AN: Hello, readers! So, I'm going to clear this up now before I get anyone asking about this…when coming up with the concept for this story, I felt like I was doing a plot that already had been done before, in a way. Those of you who are avid Clique Fanfiction readers, like me, may read this chapter and suddenly realize important character trait and plot similarities between this and "Contravening Silence" by Another Moment Gone (if you haven't read her stories, they're really good, so give them a read). I swear, I came up with the plot before I realized this, so I am not, in any way, trying to steal an excellent story from an excellent author. This is purely coincidence, so…yeah.
Enjoy the story,
~Baysil~
Judy and Jay Lyons sat in the living room of their modest home, watching the 6-month-old Claire Lyons slowly crawling across the floor. Next to her was a 14-month-old Cam Fisher, perfecting his walking while balancing himself on the arm of a large white sofa.
The proud parents watched as their daughter, blonde hair and blue eyes just like her mother, made her way over to a slightly teetering Cam. Now, Cam wasn't their own child, but since his parents, neighbors of the Lyons's, had been going through some tough times financially, Judy and Jay offered to watch him as his parents worked two jobs each.
It was about 8:00 PM, so the Lyons's were home from work and were expecting Mr. or Mrs. Fisher at their door any minute to pick up little Cam.
Just as Claire tried to stand up and copy Cam, the doorbell rang. Judy stood up and opened the front door, only to be met by the tear-drenched face of Laura Fisher. Her black hair was unruly, her eyes were red and puffy and she looked overall disheveled.
"What's wrong, Laura?" asked Judy, honestly concerned for her friend.
"Bill and I had a-an argum-ment, " began Laura, trying to maintain her composure, "about m-money. He c-omplained th-that he had to d-do all the work, a-and when I told h-him I was working t-twice as hard as he w-was, he j-just got up and l-left." Judy brought her friend over to the couch, where she burst into tears once again, shoulders shaking as she sobbed. The Lyons's had known about their neighbors' relationship problems, but they never imagined that Bill Fisher would just leave his wife so suddenly. Looking to the ceiling with her bloodshot eyes, Laura whispered, "What do I do about Cam? I can't support him alone."
All three adults glanced towards Cam and Claire, who were sitting together, playing with a ball that they'd found on the floor. Both looked as genuinely happy as children could possibly look, oblivious to the horrible situation that had just occurred.
"Laura, you are more than welcome to stay in our household for the time being, in the guest room," said Jay, making eye contact with his wife, who simply nodded, "While you continue to work, Judy can watch over Cam while she takes care of Claire, and once you get back on your feet financially, we'll be here to support you."
Laura, still sobbing, looked up again and nodded.
"Thank you so much, both of you. I owe both of you my eternal gratitude."
Judy stood up and made her way over to the children, who had fallen asleep, Cam on the floor and Claire with her head on Cam's stomach. Gently picking them up, she brought them upstairs to the nursery as she gestured for Jay and Laura to head to sleep as well.
Judy carefully placed both the infants in the solitary crib within the nursery. She figured she'd have to get another crib soon, as it was unknown how long Cam and Laura would have to stay.
A small sliver of light shone in through Claire's window, through the blinds. She sat up slowly, blinking her eyes and stretching out her arms. Hopping out of bed, she pulled up her sky blue blinds beside her bed that covered the majority of her large bedroom window. She took a moment to stare at a picture frame on her bedside table,
A quick slide of a door opened the way into her grand walk-in closet, where every inch was lined with designer clothing.
She passed by the unworn clothes, glancing at the numerous tags hanging off of them. In the back of the closet hung a few pairs of comfortable jeans and leggings, all heavily worn. Grabbing a pair of faded and ripped skinny jeans, she slid a simple green tank top off another hanger.
Claire quickly dressed and left her pajamas on her unmade queen-sized bed, quickly brushing her thin, blonde hair. She ran into the bathroom off the side of her room to brush her teeth and throw on a miniscule amount of eyeliner. She threw on on a pair of black boots and a black sweatshirt when she was back in her room. A glance in a full-body mirror by her door was her last action before swiping a handbag full of school books off the floor and dashing downstairs to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Claire," said Judy Lyons as she did every morning. She and Jay sat together at the long kitchen island, watching Raquel, the house maid, serve a breakfast of eggs, bacon and waffles.
Claire passed by without a word, grabbing a Poptart out of a box as she exited the house.
The black Range Rover was running and waiting outside the Lyons' residence. Claire silently slid into the backseat, receiving greetings from her best friends, Massie, Dylan, Kristen and Alicia.
They received no answer, but they hadn't expected one.
Ever since the "incident" (as all her friends referred to it) almost two years ago, Claire's life had changed so vastly. Thankfully, her best friends were always by her side, refusing to judge her and standing up for her in times of trouble.
Their kindness almost eased her pain.
Looking around the car, Claire examined each of her friends. Massie sat looking confident as usual, flashing Claire a vibrant smile when she noticed her glance. Claire smiled back. Alicia was texting as always, Sidekick in hand, wearing a slightly devious smile. Dylan and Kristen sat next to one another, Dylan rearranging the many rings on her fingers as Kristen ogled over how great Dylan's hair looked.
"Okay, guys, so I have a bit of a dilemma." Said Alicia suddenly, sliding her Sidekick shut, "so, on Saturday night, at that party at Derrick's house, I kind of…uhm…hooked up with Josh Hotz."
She sped up the sentence on the last part, but everyone in the Range Rover heard her perfectly.
"Oh. Em. Gee!" cried Dylan, practically falling out of her seat with excitement.
"Well, it took long enough, Leesh!" responded Kristen, reaching over to give Alicia a pat on the shoulder.
"You guys are so cute together!" said Massie as she clapped her hands together.
Claire didn't have to use words, but the excited smile on her face showed the girls her appreciation and happiness for her friend.
The rest of the car ride was spent discussing Alicia's sudden revelation, and as the four girls spoke, Claire carefully listened, happy that Alicia had finally gotten together with her crush since middle school.
Middle school. When Cam was still in her life.
Claire shook off the sudden thought, but not before Massie realized the soft frown on Claire's face.
"Claire, I know what you're thinking about, and I'm sorry to say this, but it's been almost two years. You have to let go sometime," Massie solemnly said, receiving a halfhearted nod from Claire in response.
The black Range Rover pulled up to the front of BOCD High. Each girl gave a quick wave goodbye to Isaac, Massie's driver, before stepping out of the car.
The five girls surveyed the front lawn for the group of boys they saw (and for some, crushed on) every day. A dirty blonde, shaggy-haired boy by a large tree waved down the girls, gesturing for them to join him and his friends.
"Oh great, because we all love a load of PDA in the morning…" Kristen joked as Massie broke into a run towards her chocolate-eyed boyfriend, Derrick Harrington, immediately smashing her lips to his to greet him.
"Get a room!" Dylan called out with a smile as she fixed her red, wavy hair.
Alicia bashfully made her way over to a Spanish boy leaning against the tree, gracefully pecking him on the lips before sitting down and leaning her head on his shoulder. An audible "awwww" rang out from several of the girls, to which Alicia responded by swiftly flipping up her middle finger.
Standing also by the tree were Kemp Hurley and Chris Plovert, eyeing Kristen and Dylan, respectively.
Conversations immediately began, and as usual, Claire sat and listened to each one. Occasionally someone would ask her a question, to which she would simply nod or shake her head.
When she looked to her left, however, she saw Kemp and Kristen in a heated argument over something that'd happened at the party Saturday night.
"Well, did you kiss her or not?" yelled Kristen, her face red with anger.
"No, I swear, she came onto me first! I would never hurt you like that, Kris, you know that!" Kemp yelled in retaliation.
"Once a player, always a player, Kemp." Kristen stated coldly, looking him straight in the eye.
Claire felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, horrible memories coming back into her mind.
"Guys," Said Massie sternly, noticing Claire's discomfort at the situation, "cut it out or take it somewhere else. You're upsetting Claire."
Despite being talked to as if she were a child, Claire looked at Massie appreciatively. Everyone in the group knew of Claire's issues with arguments, especially those between her friends.
"Sorry, Claire." Kemp and Kristen said solemnly. Kristen sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"It'll be alright, no worries."
Just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of the school day. Students filed into the building while the girls and guys said their goodbyes to one another. Massie and Dylan reached out their hands to help Kristen and Claire up, and the five girls linked elbows before heading to class.
Just before heading inside, Claire noticed an unmoving student by the side of the building. She glanced at him, and then everything around her stopped.
She felt her legs buckle beneath her as her body slammed into the concrete, friends and students yelling her name as well as running for the nurse.
The last thing she saw was a mop of black hair dashing around the corner before everything went black.