Disclaimer: I think we've done one of these already, but it's been a really long time, so we figured we might as well say it again. We don't own the Clique.

Authors Note: Yup, it's true! Five Minutes to Midnight is officially up and running again. :) Took us long enough, right? We're sooooooooooooooooooo sorry for the super (times a hundred!) long wait. Updates will not be as frequent as you may like, but don't worry, this story is being continued.

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"No way," she muttered under her breath. "No flipping way."

Turning abruptly from the bewildered boy in front of her, she stomped over to the crowded table where people were still trying to get their codes. Not bothering to be courteous, she shoved a few girls in low-cut, ruffled dresses over, and gave a sweet smile to the old man in front of her.

"Hi !"

"Hello Claire," He gave her a confused smile. "I thought you already got your code."

"Oh, I did," She began to twist one of her perfect curls with her finger. "But," She lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially, "You see, I believe there might have been a mistake. So, I was just wondering if maybe, as my favorite teacher, you could go through the files and check who my date is?"

"Of course," he whispered in response, and began to flip through the pages slowly. Claire smiled back, but began to tap her flat clad foot impatiently. "Ah yes," he said finally. "You have Mr. Derek Harrington."

"Ugh!" she stomped her foot in annoyance and shoved through the crowd, not bothering to thank him. Suddenly, an arm reached out and grabbed her. "Let go of me!" she hissed, but turned to see a shocked Dempsey instead of Derek. "Oh, sorry Dempsey," she apologized. Dempsey had really fixed up for the night. He was wearing a classic tux that looked great on his well defined muscles and his caramel hair was shaggy and hung in his eyes.

"Wow Claire, you look great," He smiled, his eyes traveling up and down her body appreciatively.

"Almost like a girl." he added, grinning. Claire smacked his arm but giggled.

"Aw, thanks Demps! And you, for once, don't look like you climbed out of a trash can! Good for you!"

Dempsey rolled his eyes, and leaned in. "Look, I just found out my date is Dylan Marvil. Dude, I though I was going to get Kristen! This sucks!"

"Well, it appears that Dylan's looking for you." Claire nodded to the tall redhead in the thicket of students. "And what? Do you like Kristen or something?" She raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Um-" Before he could finish, the slightly chubby redhead appeared and slithered a bangle covered arm around Dempsey's waist.

"Hi Demple!" She crooned, giving him a saccharine-sweet smile. "Are you ready to go inside?" Dempsey winced at his new nickname and stiffly nodded. Dylan smiled, then turned to Claire. Her narrowed, jade eyes looked Claire up and down with a hint of sour jealousy. "I'm sure you can finish your conversation with your little friend later," She huffed and dragged him through the crowd into the dance hall. Dempsey gave Claire a pleading look, but she simply giggled and waggled her fingers.

"Have fun!"

She watched Dylan practically drag him into the gymnasium and frowned when she remembered she had her own date to get back to. Sighing, she walked slowly through the crowd, and once again, was pulled aside.

"Claire!" Kristen asked, her voice out of breath. "Have you seen Dempsey?"

"Yeah, he just went in with Dylan Marvil. She's his date."

Kristen swore under her breath then glanced over her shoulder.

"She better keep her hands off him..."

"Already acting like the jealous girlfriend?"

"Oh, shut up. Look, my date is Cam Fisher. You know, the soccer player?"

"Well that's good. He's cute, and he isn't an ass like Harrington." She curled her fingers into a fist when she said his name. Kristen frowned, forming crease marks in between her eyes.

"You know, he doesn't seem all that bad…" She trailed off seeing Claire's murderous expression.

"Ha!" Claire scoffed. "Yeah right. You're just saying that because you had a crush on him before Dempsey left for Africa,"

Kristen's cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she looked down.

"Whatever. But, just letting you know, he's looking for you right now,"

"Oh joy," She snapped sarcastically.

"Gee, thanks,"

She turned to see Derek staring at the ground, barely a few inches behind her.

"Whatever," Claire crossed her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready to go or what?"

"Yeah, whatever," he mumbled and turned to walk to the dance room. Claire sighed, gave Kristen a final, weary smile and followed him. When they entered the room, Claire immediately began coughing from the smoke that was coming from all direction. The room was dark, and multicolored strobe lights flashed in different directions. Everyone was grinding like they were in a rap music video and the heavy scent of expensive perfume and sweat polluted the air.

"Are those smoke machines?" she coughed, covering her nose. Placing her silver sequined clutch on the table cloth draped over the snack table, she inhaled slowly, regaining her breath. Derek looked equally confused.

"I don't know. I guess so…"

"Figures," she muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, glaring at her.

"Um, let me think," She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, I know! Maybe because you don't know anything!"

Derek opened his mouth to retort but Claire raised a palm.

"Save it. I've lost enough brain cells already."

"Why are you so mean to me?" he whined, sounding like a preschooler throwing a tantrum.

"Maybe because you ask for it."

"Um, no I don't," He furrowed his golden brow, sounding confused. Claire simply rolled her eyes. "So, are we going to dance or what?" he asked, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his pants.

The question threw her off guard.

"What?"

"Come on." Derek sounded exasperated. "You can't expect us to just stand here like losers for the rest of the dance. That's just lame."

"But- fine."

It was awkward, to say the least. The two of them stepped onto the dance floor just as the song "Don't Want To Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith came on. Claire noticed Derek, along with the rest of the male population at the dance groan, but nevertheless, his hands went directly to her waist and held tight. Claire bit her lip and tried to ignore the sudden fluttering in her stomach.

They are not butterflies! Claire tried to convince herself. I'm just... nervous.

Tentatively, her thin arms wrapped around Derek's neck. He didn't seem nearly as nervous as she did.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing

Watch you smile while you are sleeping

While you're far away dreaming

I could spend my life in this sweet surrender

I could stay lost in this moment forever

Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

She looked down at her glittering flats, Dempsey dancing with Dylan, the spilled punch on the ground a few feet away anything but Derek's face. She wasn't sure what it was that made her so uneasy, but finally, she managed to raise her icy blue eyes to Derek's warm caramel ones.

His expression made her scared. He was staring at her, his gaze unwavering. There was a guarded look in eyes, like he didn't want her to see what he was thinking, but his gaze was so penetrating, she felt as though he could read her mind.

"Stop that," she murmured without thinking.

"Stop what?" he replied, his voice quieter than usual, and the normal flirtatious demeanor gone.

"Looking at me like that," she whispered, breaking eye contact.

Derek rolled his eyes and the moment was over. It made Claire both relieved and disappointed. The song continued, and a shiver went down her spine as his hand touched her arm.

"Claire," Derek began, "I know this is going to sound weird, but-"

"DEH-RICK!!" They both winced and turned to the source of the shout. A brunette girl, whose loose, silky violet minidress clung to her bony body, stomped toward them in her five inch, strappy heels. Her amber eyes were blazing with anger and her blood red lips were curled into a sneer.

"Derek," she began in a low, menacing voice, "What the hell are you doing with that LBR?"

"Dancing," he deadpanned. "She was my assigned date."

"Well," Massie's heavily shadowed eyes looked Claire up and down vindictively. "You wouldn't mind if I cut in would you?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice. Before Claire could answer, she grabbed Derek's hand and shouted,

"JOSH!"

A, in Claire's opinion, very cute Spanish boy appeared through the crowd of dancing students. He was wearing a tux like everyone else, but his tie was loosened and a few buttons undone casually.

"Yes, Massie?" He rolled his eyes wearily. "You called?"

"I'm going to dance with Derek. You can take Clara here and dance with her instead."

"It's Claire," Claire dug her fingers into her palm to stop herself from slapping Massie's overly makeup-ed face.

"Like, whatever," Massie waved a manicured hand and led a grimacing Derek away. Josh watched her go, stuffing his fists into his pockets with a slight smirk on his face. Claire watched too, a slightly hollow feeling forming in her stomach.

"Hey," A soft voice brought her out of her reverie. Josh was looking at her, his licorice colored lips curled up into a smile. "I'm Josh. You must be Claire. Derek never stops talking about you."

"Really?" she almost squeaked.

"Yeah. Now I know why," He gave her a half smile. "You're really pretty."

"Thanks," She looked down at her shoes so he couldn't see her blush.

"Do you want to dance?"

"Sure," she responded much too quickly and he gave her a lopsided grin. His soft hand grabbed hers and they made their way to the center of the floor. It felt much more natural as he placed his hands on her hips. They talked about school, sports, friends, family, and everything in between while they danced.

"So, Joshua Hotz," Claire began, giggling. "You're half Spanish, half Italian, play midfielder on the soccer team, are an Honor Student, have a cocker spaniel named Coco, and have a younger sister named Ariana. Is that everything?"

"Pretty much," He laughed, his dark eyes shining. "And you, Claire Lyons, play volleyball, get insanely good grades, have a younger brother named Todd, love Fall Out Boy more than life itself, your favorite color is blue," He grinned mischievously, "And are totally in love with this total hottie named Josh Hotz."

"What?" She laughed at the last one. "Yeah, you wish."

Josh shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm pretty irresistible," He grinned and shook his head. "Damn, I'm starting to sound like Derek."

Claire felt a slight spasm in her stomach when Derek's name was mentioned but tried to ignore it.

"Hey," Josh started, "You want to blow this place? Let's go somewhere."

"Where? Everywhere is, like, closed right now."

"True," He sighed. "How about just outside? Better than suffocating in here."

"Sounds good," She agreed and followed him through the throng of people. 'I Kissed a Girl' by Katy Perry began to play as they ran through the doors of the school and into the crisp winter air. Goosebumps traveled up Claire's arms. Ignoring her protests, Josh draped his blazer on her bare shoulders and pulled her through the parking lot and onto the nearby football field.

-xoxox-

Derek casually shrugged Massie off as she began to provocatively dance to "This was never the way I planned; Not my intention…" When she arched her dark eyebrow at him, he fanned his face and motioned to the punch table. She looked unsatisfied, but Derek quickly turned and headed over the deserted table. Well, almost deserted, except for a few kids, who even now couldn't hold down a date.

He slowly grabbed a white plastic cup and held up the glitter-glued, plastic ladle from the red punch. Smelling the obvious present alcohol, he grabbed a water bottle from the ice filled cooler. Wouldn't want Claire to think I was drinking… Wait, since when does she matter? This is so messed up.

Leaning against the wooden table, Derek eyed the gymnasium for the familiar dark blue dress and pale blonde hair combo. Where is she? Rolling his eyes, Derek scanned the room for the dark brown hair and tanned skin that belonged to his best friend.

Suddenly, he spotted a flash of white blonde hair disappear out the door, followed by his best friend, who had an idiotic grin plastered on his tanned face.

What the hell does he think he's doing? That's my- His brain stopped instantly before he could finish the thought. He was panicking; no way in hell was Claire going to like Josh better than she liked Derek, not if he could help it. His mind was set on stopping them from getting close. He didn't know why, but the thought of Claire and Josh within two feet of each other made his stomach flip, and his hands immediately curled into fists. Angrily, he stuffed a handful of pretzels into his mouth and chewed furiously. As he washed down the last of the pretzels he found just what he needed.

There, on the table, sat Claire's white clutch.

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