Hummingbird Heartbeat

Chapter 8

The usual tap to her window came exactly at 8PM that night. Claire squealed and looked out the window, holding the bars. Owen was outside with a bright grin on his face. He texted her to meet him in the backyard. Claire knew this was to make things official, just like he had hinted in his previous text messages.

She asked for a few minutes while she figured out a way to sneak out so late, or find a valid excuse to go outside out of the blue. She crawled to the top of the stairs, able to catch a glimpse of both her parents in the living room: they were apparently enjoying a drink and catching up on their reading. This was a good thing, since that left the back of the house unattended.

Claire found her way to the bathroom she shared with Karen upstairs and carefully managed to climb out of the window. Owen was already waiting for her down there. "Let go, babe." He called out, watching her hesitance about it.

Claire was holding tight from the edge of the window, trying to look down and get familiar with the place where she would land. She whimpered and gulped, still not sure about letting go.

"I'll catch you." He promised. Owen had his arms open, reaching up for Claire to see. He was ready for her whenever she decided to let go.

"This was stupid." She cried, trying to go back up, but now that her legs were hanging from outside the window, it was really hard to reach. "Ouch..." She frowned feeling her weight already hurting her arms.

"At the count of three you let go, okay?" Owen offered.

"Okay..." Claire nodded her head. There was no other way but to let go now.

"One..." He offered, adjusting and making sure he was at the perfect angle and place to catch her.

"Two...." She gulped.

"Three!" The two of them said at the same time and Claire immediately let go, Owen right in time to catch her in his arms. The giggle she released made him smile.

Once on the ground, Claire fixed her top and tucked her hair behind her ears. Owen took her hand and led her to the tree in front of her room where no one could see them or hear them. He kissed her gently and kept her hands in his.

The two of them smiled and chuckled nervously, before Claire broke eye contact, blushing and looking down. Owen brushed his fingers down her chin, bringing her eyes back to meet his, and pecked her lips lovingly.

"So..." He cleared his throat and Claire giggled and nodded.

"So..." She bit on her lower lip.

"I heard you are recently single." He offered a cheeky smile; those cute dimples had never looked more adorable to Claire than right now.

Claire nodded and pursed her lips. "You heard right." She flirted, their fingers intertwining while they both tried to keep their nerves on check.

Owen chuckled and gulped softly. He had never had an actual girlfriend before. "Do you want to be mine?" His voice cracked, evident that he was nervous but not hesitant. This was just something he had never asked before, and didn't know how to do it.

"...Your girlfriend?" Claire tilted her head with a smile. This was one aspect where she had more experience than he did. She had only had one boyfriend before, but that relationship had lasted almost a year and a half.

Owen shook his head, "Mine." He corrected her. "My girlfriend. My one and only. Mine and no one else's."

Claire's green eyes fell on his and she nodded softly. "I've been yours since the first moment." She assured him before he kissed her, happy that Claire was now officially his.

Owen slowly took a step back and pulled his Raptors jersey over his head, leaving his firm abdomen exposed. Claire couldn't help brushing her fingers down over it, feel how strong he was. Owen quietly helped her into the jersey and pulled it down over her.

"Mine." He commanded. It was a clean jersey that he wanted her to have aside from his jacket. This one had his last name and number on the back. So, every time people walked past her, they would know who she belonged to.

"Yours." Claire nodded, closing her eyes as she felt his fingers brushing down her cheeks. Owen cupped her face tenderly and kissed her for a few seconds.

"So, Monday?" Owen asked while holding both her hands.

"Monday..." She nodded, agreeing to see him in school.

"Guess what?" He asked pecking her lips a couple of times.

"What?" She smiled.

"I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world." Owen beamed.

"And I have the most handsome and amazing boyfriend in the universe." Claire replied. The two of them exchanged more kisses before she had to go back inside. The window was too high for her to reach, so decided to sneak in from the kitchen.

The house was now dark, her parents had already stood up from the living room and were probably going to settle in their room. Claire took light steps towards the stairs as she chewed on her lip; she knew the moment she hit the stairs it was safe, and she would have gotten away with this.

"Claire?" Robert called out the moment she had put one foot on the first step, her sneaky actions completely shattered. To her luck, it looked like she was going back upstairs from the kitchen.

"Why do you have that filthy jersey on?" Eleanor wondered upon reading the last name on it.

"Because it belongs to my boyfriend. You know... that's what teens do, I am sure you have watched a movie or two." Claire explained, crossing her arms against her chest.

"You should have had it washed first, god knows what you can catch through it." Her mom dissed.

"If you are going to be insulting my boyfriend, you should at least get informed first." Claire rolled her eyes, turned around, and started walking upstairs.

"You can't catch poor, but you sure can catch a bad reputation." Eleanor called out.

"How did Sam take it?" Robert asked casually, both parents had always loved that boy and cared for him as a son. They couldn't do anything to stop their daughter from breaking up with him, but they were concerned about him.

"I don't know, since you live up his ass why don't you call him and ask?" Claire added before heading upstairs.

"Don't be insolent! We are your parents and you are going to respect us!!"

The teen slammed the door of her bedroom shut, the noise letting them know her opinion on the matter. If they wanted respect, then they would have to start giving it back.

After five minutes, the Dearings knocked gently on Claire's bedroom door. Just like she supposed, they had called Sam to make sure he was okay, and he had shared with them what they were already aware of. Claire was in love with another boy.

They had discussed her attitude too, one she was wearing under her skin lately and they knew wouldn't go away; something she proved upon answering the knock to her door.

"What?" She groaned. She was not in the mood to be disturbed.

"Can we come in?" Robert called softly.

"It's your house." She offered condescendingly. The Dearings were aware that if they weren't careful, they might lose their daughter for good. Claire seemed to have made up her mind and picked that boy over anything else.

They found their daughter on her stomach doing some homework with her phone on the right side of her book. A bag with the few things she had for Sam was sitting by the door, so she wouldn't forget to grab it it on Monday and take it to him.

"We just wanted to make sure everything is okay." Robert was the one speaking. Eleanor had already managed to upset her by dissing the jersey their daughter had been wearing.

Claire looked up, and with a sigh she closed her book and sat leg-crossed on her bed. "I'm okay. I'm happy." She knew they didn't care, but maybe if she kept repeating herself like a broken record, one day it would stick, and they would understand.

"We want you to be happy, you know that, right?" He sighed, Claire immediately offering an incredulous stare.

"We just know what is best for you." Eleanor added.

"More like you think you know what's best for me." She looked away.

"You have been together with this guy for less than a day and he already made you cry!" Robert recalled how she had stormed into the house crying from the game. "Sam never made you cry, not once!" Eleanor added. "He is bad news, hun. He will just break your heart."

Claire scoffed, "I wasn't crying because of Owen. Sam and I had just broken up!" She let them know. "Yes...your precious perfect boy made me cry." She gasped mockingly.

"Owen is not suitable for a girl like you, Claire." Eleanor insisted.

"OH . MY . GOD!!" Claire screeched.

A light top on the door interrupted them, both parents looking over their shoulder and Claire's eyes moving to meet her elder sister's.

"I made some popcorn, are you ready for our movie?" Karen offered casually, holding a bowl of popcorn in her hands, trying to break the fight and save her sister from hearing for the tenth time that night how Owen was not good for her because their parents were snobs.

"Yeah. I was just finishing homework." Claire was quick to follow the bit.

Both parents sighed and shook their heads. "We will discuss this further some other time." Robert announced before he walked out with his wife.

"SUPER! I can't wait!" Claire called out before her sister closed the door behind them.