All Chapters of To Duet With You: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

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 a

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

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

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

“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