Falling For Thy Enemy

37 : Welcome Back

Back to Clara

There should be a rule to kill your best friend when they put you in awkward positions. I swear Stefan's friends are nicer than mine.

Drew noticed Stefan's odd behavior towards me and asked me to sit with him in English at the back and I was all the more ready to comply. But stupid, dumb Keith said he had plans with Emily so he couldn't take me home. Who's the better friend, huh?

Hannah and Ethan already skipped school after lunch so they couldn't drive me back and Drew was taking the bus, leaving Stefan as my only option. I'd take the bus too but I have a habit of falling asleep and reaching places beyond my desired destination. So begrudgingly, I walk towards Stefan who's leaning on his car with his eyes closed.

"Hey," I say and lean beside him, acting casual and putting a space between us. I can feel his gaze on me but he doesn't say anything, annoying me more. "I don't have a ride so I was hoping I'd catch one with you, since we're going o the same place."

He opens his mouth but is cut off by a voice that I strangely find annoying. "Hey," I look at Aria with raised brow and all she does is grins at me, or shall I say, Stefan. "Let's go."

Stefan grunts from beside me and I realize with wide eyes that Miss Blonde is getting a ride with him as well. On second thought, I'd rather take the bus. Or I'd walk.

"Hurry up and get in," Stefan's annoyed voice is directed at me and I notice Aria already in the front seat. I grumble under my breath and take a seat in the back and Stefan starts the car.

The whole ride is annoyingly slow, more because of the chatterbox that Aria is and less because of the traffic we've been stuck in for past twenty minutes. I breath a sigh of relief when the road clears out but frown when I notice we're on our way to Josie's. Seems like Miss Chatterbox will be dropped off after me. Or maybe Stefan would spend some time at her place, 'helping' her with missed school work as he has been doing all day today.

I slam the car door on my way out and smile in satisfaction when I see Stefan wince. That smile is soon replaced by a frown, however, when I notice the other two getting off as well. Seems like the 'helping' will be here and not at Aria's place. My horror when I realize they'd be in the room right in front of mine can't be described in words.

"You guys are back. How was first day of school, Ari?" Josie asks as soon as we enter.

"You didn't go to work?" Aria asks instead of answering, jumping on the couch as if she owned the place.

Josie shrugs, "I figured I'd rather not be swimming in work stress in case school calls to complain about you on first day."

Aria rolls her eyes and switches on the tv, turning it on mute, "You know why I punched Sue, Jo. I wasn't in the wrong and if anyone does what she did, I'd punch them again."

Josie sighs and looks over at me and grins when she sees the confusion on my face. "Oh, Clara, I guess you've met my niece, Aria. She wasn't a trouble at school, was she?"

Niece? That explains why she's here. "No. not at all. She was a sweetheart." I answer Josie. "Anyway, I'm gonna go and get some rest, okay?"

I turn around and notice Stefan already gone, probably to his room and a different feeling of relief washes over me when I realize that there won't be any helping between him and Aria. The relief soon dies down, however, when I reach my room.

I'm not and ocd personal but I do like my stuff organized. My room right now, however, looks like it has just been through a tornado. My gaze moves around horrified as I spot the blankets on the floor in a heap, books scattered on my desk and the door to my closet open.

"Hey!" Aria says, coming behind me and scaring me. Before I have a time to reply, she jumps on my bed - with her shoes on. "Oh, yeah," She starts when she notices my narrowed gaze, sitting up slowly and removing her Jordans, "I usually take this room whenever I visit Aunt Jo but it was already occupied this time. I told Jo you won't mind sharing with me though, would you? I mean, staying with that forty year old won't exactly give me privacy. With your teenage self, however, I can manage."

I am thankful for my quick reflexes as I stop my jaw from hanging open and force a smile. "Of course, I'd love to have another girl around." With a sigh, I start picking up the mess, "Only if you could stop being so messy, we'll be perfect."

Instead of feeling insulted, Aria laughs and nods, preparing to doze off, "Sure Clara, I'll try." She does, indeed, help me clean up the room and I make up some space in the closet for her to use. She jokes around a lot and it's hard to keep a straight face. I like people who can make me laugh but even then, I can't get the picture of her clinging to Stefan out of my mind. It makes me so angry, for a reason I can't quite figure out. I head out for a walk to clear my head.

On my way downstairs, I bump into Stefan and some part of me wants to engage him into some conversation. Without thinking, I blurt, "I don't know what's up your ass lately but I figured I should inform you that you've been acting like a jackass for past two days. I'm not gonna ask questions when I'm not supposed to but just a reminder, we still have to practice for the talent hunt. And if for any reason you're not up for being my partner anymore, let me know because then I'll have find someone else and practice with them to perfect the show." 

I swallow at the end of my rant, not quiet meeting his eye. I know the only reason he would even back out of being my dance partner is because of that stupid kiss. I rush out the main door as soon as I finish speaking, not wanting to face him or have him tell me to find someone else to dance with.

The truth is, I actually want to dance with him. Even imagining him backing out and asking Keith or even Drew to be my dance partner makes me feel weird, as if I'm committing a grave mistake. My head is running with stupid thought of that stupid boy with those stupid green colored eyes that have the ability to make me lose sleep so I decide to run. I run until I reach the nearest ice-cream parlor and then walk back home, listening to an audio book to distract myself by focusing on a fictional character's love life.

However, what waits for me back at Josie's is not something I am expecting.

x x x 

Bah, cliffhanger! I know, I'm evil. BTW, I can't believe I hadn't updated this book in 18 months. Like why didn't y'all force me or something? And I'm kinda scared now that this cliffhanger would be the cause of my death in case I forget to update it later. Psshh, y'all are too nice to commit such thing. Anyway, I deeply apologize for late update and I promise to try and give the next update within this month. 

I had to actually go and read the entire book again to remind myself what I was writing about. I also had to cringe at so many grammatical errors, like ew. It made me desperate to work on FFTE 2.0 faster so I could deliver a better book to you that you don't have to wait one and a half years for. 

Don't worry, that book is almost done being written and I kid you not, it's so much better. I would know, I keep reading it every time and saying, "wow, did i write that? am i really that funny?" 

Anyway, enjoy your little update and I shall deliver better stuff for all you patience, love and support. 

Love, Ren.