𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 • 𝘣𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴 [✔]

chapter fifty eight.

"We're not going to make it in time. I'm sorry, Garrett, Ben is going as fast as he can. We're almost there. Bye." Claudia spoke into the phone. Garrett stood outside the gym where the dance was being held. It was decorated and everything, music was playing and there were many colorful lights, but no Claudia Donovan.

Claudia had spoken to Principal Howard about her tardiness. He was disappointed in her, but still allowed her to participate to chaperone. Even students were asking for her, more specifically her students that knew of her new relationship.

"B-Bye, I'll be here waiting. And watching the kids, of course." Garrett chuckled nervously.

"Right. Be there soon." Claudia ended the call.

Ben looked over at her with curiosity. He didn't know much about Garrett, but he took the opportunity to know more since they were stuck on the road for another half hour. "So . . . Garrett. What's he like? Is he nice to you? Boring? Most importantly, does Janis like him?"

Claudia laughed and looked at Nate and Lara in the back seat. They were both sleeping in uncomfortable positions, but they slept. "He's not boring, Ben, he's a good guy. Yes, he is nice to me. He likes comic books and regular books. A relative of his is actually in my class. Her name is Ana."

Ben hummed. "You still didn't answer the most important question of them all. Does Janis like him? Come on, Claudia, that's like the top question. Does Janis like him?"

"I wouldn't know because Janis has never met Garrett," Claudia said with a smirk. "You know there is one thing that bothers me about Garrett. Well, not bothers more like saddens me."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"He doesn't like ice cream like I do. I mean that's insane! Ice cream is the best!" Claudia said. If there was one thing she adored more than Ben, it was ice cream. (She didn't tell Ben how much she liked him, but he had an idea now.)

"I guess that means Janis doesn't like Garrett." Ben mumbled the man's name.

"Technically they haven't met," Claudia replied, "if we make it to the dance on time, you two can meet."

Ben just smiled and nodded.

𓆩❤︎𓆪

Right as Ben pulled up to the school, Nate and Lara woke up. Nate was woken up faster by Lara hitting his face with the back of her hand as she stretched.

"Bitch," he muttered.

"Asshole," she said back.

Claudia grabbed her bag and the dress she was going to wear for the night. Everywhere she went, she made sure she carried her favorite lipstick, a small eyeshadow palette, mascara, eyeliner and a couple makeup brushes. "Okay, I'll be home in about four hours, this dance is almost over. Just don't let Janis see you, I have to see her first."

Ben cleared his throat. "Claudia, I don't think you have to wait. She's here." He pointed at the woman that was talking to one of Claudia's students.

Claudia looked at the direction Ben pointed in and saw her mom talking with Michael, her student. "Oh, no. What is she doing here?"

She quickly got out of the car and ran towards the school, completely forgetting her dress and heels. In the car, Ben looked at Nate and Lara in the backseat. "Don't do anything stupid."

Lara was about to talk back, but Nate placed a hand over her mouth. "We'll be fine. We aren't kids," Just then, Lara bit him. "Shit, fucking bitch motherfucker!" He held his hand in pain.

"You sound like your parents let you curse for the first time!"

Ben rolled his eyes and grabbed Claudia's dress and heels then exited the car in search of her. He found her confronting Janis, who was no longer talking to a student.

"Principal Howard called the house, I had to tell him you eloped!" Janis said as Ben arrived. He instantly looked confused. "Hey, Benjamin, did this one drive you crazy?"

"Believe it or not, not yet" He chuckled. He handed Claudia her stuff. "You forgot your dress and heels."

Claudia took them from his hands. "You're a lifesaver. I really don't know what I would do without you."

"Probably forget your dress and heels," Janis said, "anyways, Howard called and said they desperately needed another chaperone because the senior boys wanted to fight some poor kid named Michael or something."

"Michael? Is he okay? Where is he?" Claudia questioned. "Ma, you were just talking to him!"

Janis tilted her head, confused. "I was? I thought his name was Chris! I was bored and all the kid talked about was some guy named Chris!"

Yup, thought Claudia, that's my kid.

"Okay well I'm here now, so go home, woman!" Claudia tried to get her mom to move, but Janis moved around Ben to avoid being caught by Claudia. Soon, the mom and daughter were running around Ben. "Okay, stop!" Ben tried to move out of the way, but Janis kept running around him. They were starting to get stared from the students that were arriving.

"Ha, loser! Giving up already?" Janis smirked. "Fine, If you want me to go, I'll leave. There's ice cream in the fridge I have to finish anyway with Edward and Layna. I left them alone, I hope they didn't burn the house down. Edward, poor soul, can't bake and desperately wants to bake me a cake."

Claudia nodded. "Yeah, okay, you go stop Edward from burning your house."

"Our." Janis clarified. Then she looked over at Ben and tried to wink, but ending up closing both eyes instead of one. "Fuck!"

"Ma, language! We're on school property." Claudia scolded.

"As if these little shits don't curse every fucking second!" Janis rolled her eyes. "Ben, be a darling and be my personal driver for the night. Edward dropped me off, but since you're here, I might as well give you the talk as the adults call it."

Ben looked at Claudia for help. Truthfully, Claudia didn't know what to do. She did want to talk with Janis about Lara and Nate, but not at school.

"Why do both of you look secretive?" Janis pointed between them. She then gasped. "Did you kill someone? Am I going to be featured in a Netflix documentary? Please I need an answer so I can start picking out an outfit."

Claudia chuckled nervously. "Yeah, so . . . I might have done something."

Janis frowned. "What did you do, Claudia? Did you burn down the house? Did you actually kill someone?"

Ben was quick to respond. "No! No burning houses or murder. But, Claudia? Um . . ."

Janis was now more confused than ever. She was still convinced she was going to end up in a Netflix documentary.