Luke P.O.V.
I have honestly never seen Claire smile as much as she is now at our dinner table. Usually she would keep a smile for a few seconds but then drop it to concentrate on whatever idea is going on through her brilliant mind.
I admit, at times she is extremely infuriating, well, almost all of the time, but when she is happy and laughing, I'm glad that I'm part of the reason she is smiling. Her smile looks good on her. It erases the wrinkles that cover her face when she is frowning or scowling at me.
I really don't see what she sees in Zack. I mean, come on, he is a total tool. I can see why she would think he is attractive but that's all I see and someone like Claire doesn't only like someone because their hot and popular. That's why she didn't fall for me.
But I'm not complaining. She is a perfect person to use in this plan. She's attractive enough that she can make Nicole jealous but not stupid enough to fall for me. I would hate to break her heart by not liking her back. I already know a ton of girls that have had their hearts broken from me and I don't want Claire to be one of them.
Ahh Nicole how can I describe her? She is the hottest and most popular girl I've ever met. She is also a great kisser and she has a great body. I want her. Zack doesn't deserve to have her.
I think of all of this while I'm staring at Claire who is in the middle of a laugh. When she looks up she locks eyes with me. I quickly look away and ask Darren a question and she turns to Charlotte who is finishing some story.
After 15 more minutes Claire gets up. "Thank you so much for the wonderful dinner and entertainment but I really need to get back" she says politely. My mom gets up and kisses her cheek. "Thank you for coming dear. It was a pleasure to have you". "The pleasure was all mine" she says back.
"I'll walk you out" I say as I stand up too. Claire looks over at me and nods. We walk outside. "Well look who's being a gentleman" Claire teases and I tease back "well you shouldn't have to walk back the whole 100 feet to your house alone" she laughs at this.
"Well I'll see you tomorrow" she states and gives my shoulder a squeeze. "Tonight was fun" I call out as she opens the door. "Yeah, it was" she agrees as the door closes behind her.
At times like this, I'm really glad that Claire is my friend.
Claire P.O.V
"And give me one good reason why I'd want to go to this party" I ask the annoying, arrogant blonde boy leaning next to my locker.
"Well, Sleeping Beauty I can give you 2. One, it is the last day before winter break and you need to learn how to have a life and two, Zack will be there" at the name my ears perk up.
It is Friday before winter break. For the past week and a half I have been helping Luke with history when I didn't have dance and naturally his mom would always invite me to stay for a little while longer for dinner. His house has become one of my favorite places.
"And this is Brandon's party?" I ask and Luke nods. I think about it a little and finally sigh. "Fine" I say and Luke smiles and holds out his hand "great! Welcome to your social life. I don't think we have met before" he laughs as I push him slightly.
"See you later superman" I state and he scowls at his nickname. If he was going to call me sleeping beauty then I was going to call him superman.
My first five classes go by quickly and soon I am at my last class, history. Today was a big day. We were getting our grades back from a big test. Luke and I studied for 3 hours on Wednesday and we both felt good about the test after Thursday.
I enter and take my seat next to Luke who is wringing his hands nervously. Mr. Solender walks in and simply says "here are your grades, these are final grades that will be on your progress reports" and he starts handing out the tests.
I get mine back. I got a 97%. I sigh in relief as I look over to Luke who just got his back too. He slowly turns it over and his eyes go wide .
"Yes!" he shouts and stands up on his chair "92 bitches! Whooo" I laugh at his enthusiasm along with a lot of other people and clap for him.
"Mr. Evans, you may be happy with your grade but there is no need to stand up on your chair. Put your ass back in your seat unless you want to clean all of the seats after school" Mr. Solender states. Luke quickly gets down and smiles widely at me.
I turn towards Mr. Solender who is looking at me. He nods his head as if to say "Great job". I smile back and look back down at my test.
After a quick review of our tests the bell rings and we are dismissed. I gather my books as I feel a hand on my arm. I turn around to see Luke smiling down at me. "I'm giving you a ride to my house. You can get ready for the party there". I nod and follow him.
"Great job you two" Mr. Solender says as we leave and we reply a quick thanks as we walk towards the exit as fast as we can. We get to his car and as soon as we get in Luke blasts the stereo as he cheers in glee the whole way home.
As soon as we get into the house he shouts loudly "guess what guy got a 92 on his history test? This guy!" Darren sticks his head out of his room and says "no one gives a shit!". "Language!" I hear Charlotte shout from somewhere.
I smile as Luke leads me to his room. I am not surprised when I walk in to see clothes everywhere and playboy posters on the walls that I didn't notice the first time I was in here. I frown in disgust at them as Luke puts our back packs up.
"Okay, first thing. We need to get you a hot outfit for the party. We need Zack to be able not to keep his eyes off you so I can steal Nicole away from him and we can make out". I roll my eyes at his idea but they go wide as I see the outfit in his hands.
It is a really cute top with jeans and heels and a leather jacket that actually looks like something I would wear. "Whose clothes are these?" I ask. "My mom's old clothes. She never throws away anything" he states throwing the clothes at me.
I go to the bathroom and quickly change and put on the heels. I walk out and Luke looks me up and down. "Looks good to me" he states as he takes his shirt off and changes it. I stare at his abs for a few seconds before looking away.
For the next 2 hours we watch T.V before it is time to leave. It is already dark outside and after a few minutes we arrive at Brandon's house which is closer than I expected. His house almost is the size of a mansion. It is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Brandon opens the door as we ring the doorbell.
"Hey! Glad you guys could come!" he states and lets us in. There are at least 300 people in his house and most of them have red solo cups in their hands. I see a few girls with their tops already off and quickly avert my attention to something else.
"I'll be right back" Luke shouts over the pounding music. I nod and look around for someone that I actually know. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around to see 2 girls giggling in a drunk way.
"Are you Luke's girlfriend?" the blonde slurs. I simply say "yes"."You are sooo lucky" the brunette slurs. "isn't he amazing in bed?".
"Umm" I state but am interrupted by the blonde "oh my gosh he is sooo good. Especially with that tongue of his" she giggles and the other one joins her and I become extremely uncomfortable. "Here is a little secret" the brunette says. "He really like it when you-"
"Alright well it was nice meeting you two" I say loudly and turn around bumping into Luke who has two solo cups in his hands. I give him a dissaproving look from the cups in his hand. He responds "Don't worry, it's water. Both of them".
I smile slightly and take one of them. "Do you know those girls?" I ask and motion to the two still behind me. "Omg Luke!" the blonde squeals and grabs his arm. "Come on, we have a lot to talk about" she states as they drag the protesting boy away.
I smile and shake my head as I suddenly see Zack. "Zack!" I cry out to get his attention. He looks over at me and smiles while walking over towards me. "Hey Claire" he shouts over the music.
"Do you wanna go somewhere quieter" I yell over the music. Zack nods and I take his hand and head towards the nearest door. I open it to see some stairs heading downstairs. We walk down them and come into a carpeted room with a red couch and a flat screen on the wall. No one is in here.
I take a seat on the couch and Zack does too. "So what's new?" I ask and Zack shrugs "nothing really" and takes a sip from his drink and I do the same. An awkward silence fills the air and we stay silent for a while.
"So how-" "Listen Claire" Zack interrupts. "I'm sorry for saying those things about Luke at the dance. It wasn't right. I was just mad at seeing him kiss you".
"Why?" I ask surprised. "I think you deserve better" he says and I shake my head. "No, besides that. There has to be another reason" I say stubbornly. "Fine you want the truth" Zack says loudly. "I wanted to be the one you were kissing".
I stay silent for a second after that as he continues. "I'm not really sure what I feel for you but I know it's something powerful". He leans closer to me and my eyes go to his lips.
"What about Ni-" "lets forget about Nicole for a second" he whispers and leans in closer so that his lips are almost on mine. I close my eyes and wait to feel his soft full lips-
The door swings open and we quickly pull apart. I watch as Brandon comes down the stairs. "Oh, hey guys. Was I interrupting someting?" he asks.
"No" I quickly say. I get up and go up the stairs fast. I look around for Luke and find him sitting between the two girls looking extremely uncomfortable.
"Luke. I'm ready to go" I state and Luke looks up relieved.
"Well, nice seeing you two again" Luke says and grabs my hand quickly, steering us out of the house. We get into the car and head back home. "So what happend with you?" he asks me.
"Nothing really" I answer, deciding to keep my almost kiss with Zack to myself.
"Those girls seem nice" I tease and he groans. "It happend a year ago and they're still obsessed with me" my stomach does a little flip at the thought of how many girls Luke has been with.
Soon he pulls up to my house and I say goodnight to him and head inside. I close the door as I hear a voice behind me. "Hello Claire".
I turn around to see my dad standing in the hall. "Wow new record. You stayed away from the house for 3 weeks! Congratulations!" I state and start walking up the stairs. "I got you your own car" he says and I stop and turn around.
"What's the catch" I ask suspiciously, knowing that there was always a catch. "Well, a big oppurtunity for our buissness has come up and it looks like I'm going to be away for the whole winter break.
"Even Christmas?" I ask as tears form in my eyes. Sure, I wasn't close to my dad but that was usually the one day that we got along long enough to make a big breakfast and talk a little. It was my favorite holiday.
He stays quiet, answering my question. "So the car is an early Christmas present" I say as a tear slides down my face. "Well then, Merry Christmas jerk" I state and run to my room as the tears keep sliding down my face at the thought of being alone on Christmas.
I get to my room and change into a sweatshirt and pants. I go to my balcony to breathe in some fresh air. I close my eyes as more tears escape my eyes as I let out a single sob.
All of the sudden I hear a noise from below my balcony. I look down to see Luke climbing up from the side of the balcony where every few blocks a brick was missing so it was a good foothold. My dad said it was a cool design but for me it was a perfect way to sneak out, you know, when my dad was actually here to care enough to try and stop me.
"What the hell are you doing" I ask him as he reaches the banister and jumps over. "I saw you over here and forgot to ask you for my mom's clothes back" he says looking at me. I walk into my room and grab the clothes and push them into Luke's arms. "Here" I snap.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asks concerned and I shake my head. "It turns out I'm going to be alone on Christmas" I say sadly.
"No you're not" Luke says in a stern voice. "No one should be alone on christmas. You can stay with my family for Christmas. For the whole winter break even if you want". I am surprised to hear this. "I don't want to be a burden" I say.
"Please, my family loves you. You're apparently a good 'role model' for me" he says using air quotes for role model. I smile widely at him. "Really?" I ask not beleiving it. The idea of celebrating Christmas with my favorite family was unbeleivable.
"Of course sleeping beauty" Luke states with a smile. I pull him into a tight hug and laugh. "Thank you, thank you so much" I say with tears of happiness streaming down my face.
"Your welcome".
Authors Note- Hey guys! I put a pic on the side of the outfit Claire wears to the party.