My Obsession with Chloe Claire: BOOK ONE

Chapter Three

Of course I minded. I didn't want to feel trapped, but for some reason I couldn't say anything.

"I'll sit near the window too, so I can be in front of Chloe," Hailee said as she scooted in the booth.

"This whole two Chloe thing is really messing me up," Chloe Marshall said and scooted after Hailee, followed by Heather.

I sat and scooted as close to the window as possible, looking right into Hailee's eyes, hoping she would notice how uncomfortable I was, but of course she was in la la land and wouldn't notice anything around her but herself‒ and Luke.

Luke scooted in after me, leaving plenty of room for another person to sit beside him, which made me even more uncomfortable. I couldn't help but notice how good he smelled. What cologne did he use? It reminded me of a candle my mom used to buy at Yankee Candle. I think it was mahogany teakwood, or something that closely resembled it.

"I know right, the whole two Chloe thing messes with me, too. It's easier when there is only one Chloe," Heather nodded eagerly.

"Maybe we can make nicknames?" Hailee suggested. I caught her looking at me and she wrinkled her nose‒her way of expressing how happy she was. Oh dear goodness, she was on Cloud Nine.

"Good idea Hailee!" Chloe Marshall said as if it were one of the most brilliant ideas ever. "How about we call you CiCi."

I couldn't help but burst into laughter. CiCi was a ridiculous nickname‒ for me at least. "So, you want to call me CiCi because of my initials?" I giggled. What an original nickname for me.

Luke laughed with me. "What an original nickname for her."

Did he just say out loud what I was thinking?

"Well, what else am I supposed to say? I don't have a lot of ideas," Chloe folded her arms, exasperated.

That made sense.

"I mean, we could call you Marshall," Luke grinned.

"Not funny, Luke," she pouted. "Hold on a sec, Luke, you're practically smothering Chloe. Why did you leave so much room?"

I could feel my heart pound harder.

"Jacob's coming, remember? I didn't know when he was showing up so I thought to leave room for him. Sorry if you felt like I was smothering you," he said quickly while slightly scooting away.

"It's fine," I said softly.

Jacob Sykes was one of the last people on earth I would want to see. He was a disgusting excuse for a person. He was arrogant, thought highly of himself, and believed that he could get into any girl's pants. What made matters worse was that it actually worked for him every‒ single‒ time.

"Hey ladies," I heard that irritating voice say smoothly. I looked up and there was the infamous idiot himself, standing there all smug with the stupidest smirk on his face. He thought gelling his blonde hair was cool, but it actually made him look more like a prick, which he was. His pale eyes glazed over everyone and then fell to me and he cocked his head.

"Why hello Claire," he said, studying me.

"It's Chloe," I rolled my eyes and looked outside.

"Guess we found you a nickname," Chloe Marshall smiled.

"Whatever you say, Marshall," I mumbled.

I heard Luke chuckle and it made me smile slightly to think that he could've thought that was funny.

"Have you guys ordered yet?" Prick asked as he slid in the booth with us.

"We were waiting for you, silly," Heather said, leaning towards Prick.