and pining over Alex, she had broken up their childhood friendship. "You're right, Bree." She agreed quietly, sighing and realizing that her problems weren't even close to being over.

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The song is "One of Us" by ABBA. I hope Curtis is pleased by the Billy appearance. Sadly, the next chapter is the last chapter of this story (aside from the epilogue), but it's been fun. So, sit back, review and wait for the conclusion to "Stuck".