Clare stood in her kitchen, pouring various types of crunchy, salty snacks into bowls that sat on the counter. As the bag of Doritos she was emptying into a bowl ran empty, she sighed in relief seeing as she had successfully filled three large bowls with millions of calories.
Clare and Bianca were having a movie night/sleepover. The two would watch movies, consume as much sugar as possible, and then have continuous girl talk until they fell asleep in Clare's room.
And now that Clare had the snacks prepared, all that was left to do was wait for Bianca to arrive.
Clare retrieved two of the large snack bowls from the counter and proceeded to carry them into the living room where she found a relaxed-looking Jake. He sat lazily on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table.
Clare rolled her eyes at the sight as she set the snack bowls down.
"Jake, Bianca's coming over", she told him.
"And...?", he inquired.
"And, I'd appreciate it if you removed yourself from this room" she wore a sarcastic smile.
"Ouch, Clare. If you don't want me around just say so"
"I just did", she stated plainly.
"Well, then say so nicely"
She sighed, frustrated. "Jake, will you please leave? I need this room for when Bianca comes over"
"Nah", he smirked smugly.
She put her hand on her hip, looking at him authoritively.
Jake laughed, her pointed look having no effect on him.
"What do you need this room for, anyway? Because you know, just because its called(italics) the "living room", you won't stop breathing if you go in the kitchen or your bedroom"
"Ha Ha, very funny. We're having a movie night, FYI. And I don't have a DVD player in my room"
"Ah, so I see. What are you guys planning on watching?"
Tired of arguing with him, Clare sighed and took a seat on the couch next to her step-brother.
"We're watching the Matrix trilogy", she informed him.
"And may I sit in on this movie night?", he asked of her.
Clare, not wanting to be so cruel to her brother who had helped her and Drew make amends, sighed at her decision of what she knew was the right thing to do.
"Fine", she gave in.
Jake smiled in victory.
"As long as you promise to keep quiet! If I even hear a peep out of you, you'll be banned from our movie night"
Jake slid his fingers across his lips as if to zip his mouth closed and 'throw away the key'.
Clare chuckled. "I meant during the movie, you bozo"
Jake shrugged his shoulders in an "Oh well" kind of way.
She shook her head in amusement. "I'm gonna go get the rest of the snacks"
And with that, she rose from the couch and made her way to the kitchen.
Suddenly, the doorbell rung. Jake rose from the couch and made his way to the door. He opened it to see a shivering Bianca.
When he didn't say anything like, "Come in", Bianca pushed past him and entered the house.
She sighed in relief as the warmth of the home entered her body.
"Weren't you going to let me in?", she questioned Jake.
He didn't answer.
She wore a confused expression.
"What's wrong with him?", Bianca questioned Clare as she re-entered the living room, holding a bowl of pretzels.
"Oh, he's just being dumb. I told him he could join in on our movie night if he doesn't talk. I meant that he just couldn't talk during the movie but he just had to take it to a whole 'nother level, Clare clarified while placing the rest of the snacks on the coffee table.
Bianca chuckled, shaking her head.
"Oh, I hope you don't mind me letting him join us", Clare said, hoping her irrational decision had not gone against her guest's wishes.
"No, it's fine. I mean he's already committed to not talking so it'll be as if he's not even here"
Jake, who was once again seated lazily on the couch, gave them a "Hey, I heard that!", kind of look.
"Yep", Clare agreed. "It's like he's not even here"
Jake rolled his eyes as both girls laughed.
B+C+J B+C+J B+C+J B+C+J B+C+J
The Friday night carried on as planned. They all watched the Matrix trilogy together while consuming immense amounts of sugar. By 12AM they were finished with the third movie, and the girls were just about ready for bed.
Clare and Bianca said goodnight to Jake as he shot them both a sly smile, still refusing to speak.
"Jake, the movie's over. You can talk now!", Clare exclaimed.
He nodded his head, still not saying a word.
Clare sighed and ruffled up his hair as she arose from the couch.
"C'mon, B. Let's go to bed"
Bianca arose from the couch, following Clare upstairs.
The girls got changed into their PJ's. Clare wore a blue tank top and pajama pants with a yellow sweater while Bianca wore a pair of grey sweats and a purple tee-shirt.
They both lay side by side in Clare's large bed. They took part in some girl talk before deciding on sleep.
"So... How are things with you and Adam?", Clare asked.
Bianca lay silently next to her. Clare looked to her right to see her best friend smiling, looking up at the ceiling.
"C'mon, tell me!", Clare said playfully bumping her arm.
"Is there something going on with you guys?"
"No...", Bianca replied, hesitantly. "I mean... We've gotten close and everything. But, I'm just not so sure if he sees me that way"
Clare saw that her friend's smile had been replaced with a heartbreaking, unsure look.
Clare frowned. "Why not, B?"
"I don't know... It's just- Sometimes It feels like there's something between us.. We'll have these moments... But then he'll just blow them off like it's nothing"
Bianca looked to Clare in hope of guidance.
Clare tried to think of reasons Adam would do this. She figured he was just being his same old awkward self. He hadn't had much experience with girls due to his shyness. But Clare could see that Adam was really fond of Bianca. He freaking adored the girl! But, obviously Bianca didn't see that.
As Bianca and Clare got caught up in their thoughts, tiredness overcame them both. But Bianca refused to allow herself to drift into sleep. Adam was taking over her mind.
She looked to her left about to confide more in her best friend, only to see Clare had fallen asleep beside her.
Bianca sighed. Now she was up by herself, her thoughts of Adam taunting her continuously.
Why had she fallen for such a special guy?
After a few minutes of restless tossing and turning, Bianca decided she needed some water to refresh her thoughts.
She quietly got out of the bed, being sure not to wake up her sleeping friend.
Bianca quietly tiptoed down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen. Unable to find her way to the refrigerator in the darkness of the night, she turned on a dim light only to be startled by a tall, slender figure in the midst of the kitchen. Bianca caught her breath once she realized the figure was none other but Clare's blonde step-brother.
"Jake, you scared me half to death!", she yell-whispered.
He put on a smug smirk. "Oh, so it worked then"
"Ugh", Bianca grunted, making her way over to the refrigerator. "What are you doing up anyway"
"Um, I got hungry", he said, shoving some popcorn in his mouth. "But, I think the real question is what are you doing up?..."
Bianca sighed, grabbing a water bottle and shutting the fridge door.
"I'm just thirsty", she assured.
"Then what's with your face?"
Bianca gave him a pointed look. "What are you saying?", she asked defensively.
"I mean you look like you're lying. Like you got out of bed when you couldn't fall asleep because you can't get something off of your mind"
Bianca froze. "How did you-?"
"Clare comes down here a lot for the same reason all the time. You wouldn't believe how dramatic she can be. I never got how girls can let something bother them that much"
Bianca frowned. "Yeah. I guess us girls just don't have the ability to will our thoughts away at any time..."
"So what's on your mind?"
She looked down to her feet after taking a sip of water. "It's nothing"
Jake stayed quiet as he downed a whole 'nother handful of popcorn. He'd learned that if you don't actually try to get a girl to tell you something, they'll do it on their own and never shut up about whatever it is.
The tactic worked on Bianca just as it did on Clare.
"It's just... There's this guy-"
"Adam?", he assumed.
"Yeah...", she said kind of embarrassed. "Well, as ut seems everyone already knows this... I like him. A lot..."
She continued, "And sometimes it seems like he likes me too. But at other times... It's like he could care less"
"I see"
"And I really like him a lot. Lime I don't think i've ever liked someone this much... He's juat so different from every other guy"
"Hm...", he murmured understandingly.
"Yeah... So, what should I do?", Bianca asked pleadingly.
His responce was a simple shrug of his shoulders.
"Um okay..." She began to walk away, but then turned around.
"Wait, so I just basically poured my heart out to you for absolutely no reason at all...?"
"Yep"
She laughed sarcastically, "Nice"
He chuckeld. "Look, I don't know what you should do. I'm not very good at giving advice and crap. But... You have to admit you feel at least a little better now that you got it off your chest, huh?"
Bianca smirked at the realization. "You know... You're actually right. I do feel a lot better now"
Jake smirked. "Well hey, I'm always here to listen. Not so much to talk, but ya know..."
"I know", she smiled. "Thank you"
"No problemo"