Hold Me Closer

Chapter 2

The sun's warm rays streamed through the window, softly waking Clare. She turned to check her alarm clock and noticed she had overslept by twenty minutes. With a quick jump out of bed, she rushed to the bathroom to get ready, splashing water on her face to shake off sleepiness. Clare stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, water dripping down her chin. She judged the way her lips curved, and the way her eyes always looked lopsided, but she didn't have time to care. It was much more important to get good grades than focus on her looks, though she was always very self conscious.

Today, she picked wide-leg jeans paired with a tank top and jacket, accessorizing with some jewelry to add flair. After dressing, she sat at her desk, carefully braiding her hair, enjoying the simple routine. Clare always received compliments on her outfits from teachers and friends, to which she took pride in her unique style, always aiming to express her creativity through fashion.

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Stepping into homeroom was like walking into a bathroom after somebody had just showered—humid, due to all the hot highschoolers. Clare sat down at her desk in the back of the classroom. Her table was meant for two people, but since they got their seats at the beginning of school, nobody had ever sat next to her. It was three months into the year now, and Clare had accepted the fact that she was probably going to be alone for a while. In all honesty, she didn't mind. Having the whole table to herself meant she could throw her stuff around and nobody would stop her.

In front of her sat her best friend Zinnia, who turned around to blab more nonsense like always. She had a reputation of never being able to shut up, not that Clare didn't like it. It made her easy to talk to about random stuff.

"Clare! Oh my gosh!" Said Zinnia's booming voice, towering above all the others. "Did you see the new kid joining our class? He's so hot!"

She's talking about Felix, isn't she. Zinnia was the kind of girl who obsessed over anything new in her life, and if Clare was right, Felix was next.

"I'm pretty sure you're talking about Felix. He's okay, though I heard he's a prankster." Clare never actually heard that, but based on how he treated her yesterday, she kind of assumed that's how he was gonna be. The class clown as some would call it, but that wasn't a good thing in Clare's books.

"Well, when you have a cute face does it really matter?" Zinnia laughed and turned back around to her papers.

Clare just stared at her in awe, hoping that wasn't how she thought about everything, but deep down, she knew it probably was.

"Quiet down class..." The teacher, Miss Coraline, walked up to the front classroom after taking attendance, high heels clicking on the yellow tiled floor. "Today, we're welcoming a new student. Let's see, Felix?" Miss Coraline sounded almost sad, though she often did. This time, it might have been because she didn't want to teach another challenging student. All her students knew she wasn't really passionate about teaching.

Right at that moment, Felix burst into the classroom, slowing from a jog.

"Took you long enough," Miss Coraline said sarcastically, "Now hurry up and introduce yourself."

"Right. Hi, I'm Felix!" Clare looked into his eyes, full of joy that he could present in front of the class, no fear in his voice at all. She admired that he could just blab to a room of thirty kids without any second thoughts. "I came from Canada and I really—"

"That's good. That's great. Amazing, actually. But I don't have time for the rest of your introduction. Now go sit by..." Miss Coraline's eyes glazed over the class, landing on the empty chair just to the right of her. "Clare in the back." She pointed to the seat next to Clare.