C L A I R E

"Claire?" I heard my aunt calling me from outside. Oh darn, she's already here.

I suddenly pulled Ethan's hand and tried to push him inside a closet there in my room. He was just surprised once I closed the door. Suddenly, I ran outside to open the gate for my aunt.

She raised her eyebrows at me as she took her glance away from her phone. My eyes looked at her intently as she went inside and looked around. There were no dishes left so I was sure that she wouldn't know there was a boy in here.

My aunt dislikes it when we have a guest — especially if it was a guy. She'd think that I've been bringing a boyfriend and I'm pretty sure she won't even hesitate on telling my parents the wrong issue.

"What took you so long to open up the gate, Claire?" she asked me. I just smiled once. The bodyguard was off for a break so there wasn't really someone to open it up beside me.

"Ah, sorry. I just had something on my mind, Aunt Mich." When her eyes focused on the sofa and saw a cell phone. Turning my attention to where she was staring, I almost facepalmed and hid my face between my hands. Why now?

Ethan, your phone.

"Whose phone is that?" Aunt Mich pointed out the phone like she was ready to drag someone to hell. At this point, I didn't even know what to say to her.

If I lie to her, she'll get angry. I don't want to get in trouble though.

Holding a breath, I decided to do the first one. I do wish that she won't know.

"Ah, Sam left this earlier. She probably left this when she visited. " I nervously laughed at her when she crossed her arms.

Aunt looked at me as if I was lying and laid her bag on the sofa. She then grabbed the phone, inspected it, and raised an eyebrow at me. Oh no, does she know? Please, don't.

"Claire Guanzon, I was with Sam at the mall. I asked her if she would come here to visit you. In fact, she is in the car now, " Aunt Mich told me while pointing at the car outside.

"Hey, Claire!" Sam shouted at me with a matching wave.

Seriously? You're still really waving. I'm in trouble right now.

I just gave her a smile and return my gaze to Aunt Mich. She looks so infuriated right now. From the reaction I got, she probably wants an explanation.

Noticing that Sam had already gotten off the car, I waved my hand to call her and she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Sam, you left your cell phone here!" I shouted with a wink. My back was already turned from Aunt Mich so there was no way she saw that.

Luckily, Sam got the wink and pretended to be shocked. She waltzes inside and even grabbed the phone in my hands, acting as if she had forgotten about it, and batting her eyelashes innocently. Gosh, she could really be an actress.

"Oh my gosh! I was looking for it everywhere," she claimed as Aunt Mich got suspicious of Sam's behavior.

"Sam, aren't you at the mall earlier? You said you were going to visit Claire. Why the sudden reaction?" My aunt kept on trying to look at the phone but Sam had already kept it inside her pocket.

"Oh aunt, I already visited a while ago. Claire was excited to see me as always. We watched movies and ate popcorn, " Sam explained before pointing at the plates that were only recently washed.

"See?" Aunt Mich seemed a bit convinced but I knew that it wasn't enough. Smiling at Sam, she quickly tried to elaborate more, making things up as she goes.

"Then, I just realized that I have to go shopping so I decided to go to the mall. Then, I forgot my phone there on the table. So here I am, I joined you to visit Claire again since I suspected that my phone would be here."

"Sorry for the trouble, Auntie." She cheekily smiled as my aunt sighed and decided to let it go. I, on the other hand, was already doing a victory dance as my aunt decided to go back to her car to grab the groceries.

Sam saved me today and I really owe her big time.

When I thought that everything was going to plan, my aunt suddenly walked back inside to put the bags on the counter and decided to get her glasses which were in my room.

Wait, my room!

I suddenly grabbed Samantha and told her to distract my aunt. She first tried to say no but I convinced her that it was urgent.

"Sorry, wait. Let me prepare. " After a few seconds, she took a deep breath and tried her best to whine. Well, I didn't really expect that.

"Auntie! Claire and I are so hungry! Let's eat outside. My treat, " she said while pulling my aunt away from my door. Aunt Mich gave her a long stare as Sam just gave her a smile.

She's really a life-saver.

"Huh? Haven't you eaten yet? Why eat again? " My aunt asked us.

We both looked at each other and smiled at the same time. As soon as she tried going back to the door, Sam quickly launched herself and told Aunt Mich that she'll be the one to get her glasses.

My aunt agreed at first, not knowing what was behind my room. She didn't really argue. I guess she knew how persistent Sam could be.

When my best friend came back outside, she answered Aunt Mich, "Claire hasn't really been out for a while so I thought, why not stop by at the mall with her, right? You know, bonding time."

My aunt then looked at me before she then told me to get dressed. Sam and I cheered as soon as she went back outside to wait in the car.

"Thanks for having my back," I couldn't help but hug Sam. She hugged back and decided to nod before telling me to get changed.

Returning back to my room, I decided to know how Ethan was doing. I mean, I practically pulled the person and shove him there.

Though, when I opened the closet, I did not expect to see what he had in his hands.