Hold Me Closer

Chapter 7

Clare stood in front of Felix's door, blanket and phone in hand, dressed in her comfy pajamas. It was 5:01PM, one minute after they said they'd meet up for their little movie 'date'-plans which they had made in a locked shed. Clare was anxious to knock on his door, and she wondered if maybe she should just text him of her arrival, but that'd be even worse. "You got this, Clare," She reassured herself. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door three times, her heart beating in her chest loudly. Quickly, Felix opened the door and gave her a bright smile.

"Yes! You're finally here. I've been excited for you all day. I even went out and bought a bunch of snacks for us to eat." Felix looked like he was about to start jumping up and down with how hyper his voice sounded.

"I wish I could've contributed to our snack collection," Clare joked, "But my family is too strict on being crazy healthy."

"I get that," He replied, stepping out of the way to let Clare inside, "My family never gets the crazy junk food. Any stuff we get is always off-brand."

"That too!" Clare slipped her shoes off and placed them by all the other pairs of shoes that were lined up by the wall. Their house was clean. A little too clean for Clare's liking. There wasn't any sort of color anywhere, just plain white on every wall. "How do you keep your house so color coordinated?"

"Parents. They're always doing something with the house. Most of the time they just talk about it and never do it though."

"Can't relate. My parents don't give a damn how our house looks. I do try to clean it up so it's at least somewhat presentable."

"That's good. Messy houses aren't my favorite sight," Felix started to lead her to their living room, "Like the ones who have a bunch of random yard decor in the front."

"Oh god, I'm glad we aren't like that. People like that are worrying."

"Literally!" Felix opened up some glass french doors to a big living room that probably spent the whole side of their big house. On the far wall was a TV built into a large wood cabinet that was painted white-like everything else. Opposite of the TV was a couch that was a large L shape, plenty of space for the two to get room for Jesus. "Welcome to our movie room." There was a coffee table with bowls of chips and candy galore. "Don't worry, if we don't finish the food, my two little sisters will scarf it up. It'd be a nice treat for them too."

"You have sisters? How old?" Clare asked, hoping they weren't near her age of fifteen years old. "I never knew."

"Youngest is in sixth grade, she's twelve. Her name is Kathanna and she's a devil sometimes, but we love her. Middle is Charlomi, who's in eighth grade. She's thirteen and pretty quiet." Felix jumped over the back of the couch and landed with a bounce on the cushion.

Clare walked around, not wanting to make that much of a ruckus. "So are they... home?" Clare was hesitant to ask because she didn't want to sound like she had anything planned to do that night, other than watch a sad movie with her friend.

"Yes, sadly. They promised me that they wouldn't come into the living room though and stay in their rooms upstairs. Trust me, if I could make them leave, I would." Felix grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table and started looking for their movie, A Sentence for You. Clare had prepared for the movie. She wore waterproof mascara, just in case she cried, and the rest of her light makeup she made sure was waterproof too.

Clare grabbed her folded up blanket and laid it over herself, making sure she didn't invade Felix's space. They had a good two feet between them, and maybe even that extra room for Jesus that Clare wanted. In the back of her head she hoped this whole time together would stay a secret, because if Zinnia found out, she would flip. "Could I get a glass of water before we start the movie?" Clare asked, hoping she could get time to calm herself down.