Touch Me

-2-

Chapter Two

Claire

I was almost nodding off to sleep when the bell rang for lunch. I don’t know about you but I’d rather dissect the human body than have a two hour class on trigonometric equations.

Once the bell rang, I gathered my books, grabbed my bags and all but ran to the cafeteria. Once I chose a table, I reached into my bag and brought out my homemade Macaroni and sauce. Once I opened my flask of food, I began to eat almost aggressively.

I calmed myself down after the fourth spoon of Macaroni and began to observe my surroundings. Almost everyone, if not everyone, had a friend to talk to. I eyed the empty spaces on my table and shook my head.

If you’d asked the students of West Point Highschool about the shy nerdy girl, Claire, you would probably get one of two replies: A confused look and the question of ‘who?’ or you would be told about a girl who is always top of her class, in the end you would walk away with the image of a girl who doesn’t have many friends and is more interested in her school work than anything else.

It’s not like I chose to be alone, sort of. I spent my first two years of high school with my head down, trying to avoid any unwanted attention. I’d embarrassed myself throughout middle school. When my parents and I moved here and I got enrolled at West Point, I didn’t want a repeat of middle school so I just kept everything low-key.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud laugh and I turned my head in the direction of the sound. A girl with reddish brown waves and plump lips caught my attention. I noticed how she’d swung her head back and laughed again at something her friend said. Her voice sounded so melodious. Evangeline Snow. Evie. I felt my heart racing again as I stared at her, watching her smile and the movement of her bouncy waves as she looked behind her. 

I don’t know why I always react like this once I set my eyes on her. Maybe it’s my lack of friendships talking or…. No! I can’t be gay. Right?

Just then, Evie’s eyes meet mine and I feel my tummy summersault a bit. I moved my gaze away from hers immediately, feeling somewhat embarrassed that I’d been caught staring. I can feel my face growing hot already. I’m probably the color of a tomato right now.

Taking a deep breath, I pick at my now cold Macaroni and try to swallow what’s left without embarrassing myself further.

“Hello again Claire.” Someone whispers in my ear, making me shiver in fright. My macaroni goes down the wrong way and I start coughing, I grab my bottle of water and take a large gulp while rubbing my chest.

I turn to yell at the person responsible for almost killing me but seeing who, I bite my tongue and turn away.

“Kelly…” I whispered her name, wondering what she wanted to do to me this time.

She grunts in reply and sits beside me, a wicked grin on her face as she takes in my frightened state.

“Claire… What’s wrong? Why are you here all by yourself?” She asks in a fake concerned voice, taunting me. “Tsk. No friends huh? It makes sense. If your family already sees you as worthless then of course everyone else will. How pathetic.”

I gulp, reaching for my spoon but a pile of books are dropped on the table, making a loud bang (but not loud enough for the whole cafeteria to set their eyes on me).

“You’d better finish these before tomorrow… Or else…” Kelly threatens, grabs her bag and walks away.

Once she’s gone, I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. Feeling tears running down my face, I wipe them off immediately, berating myself at how weak I am.

I shove the books in my bag, along with the flasks and water bottle, muttering a quiet “Fuck my life”, before leaving the cafeteria.

Evie

It’s irritating how I get frustrated halfway into the school day. If it wasn’t for the lunch bell, I would have stormed out of the class. Imagine my relief once the bell went off.

“I’m so starving!!” Corrine moans, pulling me through the hallway quickly. “Hurry up, Evie. They’re serving spaghetti today and I don’t want to miss it.”

“How can you even eat that?” I ask, wrinkling my nose in disgust. “I honestly don’t understand what you see in the spaghetti. The sauce tastes like it was made with rotten tomatoes.”

“Maybe you’ve got a bad tongue. The sauce tastes okay to me.” She shrugs in reply.

I shake my head at my crazy friend. Once we reached the cafeteria, I waited for her to grab her spaghetti and we headed to our usual spot by the window.

Once we settled into our tables, Corinne starts talking about some guy she met during the weekend called Grayson? Mason? I’ve forgotten. But she catches my attention by saying “There she goes again.”

I give her a quizzical look and she nods in my direction, her eyes transfixed on someone behind me. I follow her line of sight and I see Kelly, walking down the cafeteria.

“Don’t go drooling again.”Rinne says, teasingly.

I glare at her and scan the cafeteria for the girl from this morning. I find her and our eyes meet immediately.

Her blue eyes widen and she breaks eye contact with me, her cheeks tainted red.

“Who is she?” I ask Corinne, still staring at the odd girl.

Corinne follows my line of sight and nods her head. “Oh, Kelly’s girl? That’s Claire. Claire Willows. West Point High’s honor student. How do you not know that?”

I shrug my shoulders.”Maybe I never noticed her before.”

“That’s normal.” Corinne laughs, rolling her eyes. “You’re naturally dense.”

“Shut up, Rinne!”

She snickers and continues eating her food while I sneak glances to the blonde who just left the cafeteria in a haste. Claire Willows.

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