Janis arrived at her house with Edward following her. She received a message from Claudia that made her feel nervous. As she opened the door, she saw two bags by the front door. Edward looked around the house in search of the girl.
"Edward, why is this here?" Janis asked, frowning at the bags on the floor. "Please tell me she isn't eloping."
Edward walked towards his girlfriend and hugged her. "She isn't, Janis, it's not like Claudia to just elope. But if she is then let's hope it's Ben and not some random guy."
Janis wasn't in the mood to joke around so she quickly walked upstairs searching for Claudia, leaving Edward to make himself some lunch in the kitchen. Once she got to the top floor, she called out Claudia's name. Seconds later, the door to Claudia's room opened and out came Ben and Claudia.
"Explain, now." Janis said with a stern face.
Claudia spoke up. "I got invited to this school by their principal to come look at their english department. Other teachers from different states are going too. It was all last minute, you know how Principal Howard is."
"Claudia, what I don't understand is why would you go on a trip when it's finals week? You're always working and saying that you want your kids to pass their finals and now you're going on an unexpected trip to another school?" Janis wasn't fully convinced on why Claudia decided to go on her trip. "And you're not even flying out? Where even is this school?"
"De—" Ben started talking, but Claudia cut him off.
"Illinois. It's a really private and expensive school. Hard to get in, almost impossible. It's more advanced kids." Claudia nodded, trying to get Ben on the same idea as her.
"Oh . . . yeah, really impossible. And they didn't pay for Claudia's plane ticket because . . ." Ben looked at Claudia for help.
"Ben offered to drive me there himself so he could spend time with me, right?" She nudged him.
"Yeah, I'll never pass up on an opportunity to be stuck in a car with your daughter for hours," Ben chuckled.
Janis broke out in laughter. "Oh, Benjamin, good luck with this one,"
she started walking down the stairs. "hurry up then, traffic is a bitch."
Claudia made sure her mom was fully gone before she grabbed Ben's hand and dragged him back into her room. She silently closed the door. "Well, that wasn't easy, but at least she didn't know."
"Sorry. I almost spoiled your plan." Ben apologized.
"It's okay, Ben, don't worry. All we have to worry about is coming back before the dance. It's next weekend so we have to be back before Friday." She explained.
"Dance?" Ben questioned.
"Did I forget to mention that to you? Oh god, I did! Okay, so there's this dance for the students every year towards the end of the school year and I got picked to chaperone. It's next weekend." She said as she got out a show box from her closet and opened it. Inside were photos of her kids and other teachers she took photos with.
"This one is from two years ago. This is my friend and next door neighbor at work, Garrett. He's nice. I'll introduce you two one day." She pointed at a man in the picture that was next to her. They were posing inside of a photobooth.
Ben took the photo in his hands. He was only focusing on Claudia. She wore a red dress, her hair was down and she wore a matching necklace. He noticed how happy she looked. It was the type of happy she had when he was around, maybe even more.
"You look pretty," Ben commented, giving her back the photo.
"Thanks, but I really hate that picture. You should feel honored I'm showing it to you." Claudia stuffed the photo into the shoebox and placed it back in her closet.
"I do feel honored. Even being in your ethereal presence is a gift to me."
Claudia looked at him shocked. "You better stop."
"Or what?" He smirked.
"Or . . . I don't know! But stop, your accent makes your words sound so beautiful." Claudia said.
"So if I was American, it would change your opinion on my voice?"
"Truthfully? No. I could listen to you talk for hours," she admitted. "Is this weird? I'll stop talking." She laughed and walked past him to go out of her room.
Ben stayed behind. He had to admit it, Claudia was definitely a delight to be around. All he could think about was how beautiful he thought her smile was, how pretty she looked without even trying. His past relationships weren't like this. They mostly ended mutually and unexpectedly. With Claudia, he didn't want anything to end, even if they weren't officially together.