Right There || Dylan O'Brien

chapter nineteen; the birthday party

"Actually, Holland, I don't think I can hang out as much I would like to,"  Clara checked herself out in the mirror as she held her phone to her ear. She wasn't looking socially acceptable enough to even walk to the grocery store nearby, let alone hang out with girls she barely knew. It wasn't because you could notice was a little pale and the bags underneath her eyes, because they were gone. She had just taken a shower and was wearing her pajamas and well, maybe she was just about to watch the last episodes of Teen Wolf. "I actually have a lot to do..."

"No, no, no," she cut off her sentence, sounding panicked. It reminded her of her character on Teen Wolf, Lydia. She had been catching up on the show in those few days without Dylan. She hadn't seen him since Monday, but he did call a few times. He even texted her good morning and good night texts, it was incredibly sweet. "Don't be alone. Let me visit you, we could paint together. We could watch a movie, we also could eat chocolate if you want."

"Holland, I'm doing perfectly fine," she didn't even wait for a reply, blurting out every single word that had been on her mind. "Everything is going alright; I've been watching lots of TV shows, been on Tumblr reblogging posts and I even had time to finish my painting. Without my best friend living 10 minutes away from me, I actually don't get interrupted when I'm busy with my homework." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "And I've been talking to Chris about it. I'm happy."

"Well, I still think you shouldn't be alone. It's weekend, there's so much to do."

She shook her head, sitting down on her comfortable bed. If she wasn't calling Holland at the moment, she would be sitting at her desk watching the damn TV show, but it was also nice to finally talk to her again. Ugh, mixed feelings. "Maybe it is, but I'm tired. Just so you know."

"I'll pick you up, okay?"

Clara waited for a moment, knowing this was probably the best idea. If she wanted to move on entirely, she had hang out with other people who wanted to help her and it seemed like they, including Dylan, wanted to be around her. She was thankful.

Just when she was about to tell her it was alright to pick her up, she heard the doorbell ring. "Hold on a sec," she stood up from the bed, went to walk down the stairs to look who it was. It was Holland, with Seana standing next to her. "I'm sorry. You don't have a choice."

Clara giggled, stepping aside to let them come in. "Where is Crystal?"

"She is at her boyfriend's," Seana smirked and like they owned the house, she followed Holland up the stairs. She quickly went after them. "We're here to give you a makeover, we thought you deserved it after what you've been through. And well, then you're going to a party."

"A party?"

"Yes, I got invited to a birthday party and I'm taking you with me. Only Seana is having a date with her fiancé. He's taking her to the movies."

"I've never been to a birthday party since I was like 8," she got gently pushed on the chair by her desk, Holland already pulling on her hair with a brush.  Seana started with her makeup. "I'm not even sure what the definition of a birthday party is. Does it include loud music and dancing, alcohol and drunk people, or am I stupid?"

Shaking her head as she stuck Clara's dark blonde hair up, Holland smiled. "I'm not sure what it includes, but we're above 20. I hope we're not as immature as kids in high school. What I know is that you're not stupid, but just a little unexperienced."

"And then again, it's not bad to be unexperienced." She had no idea what Seana with all that makeup that was lying on her desk, but knowing she was a makeup artist she trusted it. She had too. "There are much more important things those stupid parties. Make sure you graduate, find a job, get an apartment and such."

"It's the same with dating," was all Holland said about the subject, before she went to look into her wardrobe for fabulous clothes. Before Clara could disappoint her by telling her she absolutely had no style, she noticed it herself. "Yeah, you're just like Dylan. I assume you're not even wearing half of all the clothes you own. I mean-..."

Then she found the bag lying on the ground next to her bed, picking it up to look what was in it. She held the blue skirt in her hand, smiling wide at Clara. "This is something we can work with. When did you buy it?"

"When I went shopping with Hayley on Saturday. It was on sale."

"Where do you put your shoes?" she appeared to be talking to herself as she grasped for the dark blue wedges lying on the bottom of her wardrobe. They were on the only heels she owned, she got them two years ago. A minute later she was handed a full outfit. "We'll be waiting in the car."

 ----

Clara was actually feeling confident when walking into the house. Maybe it was because she could care less if people around her gossiped, glared or even glanced at her once for that matter. She had just gotten a makeover, it was something else than looking like her usual self. But it also could be because she had Holland on her side and she was such a sweetheart.

"Daisy!" the strawberry blonde squealed, holding her arms open when she noticed a young woman who was opening up a birthday present. They hugged one another, Holland giving her the small package wrapped in yellow. It had to be her favorite color, because she giggled. "You know me so well."

As she was trying to figure out how to open it, she noticed Clara standing there. "Oh hey, do I know you? That skirt is incredible. Thank you for coming."

"Oh no, it's fine. Happy birthday," she shook her hand to introduce herself. "I'm Clara, Holland decided to bring me along."

"Well, I'm glad you're here-..." She got distracted by another person wanting to wish her a happy birthday.

Holland laughed, rolling her eyes as she had totally expected it and pulled her outside where they could talk. "I've known Daisy since kindergarten. Our parents were friends, so we hung out almost every day. She now works at an office, extremely different from what I'm doing now."

"Yeah, but you're good at it," Clara complimented her with a smile. "I've watched Teen Wolf until season 3. It was because I had homework and school, but I would've watched in one day. Stiles and Lydia are my favorite."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I ship them since one of the first episodes."

"It's awesome you're one of the people who notice, I also ship them. They have such good chemistry, Jeff writes their scenes so beautifully." When she went to look around if she could see more people she knew, she raised an eyebrow at a boy sitting on a bench nearby the pool. He was smoking.  It looked like he had been watching them since the beginning, she only noticed now. "Hey, isn't that Jesse?"

"Oh, no. Where?" the only Jesse she knew was from school. The boy she had a crush on before she met Dylan, the boy who had anger issues and seemed to have no problem with punching someone who irritated him. The boy who had walked her home and held her arm when they crossed the road for her safety. What was he doing at a party like this?