[7 years ago - Simon and Claire"s Secondary school]After leaving Primary school, both Claire and Simon decided to attend the same Secondary school. For most of the time life was the same for them. In year 7, they acted the same as they always did. They were as close as brother and sister that defended each other to the end. Even if Simon still had his social anxiety, he would always protect Claire.
"Will you go out with me?"
One day, Claire was approached by someone in her cla.s.s. A boy who she hadn"t spoken to before, someone who she had hardly noticed. A quiet boy who sat at the back of the cla.s.s and kept to himself. He reminded her of Simon except this boy looked as if he was used to crowds. His blond hair contrasted Claire"s thin black hair.
She wasn"t expecting the confession. She wasn"t sure how to react. It was her first time experiencing something like this.
"S-sorry," She said. "Can you give me some time to think?"
Claire didn"t reject the boy as she felt that would be rude. She wasn"t sure what to do about it. To say she felt unsure because of Simon was an understatement. She should have rejected the boy right there as she didn"t feel that way towards him, but after around 5 years of nothing changing, she hesitated because of Simon.
Several weeks later, Claire was invited to a party, one she was against going to at first. She knew that she wouldn"t know anyone there but was forced to by her parents. At the party, she felt as if she stood out. She was one of the last to arrive and it was too fancy for her. She was young and didn"t want to stand out. She walked around the party hoping to find something to do. As she walked around listening to the conversations she didn"t understand, she heard a voice that was familiar to her.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING STOP!" the voice screamed.
"Seeeee," another voice said. "You got confidence. Heehee. All it took was me. Now you can be better."
Claire listened in from afar, barely looking at the two of them. She looked towards the voice and saw Simon talking to a girl she never knew. Simon smiled brightly at her which was something Claire had hardly seen. She watched Simon and followed them around. Her heart was getting tighter each time she saw Simon smile. She never considered the thought that Simon would have other friends outside of school. She always just a.s.sumed that they were best friends.
She wanted to jump out and talk to Simon. She wanted to make him smile as the girl did. But her heart held her back. It was squeezed in her chest by her thoughts. Her anxiety trapped her bringing tears to her eyes.
She ran away from the party and went back to her parents in tears, begging them to go home.
Claire had never asked for something as selfish before. She never asked her parents anything.
That night, when she got home, she ran up to her room and told her parents nothing. She thought of her primary school years that she wasted in hopes for a dream to happen. Her thoughts plagued by the idea that she will never be to Simon what she wants to be. She spent the night thinking of the girl Simon stood with and what she could do about it all. The possibility of their meeting was slim.
"Hey, Claire." The following day at school, Simon spoke to his friend as he normally would.
"H-hey," She replied as she normally would, not trying to hide anything wrong.
"are you ok?" Simon asked.
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"I"m fine." She replied with a cold shoulder, sitting down next to Simon quickly moving on as if nothing had happened. "Do anything interesting yesterday?" she asked.
"Not really. I was invited to a party but it was pretty boring."
Claire listened as if she was learning new information. She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from crying, listening to Simon talk without the smile that he had yesterday.
"Sorry…" Claire said standing up. "I need to go somewhere."
"alright,"
Claire ran out of the cla.s.sroom with only a few minutes before the lesson began. She ran into the toilets and pressed her head against the mirror that reflected her tears.
"Just… What am I doing...?"
That day, at lunch Claire didn"t eat with Simon. She instead quickly left the cla.s.sroom and went to the place she was at before, speaking to the boy that confessed to her.
"Really?" The boy said.
"Yes…" Claire responded with confidence. "I will go out with you,"