Finding Claire

Chapter 14

Mr. Lopez ended up giving the same speech once the bell rang and of course, no one paid attention. The candy was now sitting in the middle of the table, untouched but calling out to me.

'No. Don't fall for it.' I told myself and groaned out loud while I looking away. I could feel Nathan's curious stare and I softly slammed my forehead down in the table, not wanting to talk about it. I stayed in that position for the rest of the fifteen minutes and I'll tell you a little secret......

When it was time to leave, let's just say I left a wrapper behind.

*

*

*

"How did you spend Wednesday?" Was the first thing Nathan said to me once he sat down in his usual spot. I was surprised he was actually speaking, but just thinking about yesterday made me groan. I shook my head and glared at him as he laughed at my expression. He immediately stopped laughing though and looked away with a grin as the bell rang. Ms. Hoff began to pass out tests and then the whole room became quiet after she announced her instructions.

How did I spend my Wednesday? Well let's just say my parents got annoyed of me. When I woke up and realized that I didn't have to go to school since I had no classes, I had no idea what I was going to do. My body was screaming for me to start to get ready, but my mind was refusing to even listen to it.

So I spent half the day, slamming my fingers on the keys of our piano, annoying my parents until they left the house. Half an hour later, my mom came back alone with a scowl on her face and an item in her hand. When I eyed the coffee cup, I jumped and grabbed it from her hands, walking away from my noise.

"So that's what it takes to make you be quiet!" She yelled out.

"Well it's your fault! You're the one who placed me in those classes. If you didn't want me to play, you shouldn't have bothered in the first place!"

I had no idea where that had come from and my mom was certainly surprised as well. She didn't bother me from then on and only called me when the food was ready.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts of yesterday's events and focused on the paper in front of me. Oh boy.....

Write an essay.....

*

"Ohh I hoped I passed," I mumbled to myself as I passed up my multiple choice packet. I was in my Economics class now -as my English test had ended over two hours ago- and was thanking the lords that it was only for half a semester so I wouldn't have to worry about taking this boring class again. Unless I failed the test, which would result in me sitting down again next semester in the exact same spot.

Yay.......

I packed up my stuff, great full that the English and Economic tests were over and all I had to focus on were Math and Government. Both multiple choice I would think, which would make them that much easier for me.

After bumping and basically hopping my way around eager classmates, I found my car at the same time my stomach growled. Four hours without food made me feel ravenous and I knew I needed to find food soon unless I wanted a war between my stomach and intestines.

"Claire," Nathan's familiar voice softly echoed behind me, making me jump and literally hug my car. I heard him laugh and I turned around to glare at him for the second time that day. "What's with you and the glaring today?"

"What's with you and asking stupid questions?"

"What crawled up your ass and made you cranky? I was just going to ask if you wanted to go eat with me." My mouth popped open at his words and it took him a moment to realize what he had said. "Oh shit! I didn't mean to say that! I swear it just came out.... Gah I ruined my chance for your forgiveness didn't I?"

"You think?" I snapped and got in my car. I pulled out and rolled down my window with a push of a button. The small bag of skittles that he had given to me after the essay were sitting in my bag and calling out to me. They wanted me to take them out and throw them back to the person standing right outside the window, but I wasn't going to do it. It was my candy now.

I didn't even look at him as I said the last words and drove off. "And I was getting ready to forgive you."

*

When I got home a couple of minutes later, the sharp pains that were running through my pelvis region made everything pop into place and make sense.

Oohhhhh!! That's why I was acting like a bitchhhhhh. Oops, poor Nathan.

After drugging and confining myself in my room, I pulled out my phone and debated on whether to text him and apologize. Yeah I still had his number and he was still under "Claire's bitch" as my contacts, but I hadn't bothered deleting it or even using it until now.

Twenty minutes of staring at my blank screen made me sigh and curl up in a little ball. I shouldn't apologize through a text. I should do it in person like a big girl and not the wimp I used to be.

So here I was, the next day almost jumping out of my big girl panties as he slowly walked in and looked everywhere. When his eyes landed on me, I gave him a small smile and he looked confused for a second. He looked down at my hands and then his eyes widen at the sight.

My brownies. I had gotten my butt up from the comfort of my room and baked him a bribe. Hopefully it worked....

Yes!! It seemed like his eyes were guiding him to the table while the rest of him was screaming no. But as soon as I handed him the small box, he encircled me in his arms and squished me.

"Does this mean you forgive me?"

"No. It means I'll give you another chance. But you're going to have to work hard for it. I mean it Nate! If you ever do that again, there won't be a second or third chance!"

"Do you want to know why I did it?"

Did I? "No." He just nodded and smiled, showing his dimples. Gah!

"Oh! I got you something too." He gasped seconds after the bell rang. I raised my eyebrows and he mouthed "After class," because Mr. Lopez was passing out two different colored tests.

"If you think you're going to cheat, then you are so wrong. Your neighbors will have different tests then yours so don't even bother copying their answers. And if I see wandering eyes I will take ten points off for each eye. Understood?" We all looked at him confused but he rolled his eyes and only spoke on word. "Begin."

Two hours, and a confused look later, I handed in my test and turned to face Nathan. "We studied that this semester?"

"I have no idea," he murmured and then seconds later smiled. "Here you go." He handed me a small gift bag that look heavy at first sight. I eyed it, slowly grabbed it and confirmed my suspicion. Heavy. As soon as my eyes caught the items inside, my mouth flew open.

"You got me rocks???" Was he serious?

He roared with laughter as he got up and grabbed the bag back from my surprised hands. "No. I'm just joking with you. This is what I was going to give you." And he replaced it with another bag, but not as heavy. I held the bag by the strings and eyed the suspicious red color popping out. On a closer look, I smiled and squealed.

"Are you serious? Where did you get this?" I took the gigantic gummy bear out and poked it to make sure it was real and not made out of plastic. He laughed at me and shrugged.

"Not saying. I'm not going to reveal where I get my candy from."

"I swear if I end up getting cavities and rotten teeth by the end of the year, I'll make sure you-" The warning bell made me stop my threat and I shrieked. "Dang it! Got to go! I'll text you later, ok?"

"You better!" He yelled out as we separated. When I sat down on my chair with seconds to spare, I eyed the bear that was now sitting in my bag and smiled.

If I hadn't forgiven him yesterday, then for sure he would have been forgiven today....