Project Popularity

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dedicated to @duahalgadi for the awesome trailer (video on the right) that she made for Project Popularity! 

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jamie Vandeviere

 

I didn’t even have the chance to ask Chloe who Clarisse was since a tumble of words then started pouring out of Chloe’s mouth, like the story had been alive inside of her just waiting to come out.

“My cousin was dating Adam before she got into that horrible car accident. She’s been in a coma since then.” Chloe’s eyes got a little misty and at once it dawned on me that she was the cousin of Adam’s ex-girlfriend.As I internally berated myself for being so slow and stupid, she glanced at me from the side of her almond-shaped eyes, as if she was afraid of my upcoming reaction. “I didn’t mean to scare you with those texts and I’m so sorry if I freaked you out. I just got so pissed off when I learned that you and Adam had started dating. It’s like he forgot all about my cousin, like it didn’t matter to him whether Clarisse ever wakes up from her coma or not. I wanted to keep you away from him because I didn’t think he was being fair to Clarisse. I mean, she was only out that night because of him. If he hadn’t made her go out that night-”

“Chloe,” I interrupted. “You do know that Clarisse was the one who called Adam and asked him to meet her that night, don’t you? So she could break up with him?”

The startled look on her face told me she didn’t. The anger on her face turned into confusion and surprised dismay. “She broke up with him that night? How do you know this?”

“Adam told me.”

Chloe fell back a step in shock and stared absentmindedly at the floor for a long ten seconds or so. “But…. but Adam never told us. He visited her almost every week and I always thought it was because he felt guilty for dating you when Clarisse was technically still his girlfriend. Clarisse’s mom and dad blamed the whole thing on him. We all thought it was Adam’s fault that Clarisse was out that night. Adam’s never said anything to us, not even when Clarisse’s parents went ballistic on him. He just kept apologizing for not taking better care of her.” She raised her head with a frown knitted on her face and whispered, “He didn’t tell us she dumped him.” 

Of course Adam wouldn’t stand up for himself against Clarisse’s parents. That sounded so… Adam. I still remember the anguished look on his face when he told me about Clarisse. He was so utterly convinced that it was his fault when no one should have been blamed.

“Well, Chloe, trust me, he still loves your cousin very much. He hasn’t forgotten about her,” I told her, putting a hand on her shoulder since the expression on Chloe’s face was heartbreaking and the poor girl looked as if she could barely stand. I’d never been close to any of my cousins since most of them lived on the west coast and I’d only seen them like twice or three times throughout my entire life, so Chloe’s loyalty to Clarisse was odd but at the same time admirable to me.

“I know,” she said, sniffling. “I know he cares about her now. Thank you, Jamie, for telling me. Clarisse’s always been like a sister to me so I was only looking out for her. I’m sorry for scaring you.”