Chapter Twelve

"Have you seen K.C. at all today?" Clare, Adam and I were outside eating lunch and studying, even though it was freezing out.

"No, I haven't seen him around. I don't think he's here." Clare responded, mouth half full of celery. "Do you want some?" she said, offering me a piece. She must have noticed me starring at her food. "No, I hate celery." She nonchalantly responded with "Your loss."

"Yo, listen up, I made a rap that I think you might like." We both turned to look at Adam. "Dude, no. Just…no." Clare and I were both shaking our heads to emphasize my 'no'. "Come on!" he yelled, "Why are you two always messing up my style?"

He then stood up, grabbed his books, and walked away. Clare looked concerned. She probably thinks she hurt his feelings. "He's not mad, he does that all the time. You just have to get used to it." All she said was "Oh."

"Come on, let's get out of here. It's freezing." I stood up and grabbed her hand, helping her up. "Where are we going?" Still holding her hand, I practically dragged her to the parking lot. "To my house." She quickly let go of my hand. "We're skipping?" She sounded very worried, which made this all the more fun. "Yeah, no big deal. Come on, get in." I was now holding open the passenger door to my car, holding a smirk on my face until she gave in.

The drive to my house was loud. She blared her favorite songs, laughing and singing the whole way there. These were the moments I loved with her; when she could let go and be herself.

We pulled up to my house, which seemed to surprise Clare. She spoke, confirmining my thoughts. "Whoa, your house is…huge." She got out of the car and starred, taking in every inch of what was my "home". I hated this place so much; it was too big and bright. I preferred smaller, darker things.

I walked her up to my room, giving her a small tour of the place. She seemed to be amazed the whole time, oohing and ahhing at every room. "Make yourself at home," I said, leading her into my room. It was huge, painted white and gray. There was a minimal amount of furniture; a bed, a few dressers, a TV, and a piano. I'd never really told anyone I played. It wasn't something I enjoyed bragging about.

"Wow, this is so not even you." She was right. It was totally not me. My parents had done the decorating, and I had no say in it. I wasn't allowed to add anything or take anything out. "Yeah, my parents did it. I'm not allowed to change it."

Clare sat on the edge of the piano bench, so I sat next to her. "It's beautiful, but it sucks that you can't make it your own." She seemed so bummed out for me. I laughed. "It's no big deal. I'm rarely in here anyway. I only sleep in here. I hate being home." She tilted her head to the side, looking curious. "You hate it? Why?"

I spent a good twenty minutes explaining why. There were so many elements to the story. My mom and my bad fought constantly here, my grandmother had died here; there were just so many things I hated about it, including the design. Clare was a great listener, sitting there, nodding her head, giving her opinion every now and then. It was nice to have someone to talk to for a change.

"I'm sorry things are hard here." She pulled me into a kiss, full of sweetness and sincerity. I didn't want to let go of the feeling that someone cared.

She turned to look at the piano we were sitting at, pulling open the top cover. "Do you play?" She traced her fingers over the keys, making little sounds as she passed over each one. She looked at me, waiting for an answer. "Uhm, sometimes. Not too often." I prayed that she wouldn't ask me to play, which was just what she did.

She looked at me, her blue eyes shining and smiling so much, I just couldn't say no. She scooted down to the edge of the long, black bench, giving me just enough room to sit in the center, getting in perfect position. I started to press random keys, making a mess of sounds, too loud to bear. "Eli! I'm serious." She playfully hit me in the shoulder, urging me to play something real.

I thought of what I could play, but nothing came to mind, so I decided to improvise, play whatever keys came to mind. To my surprise, the sound was beautiful, each key blending in to the next. All of the chords matched, and my hands floated gracefully across all of the keys. I forgot how good it felt to play, how much stress was released from playing.

And so I played on for a long while, next to Clare, in my room. Up until this moment, I hadn't realized that I'd gotten the girl I only dreamed of, and she was way more than what I'd expected. I'd imagined her to be perfect, yet now spending more and more time with her, I realized that she was a little more than perfect. And she was mine.

Hello there babes (: hehe, I just had to say that. so, obv this chapter isn't awesome. I've been suffering from damn writers block. Blah, it sucks, I cant come up with anything good. Any ideas? But anyway, I wanted to have piano in here, just because it means so much to me. Lame, huh? I also think this might be the ending to the story? Ah, I don't know. Of course, ill make a new one. Let me know what you think pwease? (: love yous!