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CHAPTER TWO — THE GIRL WHO STARTED NOTICING THE BOY
THERE WERE HEARTS IN HER LOCKER EARLY IN THAT MORNING—well, not literally hearts, but cards with the shape of. Claire smiled when she noticed the presence of the hearts over her books (people should have slide them from the border of the small door), and made a mental note for herself in order to thank those who had sent them.
Valentine's Day had always been one of Claire's favorite, as she loved pink and red and that joy of love swinging in the air. She was sure Mike had some sort of date with Jessica Stanley that day, as he had mentioned something about a reservation in The Lodge, the only fancy restaurant in town, the week before. Popular Mike Newton always had a date on Valentine's, an important thing to ensure according to her brother, but she just couldn't understand why it was such a big deal. A day dedicated for love didn't mean to force love, but to appreciate it.
While checking the cards, she realized that one of the hearts was from Trevor Forman, a guy who sit next to her in almost every class they shared together, and Bella's neighbor who hiked on his free weekends (he would usually go to their parent's store to buy new equipment and chat with Mike about that). Trevor was always kind with her, whispering explanations about geometry exercises and offering his help to finish her math homework in the mornings, before the first period. Claire appreciate it, but it was never necessary as at the end of classes she'd have to face Mr. Stark and his extra homework too, and the man was a really good teacher. Besides that, she didn't remember to have a proper conversation with the boy before, so his card was a big surprise. It had a simple text, wishing her a happy day and saying he liked her smile. A nice detail indeed.
She didn't imagine that Trevor was that type of guy, considering his little bit too egocentric attitude when he was not being friendly with her, and his reputation with girls. According to Mike's opinion, he actually really, really liked her, though Trevor had never made an attempt of flirting with the except for the usual "the answer is 67, and the formula of the slope is in the top of the page". So, or that was Trevor's flirty quote, or Mike was wrong, again. Just like he had been when he thought that Bella would like receiving an anonymous rose. It was a cute try, Claire had to admit, and any girl would be more than glad for it, but not Bella. She was still so sensitive about all the love issues, Claire was afraid, and even if she was so careful at not mentioning Edward's name, she knew that deep inside, she was hurt. Of course she had Jacob now, and Claire liked Jacob and the way that he easily made Bella smile—but he was not Edward, and Bella still wanted Edward.
Claire left Trevor's card between the pages of her history book, and she did the same with the other five. She had bought some candies for her classmates according to the celebration, just like she did every year since maybe kindergarten? It was all kind of Claire's own tradition, and she hadn't left it thought the pass of years. Yes, it might be a little awkward and childish, but Claire was nothing but happy to give a small detail to the ones who she had been growing up with. Although Mike has eaten some of them before they got to school, she remembered, and she didn't check if they were still enough...
