Studying The Star Crossed Lovers

❧ Chapter 16 ☙

Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.

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Claire wasn't feeling well. She thought that finally being with James would make her happy and it did. Only when she was with him though. When Claire was with James or Annie she felt amazing.

It was when it was late at night that she experienced the intense lows. It was at home, alone, when she wouldn't eat, when she slept for hours, and when she would occasionally feel the need to hurt herself.

That night though she was curled up with James. They had celebrated one month of dating by spending the weekend in one of the Dancy's many vacation homes that they had for themselves.

James' head lay on Claire's stomach as the pair were sprawled across the bed. Claire was gently scratching James' scalp. He was dozing peacefully while she softly mumbled endearments to him.

James jolted awake an hour later to a cold and empty bed. He made his way downstairs where he saw his girlfriend sitting on the side of the pool while the house was filled with the smell of a roast.

Before Claire could do anything she was covered in water from the splash that James had caused when he had jumped into the pool over his girlfriend.

When James emerged from the water in front of Claire he grabbed her and pulled her into the pool with him. The pair kissed and happily spent the rest of the weekend together.

Claire was on her way to Annie's house. On the passenger seat, there was a large pizza and a tub of ice cream.

As she swung open the door to Annie's room she was greeted by the girl curled up in her bed with tear-stained cheeks.

"Hey baby, you okay?" Said Claire as she dropped the pizza and ice cream in front of her friend.

"I'm glad we broke up. We needed to break up. Like it was getting toxic but it still hurts just a little bit. I just miss him." Claire got into bed and curled up close to Annie.

"Should I get us some spoons for the ice-cream?"

"Yes please." Said Annie before she started to cry again. Claire just hugged her friend knowing from past experience it would take a day or two for Annie to get out all her feelings. Then she would be back to normal.

The girls spent that night curled up together in Annie's bed watching trashy movies and gorging themselves on junk food. They knew they would feel like crap the next day but they didn't care. It felt good in the moment.

Annie and Henry had been slowly falling out of love. They wanted different things. They had different plans. Neither one of them was willing to put in the work to keep their relationship successful anymore.

Henry had been the one to begin the conversation about breaking up. They had talked for half an hour in the back of Henry's car before the pair had mutually separated. They hugged each other before they both went to their respective classes.

Annie was still hurt though. She had been so happy with Henry in the beginning. Part of her been hoping it would just fix itself. It didn't though. Instead, things ended and while Annie knew it was for the best it still stung.

Across town, James was with some of his friends. As the night had progressed the group had gotten collectively drunker and drunker. There wasn't a party to attend. They simply drank because there was nothing better to do.

Usually, at these things James would be with Will sitting in a corner getting high. However, James was avoiding Will as he didn't want to watch the boy hook up with their friend Liam in one of the rooms upstairs.

James found himself pulling out his phone to talk to Claire while draped over some couch in the large mansion the group had decided to spend the week slowly emptying of it's alcohol supply. No one was that concerned. The parents of the friend who owned the mansion encouraged the idea while so they could spend a week in the Maldives guilt-free.

So that was how James spent the night. Drunkenly spilling his feelings and thoughts to Claire over FaceTime. Despite the fact that if anyone who walked in on the conversation would become privy to their secret relationship, they still talked. It was especially risky as almost every drunk teenager in the house was closely associated or in the Dancy's family mafia.

Claire felt like shit. She was tired and so done with everything. She was sick of being numb to the world. There were no good moments. It was all just grey. She needed to feel something. She wanted to feel some kind of pain that would reflect how she felt.

She picked up the ornate dagger she had taken off the wall in their library. It was pretty. Pearls were embedded in the handle.

When she pulled the protective cover off the blade she was surprised to see it was perfectly sharp. It was meant to be an ornament. Just a pretty thing on the wall.

Claire pushed one of her fingers down on the blade. She winced as blood began to drip slowly down the blade.

Claire's mother had always hated blood. It always stained and ruined pretty things she would say whenever Claire scraped her knees. Claire knew never to let her blood spill. It had to be contained.

Claire grabbed a tissue to wipe up her still dripping blood before it could drip onto the white carpet.

Claire didn't remember what happened after that. She had blacked out. She didn't remember smiling as she drove the dagger into her stomach. She didn't remember falling to the floor.

That's how Diane Whiting found her daughter. Sprawled out on her bedroom floor with a dagger in her stomach. Blood had pooled around her staining her dress and the carpet. It was a mess.

The scream of Diane Whiting could be heard through the entire Whiting home. Multiple members of staff ran into the room and soon enough half the Whiting household was staring horrified at Claire while she lay there dying.