Claws

Chapter One- Wishing for Romance

    "How was your weekend?" I asked. 

    "Pretty good, except you couldn't hang out." he smiled down at me. 

    "Sorry, Sydney had me dress shopping all weekend." 

    "Oh, that's right, my little girly princess," he teased. 

    "Shut up," I giggled. 

    "Oh, go crawl in a hole, Jack," Sydney griped. Yeah, main problem, my two best friends drove each other insane. 

    "I want to," his eyes narrowed, "cause then, hopefully, I wouldn't be able to see your face." 

    "Oh, that was such a burn." she muttered sarcastically, rolling her brown eyes. "I gotta go." she turned around on her heels and stalked off before I could stop her. Oh well, if she wanted to be in a snit because she didn't like my friends, that was fine with me. 

   I turned my attention back to Jack. He was tall, very tall, muscular, sleek, brown hair, well, it could almost be considered black, actually, he was a little on the tanned skin side, brown eyes, amazing smile and was just... drop dead gorgeous, pretty much. 

   He was talking to me, but I wasn't hearing much of the words. But, then, the shrill sound of the bell broke through my wall. 

   "Oh, crap. I gotta get to chemistry. Love you, Kay." he started walking away, into the crowd of teenagers. 

    "I love you, too," I murmured. He wouldn't hear me. We exchanged "I love you"'s all the time, but they never meant what I wanted them to. It was just a friendly thing. Oh well, I guess I should be happy that I'm not that invisible girl in the back round that he doesn't know exists. At least I had something going for me in the sense that he most definitely knew me.  

    I started slowly making my way to geometry, though the halls were already nearly vacant. Maybe if I was late for class they'd take away my "privilege" of going to prom. Whatever. As soon as I walked into geometry, Mitchell hoped off the desk he sat on, weaseling his way through the people, up to me.  His grin was so enthusiastic, it made me want to barf.

    "Hey, Kaylee!" he greeted me excitedly, nearly yelling over the chatter in the room. 

    "Hi," I forced a smile at him. I felt kind of bad. I agreed to go to prom with this guy because I knew he really liked me, and I felt bad for him. With his abnormally large glasses, freckles and red hair, he was a reject to most girls in the school. But, if I went with him, would he think I was his... girlfriend? Ugh. I didn't have time to worry about it... 

***

    "Ugh, what a dull movie!" Jack complained as we exited the movie theater later on that night. It was good to finally have some alone time with Jack, since he'd been so busy with some "family issues" lately, even if he did hate the movie I picked. 

    "I kind of liked it," I said defensively. 

    "That's just because it had Ryan Reynolds shirtless," he laughed. 

    "That is not true-" I thought for a second, "well, yeah it's possible." I laughed along with him. 

    He took my hand, in a totally non-romantic way, and led me to a bench sitting near the ticket booth. 

    "So, how is the perfection that is Kaylee Black feeling about prom tomorrow?" he asked. I gave him my, "what do you think?" look and he chuckled. 

    "I'd rather be sitting at home, grinding a cheese grater against my forehead," I mumbled. 

    "Right, right." he gave me a superior smile and I wanted nothing more than to kiss him. Best friend or no best friend, I was still desperately in love with him. And it sucked ass. 

    I sighed, squeezing our intertwined fingers harder and leaning into his shoulder. 

    "Tired?" he asked, patting my forearm. I nodded, yawning. 

    "Pizza?" I asked, thinking hungrily about the Little Caesars down the street. I looked up at his face and he suddenly seemed distant. This had been happening a lot the past few weeks. He'd randomly zone out like someone in another world was speaking to him telepathically. His eyes would go blank and his brows would furrow like he was frustrated. It was starting to freak me out.   "Jack?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face, but he continued to stare out into space, his eyes wide, mouth hanging open. "Jack?!" I yelled, louder. Was this normal? I shook his shoulder, repeating his name into his ear. Finally, he came to, looking worried. 

    "I gotta go." he stood up quickly, causing me to fall on my side due to the fact I was using his shoulder for support. 

    "But, we were supposed to hang ou-" 

    "I know, I'm sorry, I just really gotta go." he cut me off, turning his back towards me and striding to the door. I just stared after him. I hate to admit, my feelings were severely hurt. I snapped out of it quickly though, also walking towards the exit. 

   When I got home, I avoided Colby, who didn't seem to show much interest in my life due to the two friends he had over and the beer bottles all over the living room floor. I crawled into bed, trying not to the think of what horrors the next day might bring... little didI know, sparkles weren't all I had to worry about...