The voice mail from her mother asking her if she is going back home for Thanksgiving left her with a sour mood for the rest of the day, and she hasn’t even replied yet.
Go back to that awful town?
Claire remembers when she was seventeen, the happy and brilliant cheerleader and star of the glee club who’d be valedictorian by the end of their senior year. Her future looked bright back then because Claire had always been an optimist, and after getting admitted into her dream school, it felt like nothing could go wrong in her life.
Now she can’t even sing or stand on a stage.
God knows she’s trying hard. But when she stops to look back and count the horrible memories that are all linked to the hometown she left behind, she just knows that going back there is impossible.
It is a bit ironic, because Green Valley is considered to be an idyllic place by most of the people who live there, and the occasional visitors who pass by. A town kissed by sunlight every day, and yet all Claire can associate it with is darkness and the never-ending nightmares that started when she was seventeen.
“I’m not going, mom. I don’t even know why you are asking me this. I already told you I have no intention to see your face ever again.”
That’s what she wants to say. That’s what old Claire, who was always blunt and spoke her mind no matter what others would think, would say. But old Claire is long gone.
Now she’s become this person who’s walking on eggshells, too afraid to make a mistake and piss off the wrong person.
So she texts instead.
[I’m sorry. I’ll be visiting dad.]
Obviously a lie, because she’d rather stay alone in her room or studying in the library all day instead of visiting her dad and his perfect new family. He is barely any better than her mother, and she hates him too, but she hates her mom way more and she knows this will hurt her.
Her perfect world crashed down when she was fifteen and they divorced, but deep down she already knew it was going to happen one day. All they did was avoid each other and when they were both at home she could hear them fight behind closed doors. Her dad would go on longer work trips every time, and her mom only came home late at night.
But then they finally signed the papers and her dad moved to another state to marry a woman who was only a few years older than Claire. It was so easy for him to cut ties with them and start from scratch, leaving her behind.
She stayed with her mom, like any good daughter would do. But what good did it do to her? Her mom barely came home from the fire station, and it was in her absence and the feeling of being abandoned by both her parents that she met him.
The man who destroyed her like she was a stupid, useless toy to be played with.
What did her mom do afterward, when she gathered enough courage to tell someone what was happening?
“Claire, Rick would never do something like that.”
***
She had another nightmare that day.
Claire dreams with Erick the night of the homecoming party, when she first met him. He looks like Prince Charming reincarnated and praises her singing. In the dream, he actually invites her to dance, and when he spins her around the dance floor, Claire feels his hands becoming claws that bury into her flesh. No one else is around to see them, so no one can save her either, and she cannot escape.
She wakes up before the sunrise, in need of fresh air, and hanges into her sports clothes. Going out for a walk always helps her to light up her mood when the bad thoughts come back to haunt her. Outside the world is still beautiful, even if she can’t be part of that beauty anymore.
At this time there aren’t many people running around the campus, but soon enough she realizes the nightmare is not over yet when she sees a familiar figure coming from the opposite direction.
It is impossible, it can’t be him.
Except it is. She is about to turn back, hoping he didn’t see her, but of course luck isn’t on her side.
“Claire?”
So she puts on her biggest fake smile and walks half of the steps to cut the distance between them.
“This is a surprise! Evan, I didn’t know you studied here too”
It is true. In the year and a half she’s been on campus, this is the first time she sees him around. Besides, Hannah always said they would go together to L.A. and they did so. Claire just assumed he’d be there.
Oh, right, Kat did mention once that he and Hannah had broken up. But even if that was the case, was the whole college plan just based on their teenage love?
She hoped to never see Evan again after the trial.
“Well, I just transferred here at the beginning of this semester, so maybe that’s why we never crossed paths.”
There were probably few reasons for them to meet anyway, as they were headed in very different directions, academically speaking. He used to be good at everything in school, competing with her for the valedictorian title, but she also noticed he was always more into science.
“It’s good to see a familiar face.” He adds, smiling at her.
“Yeah… same here.” She says, deciding to be polite instead of being honest.
Clear green eyes, and long brown hair always in disarray (as if he’d just had gotten laid), Evan was one of the hottest guys in Green Valley High from the very first day of class in their junior year, when he just moved in town with his father and brother. Then he got together with Hannah, one of Claire’s best friends, so they used to hang out often in school.
Back then, she used to look up to him, a genuinely nice guy. Even when everything happened, he was one of the few who believed her (when not even her mom believed she was telling the truth at first). When he showed up at the trial, she was moved to tears, because he was the last person on earth she thought would testify against Erick.
In different circumstances, they could be friends.
“Uh, I was wondering… would you like to grab some coffee?” He seems to be as uncomfortable as she is.
‘Well, he could have gone to any other school if he didn’t want to see me. That’s what Daddy’s money is for, right?’
Why did Hannah never tell her that Evan was studying here? Sighing, she reminds herself that they are not friends anymore, so there’s no reason for Hannah to tell her anything.
“Maybe another day. I have a lecture with Mr. Brown early this morning, and no one cannot be late to his class, not even for a second. Do you know him? He teaches History.”
“I’m not taking any of his classes. But I’ve heard he’s quite strict. So, maybe another day?”
Claire forces herself to smile.
“Of course. Then...” She points to her building, “I am going back, so… see you around.”
In different circumstances, they could have been friends. But they never were that close in the past, partly because in their first year he rejected her when she invited him to the homecoming party only to go with her best friend instead (because of course, the most sought-after guy in their year would choose the cheerleading captain). At the time it felt like an insult, and she never quite forgot about it.
Or maybe she would have made an exception for sweet-but-hot Evan, if only he wasn’t a walking reminder of what happened to her.
God, she hates him.
It’s not like she’s actually expecting to see him again. The pleasantries are exactly that, things you say but don’t really mean it. And yet, on a Friday afternoon she is preparing her essay for the Contemporary Literature class when she is forced to remember Evan again.“Claire, there’s a hunk downstairs asking for you.” Tessa winks at her. “Finally, it was about time you had some fun.”Somehow she already knows who her roommate is talking about, which is quite easy to explain actually: Claire doesn’t do boys anymore.They approached her at first, but the disgusting jerks only want sex, so she started to avoid the male population as plague, and eventually everyone got the hint.“Green eyes, tall, brown hair, looks like he came straight out of a magazine?”“Yes! Is that your boyfriend?”She shakes her head.“No, someone I knew from high school, he just transferred here recently.”“Well, if you're not going after him, please introduce me.”Sighing, Claire just closes her book and grabs
Chapter 3. Wounding up at her door.“How’s school going, dear?”He’s just seeing his mom through the screen of his phone, but it’s clear enough she’s lost weight again. Still, he masks his worries with a smile.“Good. I even met a friend back from high school.” It’s a lie, as Claire has just reminded him the term ‘friends’ does not apply to them, but even so… “I think coming here was the right choice.”“I’m glad to hear that. Julie was asking for you these days, but now she’s in her soccer practice. She’ll be pissed when she learns you called when she wasn’t here.”“I’ll just greet her next time. How is she doing? An
“You are crying.” Tessa points out the obvious, but it sounds like she is actually concerned about her when she continues, “don’t tell me that guy was actually an ass. Did he do something to you?”Like she is about to go out and give Evan a piece of her mind.“Nothing,” Claire wipes out the tears with her sleeves, and flops in bed, hiding her face between her legs. “It certainly doesn’t look like ‘nothing’ to me.”It would have been nice if Hannah’s response had been like this back then, too. But it wasn’t.“Mind your own business, Tessa.” It comes out a bit harsher than she intended to, and as the door shuts loudly behind the other girl, Claire feels the words of an apology stuck in her throat. But the moment is gone, just like Tessa, and this is exactly why she cannot make new friends.There's this thing her wild imagination does sometimes. She would imagine her mother apologizing. Hannah apologizing. Erick begging forgiveness. Even if it wasn't something that would make her feel
Claire is not good at drinking, she learned that years ago and that's why she has avoided alcohol (and consequently, parties) like plague ever since she came to college. She doesn't miss the noise, or the crowds, and putting up with jerks and double faced friends, but still… It is lonely, at times like this. The only phone calls she has received (and ignored) have been her parents, now that they both realize she lied and didn't go to visit either of them. Of course, this is the result of her own actions, she has been successful in pushing everyone away, even Tessa. She used to be the life of the party back in high school. As she walks back to her dorm, passing across a building where the loud music reaches her ears, the tune makes its way to her body, and she starts humming without realizing it. Now, she is just pathetic, that much is clear. “Claire!” The voice calling for her from behind has become familiar. Evan is carrying a bag similar to hers, filled with junk food and soda
There is a simple reason that explains why all the three calls from Kat went to voicemail. Claire didn't realize she left her phone at the dorm until she was leaving her History class, and tried to find her library ID. She has the bad habit of leaving it inside the case. And then, when she stops by, Tessa is working on her corner, but turns to look at her. “You were in high demand this morning. Your phone was ringing nonstop, you should remember to put it in silent mode.” “I’m sorry. I left half sleepwalking this morning.” Claire lets out a sigh, and half expects to find messages from her mom again, nothing out of the ordinary. But it’s Kat. They haven’t talked in months either. They stayed in touch after leaving Green Valley, but the calls became more sporadic as time went by. The thing is, Kat was always closer to Hannah, and no matter her intentions to stay friends with both of them and act as a kind of bridge, that situation was just impossible. Claire does not care much a
She seems shy at first, her eyes fixed on the music sheets in her hands as she sings the first notes of that Taylor Swift song he just started learning a few days ago. Then he can feel how she slowly starts sounding more confident, as if she is testing the water and remembers she still knows how to swim just fine. And she is a delight. Now that he recalls the first time he saw Claire, she had been singing this song, although it was a much more cheerful version back then. He'd turned this attention to the stage and saw her, and they had met before, but Evan had to admit it was only at that moment she made an impression. To his defense, he had been smitten with Hannah from day one, and the sunny girl was one of her friends, so it made it a bit awkward for him when Claire invited him to Homecoming right after he started school in Green Valley High. He was young, and admittedly a bit of an asshole, because he can't remember having ever started a conversation with Claire those first weeks
“Here. I brought cupcakes from Mary’s.” Tessa looks up from her desk and frowns slightly. “Wow. So considerate. Who are you and what have you done to Claire?” She just rolls her eyes and shrugs it off. Trying her best to be nice is the only way she knows to make peace with her roommate after her behavior last month. “How do you even know I like this?” “You buy them every time you have money at the beginning of the month.” The other girl smiles. “So you do pay attention. I knew it. But you have never done nice things to apologize for being a bitch before. Are these the effects of Mr. Hot Green Eyes?” “Please, he is just a friend.” But the truth is, she is in a light mood now, after spending the afternoon rehearsing with Evan. Tomorrow they will record the song and upload it to the radio’s website for the contest. In the past, Claire used to worry more about doing things perfectly, but now she is just having fun, and it feels good. Without realizing it, she starts humming at th
“And she went quickly up to the church-door; but when she came there, the red shoes were dancing before her.” When she was younger, Claire had thought that the spoiled girl in the story just reaped what she sowed. She was warned against wearing the red shoes to church, then she heard the curse and still went ahead and danced. Such a spoiled child, she preferred to wear her red shoes and go to dance right after her mother passed away. Those sins couldn’t be forgiven even if she cut her feet to get rid of the shoes, as they followed as if making fun of her, reminding her of her previous actions. Later, Claire wondered if everyone had their own red shoes. She thought Rick was her own version of those damned shoes. As much as she tried to cut it off, that past was always there, mocking her stupidity. But these days, she is coming to another realization… “What are you doing with that dead serious expression?” Evan whispers as he takes a seat next to her on the table. “Re-reading some f