Yay I'm continuing! I'm so happy you're all enjoying the story. I'm not sure how much longer it will be, but no more than 10 chapters I assume. This is kind of a filler chapter, but pretty good. Oh you'll see, just read & enjoy!
"Clare – wake up!"
I felt someone nudging my arm and I finally turned over to see it was my mom sitting next to me on my bed.
"We both slept through church this morning and I'm really tired, let's just go out for brunch ok? I don't feel like cooking. I'll be waiting downstairs."
She got up to leave and closed my door behind her. I rubbed my eyes and suddenly all memories of last night came flooding back into my mind. A smile crept on my face as I remembered Eli kissing me good night. I quickly looked at my phone and noticed I had 11 unread text messages, 4 missed calls, and 1 voicemail; all from Alli. I read the text messages:
"CLARE! LET'S MEET ASAP!"
"UGH YOU MUST BE IN CHURCH BUT PLEASE TEXT ME WHEN YOU GET OUT!"
"LET ME GUESS, YOU SPENT THE NIGHT AT ELI'S AND YOU'RE SNUGGLING WITH HIM IN BED WHILE IGNORING MY TEXT MESSAGES?"
"WHAT TIME ARE WE MEETING CLARE?!"
"DON'T TELL ME YOUR MOM TOOK AWAY YOUR PHONE AND YOU'RE IN TROUBLE FOR LAST NIGHT!"
"CLARE"
"CLARE"
"YOU CAN'T JUST TEXT ME THAT WE HAVE TO MEET TOMORROW AND NOT TEXT ME BACK!"
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TORTURE YOU ARE PUTTING ME THROUGH WOMAN?"
"COME ON CLARE!"
"I AM NOT WAITING UNTIL MONDAY TO HEAR ABOUT THIS"
And the voicemail:
"Clare. I have nooooooo idea why you are not answering my text messages and I am so sorry for blowing your phone up but YOU NEVER SLEEP THIS LATE AND YOU'RE SO GOOD ABOUT ANSWERING BACK. Text or call me ASAP. I'm home all day and all my homework got done yesterday. CALL ME! SOON! Bye!"
I laughed. Sure it was a tad annoying, but she had every right to be excited, she just didn't know it yet. She helped me pick out an amazing outfit that definitely caught Eli's attention. I texted her back.
"Sorry! Mom and I both slept in late. We're going out for brunch, can I have her drop me off at your house after?"
"FINALLY! Yeah sounds good. I'll be waiting…"
I contemplated on texting Eli. I didn't want to sound desperate or needy so I decided I'd just talk to him on Monday, even though I wanted to talk to him now. I took a shower and quickly got dressed and met my mom downstairs. It was a quick drive to the nearest pancake house and we got seated right away.
"So Clare, how was your movie night?" my mom asked me as we looked at the menus.
"Oh, it was really awesome." I had a feeling she knew something and was trying to force the truth out of me. Was she secretly at the bar and spied on me the entire night? No; definitely not her scene. Even with separating from my dad, her new hobby of late nights could not have led her to a bar; she wasn't really a drinker. Although she has not been telling me much lately, so she might have been there. Did she see me driving home or driving to the bar?
"Mmm, what movies did you watch?"
I forgot to think of a lie so I quickly just thought of a random movie I heard Adam mention once. "We watched this insanely creepy movie called The Birds. The boys picked it out. I hated it so after I made them watch Breaking Dawn Part 1 with me." I hated lying to my mother, but it's not like she was telling me about her over night outings, so I shrugged off my Saint Clare thoughts. I had a fantastic time last night and I was not going to let a little bit of guilt ruin that for me.
"I don't even want to know about that movie. Sounds like you had fun though. What time did you get home?"
"Around midnight…" She gave me a stern look considering she told me to be home around 11PM. She didn't need to know it was actually 1:30 AM and not midnight.
"Mom, I know! I was late but I couldn't just leave in the middle of a movie and I was so careful driving home and I'm not hurt or in trouble with the law. I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Crap. She definitely knew something was up.
She sighed and put her menu down. "It's fine Clare. Well, no it's not fine, but you're a good kid. Actually no, you're turning into a lovely young woman, which is why I have a surprise for you." I looked at her cautiously. "I've decided to not give you a curfew anymore. Don't get too excited though, if you do anything to make me lose my trust in you, we're going back to curfews and I will take your keys away if I have to."
I was the world's worst daughter. I was lying and getting off with a reward. I didn't want to ruin my happiness from last night though. Teenagers have secrets and they lie all the time, even my mother has secrets and lies to me. One lie wasn't going to hurt.
"Thank you so much mom. You're the best. So…"
"And it so starts."
She laughed and I gave her a weak smile. "Well, I was actually wondering if you can drop me off at Alli's house after we eat. I finished all my homework yesterday before I left and I haven't seen Alli in a long time. I really want to catch up with her and she really wants to tell me about her new school."
"Ok, that's fine. Just call me and let me know if you need a ride or if Mr. or Mrs. Bhandari will be giving you a ride home. I'll be home all day. I need to catch up on laundry and house work."
"Thanks mom" and with that we ordered and ate our food and soon after we were done eating we were off to Alli's house.
I said good-bye to my mom and headed up to Alli's front door. I rang the doorbell and Mrs. Bhandari let me inside and told me to go on up to Alli's room. I walked up the stairs and knocked on Alli's door.
"Come in!"
"Hey Alli!"
"CLARE, FINALLY YOU'RE HERE! Come sit on the bed with me and spill all the details, now."
I sighed, shut the door, and took a seat on the bed with her. "Ok. Well, first off Plan Make Eli Tremble In His Skinny Jeans was a success. I walked into the bar and he couldn't take his eyes off me! He couldn't even come up with a coherent sentence when he was trying to compliment me!"
"I KNEW IT! Did you feel a little sexier with your new purchases from Victoria's Secret?"
She was wiggling her eyebrows at me and I instantly turned red. "Yes, Alli, they did help. You were right, I admit it."
"Good! Now, continue your story!"
"Ok, so when I got there I was supposed to pay an entrance fee but the guy that was checking people in said my fee was already paid for."
"Oh my God! Did Eli pay for you?"
"I don't know. He might have since Adam got there after me. Anyway. After he complimented me, or their lack of, he took me over to meet his mom and two aunts and two uncles that were at the table. His mom, Cece, stood up and shook my hand from across the table and smiled at me and said I was a common name in the Goldsworthy house. Even later on after his Dad was done performing he said the same thing!"
"Oh my GOD Clare! He's obviously talking about you at home, he totally likes you back."
"Well, maybe he was just talking about me as an English partner or maybe he just talks about his friends in general. He's pretty close to his parents…"
"Clare, look at the way his mom said hi to you! He may just be talking about his friends or English class, but he's probably talking about you in a totally different way! A good way!"
"Well, his dad did say Eli talked about me more than he talks about Adam."
"See! Ok now, go on with your story."
"Ok, so then Adam got there and we went to the front of the bar to the dance area to watch Bullfrog's, oh that's Eli's dad's name, band play. They were pretty good. Eli and Adam were in the middle of the dance floor totally in air guitar mode by the end. So after the band was finished we went back to the booth and I was sitting next to Cece and then after we were done eating two of Eli's aunts and uncles left. So then Eli and Adam were talking to the other aunt and Uncle and then Bullfrog came and sat next to me. I was sitting in between Eli's parents Alli! I had never been so nervous in my life!"
"Well, what did you do?!"
"His mother asked how Eli and I met."
"Oh my GOD Clare, what did you say?"
"Well, I gave her the very G-rated version and then Adam said 'I think you're missing some details there Edwards' or something like that. So then I told them all about the pretty eyes compliment and how he mysteriously drove off. AND AFTER THAT, HIS MOM SAID 'WHY DON'T YOU ASK THE GIRL OUT ALREADY'. Alli, I wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out it was so embarrassing!"
"What did Eli do? Did he ask you out?"
"He just had his face buried in his hands, and no he didn't. Thankfully after that Adam had to leave so that made the conversation go in a completely different direction. Then Eli and Adam were on the other side of the table talking with Eli's aunt and uncle and I was talking with Eli's parents.
"Already cozy with the in-laws Edwards! When's the wedding?"
"Ha ha Alli. I was just talking with his mom at first and we got along amazingly well and I had a lot in common with her and she told me a funny story about Eli when he was a baby. I got along with his dad as well, we didn't talk all that much though. After that Cece and the other aunt and uncle left. Eli wanted to stay late with his dad so he could help with the equipment so I volunteered to stay with him so he wasn't alone."
"How late did you stay Clare? Does your mother knows about this?" Alli asked teasing me.
"No, she doesn't know. She even surprised me today at brunch and said that I no longer have a curfew! I feel so awful for lying to her though. And I stayed until 1AM."
"Whoo! Go Helen! A car, no curfew, and a soon-to-be hot new boyfriend, Clare Edwards, you are growing up so fast" then Alli pretended to fake cry and I playfully slapped her.
"Anyway, so after everyone left it was just us…" then I continued to tell Alli the rest of the story. How Eli had asked me to dance, and that he was actually a very good dancer. I told her how we were basically just cuddling in the booth for a while and his hands were on my knees and tracing circles. I also told her how he tickled me to get me to loosen up, walked me to my car with his arm around my shoulder, and kissed me good night.
"HE KISSED YOU? How was it? Any tongue?"
I sighed, louder and more sadly than I anticipated. "No, there was no tongue. It was such a surprise and quick kiss I barely had time to react and kiss him back. Then when I got home I texted you about meeting today I got a text message right after that and figured it was you responding, but it was Eli."
I showed her the text message and she freaked out. "Clare, oh my God! He totally likes you! Did you text him back?"
"No, I didn't want to sound desperate or anything and figured I would just see him on Monday."
"You could have said good-night back! Oh Clare, so much to teach you still!"
"Well Alli, what should I do?"
"Text him. Right now."
"I-I, I don't know…"
"Fine, I'll text him for you!"
"Alli, no!" It was too late though, she took my phone and locked herself in the bathroom, and all I could do was wait for her to come out. When she finally did come out, she had a smug look on her face.
"What did you say?" I panicked and looked at my recently send messages and read what she sent to Eli:
"Hey Eli, I had an AMAZING time last night, we should definitely hang out again soon ;)"
I could have tackled Alli in the moment, but my phone buzzed. New text message:
"yeah I had a great time too. Let's talk on Monday, ok? I left all my homework until the last minute, so that's how I am spending my Sunday. By the way, I know I sounded stupid when I was trying to compliment you, but you looked so pretty last night."
Alli and I both read the message and squealed. I didn't text him back, again, but I figured it was ok. I spent another couple hours at Alli's house going over fantasies about what would happen on Monday when I would talk to Eli and she teased me about a wedding and children. I wondered if Eli had told Adam yet about what happened after everyone left, I didn't want things to be awkward between the three of us. When I got home from Alli's house the butterflies still had not left my stomach. One night's sleep away from seeing Eli again. One more night.