A/N Sorry I'm not writing long enough chapters. I'll try to write longer ones though! Promise!
As Claire finished her story she looked at all of the girls. Each seemed nervous to even
say anything about what had happened. Even Massie was fiddling with her charm
bracelet, a dead giveaway she was nervous. Kristen glanced at the phone as if willing it
to ring and break the awkward silence. Dylan surprised Claire the most though. She
seemed to not at all be bothered by the fact that her boyfriend, of two years, according to
Alicia, had gone to visit Claire in L.A. when he was supposed to be in San Francisco.
Alicia finally piped up, "Wait, so Abby Boyd is going to be in this movie too?" Claire
looked down at her hands.
"Uh, yeah." She looked up. "Originally is was supposed to be Lauren Marker
(A/N If your name is Lauren Marker, this isn't you.) but she's in rehab so…" Claire
glanced at Dylan who hadn't spoken since Claire had begun her story. "Dyl?" She spoke
hesitantly. "Are you okay?"
"Oh. Yeah," She said sarcastically. "My boyfriend dumped me for my friend who
he says he's in love with. I just found out he tried to cheat on me and now your surprise
return has ruined everything!" The other girls sat quietly, obviously not wanting to join
in. Claire jumped up.
"What is your problem? It's not like I stole Cam from you. I saw you guys were
together and I let it go." Her voice softened. "I really don't want Cam, Dyl. He and I have
great memories but that's all we'll ever have. I fell for Connor. I can't just snap out of it."
Massie finally spoke up.
"You fell for Connor?? How could you fall for him? He's such a player. He
doesn't even care about you." Claire turned to face Massie.
"He does care, Mass. He was crying. For me! No guy has ever done that before.
He seemed really afraid of losing me." Massie rolled her eyes. Claire can be so gullible.
She thought.
"Kuh-laire, he's an actor in case you haven't forgotten. He can bring on the
waterworks whenever he pleases." Claire looked defeated. She fell on the bed and let out
a heavy sigh.
"Gawd. I hate this. I miss those days when all we were focused on was clothes
and boys. Now it's so different. We've all got these insane relationships with guys and
they're even starting to come between us." Kristen, who had hardly said anything that
evening, spoke up.
"Gawd, Kuh-laire. This is reality. Duh. Drama comes with reality, that's why
reality shows are so interesting." She flopped down on the gigantic bed. The were silent
for quite and eventually they all fell asleep. That is, all except Claire.
Claire laid in her sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling, like she had been for hours. 4:23,
her alarm clock flashed. She closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep but she
couldn't. She needed to think. She got up quietly and grabbed her jacket out of the closet.
She still had her huge blue down jacket from 7th grade. She couldn't give it up even if it
was a fashion "don't". She pulled it on, grabbed the hotel key, her phone and went out the
door. She walked down the street, she wasn't sure where she was going but she just
needed to think. It was freezing, considering it was December and 4:30 in the morning.
Occasionally some car would pass her but, for the most part, West Chester was
completely dead. Claire had been walking with her head down, only looking up when she
had too. She heard something next to her and glanced up. But, she didn't see anything It
took her a minute to realize she was standing in front of Cam's house.
Clink. Clink. Clink. Cam woke with a start. The combination of his dream and the
clinking had startled him. Though, normally he was a fairly light sleeper, tonight was
worse than normal. Something as slight as a footstep on the berber carpet in the hallway
could wake him. He glanced at the window just in time to see a small pebble hit the
glass. Obviously, the source of the "clinking". He walked over to window and looked out.
He could make out the figure of a person but he couldn't tell who it was. He grabbed his
jacket and, quietly as possible, made his way downstairs. He opened the front door
slipped out, not even bothering to close it all the way. "Claire?!" he hissed.
"Uh. Hey." She gave him a small wave. He walked quickly towards her.
"What are you doing here? It's got to be like--" she cut him off.
"It's 4:30 in the morning." She giggled nervously.
"So," he cleared his throat. "Why are you here?"
"Well," she started. "I'm filming in New York and my mom thought--" this time
it was his turn to interrupt.
"No. I mean why are you here? In front of my house at 4 in the morning." He
laughed.
"Oh. Well, uh…" she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I just went
for a walk and wound up here. I couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind." Claire watched
as Cam's face filled with concern.
"Do you want to talk? I know I'm your ex-boyfriend and all but we're also
friends. Remember?" Claire sighed.
"I'd like that." She said, for the first time she actually made eye contact with him,
and her insides flipped. They stood on the sidewalk and stared at each other for a few
moments before she looked away. He turned towards the backyard.
"Here," he said, "We'll sit on the rocking bench in the backyard." They walked to
the backyard. All the while Cam was trying to restrain himself. I want to grab her hand
so badly. She's so gorgeous, I mean I've seen her on TV and in magazines but she's even
more beautiful in person! I can't grab her hand. She trusts me and if I do anything rash
I'll just send her running. Claire was so nervous, they walked to the rocking chair and sat
down. Leaving a considerable amount of space between them. "What's up? There's
obviously something bothering you."
"Well, why else would I be wandering around West Chester in the wee hours of
the morning?" she let out a small laugh. "I've just got a lot on my mind. These past few
weeks have been insane. I thought I was falling for Connor but then he cheats on me.
Then coming back here and there's the tiny problem of a triangle between you, me and
Dylan. Who for some reason is convinced that you're in love with me." Cam had to hide
a grimace as she finished her rant.
"Wow." He said. "That is a lot."
"It wouldn't be quite as bad if he hadn't made out with my co-star and then
followed me here asking for forgiveness. I thought he was really truly sorry about what
he did. I mean he was crying. But then Massie made a point that he's probably faking it.
After all, he is an actor. But then again, why would he follow me here, he can obviously
have any girl he wants." Claire took a deep breath and put her head back. They were
reclined enough for her to see the stars. "Cam?" she heard him let out a grunt.
"I missed you. So much." He smiled and put his arm around her, pulling her close
to him.
"I missed you too, Claire." Claire smiled to herself and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Claire awoke with a start. She glanced around her. Massie and Alicia were
sharing the bed and Kristen and Dylan were on either side of Claire. She sat up and
looked at the clock. It read, 7:46. Had she dreamt all of that? Claire got up and walked
into the living room. A/N Claire has a huge suite so there's a kitchen, bedroom,
bathroom and living room. She looked in the closet, her jacket was hanging as it had
been last night. Restlessly, she sat down on the couch, then immeadiately, got up and
moved to the kitchen. Grabbing a water bottle out of the mini bar she walked over and
opened the patio doors. Letting out a deep breath, she stepped out onto the small balcony.
It didn't overlook much. Claire could see a few boutiques and she could see a
neighborhood of over sized houses but that was all. As she looked out over the houses,
one stood out to her. It was a large stone Colonial smack in the middle of the street. She
looked down the street, in the half inch of snow that had appeared since yesterday, there
were footprints leading to a medium size colonial on one of the street corners. She
studied the house before recognizing it. "Cam's house!" she whispered. "Am I in love
with Cam?!" Claire questioned aloud. She nearly fell over when a voice behind her
replied.
"I don't know. You tell me." Claire gasped. She could hardly stand to turn around
and face her friend.
Thanks y'all for the reviews. I feel awful bad that I haven't been writin' as much lately. I've just been soo busy. Review please! I know it's a little weird around the part with Cam. Who do you think Claire should end up with! Give me suggestions! Even if you don't say Connor or Cam, I'll still take it into consideration!
