AN: Dis-kluh-may-shun. ;) Thanks for all of your reviews, guys, they made my day:D
"Fuck," Massie cursed, plopping facedown onto her duvet. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she repeated.
After running out of the school building, she began to cry. She had no idea what she had just done. She talked back to Mr. Sawyer, one of her favorite teachers. And worst of it all, she didn't know why she burst out like that. Who was she becoming?
She roughly ran her hands down her face, removing all evidence of tears being there. She still felt the snot just waiting to explode and curse her face with its stickiness. She sighed and ran her fingers back and forth under her nose, rubbing it hard.
She ran a hand through her hair and laid back, trying not to cry again. She stared up at the ceiling, not knowing what to do.
She had texted Cam earlier, when she was in her car, but it hadn't gone too well. She didn't even know why she did that. Cam really did seem like the only person that could really help her, anyway. She couldn't just text Kristen, Derrick or Claire, and she wasn't close to Josh, so why not text Cam? Mistake for her.
She suddenly felt a heavy aura of tiredness conquer her and she closed her eyes, not wanting to hear about anything else or seeing anyone else. The next time she opened her eyes, Claire and Kristen were on her bed. She quickly shut her eyes again.
"We saw that, Mass," Claire murmured, running a hand over my forehead.
"Come on, Massie, why did you do that at school today?" Kristen asked.
She rolled over in bed and pulled her pillow onto her face. Muffled, she asked, "How'd you guys get in?"
"Massie, that doesn't matter—okay, yeah, it does because your door wasn't locked—but still. You walked out on Mr. Sawyer and that's just not you." Claire tugged on the pillow and Massie let go of it. "You shouldn't have done that."
Massie glared at Claire and she sat up, her hair messy. "Are you seriously saying that I have no right to walk out on class? I was getting pissed, okay? You know my temper. I can't handle it. One little thing and it flares. I can't control whatever I say, whatever I do. The walking out on class thing isn't something I'm proud of. And you can have yourself to blame for that."
Kristen's eyes widened and she placed her hand on Massie's shoulder. "Hey, wait, hold up. Massie, you can't just do something and throw around accusations."
Massie shook off Kristen's hand and she shot her a gnarly look. "You don't get it, Kris, and neither do you, Claire. Look, I'm sorry if I'm being bitchy right now, but you can't just come in here and give me some sort of a pep talk and expect everything to be okay. You don't understand what I'm going through. Everything seems like it's going wrong. Chris and I broke up and I'm still not over him. Yeah, you heard it, I still miss him and I still think about him. I just realized that Connor doesn't have that much fun. And you, Claire, are going out with Derrick. You were the last person I thought would do that!" Massie ran hand through her loose curls and threw her comforter off her. "You seriously don't know how much that annoys me!"
Claire, with a frustrated expression on her face, stood up and stared down at Massie. "Well if it annoys you so much, don't let it get to you!" she exclaimed, feeling her anger boiling under her skin.
"Hey, guys, come on," Kristen muttered, not wanting for anything to happen.
"Claire, how can I freaking not let it get to me? In every freaking class I'm in, you're there texting your sweet boyfriend. And when I'm not there, it's Derrick that's with me. You think it doesn't annoy the crap outta me? Do you want me to be all lovey-dovey with Connor and being verbal about it?" Massie threw her legs over the edge of her bed and stood up, wanting to talk back to Claire's nutty words.
"Like I haven't experienced it before? With Connor and Chris! And you know what, that time of your life annoyed me, too. But I never said anything about it because I just wanted you to be happy. But I can't let you be happy because you're so freaking perfect and it's so freaking irritating!" Claire screeched, throwing her arms up in the air.
"Claire, Massie, seriously, come on," Kristen said in the background, nearing them.
"Me?" Massie yelled. This was getting over the top already. She wasn't going to take bull from little Miss Cherry Pie. "I am far from perfect! You don't see how freaking un-perfect I am! You're the one who gets straight As without trying and everyone likes you because you're so freaking nice."
Claire snorted. "Massie, don't you see that every guy at school pines away for you? And that they wished they were Connor or Chris or even Derrick who you became friends with?"
"Yeah, but that was a mistake. I hate Derrick so much that I could kill him and I'd be proud of it. And I always thought that you'd be the one who understood that! But no, you just couldn't keep your hands off him."
"Why does it bother you so much, Massie, you don't even like him!"
"That's the point, Kuh-laire! I don't. Fucking. Like him. But I like you—you're my best friend, for crying out loud! And when you go behind me and—"
"Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that me and Derrick are a couple?" Claire asked.
The anger on Massie's face swiped away and it was replaced with confusion. "You're an official couple? You and Derrick are officially together?"
Claire nodded. "And you're going to have to accept that Massie, whether you like it or not. Derrick is my boyfriend and we're very happy together."
Massie watched as a disgusting, smug smile crept onto Claire's face. She shook her head. "So that's what it is, huh? You going behind my back and getting together with the one guy I hate? Really? You couldn't at least have gone out with anyone else?"
"Why do you hate Derrick, Massie? He said he was sorry, didn't he?"
"No, he didn't Claire. He never did. It's why hate him. He could've apologized, but did he? No. And now he's taking my best friend away from me and I hate that."
"Well maybe he is sorry—"
"Sorry or not, he ruined my childhood. I'm practically scarred for life!"
"Stop being such a drama queen, Massie. Why can't you just be happy for me? I was happy for you when you went out with Connor and Chris. So why can't you do the same?" Claire murmured the last sentence to herself.
Out of nowhere, Kristen sniffled and hugged Massie and Claire. "Why can't you both just shut up and be happy for each other?" she asked, stretching her arms out and staring at both of them. "We're best friends. We're not supposed to let other people get in the way of that."
Massie stared at Kristen and her eyes watered. She glanced at Claire who was already looking her way and she said, "I'm sorry," before the tears fell over.
"I know, I am, too." Claire hugged her back and stroked her hair. "I was such a bitch and you're right. I should never have gone behind your back. But I really like him, Mass, and I think he really likes me."
For the last five days, the thought of a 'Claire and Derrick' pinched at her already broken heart. It was enough that Derrick had never really noticed much of Kristen except when Massie was around, but dating Claire, her best friend, took enough energy from her to change her. She had always loved Derrick, even when he was away at Minnesota. She didn't let those feelings get in the way, though. It was only when she wasn't with Massie and Claire was she slow and not alert. And now learning that Claire and Derrick were together, she didn't know how much more she could handle. And seeing Massie and Claire butt heads, she didn't know what was happening. Maybe Massie was right. Derrick should just leave and go back to Minnesota.
"Kristen, you okay?" Massie asked, standing by the door.
She snapped back to reality. "What?" she said under her breath, not paying attention.
Claire shot her a confused look. "We were going down to Massie's kitchen. Her mom's downstairs and she's baking cookies."
"And there's rocky road ice cream in the fridge, your favorite," Massie said, already heading out with Claire behind her. "Come on, let's go, Kris. The party's not alive without your raucousness," Massie teased.
Kristen smiled to herself sadly. Maybe friends just weren't enough.
AN: Okay, wow, already here, eh? Well, this story has a long way to go. It's not done yet. Now, I promise all of you that this will not end a Clairington.
Okay, well, thanks to everyone who reviews, faves, alerts:D You guys are seriously fabulous and I love you all very much:D And, hey, if you want me to review your stories, just ask:D
Peace out, in and all around!
Ericka/WhereItAllBegins