The Greyest of Blue Skies

The Greyest of Blue Skies - 3

Chapter 3

I'm in the middle of brushing my teeth on Monday morning, when Mom calls from downstairs, "Claire! You have a visitor."

I spit in the sink. What? It's not even seven-thirty; no one makes social calls on a Monday morning.

And then it hits me. The only person who could be here at this time is the guy who lives conveniently next door. I groan. "Be down in a minute!" I clean up hastily and grab my bag on the way out of my room. Heading down the staircase, I'm not at all surprised to see it is, in fact, Julian waiting in the hallway. He hasn't seen me yet, and is gazing around the house with a strangely pleased expression. Somebody's in a good mood today.

"Julian."

He looks up. The slow smile that crosses his face is wholly reminiscent of a certain Cheshire Cat.

"What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, Claire. Your mother was kind enough to let me in."

I reach the bottom step and peer past him into the kitchen where Mom is pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I can see that. But what are you doing, here?"

"I forgot to ask you yesterday if you wanted a lift to school," he explains.

"Oh. I was gonna just catch the bus."

He smirks. "My ride's a lot more comfortable."

Fair point, but do I really want to start a routine where I travel to school with him every day? Before I can ponder the point, Mom catches my eye and gestures to the kitchen table.

"Sweetie, have some breakfast before you two head out. I don't want you starting school on an empty stomach. And drive safely, Julian."

"I will, Ms Somerset."

Well. It seems my Mom may have already answered for me. She's usually the one who tells me to be wary of accepting favors, but perhaps my paranoia is simply spilling over from what happened yesterday. Julian's a friendly neighbor, and hasn't done anything to warrant such mistrust.

"OK." I turn to Julian. "Are we leaving now?"

"We can. Or I can wait in the car."

"No need, we'll go. Just let me get some food, per Mom's orders."

Mom smiles at this. I grab a slice of toast to eat in the car, and an apple for later, then follow Julian out the door.

A sleek black Audi is parked outside. Rich folks. I can't believe we live on the same street.

I climb in and buckle up. For the first time this morning, without mundane activities to distract me, I feel the onset of butterflies in my stomach about starting at a new school. Try not to make a fool of yourself. In my nervous state, I've started chewing on my lower lip without knowing it. The combination of an absent mind and extra chapped lips from the dry air results in me unexpectedly breaking the skin in a sharp sting of pain.

"Crap," I hiss. I press a finger to my lip and draw away to see a spot of red.

"Are you OK?" Julian glances at me for a second, eyes wide with concern, I assume. He's become sort of tense.

"Yeah. Don't mind me, I'm just an idiot." I flip down the visor and check my lip. It's not too bad; the cut is barely visible, actually. I pull out a tube of strawberry lip balm and slather it on, hoping it'll speed the recovery process.

Julian appears to breathe easier. Maybe he's a big wuss on the inside who can't handle the sight of blood? A little unlikely for someone who plays football, but everyone has their quirks.