First And Forever (under reconstruction) (Wattys2018)

Chapter 23: The Homecoming Game (edited)

I'm not even paying attention, my brain is totally spacing out. The ribbons on my homecoming mum flutter, blowing in the breeze. Josh waves his hand in front of my face, saying as he did so, "Earth to Clair, earth to Clair, are you in there?" I snap my eyes to him, blinking stupidly.

"Clair isn't here, leave a message at the beep....beeeeppppp."

Josh laughs, nudging my shoulder with his. I get up and stretch, "I'm going to go get some concessions." Josh jumps up immediately, tailing me like a lost puppy. Any idiot can tell Josh has a crush on me, he's fucking awful at being subtle. He looks at me with this adoration that's honestly a little creepy, he looks at me like he's in love with me, regardless of the fact we only met a couple of weeks ago. I sigh again, I hadn't dressed up much, but my mom had forced me to dress up a little.

I went simple, pulling my blonde hair back with a black scarf. I'm wearing black skinny jeans, and a white shirt that has a wolf made into a dream catcher on the front. I tuck a loose strand of hair out of my face, keeping up a conversation with Josh as we walk to the concession stand. While we walk, I go over weird, random memories in my head,

~Series of Flashbacks~

I jog into the weight room after my track class, heading to after school track practice, when I stop short. Joel comes out of the weight room, eyes widening when he sees me clad in nothing but running shorts and a t-shirt. "Clair, what you here for?" I raise my eyebrows, "Track conditioning. Coach wants me to work on my all around strength so he can observe if I have the correct body type for long jump." Joel's eyes flick down, roaming over my long and toned legs clad in short running shorts, "Well, you definitely got the fucking legs for it. I mean damn, you've got some really fucking nice legs, Clair." There's lust in his voice, I crinkle my nose internally in my mind, "Thanks, I guess." I walk into the weight room, jumping onto a pull up bar, and starting pull ups. "You still going out with homeboy?" Joel is watching my progress, shooting the question randomly around shamelessly staring at my ass. I sigh, dropping down as I slide into a full middle split as I wipe sweat from my hair, "No, we broke up a while ago, why does it matter?" Joel's eyes widen, "It matters that you still know that I'm always open if you want a better version of that country boy. I'm an all around guy, so I'm everyone's type!" He's not even trying to hide the fact that he's staring at me as I go through my warm ups, something that coils the wheel of panic in my chest. I try to ignore it as I effortlessly slide both my ankles behind my head. He continues to stare at me as I glare at him, oblivious to the fact that I am studiously ignoring him.

~End Flashback~

I blink, looking up, when suddenly, all the breath leaves my lungs. "Josh, Josh, Josh!" I shake his arm in alarm.

"What the hell Clair, what are you freaking out about?!" I bite my lip, "Josh, that's Liam."

Liam POV

I sigh, running my fingers through my hair. I don't want to be here, I want to be with- I hear a voice behind me, "Hey Liam." I snap my head around, and see no one other than my ex-girlfriend herself.

Clair.

I want nothing more than to go up, pull her into my arms, and never let go. But I can't, that will put Clair's life in danger. Breaking things off with Clair had been the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I need to protect her.

~Flashback~

I'm humming to myself in my bedroom, throwing my phone in the air. It starts ringing mid throw, an unknown number on the screen. Curiosity gets the better of me, I answer it, "Hello?" The person on the other end says nothing, breathing into the receiver.