Chapter Two: Budding Romance
The same path brought the two together as the previous night. They greeted each other with a friendly smile and sat on their sides of the chasm. As the night before, Clara looked up at the stars. The sky was so clear and an enchanting midnight blue, she felt she could get lost in its mysteries forever. At the same time, Nathaniel gazed at Clara, the same thoughts running through his mind about her deep brown eyes. Clara chanced a glance and Nathaniel and found him already looking at her. Again, feeling under scrutinising eyes, she turned and at once a white cloak appeared at her side. Clara donned the covering and returned to her stargazing, sighing and wrapping her arms around her knees. This didn't deter Nathaniel and instead he asked, "Are you cold?"
"Not anymore." She replied.
A comfortable silence ensued, only to be broken by Nathaniel, "You look stunning."
Clara blushed and allowed her hair to drop and obscure her face. She peeked through the strands, staring at this magnificent stranger. He was short, for a man, with an average build and no looks to comment on, but something captured her with him, something about him was just so beautiful.
"Thank you." She responded simply. Words would not tell how much that compliment meant to her.
They sat in silence again. Hours passed with only the soft murmur of the forest to be heard. Clara didn't even notice when Nathaniel disappeared. She looked over to his side and fear crept into her when she saw he was missing.
"Why are you scared?" she asked herself, "You don't even know this boy. He shouldn't make you feel safe."
But he did, in her heart, she knew it. He was her soul mate. She had to find him. She no longer wanted this dream without him in it.
Clara opened her eyes wearily and checked the time. She had an hour left before she had to leave for uni, but she felt like she couldn't sleep without him there with her. So Clara pulled on a pair of socks and padded around her house in the early hours of the morning, hunting for a notebook where she could write these dreams. Eventually she found one, retelling all the details, especially Nathaniel.
When she arrived at uni, Clara felt unsettled. The conflicting emotions inside her toyed with her mind, and she felt restless and unable to concentrate. Jack sensed her uneasiness and tried to soothe her by joking around; acting as though nothing was wrong and flirting shamelessly with her. Clara smiled half-heartedly and leant into Jack, their knees barely brushing against each other. Here were two boys, both perfect for her in their own ways, but Clara knew one was real; one was right in front of her. She looked up at Jack as he turned back towards the whiteboard. His hair was messy as always, deep, caramel-brown eyes drooping slightly at the corners with the slightest gleam in them, perfectly chiselled jaw covered in just the right amount of beard. Jack sensed her eyes on him and looked down at her, smiling slightly with a quizzical look in his eyes. She smiled back at him, dipping her head slightly to peer at him through her long lashes. He wasn't Nathaniel, no, they were very different. Nathaniel was average looking, but he made her heart race like it was doing 100 down the freeway; but there was a certain amount of doubt in her, where she wondered if he was only a figment of her imagination. These thoughts of Nathaniel and Jack kept swirling around her head, resulting in a pounding headache. When the lecture finally ended, she excused herself from Jack's presence and wandered the large grounds of the university to find her dearest friend, Anita.
"Hey Anita, long time no speak!" Clara called jokingly across the quad.
"Clara!" Anita replied, walking faster to her friend, embracing her as she collapsed into her arms.
The two girls talked for a long time, Anita filling Clara in on every little detail about Luke for almost the entire hour. It was only on their walk to Clara's next lecture where she finally let slip about her new dreams and the dilemma she faced with Jack and Nathaniel.
"Clara, you do realise that they're just dreams? They don't mean anything! Just let it go. You have a perfectly hot, very real guy right in front of your eyes. Even a blind man could see the chemistry between the two of you, it's so blatantly obvious." Anita was a science major; of course she'd side with the more logical option.
Clara, however, was unconvinced. These dreams were far more realistic than anything she had ever experienced before, and her dreams were usually quite vivid. She sighed, "But he doesn't like me. Not like how I like him. I'm practically infatuated, and he barely notices me like that."
"Well, if you're so adamant that he doesn't like you, I think it's time we do an experiment." Anita smiled, a new gleam in her eye and the scheming cogs in her brain whirring into action. "Next week you are coming to uni looking your absolute best. No more of this baggy jumper and skinny leg jeans every single day. You wear clothes that will make every man's head turn in your direction, checking out your cute butt or trying to catch a glimpse of your boobs."
Clara giggled at this, but paused, "Won't that just prove to me how shallow he is? Getting more attention from him while he tries to check me out in a figure-hugging dress doesn't seem to be the most effective way of discerning whether or not he likes me for me."
"But it's not about the attention that he gives to you; it's the attention he pays the other guys looking at you. It's how he reacts when he sees that you're also desirable to other men. Not only that, but I don't believe he'll change his attitude towards you, and when you go back to wearing your baggy jumper and jeans, like I know you will, he'll remain completely the same. Just watch for that hint of jealousy, and then you'll know I'm right." Anita was 100% sure of herself and this foolproof plan that her cunning mind had just created.
"One week. Then we can analyse the results together." Clara said, defeated. She quickly hugged Anita goodbye and walked into her lecture theatre, feeling slightly more settled than she had been that morning. Annabel waved and motioned to an empty seat next to her, and Clara, noting that it was on the opposite side of the room to Jack, guiltily accepted the seat, easing into a light conversation with Annabel and another classmate, Joe, before turning her attention to the lecturer.
That night, Clara spent hours on Skype with Anita, organising outfits for every day of the following week. "Don't forget to put a little bit of makeup on. You look great without it – I'm so jealous of your skin – but it doesn't hurt to add a little colour to those cheeks."
"Trust me Anita, my cheeks aren't going to need any extra colour when I get all this attention. You know I don't like to stand out." Clara replied nervously.
"Oh stop it! We both know that you love the attention, but you aren't comfortable enough with it yet. This is a good step to self-confidence, my dear." Anita waggled her eyebrows at Clara and winked, causing the pair to giggle.
"Okay, so I think I'm ready. Next week, here I come!" Clara declared.
The rest of the week passed uneventfully, where Clara was too focussed on the coming week to even think about the present properly. Every night she still dreamt of Nathaniel, making notes of the strange dreams in her journal. Every day she still saw Jack, the easy, flirty conversations coming so naturally to the pair. No matter how much chemistry she felt with Jack, there was an undeniable connection between her and Nathaniel that couldn't be explained.
On Friday afternoon, Clara caught the bus with Jack like any other day; however, this day was different. Jack had sensed something off with Clara all week, and he was probing for answers.
"What have I done, Clara? Did I upset you in some way?" Jack started.
"What are you talking about? You haven't done anything. I'm not upset." Clara responded instantly, a knee-jerk reaction to being called upset or drawing unnecessary attention to her own emotions.
"Clara, you've been distant all week. I know we like to have fun and joke around a lot, but you're also one of my closest friends, and I'm worried about you. You're just not yourself around me, so I had to assume –"
"No, no please don't worry, Jack!" Clara smiled softly, "It's just been a tough week. I need to get back into the swing of things. Assignments are piling up and the tension in my house is crazy."
It wasn't a lie, Jack knew, but he sensed there was something else there that she wasn't telling him. He thought it best to drop it for now and resume the subject in the morning via text message, where she would be more willing to talk about how she felt, less confronted and vulnerable.
"So any crazy dreams lately?" Jack asked, hoping to get onto a safer topic. Clara had a knack for vivid dreams, and occasionally some pretty cute dreams involving him. Lately, he hadn't heard any of her dreams, and he was curious as to why. However, the way the colour drained from her cheeks told him that he'd hit a nerve. "Sorry, are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Dreams have just been a little… Touchy, recently." Clara replied quietly.
The pair sat in silence for minutes, which seemed to drag on for an eternity for Jack. Clara was lost in her own thoughts, pondering whether or not to tell Jack, and possibly have to confess her feelings for him in the process, or keep her first secret from him. Jack stared out the window, knowing he would have to leave Clara soon, and wondering if she'd get home alright in this state.
"I have to go into the city today; I need to pick up something for my sister, so I guess I could take the train with you there too, unless you'd like to walk? It's quite nice outside, and God knows we both need the fresh air and exercise." Jack lied. The excuse rolled nicely off his tongue. He would do it more often if he could spend more time with Clara, but he feared it would seem suspicious to her.
Clara's face lit up at the suggestion, which calmed Jack's worry. "That would be so awesome! Let's go for a walk, I haven't walked to the station in ages. Normally it's too late, and walking through the city by myself at night-time is intimidating. Plus, mum would absolutely have a heart attack if she found out; that or she'd kill me herself for being so reckless."
Jack smiled at the normalcy of their conversation and the two of them hopped off the bus and began their walk. They talked about the weather and their subjects, about their siblings and their home life, as well as friends and gossip. Eventually they got back to the random and obscure topics that they normally talked about, and this made both Jack and Clara much happier.
"So what do you think Voldemort's favourite flavour of ice cream was?" Clara asked suddenly.
"Passionfruit." Jack said simply.
"Passionfruit? How would you get that? Wouldn't it be something dark, like liquorice, or even, because they're magical, something more obscure, like, I don't know, blood flavour?" Clara enquired.
"Well, I'd say passionfruit, because what Voldemort lacked in love from his family and friends, he could always make up with flavours of ice cream, and passionfruit is the most passionate of them all!" Jack stated.
Clara laughed the most genuine laugh in days, and Jack felt like it was music to his ears. They turned a corner and found the train station. This goodbye seemed awkward, where they both didn't want to leave each other, but they both were too afraid to do anything. In the end, Jack put an arm around Clara, pulling her into a warm embrace and Clara's arms snaked up his back, squeezing him closer to her. They didn't want to let go – it was their first proper hug. Clara buried her face in Jack's shoulder and he rested his lips on her head, and they stayed like that for a while. Onlookers must have thought they were a couple.
"Umm… I'll talk to you tomorrow, I guess." Jack said awkwardly as he released Clara.
"Yeah, tomorrow." She replied in a giddy trance.
That night she didn't dream of Nathaniel. Her dreams solely reflected her desire for Jack. Oh this week was going to be very interesting.