Drowning » Rafe Cameron & JJ Maybank

026

(chapter twenty six)

Clara asked Topper to take her to her house. She wanted to be alone, she needed to be alone with her own thoughts. She smiled when Richard came by, talking about his day and what had or hadn't happened, pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead.

She played the part.

But when she was alone she could only stare at the turned off TV in front of her. She was correct when she thought it wasn't working anymore, Clara always seemed to be correct about everything, so how? How could she be so wrong about people? Why did they keep hurting her over and over again? What had she done to deserve that?

The next day went by and she didn't go to class, but how could she?

Topper showed up at her steps, but he wasn't wearing any uniform either. The boy just wanted to check out how she was doing, and you can't blame him for being worried, mainly that the girl was trying to act like nothing happened, a smile on her face and sarcastic comebacks.

He wanted to tell her she didn't need to hide from it, he would be the last person to judge her, but how could he do that without seeing her breaking again. Topper didn't know if he was strong enough to see that again.

Clara had not picked her phone in the last twenty hours, and it was lighting up with missed calls and messages. The name of the older Cameron sibling flashing on the screen, and Topper felt more worried than before. It didn't matter if Clara was mad about someone, she would always answer. It just wasn't right.

And it was also Topper who called the Heywards telling that Clara was feeling sick, giving the man a bullshit reason about food poisoning, and yet the girl was sitting in front of him, talking about something she read in one of her grandmother's diaries while eating one chocolate croassaint he brought to her, but he didn't pay any attention.

He felt better knowing that she wouldn't be alone at that time, and if he had to just sat there not hearing a thing she said so be it. Clara had suffer too much, he would be damned if he let her go through that alone once again.

Topper was now sitting on the couch, going through his phone, waiting for Clara to end her shower. She was taking too long, but he didn't want to go and interrupt, so he waited, and waited until there was a knock in the front door. Peeking through the eyehole he saw an anxious Rafe opening and closing one fist over the other.

"Why aren't you answering-" Rafe started when the door opened, only for him to stop when he saw Topper. "Where's Clara?"

"She's upstairs, showering," Topper answered, letting the boy walk inside, then closing the door as he looked back at him. "Actually, she's been there for at least 40 minutes and I'm feeling a little worried-"

"Why is she's taking so long, and why are you worried?" Rafe stared at him with furrowed eyebrows, but Topper only pinched his nose.

"Can you please stop being so fucking stubborn and just check up on her?" The younger boy tried again, only for the one before him nod, turning to the staircase and skipping a few steps to go faster.

His fingers knocked on the bathroom door and he waited, but there was no answer, so he did it again, warning he was coming in. When he opened the door he stopped his movements.

Clara was under the falling water, her hand holding a sponge as she scrubbed her skin, her body red from the hot water and the force she was using to clean herself, her lip trembling and jaw clenching.

"Hey, baby, what happened?" His voice soft as he walked more inside the bathroom, as the girl shook her head, and he noticed her breathing shaky, as Rafe tried to get her attention. "Clara?"