Something Special

Chapter 6

"Claire!! Are you ready yet?" I was standing there banging on the bathroom door. "Ryan and Kyle will be here any minute!"

"Yes. I'm ready!" She said, finally opening the door.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" I laughed.

"No? I don't think so. Why?"

"You're definitely going to be the talk of the party."

"Really? Why?" She seemed puzzled.

"Umm.. You aren't wearing any pants." I said as I pointed down.

"OH MY GOSH!" She ran to her closet and pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and slipped them on.

"You always freak out about parties. I'm surprised you made it to school the first day with all your clothes on." I laughed as I sat down on her bed.

"You're so funny." She said while rolling her eyes. "We can't all be as calm as some people. Some of us don't fit in so easily." She let out a big sigh.

"It's not all about fitting in Claire."

"Easy for you to say."

"You want to know why it seems so easy for me?"

"Sure." Claire said.

"I don't care what other people think of me. I do what I want, dress how I like, and  act the way I want."

"You've always been that way." She plopped her whole body down on her bed.

I laid down beside her and said, "Claire, everyone loves you. I don't know why you think you have trouble fitting in. Stop stressing."

"Do you know what you are wearing to homecoming yet?"

"No I definitely don't." Of course she changed the subject.

"It's only a few weeks away."

"I know. I will probably go out the day before and pick something out. You know I don't plan too far ahead.

DING DONG

"Saved by the door-bell." I laughed and walked downstairs to get the door.

"Hey Ashlyn." Ryan said as I opened the door.

"Well, hey there handsome. Is my boyfriend out there?" I stood on my tip-toes trying to see behind him.

"No, I haven't seen him. Where's Claire?"

"Upstairs. Finishing getting ready." I explained as we walked into the living room.

"Pants again?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, again. But problem solved." Claire had always been a little self conscious, but she was one of the prettiest, most kindhearted people I had ever met. She had absolutely no reason to be self conscious. She said she was jealous because it was easy for me, but what she never knew was that I was jealous of her. She didn't see the way people looked at her. She may not have been the life of the party, but she was the girl that everyone always had to take a second look at or the one everyone always wanted to get to know. She was lucky. I would be happy if anyone looked at me the way I had seen some guys look at her.

"When is she coming down?" Ryan asked after we had been sitting there for a few minutes.

"Right now." Claire answered as she descended the stairs.

"Wow! You look great!" I said when she reached the bottom.

"Thanks! Where's Kyle?" She asked

"I'm not sure. We were wondering the same thing." Ryan said.

It felt like hours went by while we waited. I wanted to get my phone and finally the doorbell rang. Ryan walked over and opened the door.

"Finally man. We were wondering if you were ever going to get here." Ryan said to Kyle.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep y'all waiting. I fell asleep." he said and then walked over and kissed me, hard.

"It's okay. Let's go. We are already late." I said as I pulled away and half smiled. He doesn't normally kiss me like that in front of people. I could tell Ryan and Claire were just as surprised as me. I shook it off as I was walking out the door. "Tonight is going to be fun" I whispered to myself.