New Horizon [Morganville]

Chapter Nineteen

“Hey freak!”

Claire heard the voice from behind her, and that was followed by a horn going off. Claire had been appreciating the warm weather and a pleasant walk to TPU, until now. She kept walking and looked over her shoulder to see a red convertible heading her way. She stopped when she realized who it was.

“Monica?” Claire raised her eyebrows and turned around. Not surprisingly, Monica was blonde again. She was wearing a hot pink cocktail dress with a matching pair of pumps. “What do you want?”

Monica stopped the car besides Claire, and stared at her. “Now you’re going to tell me who the hell is going to be Mayor of this dumbass town.”

Claire tilted her head to the side. “How am I supposed to know?”

Monica stared at her for several seconds before she scoffed. “Oh come on. Everyone knows that you’re the Founder’s top priority.” Claire blinked and shook her head. She turned and started walking again. Monica’s car accelerated and she was already next to Claire. “Hey! I’m talking to you.” Monica exclaimed. Claire didn’t stop, she kept walking. She heard the car door slam shut, and Monica shoved Claire before she even turned around. It wasn’t a hard shove, but it was hard enough to make Claire stumble a little. She turned around.

“What do you want?” Claire exclaimed. She winced a little at her own voice. When had she gotten the nerve to speak to Monica like that? She wouldn’t have even talked to her dog like that... if she had one.

“Watch it freak,” Monica shifted her body weight onto one leg as she placed her hands on her hips. “I told you what I want. Who’s going to be Mayor?”

“I don’t know. Even if they did tell me, I can’t remember.”

One of Monica’s perfectly arched eyebrows raised and she pursed her glossy lips. “As if. You wouldn’t forget anything in your whole life.”

“Monica. I honestly don’t know, okay? Sorry.” Claire turned and started to walk again. Monica’s heels tapped on the pavement, and she was standing in front of Claire. Again.  

“No insults, and an apology?” Monica crossed her arms. “What’s up with you?”

Claire sighed. Obviously she was being too nice. She walked around Monica, but the girl persisted on following her. “Come on. Now that you’re eighteen doesn’t mean you have to start over and be all nice. If anything, start fights.”

“Why? Because that’s what you did?”

Monica shrugged. “It’s fun.”

“So is pushing a girl down the stairs, right?”

Monica faltered for a bit, as if she were expecting something else. “Really? You’re not going with, ‘so is setting fire to a house.’ Having a fight with Collins or something?”

Claire stopped and turned to look at Claire. “That was you?” She demanded. Monica actually took a step back. “You set fire to Shane’s house? Because of you his sister died!”

“Why do you seem so surprised? You already know.”

“What’s surprising is that you would murder Shane’s little sister, and then talk bad about him years later.”

“It wasn’t murder. It was an accident.”

“An accident is falling of your bike and scraping your knee. Setting fire to a house is no where near an accident.” That caused Monica to stop, and Claire took that as her advantage to leave. “I wouldn’t leave your car there if I were you. It might just happen to burst into flames.”