Ghost Soldiers || Bucky Barnes

Chapter 5: Happiness

By the end of the week, spring had officially settled down. It was already May, and Clementine officially finished her classes that Friday, even though she still had her finals exams coming up in less than 8 days. She was going to miss the campus and her classes, as well as the clinic, but she loved the idea of finding a job and finally being financially independent from her parents.

She had seen James and Steve two days after the incident on the Cyclone, when they went to have a cup of coffee after they all finished their day. Clementine felt that they were really beginning to become friends, not just acquaintances. It was easy to talk to Steve, as well as with James; however, Clementine felt that talking with James was different. It was like there was something missing there, and she could not figure out what. He had kept his promise about being just friends, and she was somehow glad that he had respected that. But there were some unresolved feelings there, something that Clementine spent a lot of time thinking about, instead of studying.

That day, they were going to the Jazz Festival in Queens that Bucky had mentioned the other day, and she was very excited about it. It felt like the perfect way of celebrating the end of her education, and it served as a distraction for the upcoming exams. However, she had to find a way to lie to her parents. They had already arranged plans with The Vanderbilts: Eleanor and Thomas' parents. Of course, her friends were not going to be there, so she did not want to go to dinner only with their parents.

She was in her bedroom planning for whatever she was going to say, and she knew the only way for her parents to accept was if she told them she was going out with someone on a date. Her parents were determined to find her a suitable husband soon, and they would accept whatever lie she told them. She opened the door of her room, went down the stairs and went into the living room, where her parents and her sister were drinking tea.

"Oh hello darling, I didn't see you coming in. How were classes?" Her mother asked, not even looking at her. Her mother was a thin and very elegant french woman, who enjoyed reading books all the time.

"They were okay, I am finally done with them for good." Clementine said, sitting on the couch next to her mother's.

"That's very good to hear." She said, giving her a quick smile.

"Clementine, darling, n'oublie pas qu'on sortira cet soir" ." Her father said in French. He had always preferred to speak in French with his daughters, even though his wife always insisted on speaking English most of the time.

"Malheureusement je ne pourrais pas... I won't be able to go." Clementine said, switching to English after seeing the look her mother gave her.

" And why is that?" He asked, too busy reading the newspaper to even look a her.

" I have a date tonight." She said.

Sophie stopped reading her book and stared at her with confusion. Her parents also stopped reading and stared at her, looking surprised. Usually, they had to beg her to go out with someone who told them was interested on their daughter, so her going on a date because she wanted to was something that almost never happened.

"With whom? Oh, Is it with Michael Collins? Did he finally ask you out?" Her mother asked, excited. It was the only thing that made her mother happy, her oldest daughter finding a descent man to marry and run the company.

"No... and I don't think he will ask me out soon. I am not exactly speaking to his sister, Martha." Clementine said.

"Oh, dear. You have to fix whatever happened between you too, you know her parents are one of our closest friends ." Her mother said, with a disappointed look on her face.

Clementine rolled her eyes and said nothing.

"Then who is it?" Asked Sophie, interested.

"His name is James Buchanan Barnes..." she started saying, before being interrupted by her father.