Right There || Dylan O'Brien

chapter one; the help

Although Clara had to force herself to do her English work, she was glad school had started again. She could finally see her best friend again, who had been in Vancouver. Hayley complained it had been boring and they had slow Wi-Fi, all Clara could was to reply with a small smile.

Christmas holidays had been quite lonely for Clara, and her mother and Sandra, Clara's sister. They had tried to make something out of it, and they had put up a small Christmas tree - along with a few decorations, but it was different. Even though they had learned to get quite used it ever since Clara's grandmother's death,

Suddenly a few people around her closed their laptops, making her do the same before the bell rang. The teacher told them to make sure to remember the internships were tomorrow, and they were dismissed, wishing them good luck for the rest of the day.

The blonde was one of the first to find an internship; the day she heard they had to find one, she googled to a nearby pre-primary school and sent them an email. An interview followed and a few days later she received a call she was excepted.

She saw her best friend sitting at their favorite lunch table in the cafeteria, eating an apple. Hayley was holding her phone in her hand, looking up when Clara sat down on the chair in front of her. "Hey, are you doing something this weekend? Maybe we could go shopping."

"Shopping for what?"

"For new clothes, what do you think? There are sales."

The blonde took her lunch out of her bag which included of two slices of bread and bottle of water. She liked the food at home better than in the cafeteria, no offence to the amazing people who worked in the kitchen. Then she raised an eyebrow playfully, looking up at the pair of green eyes. "What have I done to you? Don't be so sarcastic."

Biting her apple, Hayley shrugged her shoulders. "Don't tell me what to do."

Both of the girls wanted to laugh but were distracted by a loud noise. It was Jesse, kicking chairs out of his way to get closer to Henry. He was looking furious, fast enough to grab the boy by his collar and push him against the wall before he could run away.

Their friends around them tried to stop him before he could throw the first punches in the Henry's face, but he shrugged them off roughly. Eventually, Jesse let go off Henry's collar to push away their friends. It gave Henry a chance to breathe.

Clara gasped in shock when Jesse turned around, punched Henry in the face and walked away with his backpack, out of the cafeteria.

It was dead silent.

 ----

As usual, Hayley's car was nowhere to be found when Clara walked out of the school entrance. She always got free earlier than her, but had more homework to do. She wanted to be a cook, practicing at home and making her own recipes was what she always did right after school because her parents weren't home. All Clara had to do was English and math today and then she would be chatting with a partner via Facebook from the project they had to do.

She shivered, zipping up her jacket a little further as she crossed the busy road to walk on the pavement. It was cold in California for a change, but Clara didn't mind at all. She didn't like the heat, having to wear less covering and showing off her skin. No, she liked the sweater weather a lot more.

To her surprise she saw Jesse sitting on a bench with a cigarette between his lips, lighting it with a lightener that he had taken out of his jeans pocket. She had always had a little crush on him; every time he made a joke, as he ran a hand through his hair or whenever he looked at her. She did see the anger issues he sometimes had and the odd way he'd talk to people sometimes, but there was nothing that could change her feelings. Unfortunately.

Jesse was heard when she passed him, calling her name with a cheerful voice. He laughed. "Clara, hi. Come sit with me."

Yes, he talked to her once in a while and all she could was react in small sentences. She was so socially awkward, didn't know how to talk to people she wasn't comfortable with.

"Well, I really have to go home. I have homework-..."

"Or a book to read, maybe?" He knew she liked reading books in her free time. Although that's the only thing he knew about her, next that she enjoyed painting.  He once asked her if she could show one of her paintings, but since it was so personal she didn't want him to see.

"After I've done my homework, which is why I have to go right now."

"Okay," he stood up, smirking slightly when she took a few steps back. He dragged his cigarette, blowing the smoke into the air as he talked. "I was about to go to a friend's house anyway. My motorcycle is still there, I have to pick it up."

"Oh, okay," she smiled, waving as she turned around to walk away from him.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, watching her go. "Good luck with your homework."

Clara waited until she was past the corner, so he couldn't see or hear her squeal and do a little happy dance.

That did just happen. Jesse talked to her, wished her good luck with her homework-... Oh no, she must've sounded like it was the most important thing in the world. Homework. She was such a nerd. And why couldn't she come over more confident, less shy, maybe a bit happier to talk to him?

However, it was who she was and he had to accept it. And if he didn't, well... then-... well, she didn't know.

 ----

Her sister, Sandra, was sniggering after hearing the whole story, opening the refrigerator to grab a coke. She expected Clara to want something too, so she grabbed another, handing it to her. "Well, that's going somewhere or isn't it?"

"How do you mean 'that's going somewhere'?" the blonde raised an eyebrow, searching through her bag for her math book. When she found it, she opened her laptop in front of her on the dinner table. "No, of course it isn't. He goes out in the weekends, high chance he's already met a girl who's more his type than me."

"Indeed, there's a very high chance," she sat down at the table, sipping her drink. "But you're a fun girl, I don't see why he wouldn't like you. Even if it is just as friends."

Clara hummed, nodding slowly as she began with her homework. Well, it was an attempt, because after a few minutes when she wanted to type down the answer, she heard her phone ring.

She took her phone out of her bag next to her chair, already guessing it was Hayley calling she picked up without looking. "What's up?"

"So, you know I've mentioned about going shopping this weekend  before Jesse went all wild on Henry," she heard in her friend's voice that she was grinning. "I wanted to ask you if you're free. I can pick you up with my car."

"No, I don't have anything to do this weekend." She shot Sandra a questioned look to know for sure, which she answered with dramatic hand gestures. "Wait, no. I don't think I have time this weekend. Maybe next week?"

"Oh, right. I don't mind," Hayley said in a rush, cursing in a deep sigh. "Gosh, you have to remind me not to call people when I'm cooking. I turned the oven too high, now my chicken is burnt."

Clara burst out laughing, shaking her head. "Yeah, I will."

"Don't laugh, it isn't funny at all." There were a few noises on the other end of the line. Hayley continued with a giggle, "Now that the chicken has been saved, I'll see you tomorrow at 8."

"See you!" she ended the call and dropped her phone back into her bag. It was now her chance to ask what it was it that she had on her schedule. She turned to Sandra, "Is there something I don't know?"

"I told you yesterday I wanted to look for furniture for my apartment. Chris is working and I don't want go alone," the brunette sighed, rolling her eyes in irritation. "I'm not good at making decisions and neither are you, we might as well help each other."

"That's okay."