𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙚 || dream x oc

13 - flashback

-- 𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 -- 

-- 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝘃 --

Senior year was a defining period of time for my friendship with Clay. He had been acting funny most of the school year because of my impending college decisions. I could tell he wasn't exactly thrilled that there was a chance I'd be leaving the state, but he did his best to act excited for me when I'd inform him of another acceptance. He was the most concerned about my acceptances in California and Washington because they were about as far away from Florida as I could possibly be.

I always knew that, realistically, I'd end up at UCF. I applied to the other places mostly because I just wanted to know that I could've gotten in. I felt like a narcissist for it, but I'd worked hard and I wanted to get a little taste of the reward. I hadn't actually made that decision until I saw how much scholarship money I'd be getting, but I knew I'd probably stay anyway. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't also staying at least in part because of Clay. The separation anxiety would kill me if I left, and I didn't think I could really handle being even more than an hour away from him. 

The most important night of senior year was undoubtedly the prom. We'd gone to every school dance together since the 8th grade formal and this year was the first year that it looked like that might not work out. Clay had been dating a girl from our school named Taylor and obviously, he had planned on taking her. I liked her a lot, which Clay seemed shocked by. She and I got along really well and even hung out on our own without him from time to time. People judged her a lot despite the fact that she was essentially at the top of the social hierarchy at school, and I could tell she felt alone sometimes. I was glad that she had Clay and that he had her.

She was one of the few girls who didn't get jealous of Clay and me -- but when they did get jealous, I understood. I'd never been in the same predicament, but I could empathize with how annoying it probably was. We definitely took steps back from the other one when we dated so that we didn't make anyone uncomfortable or cross any boundaries, but it wasn't always entirely effective and it definitely put a bit of a strain on our relationship.

Clay hadn't even told me he'd broken up with Taylor until a week before the dance, and apparently, it had happened a while before that. He refused to tell me what had caused their demise, so I didn't press him too hard. I didn't want to get in his business when he clearly didn't want me involved. I would be lying if I said I wasn't selfishly relieved for a few different reasons though. The first and most important being that we got to go back to the way we usually were, the second being that I was really missing him driving me to school in the morning, and the third being that I needed a date to the prom to shut my parents up. Clay's newfound freedom was my only hope in that last department.

"Prom is coming up, Mer," my mom loved to harass me about school dances. She'd been pressing me for information about this one for weeks and I'd dodged her questioning every single time, but I knew I had to give her some answers at some point. "Do you have a date?"

"Clay and I are going together like we do every year. I don't know why you always expect a different answer," I said, trying not to roll my eyes. "We're going to a party after, just so you know. I'm staying over there after."

"Doesn't he have a girlfriend? Why aren't they going together? Is she cool with you sleeping over at his house?" She raised her brow slightly. She seemed a little more interested in his personal life than she should have been. 

I was a little surprised that she blew right past the whole party thing. My parents trusted me a lot because my grades were next to perfect, I'd never gotten in any real trouble (except for my suspension in middle school that I still blamed Clay for), and I always told them exactly where I was and who I was with. However, I hadn't given her that information yet, and that was usually at the top of her mind once I mentioned that I was going to a party.