Claire stands on her front lawn looking for me. She is wearing a pink fitted dress with one sleeve and some frills with her freshly curled hair draped over one shoulder. Claire looks simply gorgeous. She races up to me with a smile on her face.
‘Oh Boo-boo, I’m so happy to see you,’ she says, giving me a peck on the cheek. I realise I may have been ungrateful towards Claire all this time. She seems to like me a lot, and although she can be pretty overbearing, she has been nothing but supportive and sweet towards me. I can’t help but feel Nina will never forgive me and never want to be my friend again. It’s a hole inside me that will be there forever, but I shouldn’t make others who care about me suffer. Nina has moved on, although I would have preferred her to move on with anyone other than Moss. I can’t help but sense something is off about that guy, but I need to focus on what is in front of me.
‘You look lovely, Claire.’
She steps back and does a twirl. ‘I’m glad you like it. Let’s go inside.’ Her house is very tidy she leads me to the kitchen to a vast island table. There are a few different platters she has prepared.
‘Wow, this looks great, Claire.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, can I try one of these things?’
‘Of course, you can. It’s called a vol-au-vent, by the way. There are a few different flavours.’
I pick one up and take a bite. It tastes amazing.
‘These are delicious.’ I say, reaching for another. Claire takes my hand away from the food.
‘Let’s wait till everyone gets here.’ She smiles.
‘You know maybe you should consider becoming a chef?’
‘I am hoping to open a restaurant one day.’ She says, opening the fridge. She hands me bottles of soft drinks. I set them up on the table and walk over to a cupboard and take a few stacks of cups and place them near the drinks. Claire stands back and looks around with hands-on her hips. ‘What am I missing?… Music, of course.’ She runs into the loungeroom and turns on the stereo. ‘Everyone will start arriving any minute.’ She says, dancing towards me. The doorbell rings, and we answer the door greeting six guys and two girls from our school. Josie, Flint, Zak, and May turn up a few minutes later. I place my hand around Claire’s waist. ‘Hey, come in. Good to see you all.’ Claire says. May glares at my hand on Claire’s waist and stomps past us. Paul and a few others turn up with him and join the party. The house is full of teens dancing, chatting, and playing card games within twenty minutes.
I notice Paul following May around, trying to flirt with her.
‘Let’s dance Boo-boo.’
‘How bout we have a drink first, lemonade or cola?’
‘Cola, please Boo-boo.’
I pour her a cola and sit on the couch, patting the seat for her to sit next to me. She sips her cola and places it on the coffee table, and leans her head on my chest. I wonder where Moss has taken Nina for dinner. Are they laughing and enjoying each other’s company? I notice Sean, the school’s notorious bully, has joined the party.
‘Ready to dance?’ Claire asks. I was about to say no until Nina and Moss entered through the front door, giggling and laughing. Moss immediately wraps his arms around Nina and dances with her.
‘Sure.’ I stand up, pull her close, and keep both hands on her hips.
‘This is so much fun!’ Claire yells over the music.
I try to dance with Claire to keep as calm and relaxed as possible and show everyone I’m not fazed about Nina and Moss.
Claire wraps her arms around my neck and pulls my face closer to hers. We share a long kiss as Claire’s hands move down to my chest. My mind keeps telling me to relax and enjoy the kiss. My shoulders relax, and one hand leaves her hip and slips behind her head, pulling her in for a more passionate kiss. The room fills with ‘oohs’ and wolf whistles at our show. Not wanting to dance anymore, I take her hand and go to the kitchen for the delicious food she made.
‘This is the best food I’ve ever had.’ I say, chowing a bit of everything down.
‘Oh, Boo-boo, stop it, you are just saying that.’ She blushes.
‘No, I’m serious, Claire. You can cook for me anytime.’ I smile.
Once half the platters are empty, she pulls me in for another long kiss. She gives me a seductive look and takes my hand, leading me up the staircase to her bedroom. Nina and Moss watch as we go up the stairs.
We spend half an hour making out on her bed, she goes to unzip her dress, but I grab her hand and stop her. She gives me a worried look.
‘What’s wrong, Boo-boo? I thought you wanted this? Don’t you want me?’
‘Claire, I want this, but I’m not ready for us to take that step yet.’
‘Why not? Don’t you find me attractive?’
‘Of course, I find you attractive. It’s just that I’ll be eighteen in a few weeks, and I want to wait and see if you are my mate or not.’
Her bottom lip trembles, and her eyes well up.
‘Are you saying you don’t think I’ll be your mate?’
‘No, well, no one knows but the Moon Goddess, let’s just wait a few more weeks until we take that step, okay?’
‘Even if we aren’t mates, we can still… you know, make love to each other.’ She says, trying to flutter her eyes at me.
‘I don’t want to hurt you, Claire. I don’t want to hurt more people than I already have, okay?’
‘There is also the chance that I could be your mate so we can still be together in the meantime, right? Like boyfriend and girlfriend? Until we at least know?’
‘Sure.’ I say and kiss her forehead. ‘We should go back and join the party?’
‘They probably all think we have been doing the deed up here.’ She giggles. She is probably right. Great, I’ve probably pissed more people off now.
We return downstairs. Claire has a big grin on her face. Everyone is staring at us, but most are being discreet about it. I sit on the couch, and Claire clings onto my arm and sits next to me. The next thing we know, May comes stomping out from the kitchen with a bucket filled with ice cubes and water and throws it over us.
‘You bitch.’ Claire says as she is about to strike May across the face. I gently grab her wrist in time.
‘Claire, she’s upset for obvious reasons. I’ll handle May, go upstairs and change.’ I say as I watch Moss sneak out the front door alone.
‘May, I know you have wanted to be with me. I know how it feels to not be with the person you want to be with.’
‘No, you don’t.’
‘I’m telling you now, May, I do. I know you’re hurting right now, but I am with Claire now. So be angry at me all you want but don’t take it out on her.’
Josie runs up to me with a small towel.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine, Josie. I’ll be outside drying off.’ I can’t help but sense Moss is up to no good. I look around and can see him jogging in the distance towards the trees. There is someone there waiting for him. I can make out the silhouette of the person. As I’m about to jog closer, I can hear Nina in distress in the backyard.
