Finding Claire

Chapter 15

I didn't get to see Nathan again after the final test was over, but I didn't dwell on it much. A beep from my phone made me smile and want to pull over to see what he wrote. I decided to focus on the road though, and didn't even look at my phone until I was laying down in my bed with my candy besides me.

Hi..... Just in case you lost my number..... -Nate

I rolled my eyes and licked the uncovered ear from the gummy bear. I took a small bite, moaned, and then replied back.

Never lost it.

It took him a while to respond, but when he finally did, I had to laugh. Awww. I'm flattered. You memorized my number? 😉

Ha ha ha. Don't flatter yourself too much. Your big head barely fits through the door now....

*clutching heart* ouch! You know how to wound a man!

Man? Where? All I see is a child.....

😑 way to ruin the moment

I couldn't stop laughing. I almost expected him to reply back with a middle finger or something, but his current reply was still hilarious.

Awww. Is the baby crying? Does he need a kiss on his boo-boo?

No. I'm a big boy who can take care of himself. Besides, I already drowned my sorrows with brownies.

I was in the middle of replying when he sent another text.

By the way, did you change the recipe? They taste different.....

I smiled and erased the message I was typing out. Instead, I sent him this one.

Yeah, sorry. Last time I used my spit to even out the mixture. Hope you don't mind that I changed it to my dogs slobber.....

If I wasn't clutching my eatable bear so tightly, I would be on the floor, laughing my ass off. The reason they tasted different was because I had ran out of spice. They didn't have that kick to them that everyone loved. And I had no dog if you hadn't noticed before....

ARE YOU SERIOUS!? I HAVE BEEN EATING CHOCOLATE COVERED SPIT THIS ENTIRE TIME!!??

I was crying now. My mom walked by with a "you're weird" look on her face and I just continued to sit there and clap, looking like a stupid seal.

ROTFLMAO!!!! No you dumbass. I was just joking. My original brownies have a spice to them. We ran out so that's why they taste different.

😑 I just wasted a perfectly good brownie. THANKS

No problem. And even if I did put spit on them, I will never tell YOU....

I left my phone in my bed and walked out of my room, laughing quietly as I heard the beep. He could wait for my response. My stomach was demanding real food and I had avoided it long enough.....

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For Christmas, I ended up getting an iTunes card, fuzzy socks, a sweater and a decent amount of money on my bank account. How much do you ask? Well let's just say I had enough for the rest of the school year, not including my personal investments.

Nathan texted me the day before and asked for me to meet him at the Starbucks near school around lunch time. I agreed, knowing that was probably the only time I would see him before we went back to school. I had bought him a gift a few days earlier when I had gone to the mall with my mom on a last minute Christmas shopping before everything got crazy.

I surprised him with two gifts and he gave me one. Now before you go all crazy on why I only got one and he got two, let me explain.

One was a joke, and the other one was his real gift.

At the mall, there was this stand that printed out whatever you wanted on a shirt. That got me thinking and I quickly walked to the girl, asking if she could do me one. She laughed at my choice and winked before finishing the shirt and quickly checked me out while laughing, "Good luck!" I got him his real gift a few stores later and mentally prayed he liked it.

When I handed him the small box the shirt was in, I bit my lip as he opened it and eagerly pulled it out. As soon as his eyes landed on the front, they widen and his mouth popped open. I couldn't hold my laughter anymore and I ended up falling off my chair as I clutched my sides from the pain.

"So, do you like it?"

"Ummm......" He turned it around and I snickered at the picture and words. It was a giant face of Robert Pattinson and at the bottom it said "I love sparkly vampires!"

"You don't like my gift?" I fake pouted and he gave me a weak smile.

"No it's not that..... its just that...." He couldn't even finish his sentence. I rolled my eyes and pulled out the bag from under the table, handing it over to him.

"This is your gift. I just wanted to have some fun since you did the same to me with my gummy bear. By the way, it can't hear."

He looked at me as if I had two heads and whispered, "Who can't hear?"

"My gummy bear. I ate the ears already."

He laughed, rolled his eyes and nodded. He pushed the shirt and box aside and slowly reached for the bag. "It's not another trick right?"

"No. I'm not that evil. I don't know if you'll like it.... so if you don't, I'll just trade it for something else...." I trailed off as he pulled out his second gift and again his eyes popped out. I bit my lip as he looked up, from his gift, and then looked back down before shaking his head and stared at the item in his hands like it would disappear if he blinked.

"Are you serious?"

"You don't like it do you...." I sighed. I knew it.....

"No...... I love it. But how did you know?"

I shrugged and blushed. "I remember you saying that you didn't have a guitar at home. That you had to practice at your old school because your parents didn't want you to focus on your music. So I thought I would take matters into my own hands. You just show that certificate to the store and pick out the guitar of your choice, on me."

He opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly shut it only for it to fall open again. I laughed and then gasped slightly as he jumped over the table and tackled me into a big hug. "You have no idea how much this means to me. Thats why I-" he stopped himself and gulped before sitting back down and looked back at the certificate again. We were quiet for a couple of moments before he laughed softly. "Now my gift is going to suck compared to this!"

"No it won't. Can I open it now?" He nodded and passed it over to me. As I slowly tore of the wrapping paper, I couldn't help but to laugh at the smile that seemed permanently stuck to his face.