21. Wrapped Up

"How do I look?" Aunt Carrie asked as she smoothed out her dress and looked at me with her eyes sparkling. I nodded my head yet again and smiled at her with my thumbs up, but she just sighed before she went back into the dressing room.

"What's wrong with this one?" I asked with a whine as I hugged the door of the dressing room.

"It's too tight and green, green just doesn't suit me." She spoke and I laughed internally.

"Green only suits my Claire." I sighed out as a love-struck teenager.

Oh wait, I am a love-struck teenager. He-he.

She came out and I backed away from the door to see her in a red dress that was just above her knee. She looked beautiful as she did in every other dress she rejected. "How about this one?" She asked as she twirled for me. Her dress was backless and she was looking elegant as well as classy.

I nodded impressed by the perfectness of the dress on her. "You should totally buy this one." She smiled as she checked herself out in the mirror before she frowned.

"I think it's too much." I face palmed myself as she began to go back into the dressing room for like the millionth time.

"It's not and I'm sure the devil's father would love it." She glared at me as I shrugged sheepishly at her. "His name is Eric and I don't think so. He is a pastor."

"Come on, that doesn't have to do with anything." I stated and she nodded.

"But I want to look my best for him. He's the first person that I've been interested since..." Aunt Carrie trailed off as she stared at me and I understood what she was going to say.

"Mom and dad would be happy for you too, they sometimes thought that you didn't like people." Aunt Carrie laughed with a distant look in her eyes. I sighed before I grabbed her arm and made her sit at the small bench that was placed in front of the dressing room.

"I know this is big for you but you have to be confident. He was the one that asked you out and trust me when I say this, you looked like a wreck at that time." She hit my arm playfully and I laughed at her.

"Seriously, his eyes were sparkling when he saw you and it was completely sickening." She hit me again and this time I didn't laugh. "I don't want to see you get hurt and if this guy does anything stupid or hurtful, I'm gonna hurt him where the sun doesn't shine." Aunt Carrie cringed before she smiled lovingly at me.

"I feel so loved." I grinned at her as she rested her head on my shoulder while still looking at herself.

"But does this dress make me look fat?" I laughed as she pouted.

........................................................................

"Finally, some alone time." I smiled to myself as I walked to my bed and crashed on it. I wanted to read a book but then I also wanted to take a much-needed nap. Aunt Carrie was ruthless when she took me shopping with her.

She literally dragged me everywhere since I didn't want to enter a lingerie store. I was so embarrassed the whole time and the women that were there looked at me with suggestive smiles which I don't even want to see again.

A shiver ran down my spine when I remembered my awful day. I closed my eyes after switching the lights off. I was just a second close to dozing off when my bedroom door burst open revealing none other than Kyle.

"What do you want?" I whined as I buried my head in my pillow and wrapped myself in my favorite blue blanket.

What? Don't you have a favorite blanket?

Whatever.

"Uhm." Kyle began to bounce on his feet as if he wanted to use the little men's room. I raised my eye brow at him in complete and utter annoyance.

"Speak up, boy!"

"Amanda's at Claire's house, and Claire is in a really bad mood." He spoke so quickly that I got bits and pieces of his sentence but when I heard Amanda and Claire's name in the same sentence, I knew something chaotic was going to happen.

I quickly got up throwing my pillow and my favorite blanket away, before quickly wearing my shoes. Kyle stood and watched me wear my shoes before he gave me my car keys.

"How did you even get here?" I asked him as we began to go downstairs.

"I ran here." I raised my eye brow again but decided not to question him any further. I knew how scary Claire could be if she tried and Kyle looked utterly frightened right now.

Once we reached the front door, I loudly called out to Aunt Carrie. "I'm going to Claire's house!"

"Okay, be safe!" Aunt Carrie exclaimed from the kitchen and I opened the front door and walked out followed by Kyle.

I speed walked to my car and opened the driver's side door and Kyle got in the passenger's side, I started the car before I drove the car out of the driveway.

After like a nanosecond, Kyle asked with a worried voice, "Can't you drive faster?" I glanced at him before I began to drive faster to get to Claire's house. I'm still a bit impressed that Kyle ran all the way to my house from Claire's house. He got some good legs on him.

After like 15 minutes, we got to Claire's house and Kyle quickly got out of the car and came to my side before grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the car and to the front door.

"The keys!" He just ignored me and opened the front door before pushing me in and then following me inside.

"You are a huge bitch and a homewrecker!"

"Oh, you aren't her wife. So, technically that doesn't make me a homewrecker!"

"Yet!"

I looked at Kyle with a 'please don't send me in there' look to which he replied with 'fix this and I'll buy you ice cream'. I sighed before I slowly walked towards the living room, it seemed like Kyle wanted me to walk faster because he pushed me into the living room and I ended up falling to the, thank god, carpet.

But no one seemed to notice me as I quickly got up to see that on one side of the living room, Josh was busy holding Claire back and on the other, Clayton and Jordan were keeping Amanda on bay while the two girls kept throwing insults at each other.

Josh was the first one that noticed me and I frantically shook my head when he glared at me and pointed towards my girlfriend.

"I will get Hayden to get a restraining order against you!"

"Oh yeah, let's see you do that!"

"Hayden, get your freaking girlfriend under control!" That was from Josh as Kyle ran to hold Claire back as well. "She is fudging strong, woman!"

I gulped before I slowly walked in between the two girls who had still yet to notice me in the living room.

I wonder where Claire's parents were.

"HAYDEN!"

"Okay, okay." I got in front of Claire and she immediately stopped struggling in Josh and Kyle's hold which made them loosen their holds on her arms.

"Hayden, when did you get here?" She innocently asked as if she wasn't just busy insulting Amanda.

"What are you two even doing?" She went back to savage mode as she furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at me. Josh and Kyle immediately tightened their hold on her arms again.

"SHE, she came into my house and began to THREATEN me." The deadly tone of Claire's voice sent a shiver down my spine. It's a good thing I'm not at the receiving end of her anger.

I looked back at Amanda who also had her eyebrows furrowed and a frown on her face. "SHE was the one that didn't let me meet you. I just wanted to talk to you." Amanda spoke and I smiled at both of them before I turned to Claire.

"Babe, let's just talk it out. She just wants to talk. You can sit beside me and guard me, okay?" Claire squinted her eyes at me and looked behind me at Amanda, who also had her eyes squinted at Claire.

"Fine, but I need her tied."

"Claire!" Josh was the one that yelled at the girl who just shrugged innocently in response.

"Do you agree too, Amanda?" I asked Amanda and she nodded with a smile at me to which Claire hugged me and glared at her.

................................................

It was just an hour later, that I found myself seated on the sofa with Claire in my lap with her arms possessively wrapped around my neck as she kept kissing my cheek making Amanda glare at her. I sighed when Josh and Clayton had the audacity to laugh in this particular situation. Kyle and Jordan were looking animatedly from Claire to Amanda.

"So." Claire broke the silence as she stared unamused at Amanda.

"I'm sorry Hayden for when I didn't tell you that my parents were moving to New York. I didn't want to leave you but my dad needed that job." She spoke on the verge of tears. My stare softened as she began to continue. "I loved you then and it hurt me more than anything to leave you without any kind of explanation."

I remembered that day as if it was yesterday. It did hurt when she wanted to dump me all of a sudden and she didn't even give me a proper reason why.

"I, I still love you and I want you back." She spoke the last part so quietly that I barely heard it but you know who heard it clearly, yeah you guessed correct. My freaking girlfriend.

"You bitch." Claire sneered and I cringed at the way her voice went from unamused to 'I want to kill you now'.

"Love, calm down." I whispered in Claire's ear as I tightened my hold on her waist. She looked away from Amanda and looked into my eyes with her own eyes getting glassy from the unshed tears.

"Don't choose her." She spoke in a whisper and I smiled at her before I kissed her nose. "I never will be able to choose anyone except you." She smiled back at me as I looked towards Amanda, who looked hopeful.

"I'm sorry but I don't feel the same about you." Her face fell just as I spoke the words but I wasn't finished yet. "But I can offer you my friendship, if you promise not to try to kiss me again."

She laughed before she looked at Claire, "Is she okay with me being your friend?"

Claire looked at me before she squinted her eyes at Amanda's direction. "Even though I still don't trust you but if Hayden wants to be your friend then I won't stop her."

"Yay, we got a truce." Clayton spoke excited.

"But-"

"And here comes the but to ruin the moment." Kyle spoke which got him a glare from Claire.

"I don't want you to be alone with her." Claire spoke looking at me and I smiled at her innocent request. I mean, at least she didn't order Amanda to be tied again. So, I think this was mission accomplished.

"Oh, thank the heavens." Kyle spoke looking up at the ceiling which made Claire giggle before she snuggled into me.

"So, who wants a cola now?" Clayton asked everyone in the room and Kyle, Jordan and Josh raised their hands while I nodded my head as an answer.

"Great. Josh, get us some cola from Claire's fridge." Josh stared at Clayton in disbelief.

"It's not even my house. I don't know where it is." Josh protested and Claire spoke up. "It's in the fridge, you Dumbo."

Josh stared in disbelief at Claire before he stood up forcefully. "Sometimes, I think that you only love me because I tend to your needs." Josh pointed at Clayton with a glare.

"Aw, come on. I love you for a lot of things, tending to my needs is just one of them." Josh pouted before he walked to the kitchen to get the cola while Kyle and Jordan laughed.

"And that is how you do it." Jordan spoke lowly to Kyle, who in turn nodded at him.

"I can hear you!"

"Damn, how can he...? From the kitchen?" Jordan looked lost as he looked at Clayton.

"His great hearing is also one of the reasons why I love him."

"Aw, thanks!" I laughed at the three stupid boys I called friends and; Jordan and Amanda, who were beginning to grow on me.

Isn't it great to have people you love surround you?

Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it.

-A Walk to Remember