B0079G5GMK EBOK (11 page)

“Why did Jon
as go there before us?” she
asked suddenly as it disturbed her thoughts.

“He picked up your friend and they went there together,” Joshua grinned.

“What! Wh
at friend and why didn't he say
anything to me?”

“Stella,”
answered Blake
, embarrassed. “And I think you know why he didn't tell you and why he asked us to be quiet as well.”

Clarissa dug at her pockets with rage. When she found her cell, she typed Stella's number and waited. No answer. After sh
e had called Stella three times
without getting any answer, she decided to leave a message. She waited a little bit longer and when Stella's lively voice announced that she had something else to do right now than pick up
the phone, she screamed
in
to the machine.

“Stella! Call me this minute! And I mean it!
”

The phone, however, stayed mute and furious as she was, she couldn't do anything but tell Joshua to drive faster.

When the car stopped, Clarissa instantly grabbed her bag and rushed inside. Joshua shouted something behind her, but she didn't want to stop. The school bell hadn't rung yet, bu
t Stella and Jonas were sitting
in the classroom already, side by side
,
browsing through some trashy magazine together.  Adam had moved his chair near Stella's, but didn't even glance at
Clarissa as she rushed into
class. A few girls at the front seat said hello to her, but Jonas and Stella didn't seem to notice
her, not even
when she stood right in front of them. She put her hands
on her hips and stared at them in disbelief
. Finally she couldn't take it anymore
. She
grabbed the ma
gazine
and threw it on the floor. Jonas opened his mouth as if to complain, but Clarissa's angry gaze stopped him and he just smiled sheepishly.

“Stella?”

“Clarissa.”

“Stella! Stop that! Explanations, thank you.”

Stella smiled without shame and turned to kiss Jonas right on his mouth. Clarissa pushed herself harshly between them and couldn't care less about her classmates that came into the classroom, whistling and cheering.

“Jonas, do I have to give my order and twist it with an iron wire to make you understand? I think it was a very simple order, don't you?” Clarissa poked his chest.

“But,” Jonas lisped, embarrassed.

Stella decided to save Jonas and climbed over Clarissa into his arms.

“Get off, might have been the order, but what I heard was g
rab on,” she
sighed happily and kissed his hair gently.

“Argh! I give up. But remember what I said, Jonas,” Clarissa looked at Jonas significantly. “And you, Stella, I'll talk to you later, you can bet on that!”

Jonas glanced at Clarissa, confused, but
didn't do anything to get Stella off
his lap.
In her mind Clarissa felt Adam laughing quietly and
turned fiercely to look at him.

“Wh
at are you looking at?” she
snapped
.
Adam shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

Clarissa sniffed and turned her back demonstratively to him. Adam said nothing, but laughed silently with his low, sexy tone
, and Clarissa felt her neck slowly starting
to blush. She wasn't actually mad at Jonas and Stella. She was truly happy for them, as Stella was her best friend and Jonas was quickly becoming like a brother to her. She was pissed mostly, because Stella hadn't told her how serious she was with Jonas. She had thought that Stella was only joking when she asked if she could have him, and since Adam had filled her mind she hadn't noticed anything like this coming.

Cl
arissa drew obscure designs in her literature book
, but when she noticed how her designs created Adam's name over and over again, she crossed them out and threw her pen angrily in her bag. Stella decided to have mercy on her friend and climbed out of Jonas's arms, but Clarissa was too furious to listen to any explanations, so she ignored Stella and read some brochure about an extra literature class. She fell so deep in her own thoughts, leaving everyone out, that she didn't hear anything. So she was really surprised when the bell rang and her teacher
was standing
right in front of her, tapping her shoe on the floor.

Her teacher said nothi
ng but looked at her reproachfully
. Clarissa mumbled a quiet sorry and the teacher left. Was the class really over? S
he looked around her and saw that
most of the students were running o
ut the door as fast as possible.
Stella and Jonas were standing hand in hand next to her chair waiting for her. She quickly packed her papers and books, and smiled at Stella uneasily. Blake seemed to be having a serious conversation next to the door with Lisa, a little mousey girl. She looked like she had just gone to heaven.

“Blake,” she
yelled and he turned to look at her. A slow smile spread on Blake's face and he pushed Lisa harshly away. He looked at Clarissa and glanced at Jonas and Stella.

“Everything okay?”

Clarissa nodded and lightly pressed Stella's hand. Stella sighed, relieved, and smiled.

“Sorry I was a jerk,” Clarissa mumbled.

Stella waved her hand and laughed.

“Me too.”

“I guess I
over-reacted a little,” she
grinned and Jonas broke into laugh.

“Just a little bit.”

Stella's bright gabbling led them to the yard, where Emilie and Caitlin joined them. From the corner of her eye, Clarissa saw Adam s
tanding next to the wall and
tried deliberately to turn her
gaze away. She couldn't help it
though. She was aware of Adam every minute. He had a wool cap that trendily covered his black ha
ir. She noticed his hand that brushed
his hair from his eyes and the black leather ribbons o
n his wrist. She couldn't help herself and gulped out loud
when she saw his stubble and his black leather jacket that hid his other hand, his eyes staring hungrily
at her and his tiny wide smile
rippling on the corner of his mouth. She was paralyzed. Adam was a dream. Yes, a bad dream once in a while, but a dream that you didn't want to wake
up from, ever. Clarissa felt her mind starting to reach his mind. H
er thoughts
were entangled in
his thoughts and she was just about to start walking to him when something hit her.

“Ouch!” she
screamed and pushed Stella away.

“I'm glad you like it too,”
grinned Stella
.

Clarissa stared at her friends. They
were all looking at her and waiting
. Obviously someone h
ad asked her something. She
looked at Stella and hoped for a little help fro
m her. Stella sighed and nodded
discreetly at a short boy who
was hovering around Clarissa. She
managed to smile brilliantly as she turned to face him.

“Pete! I didn't notice you. I was drowning in my own thoughts. What was it you said?”

Pete touched his hair nervously and coughed.

“I'm having a party next Saturday and I, well I thought if you could
all come. Especially you,” he
said and turned bright red.

Oh my, Clarissa thought. How could she ever wiggle herself out of this? Pete was alright, but come on, a party in his house! That meant he wanted her to be his date and he would follow her like some nice puppy the whole evening. That was way too much right now. Clarissa glanced at Blake, who
was trying
not to laugh. Stella focused on staring at Jonas's shoes while Emilie and Caitlin giggled quietly. Clarissa looked at Pete. He was adorable
, and the last thing she wanted
was to hurt his feelings.

“I'd love to come,” Clarissa surprised herself. “But I'm kind of seeing someone, and I don't think he would want me to come.”

P
ete looked at her with his
puppy
brown
eye
s and for a moment she was sure
he was going to cry, but then he shrugged and nodded deferentially.

“I figured. Well, if you want to come anyway, y
ou can bring him with you,” he
sighed and turned away, disappointed.

When he was gone, they all laughed.

“Well, thanks a lot,”
snapped Clarissa
.

“You're welcome,” Stella giggled and buried herself deeper in Jonas's arms.

Clarissa heard Ada
m's laughter in her mind and
turned to grin at him. Adam, however, was gone. Joshua
was standing
near the school yard
. He
winked at her. The bell rang and as she rushed inside, she waved at him and smiled.

Mrs. Stevens wrote a big bunch of equations on the black board and urged her students to solve them in their heads as quickly as possible. Clarissa didn't even bother to try. Sh
e stared blatantly at Adam. He
didn't
even
glance at her. “Look at me!” Clarissa screamed continuously in her mind, but his gaze stayed on the board
, and when
the teacher paused the egg-shaped timer on her desk, he surprised everybody by raising his hand.

Mrs. Stevens stared at Adam. She had lost her tongue and couldn't speak. After several uneasy minutes she seemed to wake up from her trance and advised him to answer. With a calm voice, Adam listed
the
answers to each of the equations. The teacher nodded approvingly, but as Adam grinned at her shamelessly, she turned quickly and wiped the board, then started to write down some more complex equations. Clarissa was furious. Her head ached and she felt restless. All she wanted was at least some attention from Adam and even that old hag, Mrs. Stevens,
was getting more from him
than she did. Yes, she knew she was pathetic, but she didn't care.

Clarissa crumbled her eraser
in
to small pieces and started to throw those pieces at Adam. Nothing. He didn't even turn.
Damn, he was stubborn! She
was just about to rush to him when she felt a strong hand grabbing her thigh. She turned angrily and met Jonas's eyes. She was totally embarrassed. She swallowed her words down and dropped back to her chair.

The hour seemed to last forever. Every time Mrs. Stevens wrote more and more difficult equations, Adam answered all of them. The rest of the class stared at this weird play, enchanted, and no one seemed to notice anything bizarre about the way Adam
was listing
the answers. Clarissa b
ristled with rage. She knew he was picking
the answers right from the teacher's head, so no matter how hard or difficult an equation she managed to create, it was impossible
for her to survive this game
a
winner. Her
headache seemed to
be
get
ting
worse and all she wanted was to go home and dive into her own soft bed.

Finally, her prayers were answered and the class ended. Clarissa rushed out of the classroom and straight to the school yard. She barely made her way out before she threw up. She gasped in the fresh air and threw up again. What was wrong with her? She could barely stay on her feet. Her hands were shaking and she felt dizzy. Someone handed her a mass of paper and
after a while that same person
stuffed some altoids in her hand.

“Thank you,” Clarissa managed to mumble and turned, smiling wanly, to face her savior.

S
he froze
instantly
. “You! What do you think you're doing?” She screamed.

Adam grinned boldly at her and even though Blake and Jonas
were standing
right next to him, they were too afraid to interfere.

“Just helping a lady in her need, that's all,” Adam laughed and tapped the corner of his mouth.

Clarissa quickly wiped her mouth with a piece of paper. She felt really sick. With all the boys in the world, it had to be Adam who saw her in
need and helped her. She hiccupp
ed lightly and pressed her hand to her mouth. Adam smiled and grabbed her hand.

“Walk with me,” he asked.

And before she could answer, Adam was dragging her forward. Clarissa glanced behind and noticed the others as they followed them. Some court she had, she thought and sniffed. She snapped at Adam and tried to struggle her hand free.