The Paths That Tie (Clementine x Violet)

{15}

Swinging her feet with the beat of her music, Clementine patiently waited for her guests to appear. She was surprised that Sarah and Mariana were able to join in on such a last minute event, but Clementine was certainly in no place to complain. After all, it helped Violet to make a better case against her teacher in staying over as well.

Eventually, Clementine could hear the sound of a car honking as it most likely locked. Rushing down the stairs, Clementine preemptively grabbed the door knob to open as soon as her guest would ring the doorbell.

Hearing the familiar ding, Clementine waited a few brief moments before opening the door for her first arrival of the night.

"Oh my god! It's been too long since I've been in your house! I don't even recognize it!" Mariana exclaimed, as she swung her bag around.

Clementine laughed, as she raised an eyebrow at her comment.

"You were literally here a month ago?"

"That's too long! You should invite people over more often!" Clementine rolled her eyes in response, as the two ran upstairs to drop off Mariana's bag.

Being the early bird she always was, Clementine wasn't too surprised that Mariana was the first to show up to Clementine's last minute slumber party. Although, she was surprised that she was only carrying one bag with her.

"My dad told me that I should learn to be more conservative with what I pack for events like this. I can't help though that I like to be prepared for the worst! What if the apocalypse suddenly started? I can't just wear the same outfit forever!" Mariana explained, as she figured that her "bagless" arrival would raise some questions.

"Well, if the apocalypse started, I'm pretty sure clothes would be the least of your worries." Clemenetine responded with, as she began to pull out the multiple boxes of air mattresses that Lee owned.

The two girls continued to interact while they finished setting up for the party. This included picking up the eternally messy kitchen, making up the other three beds that would be needed, and setting out all of the designated snacks for the night.

Clementine had expected to hear from Sarah or Violet sometime during the set up, but she had yet to recieve any word from either of the missing invitees.

"I haven't had a girl's night like this in so long! You have no idea how pissed Gabe was that neither him or Duck were invited. It was priceless!" Mariana joked, as she plopped down on the plushy leather couch.

Clementine shook her head sarcastically, as she took a seat next to the energized teen.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'd never be allowed to have a guy spend the night. Except for Duck, but I figured it wouldn't be fair to invite him and not Gabe." Mariana giggled, as she began to lean back in the couch.

"This is fun, however...Serious talk for a second...Why did you accept Gabe's proposal?" Mariana said, as she turned her body to face Clementine.

Taken aback by the sudden question, Clementine decided to casually roll the question off of her shoulder.

"What do you mean? It's because I think it'd be fun, obviously." Clementine responded with, slightly clenching her hidden hand as she did so.

"I guess that makes sense. I don't know...You just never seemed interested. I-It's not that I'm doubting how you feel or anything. Duck though...He came up to me yesterday, and talked to me about it. I just want you to know that you can talk to me about it. I don't want you to force yourself to go with Gabe if you just felt pressured to say 'yes' at the moment." Mariana then took Clementine's hand, as she made direct eye contact with her for the last part of her speech.