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"All we do is drive, all we do is think about the feelings that we hide..." Drive - Halsey

[20] appearances

Waking up to a loud ringtone at one in the morning doesn't really make you in a good mood. It was dark and I was groggy and didn't want to reach my phone on the nightstand. But I did after a long yawn, stretching my legs.

"Hello?" I said irritably. I figured it'd be Flynn, bored and wanting to make plans with me again. It had been two days since I'd officially hung out with them. Mia had been too busy with her grandmother, whose birthday wasn't long ago. Then there's Flynn which I had no idea what he's been up to lately.

"H-Hi, is this Nolan?" Even with my half asleep state, I could tell the voice was familiar. And it wasn't Flynn.

I ran a hand through my wild hair, "Who's this?"

"It's Nina...Look, I'm at this party and Rick's passed out. Clarity needs to get home, and I can't drive because I'm not completely sober myself. I really hate to ask, Nolan, but would it be okay if you came here and...and give us a ride?"

My stomach did a flip. I honestly didn't expect to see Clarity in a really long time due to our last conversation which didn't go so well. I agreed anyway, and asked what the address was. As I hung up the phone, I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and shoes before sneaking down the stairs to get my keys that were in the kitchen. I wished I would've put it in my room, but I didn't think about it considering I figured I wouldn't be going anywhere except to and from work.

After grabbing the keys and making my way to my room as quietly as I could, I opened up my window ever so slowly. My dog, Thunder, was watching me with a blank expression.

"I'll be back," I whispered to him, his ears perking upwards just a bit at the sound of my voice. "I promise."

I climbed out and hurried towards my car. I turned my phone on, and looked at the address I had keyed in earlier when Nina told me on the phone. Sighing, I began following the directions to the house.

Once I arrived at the destination, I couldn't spot them anywhere around the house so I got out of my car and made my ways to the front porch. There was a few people out there, sitting on the steps.

"Hello there," said an older man, sipping on a bear, "need anything? We got cold bear in the back, you can go play cards in the furthest room to your left..."

"Um, no thanks." I declined politely. "Actually...I'm looking for Rick, Nina, and Clarity. Do you know where they could be? This is the address Nina gave me."

A woman stood up to face me. Her hair was pulled back to see her face properly. She looked really pretty with her wavy hair and bright eyes. She smiled at me, showing the small gap between her front teeth. "Last I saw, they were inside." She stretched her arm to point towards the door.

"Thank you," I said, smiling, and they made room for me to go inside. The house smelt of bear, sweat, and smoke. I scrunched up my nose a bit, but kept waking inside. Under further inspection of the house, I soon realized how dirty it looked. The walls were the ugliest shade of yellow with chipped flowery wallpaper, the floor was covered in dirt and bear bottles and many other things. The furniture looked old and dusty and I felt sorry for whoever actually had to live here.

There was a lot of people in the house, I realized as I looked around. Luckily, not a lot of people were paying attention to me. Most were talking, playing cards, and drinking. A few people were even dancing and laughing. It was nice to look at people to find them enjoying themselves with others. It showed me that there was always good things in the world, even if it wasn't with you at the moment.

I was surprised the cops hadn't come to shut down the place, but considering other houses weren't that close to this one, they probably didn't get any calls in for a noise disturbance. I spotted Nina sitting in the farthest corner with Rick's head in her lap. My eyes wandered a bit past them, but I didn't spot Clarity anywhere. I felt somewhat relieved yet I knew I'd have to face her soon.

"Thank God you're here," she said, standing up to give me a side hug. She pulled her skirt down a bit then began trying to help Rick up with me. "It's so sweet of you to, you know, come all the way down here. I would've asked someone here, but everyone is all drunk a-and you're the only one I could think of..." She ran a hand through her messy hair, letting out an exhausted sigh escape her lipstick stained lips.

"It's alright, Nina," I said, wrapping my arm around Rick's torso. He smelt strongly of sweat and bear, but I didn't let the strong stench stop me from helping him.

"Nolan," he slurred, his eyes squinting to look at my face. "Hey buddy. Are y-you here to party? It's a nice party, isn't it?" A goofy grin made its way to his lips.

"Yeah, Rick, it sure is. But it's time for us to go, okay?" I told him gently. I looked over at Nina. "Where's Clarity?" Just saying her name, knowing she was here, made my heart beat faster even more.

She rubbed her lips together. "Over there," she pointed. I looked towards the direction her finger was.

And there she was.

Clarity was sitting on top of a counter, her legs swinging, and a bottle of liquor in her hands that was halfway empty. Her hair was pulled up in a pony tail, leaving her neck fully exposed, and making it easier to see her face.

"Come on," urged Nina as she began walking over to her. My heart seemed to pick up speed again. If asked, I'd claim it was how hot and stuffy it was in here, but the reason my cheeks were turning a dark shade of red was due to Clarity Stevens. My hands were sweating, my stomach was churning, and I felt like I was going to suffocate from all the people in the small house.

"Clarity," Nina said. "Let's go; Nolan's here."

Clarity looked up from the ground to look at Nina. Then, just like in a movie and there's that scene where time seems slows down, our eyes met. I didn't feel electricity or a jolt of happiness. All I felt was more sweat producing on my body and my heart was beating quickly behind my rib cage.

"Oh," she said, sliding down from the counter. "Okay. Well, let's go." She kept a good hold on the liquor in her hands as we left the house.

As I helped a half drunk Rick into the car, Clarity climbed in the front while Nina got in the back with her boyfriend. It was a predictable choice. I mean, why wouldn't Nina want to sit in the back with her half drunk/passed out boyfriend?

I wondered if Clarity had told anyone about the last time we talked - the day I got rejected - or if she wasn't that kind of person and just kept to herself. By her character, I assumed she kept it to herself.

Clarity shivered. I looked over at her. She had her arms wrapped around herself and she crossed her legs. I realized I'd put on the AC on full blast due to my intense sweating earlier.

"Sorry," I tried to say quietly, but my voice came out a bit more rougher and deeper than I'd intended. She didn't comment after that, she just watched as I turned it down so she wouldn't be so cold.

"I, um, have a jacket back there if you need it," I told her, biting my lips. Did that sound weird? I was just trying to make sure she was comfortable and okay. But maybe I sounded just weird and out of place.

"I'm good, thanks." said Clarity in a quiet voice.

I licked my dry lips, "Okay." And after Nina and Rick had been dropped off and it was only us in the car, it had become very silent.

°°°

Upon knowing Clarity, she'd never really mentioned where she lived. But we never really discussed it so I never know of the knowledge to where she called home. Of course, there was that moment I sworn I'd seen her storming out of the house across from mine. But that didn't mean it was her actually home or anything.

But as she told me directions, I soon realized that's exactly where she lives. "Yeah, I know," she commented, reading my facial expression. "I live right across from you. I didn't tell you because, well, we never discussed it...and I guess I didn't want to. Besides, I'm rarely home as it is so you don't have to worry about me coming to your house and asking you to sneak me off to some lame party."

"Oh, well, it's fine." I said, shrugging. This new information didn't change much since we weren't keen on hanging out much anyways. "Besides, if you did need me to sneak you off to a party or pick you up, I'd still do it."

"Thanks, I guess," she kinda did that half smile/smirk she always did.

"Here you are..." I said finally, stopping the car and glancing at her. She was playing with the silver bracelet on her wrist, looking out the window. From what I could see, it seemed like her eyebrows were scrunched together and her lips were pressed together.

"Yep. Here I am," she took in a deep breath. "Look, I don't really know what's going on between us, okay? I mean, we were okay friends, I guess, and then we...uh, kissed, then we haven't been talking. I understand that you have a crush on me, but I don't know what you want to do. Because honestly I think you are a really nice friend, and if you're okay with being friends then I'm down with that." She was always a straightforward person, ready to get to the point instead of wasting a part of your life by dragging senseless drama around. I was kind of glad she was like that since I can barely even speak my mind much when she's around. Let alone speak my feelings out to her.

"Yeah, sure." I managed to say after a long period of silence. "We can still, you know, hang out or something...yeah, that's good." I was positive I sounded like the biggest dork ever, but she said nothing about it.

All she did was give me a closed lip smile, saying, "Alright, see you around, I guess," and climb out of the car.

Just as I was about to park in my driveway, she came back to the car. I was startled when she knocked on the window, "Hey, would you like to hang out tomorrow? As friends?"

"Yeah, sure." I couldn't stop the grin displaying on my face. "And yes, friends."

Maybe this was going to be a lot better then before.