22. Unlucky Clover

2.2K 164 70
                                    

— • —

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

— • —

Orion didn't know what she expected.

Maybe she'd expected to see somebody similar to her. After all, her and Clover died the same way, their parents faced the same hardships. So to her, it seemed realistic that the girls would be similar in a sense.

      Clover was everything she wasn't.

      She was an eighteen year old girl, short and skinny, with her blonde hair in waves resting on her shoulders. She smiled as soon as the four walked in, shockingly enough, and when she waved to them, Orion managed to spot her perfectly manicured nails. Her immediate thought was how did she not survive a car accident, yet her nails did?

      A harsh elbow to her side brought her out of her shocked stare, Mateo giving her a hard glare, having caught sight of her judgmental eyes trailing over the poor girl. Clover's wide, innocent eyes were already settled on Orion, following the eyes of the other three in the room.

Clearing her throat, Orion recited what was written on her paper. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me now," she finished, flicking to the next page on her clipboard.

"One question," Clover spoke, Orion nodding as a sign to continue. Her eyes left Orion, moving to the right of her, where Tom stood. "Were you an actor?"

It took everything in Orion to not roll her eyes at the question asked, obviously expecting the question to be relating to something she just said. Tom looked up upon being spoken to, eyes slightly wide. "Oh, uh, yeah. I was..."

Noticing his obvious discomfort about speaking of his past life, Orion interjected, "I have a paper with your available funds." The subtle raise of her voice didn't go unnoticed by Mateo, who shared a smirk with his sister. "Money is easy to gain here, though you should be good. I would suggest clothing and furniture shopping, seeing as all that is provided is white, which is kind of boring."

Clover nodded, eyes scanning the paper. "Okay... can we do that now?"

Orion blinked. "Like.. together?"

Clover raised her head, eyebrows furrowed. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," Orion blurted, not at all expecting for Clover to want her company. "I'd suggest going now before school and work lets out."

Clover nodded, folding up the paper she held and putting it away. She put on a smile as she waved to the people in the room. "It was nice meeting you all." Orion couldn't help but frown as her gaze lingered on Tom for a second longer than the other two, before she joined Orion at the door.

"Orion." Orion paused, turning back to the group. Tom smiled slightly. "Buy some popcorn, yeah?"

He didn't even have to say it for her to know what that meant. One side of her mouth tilted up, and she nodded. "Gotcha." With that, her and Clover went one way, the other three going another. It was silent between the two for a moment, and for once, Orion was grateful for the silence.

         She spent hours upon hours reading through Clover's file, learning all about the girl she was when she was alive. She worked, she volunteered, she maintained high grades in school, she had scholarship offers from across the country. She was the ideal perfect person. Which is why Orion was unsure of why she felt an unknown discomfort around the girl. All her life, she strived to be as close to perfect as possible, and yet when she was in the vicinity of someone close to it, she found herself anything but happy.

        "Did you know Tom was famous when he was alive?" Clover's voice brought her back to reality, Orion turning her head to meet the girl's wide eyed stare. Her pink stained lips curled up into a smile as she spoke, her swinging as a result of her steps. She was staring at Orion in amazement, only making her discomfort around the girl intensify.

        "Yeah," Orion eventually answered, tearing her eyes away from Clover's to look ahead. "It's sorta my job to know stuff like that."

        "Oh." For a moment, Orion thought she would follow up with a question of what she exactly meant by her statement. But, again, she was wrong. "Are you two... a thing?"

        Orion stopped abruptly, Clover immediately stopping as well. "A thing?" she repeated, Clover nodding slowly. "Like... me and Tom? In a relationship?" She nodded again. "Oh, well, no. Why do you ask?"

        They began walking again, Orion's fingers twisting around the ring on her thumb. She'd glance Clover's way each time her shirt brushed against her, subtly inching away from the girl, only for Clover to follow her movement. "I don't know," Clover shrugged, "I was curious, I guess."

         Orion's brows knitted together, but she didn't ask any other questions. Clover confused her, and she knew if she asked any questions, it'd only further her confusion. Besides, she was sure Clover would tell her anyways, seeing as the girl kept looking at her, waiting for her to ask.

        A moment passed before Clover let out a breathe, and Orion prepared herself for the lengthy explanation the girl had prepared for her. "When I was alive, I wasn't much of a risk taker," Clover informed her. "I had too much to lose to take any risks and now I have... nothing to lose. So I can take all the risks I want." She looked to Orion, waiting for a reaction, but got nothing but a blank stare. "I was thinking of starting with Tom."

        This earned her a reaction, Orion's interest peaked. "Really? What did you have in mind?"

        Clover shrugged. "I don't know yet. He's just really attractive, and it can't hurt to try, right?"

        Orion blinked. "Right." She looked away from Clover, swallowing harshly. She wanted to say something. Say she had a rule about clients having affairs with her friends, and she could ask Tom about the rule herself. But, somehow, for some odd reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was a young girl who lived her entire life being afraid, and now that she didn't have to be afraid, Orion was going to stop her before she even began. It wasn't fair. So she stayed silent, unaware of why she was feeling sick to her stomach.

— • —

clover is lowkey based off of clover from the old cartoon totally spies whoops

Heaven ── TOM HOLLANDWhere stories live. Discover now