Handle With Clare

Chapter 4: Quiet girl in the corner

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"And why do I need to fold the napkins?" I asked dad the next day as I set the table before the Smiths arrived.

"Because your mother told you to," he replied as he set down a plate of meat on the table. He looked at his watch and sighed, not wanting to answer my question any more. "They should arrive soon," referring to the Smiths, the new neighbors that we invited unexpectedly for dinner.

Ever since meeting Peter yesterday, I could barely get him out of my head. I had mixed feelings about seeing him so soon. No one ever looked at me the way he did. I wondered if that look would die quicker if he spent more time with me. I wondered why me out of all people; he was interested in. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that he was just interested in me because I was the first person he met in this town. I had it hard to believe that I was so special in his eyes.

I frowned at dad in disapproval as he refolded my napkin since mine wasn't good enough. If he didn't think I was doing a good job, he could have just told me. He still didn't answer my question about why I was folding napkins. I was about to protest when I felt the world spin. I grabbed hold of a chair to steady myself as I closed my eyes shut. Before my dad had time to react, I held up my hand, knowing what he would do next. "I'm ok." I breathed out, with eyes still closed.

"Maybe you should sit down and rest," he suggested with concern.

I nodded. At least that would get me out of folding napkins. I sat down in the closest chair and put my head between my legs to make the world stop spinning. I heard him walk away, leaving me alone in the dining room for privacy.

I felt liquid run down my lips. Out of habit, I brought my head upright and touched my hand to my nose. I looked at the red liquid on my fingers and frowned at them as if it was their fault. I wasn't supposed to get any more nose bleeds. The new medicine I was on guaranteed to fix this. I reached for the napkin on the plate beside me and shoved it up my nose.

I prayed with all I had that it would stop. I couldn't have this happen, not now. If my parents saw this, they would cancel and I couldn't like that happen.

Farrah walked into the room with a smile but quickly dropped it then she looked at me. "Clare? Oh... let me get-"

I cut her off. I didn't want her to mess this moment up. She better keep this secret for me too. "Don't get anyone," I hissed, not allowing anyone else to hear except her.

She frowned but nodded. "You're going to need to change your shirt," she said.

"Yeah," I said and got up from my chair. I ran upstairs as quickly as I could muster, then into my bedroom before my parents noticed.

I changed into a different outfit that was slightly too large for me to replace the one I soiled. With the soiled shirt in hand, I ran it under water in the bathroom and scrubbed it together to get the blood out. I was no stranger to getting blood off of my clothes since nose bleeds happened enough.

I set the shirt dry out on the side of the tub to dry, then ran my fingers through my short hair to smooth it over. I gave one last look in the mirror to see if I got all the blood off my face. Seeing nothing on my pale white face, I gave a small smile. Like nothing happened.

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I walked down the stairs and took a seat in the dining room, pulling out my phone to appear busy. "Clare, why did you change your outfit?" mom asked me as she carried a pitcher of juice in her hands.

"I didn't like what I was wearing," I said plainly, not looking up from my phone.

"Are you ok? You look a little pale."