Finding Claire

Chapter 36

When I didn't answer, he sighed, ran a hand through his hair and then looked at me. "It all started the day I first got here. It was a Friday and I came here after school ended to see what I could do to make friends. You see, back where I used to live, I was popular and basically a Gabby but boy version."

"So you slept around even though you had a girlfriend?" I gasped and his eyes widened.

"No! I mean.... I went out with a bunch of girls, but I never slept with them. I always broke up with them before anything heated could happen." I slowly nodded and he ran his hands through his hair again as he continued. "Anyways, I came here to see if I could make some friends so when I actually started school on Tuesday, I wouldn't be the loser who knew no one. You actually bumped into me, although I didn't know who you were at the time and that's how I met Gabby."

Oh shit. I remember that day. Now I felt bad. "Sorry."

He smiled and shook his head. "Don't be." He cleared his throat after a few seconds of staring at me and then he whispered out the next words. "That's when I made the bet with Xander. He kept on saying how you would play with the guys and make them fall in love with you. He said that even I couldn't make you fall for me." I gasped at his words and he flinched but continued. "Gabby spoke up and actually defended me... Sort of. She said I could do it and before I knew it, I was shaking hands with Xander and the bet was on. I had to make Claire Cross fall in love with me by the end of the semester."

"What would you get in return if you won?" I asked him and he froze. He looked at me with wide eyes before he shook his head and looked down.

"Let's not get into that."

"That bad?"

"Sort of....."

"Okay. So what happened after that?"

"Well I went home and prepared for the bet. I was actually looking for you -even though I didn't know it was you- when you bumped into me that day. You have no idea how many times I almost asked you if you knew a Claire Cross," he chuckled lightly and I rolled my eyes. "Throughout both periods, I tried so hard to catch your attention, but you wouldn't even give me the time of day. Your responses were short and sharp and I knew I was going to be in trouble if I didn't step up in my game."

He paused and I urged him to continue. He looked down, took a deep breath and then looked back up. "Well when I knew my player ways wouldn't get your attention, I got home and called my best friend, Rachelle."

I raised my eyebrows and joked around, trying to lightened the mood. "I thought I was your best friend." When he laughed, I knew I accomplished it and it made me grin.

"You are both my best friends. Anyways, I called her and I gave her a.... false story of what was going on. She told me to just be myself so that's what I did. I began to be myself around you, but when I was with the group, I acted like the dick you originally met. I hated being someone I wasn't and just knowing that I was going to be with you and be myself had me excited. So I knew I had to make you my friend, bet or not, and you have no idea how happy that made me." He smiled, I smiled back and then he sighed. "Then Thanksgiving week came and you told me what truly happened. That day, I knew I couldn't go on with the bet. So I immediately went over to them and cancelled everything, even though they didn't believe me."

"So you still went through with it?"

He shook his head and shushed me. "Just let me continue. I called off the bet and when I got home, I was angry at myself. I was just using you to win a stupid bet, and you didn't even know that was happening. That really killed me, so I knew I couldn't continue being your friend with that huge secret between us. That's why I stopped talking to you for that week." I nodded, remembering, and looked away. Those were painful memories....... Memories I didn't want.