Handle With Clare

Chapter 35: You Dug Me Into A Hole

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I laid on the couch as I tried to make myself busy, with no luck. I threw a ball up in the air, only to miss catching it, making it fall onto the ground beside me.

"Clare, be careful. That could have hit you," mom said as she walked in to the family room with a handful of pills in her hand, no doubt for me.

Ever since they released from the hospital a week and a half ago, I felt trapped inside the house, taking pills constantly, more than I had in the past. For days my parents refused to let me leave the house for any reason at all and it was driving me insane since I didn't think they understood fully why they were making me stay inside. The treatment was working; I was living proof of it, but my parents still treated me like I would break at any point.

I pushed myself up from the couch and felt my world spin. I held back the urge to gage even though I was sick to my stomach from eating lunch just an hour ago. "It's just a foam ball, Mom. It wouldn't cause any damage."

She frowned but remained silent, as if she knew something that I didn't. "Please take these."

I nodded as I popped the handful of pills into my mouth and swallowed.

"Hey Clare! Someone is here for you!!" Farrah said in a sing-song voice as she skipped into the room, her dark blonde hair bouncing with every step.

I turned to her and smiled, knowing who would come to see me. Peter was the only one that visited me and was the only one that could save me from my boredom. "Who." Was I sad that Peter was the only one that seemed to care about me outside of my family? No, I was happy with just him.

Although, there was a pang in my heart that longed for Anna too. I missed her laughs and conversations, and I would always miss them. But I had made peace with the fact that she was gone and that she would want me to move on, just like I would want the same if I was in her shoes.

"Hey Babe," Peter said as he walked in with an enormous smile.

I raised my eyebrows at him, finding him a little too perky. "What are you planning?" I asked him without saying hello. Sometimes having a one track mind made me a little too rude. At least that was what my sister told me, but Peter didn't seem to mind.

He kept his smile and sat down right beside me. "What if I told you, I convinced your parents to leave to go on a date with me, outside this house?"

I smiled, feeling excited just at the thought of leaving. He could take me anywhere at this point, even to a gas station, and I would be happy. I just wanted to go somewhere. This conversation got this much better. "What did you have in mind?" I asked him.

"It's a surprise. Get ready," he said and held my hand and helped me up off the couch.

I knew it, we were going to the gas station. But at least that was better than nothing.

I smiled at him, but said nothing else. I went down the hall and up the stairs, however, as I got to the top, I felt winded and lightheaded. I held onto the railing, knowing that I went too fast and tried to keep myself from fainting, which had happened more often since I left the hospital.

The doctors said that I was getting better, and I wanted to believe them, but I still felt so terrible. There were times that I even felt worse than before the treatment, but everyone said that I was improving and for now, I would take it, not willing to accept the opposite.

Once I got my bearings, I walked into my bedroom and changed my sweats for a pair of tight jeans that were still loose on me. As I was in the middle of putting on my pants, mom walked in casually with a smile.