UNEDITED
The next few days were completely and totally overwhelming. I barely had time to breathe and I think it had something to do with the bridesmaid dresses Michella got for me. It was a pretty gold dress with heels that were bound to kill me but the worst part was that Michella purposely ordered a dress few sizes smaller. I had to give it to my mothers brilliant design and as much as I didn't like her talent was clear.
Unfortunately her talent didn't fit me.
If it had been up to Michella I would have been stuck in the dress through out the wedding but thankfully Jakes mom saw that I was so completely uncomfortable and told me to take it off and she would ask for a new dress.
I swear to god I looked blue even after I took the dress off.
Afterwards I went to my dad's office. You could make out that my dad was over compensating with me which probably explained the incident inbetween my mother and him about the matter of me being arrested. But whatever said and done I pretty much enjoyed whatever I did in the office . It was mostly learning about the different branches and structures of the company and all of its investors.
The Hendersons were once again on the top of that list too.
I can't help wonder just how big an empire like that can be. I mean my fathers company as compared to Henderson empire was almost minuscule and yet his earning margins told me the reason why all of us had an unlimited credit card.
I am exhausted over the next few days with constant rehearsals for the wedding, my mother glaring down at me and never giving me a chance to escape from her line of view. She even took my phone and I would have probably made a big fuss about it but I was to busy to bother.
I didn't see Jake or Alec much to my relief as well as disappointment. Even if I wanted to I couldn't meet any of them. My mom made sure to send a car for me so I had no chance if exploring or going anywhere. I didn't meet either of them in the office and frankly my schedule was to jam packed to even make the effort.
I did feel guilty about my outburst with Alec and I know I had to apologise but for now I just wanted to cool down because we both needed time to process what had happened.
Me mainly being a bitch to him and him mainly sucking up to everyone in sight.
So the next few days passed like that. There was almost zero change in my schedule except for the occasional dirty glare I would throw in my mothers way and carefully construct a plan to kill my sister during my free time.
It was on the 24th of December that anything even remotely interesting happened.
Christmas was a very big deal in our house. Well, at least to my parents and I only found out when the both of them were decorating the Christmas tree in the morning.
I had gotten up later than usual because my dad had told me to take next five days leading up to the wedding off because work during Christmas and New Years was incredibly slow and he had already booked me for my entire summer vacation after graduation to come back to New York.
I hadn't discussed my college application plans with my dad yet because I was yet to take the SATs at the end of January (I had planned to take the last one possible so that I had enough time to prepare) although my SAT subject tests were all sorted out and I had done extremely well in all.
"Clara come help me put the star on top." My mother calls out.
I roll my eyes as she turns around and walk towards her. She had me almost on lock and key for the past few days while her other daughter hadn't come home at night for the past two days. Nice to know that she loved me so much.
I sighed and took the star from her and stood on my tip toes and easily put it on top. I had got my fathers frame tall and kind of lanky but not really very skinny.
Trust me with the crap I eat I don't know how I am not obese but fairly okay in size.
My mother on the other hand is like Michella not too tall but extremely curvy yet at the same time thin in a way that made most boys drool. Well, at least in Michella's case I seriously did not want to find out if the same thing happened with my mother.
"So Clara what are your plans for Christmas?" My father asks me, his voice muffled by the tree in between us.
I glance at my mother who has this look on her face that is clearly daring me to say the J word but my mother and Michella shared the same genes and trust me I did not want to cross her anymore than I already have.
"I'm not sure, Rebecca wanted to go Christmas shopping but since I'm grounded...."
I pointedly stare at my mother who is happily back to ignoring me.
"Rebecca is the red head?" My father asks.
"No, the one with black hair."I say.
"Oh right Marion Reynolds daughter the one dating the Hoffman's kid right?" He asks and I'm quite surprised at how he knows that.
"Yup." I say.
"So why don't you go?" He says,"You are seventeen and young and I really don't see what you did to get grounded."
"She got arrested!" My mom exclaimed.
"Not legally. She has nothing in her record to prove it." My father replied coming out from behind the tree,"I checked it myself."
"But that doesn't mean she didn't get arrested." My mom says,"and all she wants to do is go and see Conrad's son who has in all sense got his fathers attitude."
"His name is Jake."I say,"He does have a name."
"She is young and she is dating a boy I'm sure you did it when you were a teenager."my father states.
"Oh please you are blinded by trying to make it up to her after all of these years." My mom fired back,"Just because Walter opened his big mouth with a few praises about her and she is dating Conrad's son it's more or less perfect for you and your stupid business and you have no time for anything else."
I sigh as they start fighting and Michella who just entered is mirroring the same expression. She looked a bit messier than usual and her clothes were wrinkled. I had seen her do the walk of shame well pride for her enough times to recognise it on sight.
"So who was the unlucky boy this time?" I ask trying to tune out my parents bickering.
"You know you have got a really big mouth on you ever since you started dating Jake?" She snaps,"I would watch it if I was you."
"Finally dropped the fake sister act huh?" I say,"I mean I should have gotten a clue when you tried to suffocate me in that dress."
"Well, I did it as soon as I realised that Jake was not worth it." She spat,"He is an asshole anyway and a total man-"
"Oh save the speech mother has already given it to me."I say,"And your opinion on him is something I can't care less about."
"Well, it's not my opinion more than the fact that I realised that whatever you have, has been mine first." She says grinning,"So as much as you try to see the good in Jake Henderson remember that I know much more about him than you do but I am not going to steal the fun of you finding out about it yourself and realising just who you are dating."
"Wow you act like he killed someone Michella." I roll my eyes,"All this he was the first and only person to dump your sorry little ass."
Something flashed in her eyes but it was replaced by a look of triumph.
I roll my eyes and grab my wallet and I am about to open the door not caring what my mother would do when she found out I left the house when Michella says from behind,"Alec."
"What about him?" I say opening the door.
"Oh I was simply answering your question. About who the lucky guy was." She says.
I glance at her for one-second but it's enough time to let her know that she had won this round. By a massive lead.
I quickly close the door and try to gulp back the rising bile in my mouth. I rush down the stairs instead of the elevator not wanting to wait for it and giving me time to think about what she said.At first I go slowly remembering to be careful knowing my past track record of falling.
But the triumphant smile on my sisters face pops up into my mind and I find myself running as fast as I can away from her. My sister was a bitch but she was a smart one. She knew exactly what to do to drive me over a ledge I couldn't possibly climb over.
It had happened the last time I crossed a line by spilling something about her that I shouldn't have and I payed that price for a full six months.
Even though Michella would never say it out loud but the reason she dated Alec was clear: to spite me. And boy did it work.The Michella phase had come after the Natalie phase but it hurt a lot more because she purposely flaunted him everywhere, in school as well as at home.
She did everything she could to show him off and frankly I don't know how much of their relationship was true. Maybe she did like him but her timing was impeccable right after I had almost ruined her reputation. I was absolutely miserable during my sophomore year.
Alec was a lost puppy at that time. Reeling from the Natalie break up he fell for Michella hard and for that as much as I tried I couldn't blame him after all she was pretty and smart and why should Alec be different from any other boy who would fall just as hard for her.
Jake didn't though.
Well, at least not until he kind of got drunk and slept with her.
I slow down almost laughing as I remembered the face Jake had made when he had first seen Michella. Fourteen year old Jake May have been much more immature with his stupid pranks but he was every bit as good looking as a person could be. Back then while he simply chose to ignore me he was repulsed by Michella.
And that definitely shot him higher up on my likeable scale.
Until he obviously decided to read my diary in front of everyone in camp and colour my hair red.
I calm down by the time I reach the ground floor because I had almost tripped and tumbled down the staircase and it took all of my concentration to carefully step down the rest of the way knowing that my balance was pathetic.I try to push Alec and Michella out of my mind especially the Christmas incident kind of sticks due the christmas decorations put up on the streets as I make my way to the Rebecca and Samantha's hotel.
For a brief second it does slip my mind when I remember Jake's reaction to the story and how he had laughed so hard that he had fallen down.
Maybe it's about time I start to understand the hilarity of this situation too. Maybe it's about time that I get it through to my head that my life when it comes to Alec Evans is so ridiculously complicated that it's just completely and totally flipping hilarious.
"Why are you laughing?" Samantha asks me as she swings the door open allowing me to enter her room.
Somewhere in between the walk to their room I realised why Jake was laughing at what I told him, because it was funny. In fact it was downright hilariously pathetic and the entire tangled situation between my sister, Alec and I was a comedy in which I was unfortunately in.
"Okay should I be worried about her?" Samantha says as I finally stop laughing.
"I found something funny so I laughed."I shrug as I plonk myself down in Samantha's bed.
"Why worried? Be happy." Rebecca rushes into the room from the bathroom door and stands in front of her mirror trying to take off her smudged mascara. She is wearing a tight black dress which I have never seen before and her hair is tangled and messy.
Suffice to say I have never seen Rebecca so out of shape.
"Our good girl here got arrested." Rebecca states as she takes off her earrings and places them on the table,"For trespassing."
"You broke into Alec's room?" She says incredulously,"I mean isn't that a bit too much now?"
I stare at her unblinking and start laughing again.
I mean it has to be sad if the first thing that pops into Samantha's when it's announced that I got arrested is that I got caught stalking Alec.
"No, I didn't it would be too much of a hassle and quite a pointless exercise." I say surprised of how calm and rational I sound while saying that.
"Well, like I said before screw Alec-" Rebecca starts but is interrupted by Samantha who mutters,"Oh I bet she plans to."
For some reason I don't blush red or react to that sentence like I previously would have, in fact I am pretty much irritated by it but I simply give her a small smile and say,"Rebecca continue."
"Anyway apparently the both of you were arrested for trespassing?" She says and raises her eyebrows.
"Alec got arrested? I mean he is probably as bad as everyone else in our grade but I really didn't think of him as the breaking and entering type." Samantha states.
"Alec? Really who cares about Alec I am talking about Jake." She says and for some reason that statement makes me want to smile,"They got arrested for going on top of the Empire State Building when they were not supposed to and Alec went to bail them out with Jake's father."
"You could have jeopardised your future you know." Samantha states,"And good thing Alec was there to save your ass-"
"Are you really kidding me?" I say,"HE ratted me out to my mom and she grounded me."
"She is your mom." Samantha states.
"Really? So then where was she during parent teaching meetings or-"
Samantha cuts me off swiftly,"I get that she was absent but stop blaming Alec for that he did the right thing by calling your mother."
"What have you become Alec's new spokesperson or better yet lawyer?" I snap angrily my previous calm disappearing,"Well then defend this: He slept with Michella. Again. After we had a fight about it."
Samantha blushes red and I know its from anger and not embarrassment.
"I am not anyone's spokesperson or lawyer, I am just trying to make you see sense." She says,"Jake is bad. You are not. You have never done anything wrong in your life but with him-"
"So what?" I say really get frustrated,"So what if I do something wrong? Just because I am the good girl that doesn't mean that I can't do something fun or have a spine for once? Stop blaming Jake you know nothing about him-"
"How much do you know about him?" Samantha says ,"He is changing you Clara and not for the better-"
"Well, I think it's for the better." Rebecca speaks up this time,"And who are we to judge who she dates-"
"Fake dates." Samantha corrects.
"Who cares this is Clara's life Sam and it's her choice." She says,"I personally like the Clara that actually fights with Natalie stands up for herself and isn't tripping over her feet all the time and I like Jake because the both of them are perfectly imperfect and frankly thats the most anyone could ask out of any relationship."
"But they are not dating, Rebecca." Samantha says out loud,"They only put up a ruse so that Clara can make Alec jealous, the guy she has been pining over forever."
"Samantha." Rebecca says quietly and for some reason Samantha freezes. She looks at Rebecca with an unreadable expression on her face and finally shakes her head and springs herself off the bed,"Fine you are right but Clara I hope that Jake is worth losing a guy like Alec who has been your friend for a very long time."
She leaves the room shutting the door behind and Rebecca sighs.
I sit there shocked at what Samantha said and try to process the jumble of thoughts that race through my head.
"So I slept with Jeremy." Rebecca finally says and breaks the ice and cdiverts the topic.
I look up at her startled and ask,"When?"
"Yesterday." She sighs,"And I am scared that now that I have slept with him he may just....."
"Why are you scared?" I ask slowly seeing how Rebecca is trying her best not to cry.
"I-I "
She faulters and for the first time I realise why she was rooting for me and Jake.
"You are scared that Samantha was right? That Jeremy just acted like he liked you to sleep with you?" I try to keep my tone as soft as possible but it does not cover the harsh words in the sentence.
"I don't know."She finally admits," I asked him if he wanted to go for dinner today and he said that he had a family commitment. It's Christmas Eve for the love of god and I thought maybe.."
She again looks down and I realise just how whipped she was over him.
"You-You love him don't you?" I say,"And the reason you root for Jake against Samantha is because you hope that she is wrong about him, so then she is wrong about Jeremy too."
"No, I don't root for you guys because I hope Samantha is wrong I really hope you guys make it.." She trails off.
"There is nothing to root for between me and Jake. As for Alec... Sam is right he did do the right thing but I am pissed at everyone telling me what I can do and what I can't." I say,"As for Jeremy Hoffman I can't really say anything much but I think he genuinely is in love with you."
"I hope so." She says,"I hope Samantha comes back around,"
"Yeah what was the secret telepathic thing you told her to get her to leave?" I ask.
She looks at me her eyes calculating how much she should tell.
"I don't think it's my place to tell." She finally says,"Sam well tell you soon enough."
"If she ever talks to me again." I mutter.
"She will, she just is having a hard time." Rebecca says,"Her parents are pressuring her about college and she is all over the place and extremely stressed."
I nod.
"I hope so." I mutter.
"Well, I know so." Rebecca says smiling once again.
At times I wish I could be like Rebecca who displays her emotions so openly. She really believes in the best in people and despite being afraid she is ready to take the leap.
I on the other hand, am a giant bowl of confusion and drama.
"So you want to go Christmas shopping?" I ask her.
We had actually never really made plans of going Christmas shopping I had just used it as an excuse to get out of my house.
"I already shopped." She says looking guilty.
"That's okay." I say slowly,"I mean it's not like I have anyone to shop for. I mean that is unless I want to gift Michella a knife to kill herself."
The two of us laugh it off and pretty soon we start discussing random things.I don't know how it happens but out conversation leads to us ordering and watching The Proposal. It's about the end of the movie when Sandra Bullock cancels her wedding that the door bell rings.
Rebecca who is pretty much bawling her eyes out for no reason is in no shape to open the door so I lift myself and head lazily towards the door and swing it open.
I find myself face to face with Alec. His eyes widen and he takes a step back.
"Hi." I decide to start simple.
"Hi." He yet looks unsure about himself and extremely uncomfortable.
We stand there together in awkward silence until he finally breaks it,"Is Jeremy here?"
I shake my head in response and say,"No."
He gives me a quick nod and looks almost relieved that he has a chance of getting out of here and away from me.
"Okay then I guess bye." He says quickly and backs away.
"I'm sorry." I blurt out before he can go any further.
He looks puzzled as he stops,"You don't have to, it was just a small spat."
"No, I'm sorry for saying that I didn't approve of your relationship with my sister."I say rambling,"I mean it's not like I have any right to have a say in this I mean it's not like we dated or anything...."
I trail off realising what an idiot I sounded like. Jake was right I really didn't hear myself when I spoke.
"And it's completely fine that you slept together. I mean I'm happy for you. I remember how hard you took it when she left." I continue my word vomit.
What happened to calm Clara?
Or the Clara who realised what a big joke all of this was?
"What?" He says looking almost horrified.
"It's okay." I say.
It's not okay
"Who told you?" He asked slowly and carefully.
"Michella." I say,"She is my sister after all I did notice that she was gone all night-"
"Is that all she told you?" He says.
"Umm yes I really don't think there is anything else to tell." I say awkwardly.
Alec looks at me for two-seconds he steps closer and my breath hitches. For a moment I think he is going to kiss me but instead he just sighs and turns around and walks away from me.
At first I am too shocked to react and I am left standing there. But the most shocking thing was the moment when he was about to kiss me the only thing I could think BOUT was Jake.
____________________________________________________________________________
It was a while before I reached Jake's room.
Rebecca informed me that he was also staying in the hotel and not with his mother or father. I wasn't particularly surprised at the information that he was living away from them but I was surprised that he was living in the hotel instead of having his own apartment.
For some reason I was nervous. I mean it wasn't the fact that I was basically doing the exact opposite of what my mother said but there was something I could put my finger on. I entered the elevator and pressed level one. I wasn't surprised that he had chosen the first floor because then he wouldn't have to take the elevator.
Rebecca had insisted that I put on some lipgloss and a little bit of mascara so I didn't look like one of the zombies from walking dead.
I knocked on the door but didn't get any response so I knocked again.
Maybe he was out.
I knock once again and am about to go away but the door swings open to reveal a very pissed off looking Jake,"There is a Do Not Dis-"
He breaks off as he sees me and a fleeting expression of worry crosses his face as he says,"Clara? What are you doing here?"
I am about to reply but a familiar brunette girl steps into my line of sight right behind Jake.
"Babe who is it?" She asks joining Jake at the door. Her heavily glossed pink lips shape itself into a smirk as she says in the same shrill voice I had heard a little less than a week in the central park ice rink.
"Hi Clara"
"Hi Spencer." I say slowly trying to figure out why I wanted to choke the girl dressed completely in pink.
My eyes flicker from Spencer to Jake and I see that his lips are swollen. Bile rises up my throat and I find myself almost stammering as I say,"O-Oh am I i-interrupting something?"
"Oh don't be silly." She says,"He is your boyfriend after all."
She throws the word boyfriend in my face like a knife and I find myself flinching and backing away from the door. I don't know this girl at all but for some reason she got to me more than my sister and Natalie.
"Oh." I back away but Jake grabs my wrist and pulls me towards himself.
"Thats right I am her boyfriend after all." He says throwing it back at the girl.
She doesn't seem that effected but her eyes are cold as she turns around and looks up to me giving me a smile that is completely fake,"Well I was just-"
"Leaving." Jake finishes his deep green eyes hard as stone.
"See you later Jakie and consider what I said, won't you?"
She smirks and plants a light kiss on his cheeks that makes him tighten his grip on me. She gives one last blinding smile and walks off in a flash of pink.
Jake loosens the grip on my hand and runs his hand through his hair. We stand awkwardly in silence for some time until I clear my throat and say,"Since you are busy now I'll just-"
"No, I'm not." He says opening the door wider,"Come on in."
I hesitate for a moment before stepping into the room which looks like it's been hit by a tornado. There is paper everywhere and a lamp lies broken. The smell of alcohol is overpowering in the room.
"What happened here?" I say it out loud and turn to look at Jake who is looking at the ground nervously.
"Nothing much." He says his eyes fixated on the ground as if he didn't want to look at me,"A party gone wild."
"Oh." I say and then he makes the mistake of looking up.
"Oh my god." I gulped and stepped towards him as he quickly looks back down,"What happened?"
In the light I have a clear view of his face and I realise that his lip was swollen but not for the reason I thought. The right side of his faced was bruised heavily and his lip had a small cut.
As if by instinct I lift his face carefully not wanting to hurt him.
"Oh Jake."I say carefully tracing his bruise.
"It was stupid really, I kind of ran into a wall." He says not meeting my eyes.
I know he is lying but I don't pressurise him. I know I am nosy but this time I keep my mouth shut and simply nod and give him a tiny smile as I say,"And you call me clumsy."
He laughs at that and puts his hands on mine which are still resting on either side of his face. I notice that his knuckles are just as bruised as his face. I wince looking at it and he quickly drops his hands. I slowly pull my hands away.
"I hope you got it checked." I say,"It looks pretty bad."
"Don't worry about me." He says backing away from me,"What's been going on with you?"
"I got grounded." I say,"My mom thinks that you are an extremely bad influence and I should not see you anymore."
"She is right." He whispers so softly that it was almost as if he was saying it to himself.
For some reason I choose to ignore his comment and say,"So since I have decided to be all badass and come to see you mostly because I cannot tolerate my sister anymore I was wondering if you wanted to come Christmas shopping with me?"
I find myself anxiously waiting for an answer and I am relieved when his lips forming a familiar smirk as he says,"I can think of one better."
______________________________________________________________________
"What you have nothing to say?" He says,"I mean come on it's christmas and we are at Rockefeller Center."
"Wow you really are a softie." I say,"So much for being the grinch and saying I don't like Christmas."
"I don't like christmas but seeing so many lights and so many people is something on its own." He says,"And besides these bruises take every thing soft about me."
I roll my eyes,"Really Jake? I wouldn't call running into a wall that badass."
I do it subtly but I try to push him into saying something but he doesn't crack and simply and says,"It's probably cause you are rubbing off me."
I smile trying to hide my disappointment at his clear lie but it's about time I learn to leave people alone and interfering with whatever Jake does.
But it's hard.
"So you and Spencer huh?" I say trying my best to sound nonchalant as I look ahead at the huge Christmas tree that is beautifully lighted and decorated.
We stand there just looking at the tree as hundreds of people around us are constantly buzzing around, taking pictures and some of them are standing underneath the various mistletoe decorations that have been hung up all over the Center.
"My history with Spencer is not something you exactly call easy it's complicated." He finally says slowly,"But whatever it was is long over and trust me if there was anything going on I would tell."
I don't meet his gaze and continue looking up at the tree as I processed what he said. I had a billion questions as to how long were they together, what had happened in between and so many more but I pursed my lips and just kept quiet.
Jake always tells me how nosy I am and it's about time that I accept the fact that pestering him with questions won't help because mostly I have no right to butt in.
But for now I believe what he has told me about him and Spencer. Maybe with lesser detail than I would like but none the less I believe it.
"Alec slept with Michella." I sigh,"Again."
He looks at me but I continue to look at the sparkling tree. He doesn't say anything but instead grabs my hand and just holds it. A familiar electric spark races up through my arm and we again find ourselves in silence but this time its comfortable.
"So since we are on depressing topics," he says trying his best to sound nonchalant but failing,"I need a favour."
"What favour?" I say finally tearing my eyes from the trees to look at him.
Even bruised he looked good. It just gave him more of a stay away from me, I'm trouble look but for some reason to me it just engrossed me more into who Jake really was. The guy who was holding my hand and taking me to Rockefeller center or the other darker guy who lied about getting into a fight.
The last time he had asked me for a favour was when he asked me to continue putting on the ruse for my sister so I expect something similar as he opens his mouth to reply.
"I need you to stay away from my father."
Okay that I didn't see coming.
"Why?" I immediately ask and he looks away from me.
"It's because.."
And for once Jake is at a loss for words. His request is strange but I know how his relationship with his father and he probably has a good reason to tell me this so I simply say the one thing he didn't expect to hear,"Okay."
He looks at me shocked, clearly surprised that I have given in so easily. What did he expect that I would actually hold up a conversation with his father after the last one? Well, no thank you.
"What? I don't particularly want to have another meeting with him either." I shrug at his shocked expression.
Unless it consists of you giving that speech all over again and I can figure out if you really meant it.
"Good." He sighs in relief and smiles.
"Come let's go in front." He says pulling me ahead.
He suddenly stops midway even though there is place ahead and I nudge him to move forward but he just stands there.
"So your mom doesn't like me huh?" He says and I laugh.
"I wouldn't take it personally Jake she doesn't like a whole lot of people, unless they are profitable." I say.
"Don't you think I'm bad for you?" He asks out of the blue.
I look at him and am shocked to see how serious he looks.
"I mean sure you are the reason ninety percent of the girl in our school wants to kill me and why my sister is planning my death as we speak." I say smiling.
"I'm not kidding Clara." He says with the same serious expression.
"Neither am I." I say back boldly,"I don't think anyone who quotes Titanic or probably has saved my ass from embarrassing myself more times than I can count be bad for anyone, much less me."
I stare at him not giving up my ground. For a moment we are just staring at each other to see who breaks the silence first. An unreadable expression passes through his face before he finally smirks.
"Keep it in your pants will you?" He says smiling and the tension between us finally cracks and I roll my eyes laughing.
"You wish Henderson." I say.
He again looks at me with an expression I can't quite put my finger on and he is about to say something but his phone buzzes and he curses leaving my hand and checks his phone.
He quickly reads the message and sighs as he runs his hand through his hair.
"Shit I have to go." He says.
I can't help feeling a little disappointed but I nod and say,"Of course, see you later?"
He looks conflicted and glances in between his phone and me and says,"Are you sure you'll get home okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." I say smiling,"Thanks for bringing me here it really is beautiful. Makes me like Christmas a lot more."
He smiles and looks at his phone almost ruefully but shakes his head and quickly puts it in his pocket.
"Well see you later." He says smiling.
He is about to walk away but before he does his familiar smirk forms on his lip and he says,"Oh I almost forgot."
And then he kisses me.
It's not like the last one which was hot but instead its short but sweet and I can feel it all the way up to my feet. It's like an electric charge that leaves me breathless but it lasts only for a second as he pulls away.
"I think I owed you that. Maybe the next time during Christmas you'll have this memory to hold on to instead of the other one." He says giving me a wink and glancing up as he turns around and walks away
I look up still completely dizzy and see a pretty green plant hanging from the decorations above.
Mistletoe.
I can't help smiling as I realise that he purposely made me stand under the mistletoe. My lips are still tingling and I realise something that makes me want to go run after him but he has already disappeared into the crowd.
For the second time in the same day I find myself running back to the hotel to meet Rebecca but this time for an entirely different purpose. I find myself knocking on the hotel door urgently as I try to put my jumbled thoughts to form one coherent sentence.
"What?" Rebecca asks me her hair disheveled and her eyes puffy which clearly state that she has been watching yet another chick flick movie.
"Clara?" She says noticing me,"What happened?"
I can't help smiling and touch my lips which are still tingling from the kiss as I finally realise what all the confused thoughts and words jumbled in my head all came to form.
"I - I think I'm falling for Jake Henderson."
__________________________________________________________
AUTHOR: Dun Dun Dun
MICHELLA; *rolls her eyes* Who did not see that coming
AUTHOR: Why is she here again?
CLARA: The same question I have been asking for my entire life
MICHELLA: *sneers* Just because I point out how pathetic your spellings and grammar are-
AUTHOR: *snaps finger and Michella disappears* There now everyone is happy
JAKE: Especially me. Alec you can go rot in hell. Or better yet go wherever Michella went and-
CLARA: *covers her ears as Jake says things that aren't approved by the church* LALALALA
ALEC: Just because she has admitted it that doesn't mean you have won. After all she had admitted in being in love with me in the first chapter
MICHELLA: *reapparates back* See how well that worked
CLARA: *turns to author while Alec and Jake keep fighting* My feelings are supposed to be personal you know
AUTHOR: Does it look like I care
JAKE: You moth-
AUTHOR: HEY! Language please, does it look like I am running a circus?
MICHELLA: Yes
AUTHOR:*narrows eyes* Didn't I just banish you
MICHELLA: I came back. Personally I think you should have picked a better looking prettier main character *smirks*
CLARA: What someone like you?
MICHELLA: yes
CLARA: Why you little *jumps on Michella*
AUTHOR: *turns to audience* A little help here
AUDIENCE: *grabs popcorn and sits and watches*
AUTHOR: Wow thats real nice people. *SNAPS FINGERS AND ALL CHARACTERS DISAPPEAR*
AUTHOR: Well since that got over lets thank all our lovely followers because of whom we have reached almost 70K reads and 1.8K votes. Oh and there is an image on the side that I think fits this chapter perfectly so make sure to see that.
JAKE:*reapparates* Don't forget to comment and vote and kill Alec
AUTHOR: Lay off him
JAKE: We'll see