(chapter ten)

"Thank you, Gray," Clara thanked her best friend, dropping her backpack on the bed, then sitting down while Grace looked on the wardrobe for two towels.

"No problem, you can always come here when you need to," she smiled, giving the girl the white cream towels, then leaning against the wall. "Should I ask what happened? That bruising arm is not looking very pretty."

Clara's eyes fell to the visible up close hand mark, sighing. At least it was easier to hide than when it was on her neck.

"It's nothing, just same old." She tried to dismiss it, but Grace's green eyes turned to slits as she continued staring at her friend.

"Was it Rafe?"

"What? No!" The older girl's eyes widened, shaking her head at the question, a crease on her forehead. "No, why would you think that?"

Grace made a face shrugging one shoulder. "He does have a temper, and your lips are kinda swollen too. If you told me you were having rough sex I would believe you."

"Oh, woah," she looked at her friend in disblief etched on her face. "You're 15, Gray."

"So? I don't see your point."

"God- No, it wasn't Rafe, and no, we're not fucking."

"Shit, guess I owe Topper $10." The braided haired girl laid beside Clara, who pushed her leg away.

"Can't believe you two are betting on my sex life, I swear-"

"Not your sex life, but your nonexistent one. Your standers are far too high, but Rafe Cameron? Very low, so I'm impressed. Not surprised, but impressed." She continued, propping her head on her hand. "Guess you never got over your little infatuation on him when we were kids."

"First, that's mean, you're mean. And second, I never liked Rafe, and I still don't, okay? He was my friend and he wants to be friends again, so I don't see what's the problem."

"You were quick to forgive him after that, though."

"'Cause he didn't do anything bad. He wanted distance, and that's okay. It hurt? Obviously, so much, but he never talked bad of me or betrayed my trust." Clara played with her fingers, looking up to meet the green eyes staring back at her. "He is actually someone you can trust if he truly cares about you back."

Grace hummed, watching her friend closely. To be honest, the younger girl never really understood the relationship between Rafe and Clara since they were kids. He did acted different towards her back then, and still does now. The way that he understood Clara better than her made her feel a little bitter, but the fact that Clara trust her more than him was enough to soothe any insecurity.

"And you tell me you don't like him," she joked, making Clara groan as the braided haired girl laughed. "But seriously, what happened to your arm?"

"Same old, Grace. My mother thought I told Rafe what she did 'cause he was glaring daggers at her, and when I said I don't know what goes through his head she slapped my mouth," she said, as her friend sit up worridly to look at Clara's lips, while she pulled them to show the inside. Small cuts were visible, and Grace could smell the iron on her breath. "It does hurt still, but it's better than before. I kinda feel my teeth a little lose?"

"Jesus, Clara, you say that so nonchalantly..."

"Promise me you didn't tell anyone," the older girl grabbed Grace's wrist, eyes begging for the truth.

"Of course not, why are you asking?"

"No one can know, not even my dad, nor your mom, please." The plead on Clara's voice was small, showing how scared she really was, so the braided haired girl gave her an encouragement smile, nodding her head, squeezing her shoulder.

With that Grace left the room, letting Clara to go shower, and the girl walking defeated to the bathroom with the two towels in her arms.

++++

The sun was hot on her back while she walked to the beach with Grace by her side holding two plastic bags. It was the day the community decided to clean the beach trash left after the hurricane, and all of their parents told them to go, Clara's mother by a text message saying it was her obligation.

The bun on the top of her head and the green top with white shorts were what she had on the bag for the insane hot day ahead of them. Rafe was blowing up her phone, and the constant buzz made Grace annoyed.

"Who's texting you that much, Christ?" She rolled her eyes as the girl took off the phone from her back pocket, now the call message showing on her screen, so she accepted.

"Hey, gorgeous, what're you doing?" His voice on the other side of the phone was clearly showing he had a smirk on his face.

"It's the beach cleaning day, Rafe, my mother told me I have to go," she looked to the braided haired girl with a look, and the two laughed.

"That's too bad 'cause you look pretty hot with that outfit," he said, making Clara stop walking and looking around, his so well known black truck parked on the other side of the road, as he waved for her to get closer, hanging up.

Clara shoot Grace a look for her to wait as she walked to the driver's seat, seeing the smug look on his face.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Mr Cameron," she teased seeing his black shorts and grey shirt, as he leaned on the window.

"That I'm going to take as a compliment, thank you, Miss Campbell." He replied, passing his hand over the ignition then looking at her over his glasses. "Wanna grab a bite with me before we have to endure the boredom it's gonna be the rest of our already decided day? I can pay for whatever you want."

Clara hesitated, looking behind her, only to see no trace of Grace, then pulling her phone only to read a message for the girl saying "Have fun". With a smirk he watched her closely, resting his face on his arm on the window.

"I do want some churros," she decided, seeing the boy smile as he leaned back on the seat, unlocking the doors so she could step inside the car.

As he drove to the small mall by the beach, he reached out to turn up the song on the radio, stepping harder on the accelerator as Clara gripped the door handle. Rafe chuckled when he felt Clara slapping his arm so he could go slower, but when he looked to her he saw the real panic behind her eyes, as she pressed her body against the seat and was taking deep breaths, so he slowed down, a crease on his forehead as he parked the car.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He searched her face, one habit he got after the second night at the beach, observing Clara calm herself down. "Clara, what's wrong?"

"No, it's just-" she took another deep breath. "I don't like when you do that."

"I could see that," the sarcastic tone in his voice made Clara purse her lips. "But that doesn't explain why you're white as a paper now and you're shaking, that's not just because you 'don't like when I do that'."

She closed her hand into a fist over the other to stop it from shaking, so Rafe cupped her face in his hands looking deep in her eyes, his fingers brushing every couple seconds her cheeks. "Tell me."

"Remember when I had that cast on my arm a couple years back and you made fun of me 'cause I couldn't enjoy summer?" She licked her lips, watching his eyes still focused on her, his pupils dilated as he hummed.

"You went to New York to visit your grandmother, came back with a broken elbow and wrist after falling downstairs, yeah."

"Except I didn't," she explained, the scene replaying in her head as Rafe looked at her confused. "I did go to New York, but I broke my arm in Charleston. Susan was driving and, I don't even know what she was fighting about, and she got so mad that in the middle of the road she let go of the ignition at 120 km/hour. The car swerved to the side and another car hit my side."

Rafe didn't know how to react, he just let his hands fall down her face as he stared at her in shock of the news, as she let out a bitter laugh.

"I remember the car spinning and the pain, the police sirens all around. Susan was completely fine, not a single scratch. I got a broken arm and seven stitches on my scalp." She touched the scar in the beggining of her hair line. "Twelve iron pins on my arm after an emergency surgery. The cops told me I was lucky. But it was never the same, it still isn't and I can't play the piano anymore."

Clara laughed again, but a real hurt one as she moved her arm for Rafe to see her tracing the barely visible scars as he hold her arm gently, following her movements.

"Topper drew a flying dick on the cast, I was so angry but that made me laugh everytime I looked at it," she tried to joke a bit, but Rafe was still serious, clenching his jaw as he looked up at her, and after a few seconds he spoke.

"Topper drives around like crazy-"

"He doesn't know, but he stop when I ask him to," she explained, pushing her hair out of her face. "Never told anyone. Grace knows, but I don't think she remember, it was so long ago."

"Why were you with Grace?" Rafe asked, recording that, after the mention of the girl, they were walking together. "You slept in her house?"

It wasn't a surprise that Rafe Cameron wasn't really keen on her friendship with Grace, in reality the boy despised the braided haired girl since they were kids. He always thought she was too pushy, too involved in things that didn't matter to her and mainly childish.

"Yeah, needed a place to crash, my mother told me to not come back last night."

"Next time you call me right away," he said, almost like a demand and she kept staring at him, but nodded slowly, so he got out of his car, going to open her door. "Let's get your churro so we can end this torture already."

++++

"Cameron, Campbell!" Kelce called out, seeing the two getting closer to the drinking group. Rafe walked in front of her as she cursed under her breath how hot the sand was. "'Bout time you too join us."

"Be happy we even joining you, we had a churro that I would much rather be with," Rafe answered, doing his bro shake with Kelce then turning to his little sister, who was drinking from the transparent bottle, looking at her funny when she passed to him, taking a sniff of it. "Wheezie you drink?"

"Now I do."

"Drink or pass, Cameron." Kelce told him, so the boy took a swing passing to Clara, as she pondered, placing the glass on her lips, the drink burning her throat as Kelce cheered.

"Don't think I can get used to seeing you drinking," Topper voice was a little distant as he and Sarah walked up to them, and he stopped beside the girl, holding out his hand for the bottle.

"Different than you, I can hold my own," she answered as Rafe wrapped an arm around her shoulders pulling her to him before Sarah could steal Clara away again.

Topper took a swing too but he made a face when he swallowed, holding it out to Sarah. The dirty blonde girl took a sniff of it, also making a face.

"What did you do to this?" She asked Kelce who had a huge grin on his face, arms crossed as he pointed with his head for her as a challenge, and Sarah rolled her eyes, taking a sip, and before she could react Wheezie took the bottle again, drinking it. "No, no. Great going Kelce, she's thirteen."

"You guys got it under control?" The man conducting the cleaning asked, seeing them all in a circle.

"Yes, sir! It's looking good, sir!" Topper said, like the golden boy he was it was a believeable act while Grace took a sip, giving it back to Kelce. "We're just hydrating!"

"Great job, keep it up!"

And the man walked away, Kelce zipped the bag so it could stay cold, as Rafe rolled his eyes, grabbing one plastic bag from the sand and walking away, his once gelled back hair now slightly messy, and Grace shoot her a wink when he grabbed Clara's hand and pulled her along.

Clara managed to land a slap on Topper's neck to tease him for how suck up he was, and the boy gave her a glare, flipping her off.

"You really don't wanna just bail these people so we can have time for ourselves?" Rafe asked again, picking up a metal can and throwing on the trash bag.

"The time for ourselves you mean we sleeping at your room?"

"Well we can do a lot of things that doesn't involve sleeping in my room," his teasing tone made her cheeks heat up even more than it already was. "Or we could be on my pool so we can actually enjoy our summer."

She looked up at him, seeing how close his face was to hers, and she felt herself gulping. Sure, I wasn't the first time Rafe flirted with her, and they used to a lot three years ago after he was her first kiss, but that was how their friendship worked. Topper used to tell them they were insufferable and he hated being close to them.

"Enjoy the summer on the pool like this?" She asked, tracing up his biceps as her hands landed on his shoulders, and one arm around his neck. His free hand met her waist with a serious tempted expression. "Don't really think is that much different than we laying in your bed."

"I got some other ideas," he smirked, his voice low and she shivered, unwrapping her arm from his neck, pulling back as he sighed by the loss of contact.

"Let them for another time, Rafe. You know it's gonna be worse if we don't play along."

And they did exactly that, against their will, they picked up the trash from the beach, but when the organizer called them over to spread his words Clara had enough, walking away from the scene, where a clearly tipsy Sarah and Topper laughed. Rafe catch up with her, and Wheezie not far behind complaining she was feeling out of it.

The couple fastened their steps to get into Rafe's truck, and Clara rolled her eyes as Sarah held the empty bottle, twirling it on her finger.

And when he parked in front of the Cameron's house after dropping Topper off to arrange his party, Wheezie whinned about feeling sick, and Sarah dragged the girl to the bathroom. Clara went to follow after them, but Rafe pulled her aside.

"No, we're going to the pool like I told you we would," he said against her hair, while his arms kept her in place. "So we can actually do something different like you said."

"Rafe," and their moment was ruined when Ward's voice called the boy. The man's blue eyes fitted the two with an non readable expression, and his gaze fell onto his son. "We need to talk."

The boy let Clara go almost instantly, and he kept his fingers twitching in nervousness as he nodded and turned to talk to her, but the older Cameron beat him to it.

"I'm sorry, Clara, but that's gonna take a while, it's better if you go home."

She understood, so she kissed the boy's face in a way to try to help to calm his nerves, and walked back out of the door. Rafe wanted her to stay, but he knew that going against what his father said would not be a good option.

So Clara walked up the neighbourhood, going the opposite way of her house as she skipped some of her steps to walk faster, stopping by the big white house. Instead of coming in from the front door, she opened the side gate letting herself in, then plopping in one of the couches outside.

She watched in amusement Topper fighting with the plastic wrapped around the plastic cups as he walked outside, unaware of the brown haired girl, so when he looked up his soul froze.

"Holy fu- What the fuck, when did you get here?!" He yelled, resting his forehead against the door with his hand over his heart.

"Camerons were busy, I don't wanna go home," she answered, twirling the loose strand of the outside blanket and giving him a smile. "Guess you're stuck with me, Top."

So she laid down, closing her eyes but Topper had other ideas, throwing the cups at her and pointing his index finger at her direction.

"I don't think so," he walked up to her, pushing her feet off the couch. "You're helping me put this shit together."

++++

The crowd of teenage sweaty bodies dancing on the first floor of the mansion was like a barrier that unabled her to pass through, so she was sat on one of the stools of the kitchen, drinking a filled cup of apple juice.

Clara didn't like the taste of alcohol, the night at the boneyard was a try, but her tolerance seemed to be higher than she expect it, and the burning sensation wasn't something she was really keen on, so she stayed with her juice.

She then saw the crowd start cheering, and a splat of water from outside as someone jumped on the pool, and after a minute or so a dripping wet Topper and Sarah walked pass her, Sarah giving her friend a look, making the brown haired girl shot her a wink as they head upstairs.

Before she could turn around a finger start grazing the skin of her back, so she snapped her head to see Rafe grinning at her, but a tense stance was still noticeable.

"Didn't know you would be here," he said, stepping between her legs, resting his hands on the counter behind her as he locked Clara there. "You know I was really looking foward to the see you on the pool."

Clara raised an eyebrow with his words, eyes not leaving his, even with the close proximity of Rafe's face as his breath hit her skin.

"Don't think there would be much fun since Sarah told me you left your house, and by the looks of it, you just got back," her hands played with the salmon shirt collar, and she could swear his pupils expanded more than they already were.

Feeling his breath get caught in his throat, the boy distanced himself and his hand brushed her hip as he walked back. "I'll be right back, Kelce's calling me."

She nodded her head, following the boy with her eyes as he descended the stairs to the basement, and she stayed there for a few more minutes, looking around to see if there was anyone else she knew.

She walked passed the many teenagers, wanting to go to the docks to see the sea when a boy she never talk to before grabbed her shoulder, a lazy smile on his face and slured speach.

"Think you can lend me a hand?" He asked, pulling her arm slightly but she kept her feet, furrowing her eyebrows. "You see those guys? They have the best I ever taken, maybe you can go with me there and help me get a discount?"

"Don't even know you."

"Don't need to, just help me along and you can have a share of it too."

Clara shook his hand off her, giving him a tight smile. "Good luck with that."

She felt his eyes on her back, an uncomfortable feeling rushing over her as she made her way downstairs to look for the two problem boys, only to see them on a circle, with Rafe counting bills and Kelce with a dollar rolled up snorting lines.

Clara was frozen in place, the gears turning on her head as she put everything together. Rafe's behavior over the years finally making sense as he smiled taking bills from other people.

That's his solution to his problems, but did it really make the concerns go away?

"Campbell!" Kelce smiled, getting up so he could be by her side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as he pulled her close to the table. Rafe felt his heart skip a beat when he heard the name, looking up at the girl like he had seen a ghost. "C'mon, give it a try-"

"She's not doing it." Rafe cut the boy, glaring at his idiot friend as Clara raised an eyebrow and tilted her head at the quick answer.

"I think it's my decision to make, Rafe." She answered, making Kelce let out a oh slapping his hand on his knee while laughing. "If it's money-"

"I don't want your money, Clara." His voice was low and cold, but she could hear very clearly, and that remind her of the day he broke their friendship. "It's my shit, and you're not taking it."

And Clara understood. She knew deep down why Rafe didn't want her to try it, but she saw how happy everyone around her was, how much more calm Rafe felt everytime he used it. The pressure of the world seemed to dissipate from his shoulders, and how much did she want that.

So she nodded, giving all the curious eyes on her a forced smiled as she walked away, only to bump on Topper, who looked annoyed, and she observed Rafe bringing the boy to snort a line with him.

Clara clicked her tongue, annoyed by the sudden difference of behavior of Rafe, so she walked upstairs, spotting the guy from before trying to sweet talk the older man, who seems unfazed.

She pondered why would she help, but with a quick dismiss of her own thoughts, she pulled down the green top, so it could show her boobs a little more, and messed with her hair.

Wrapping a hand around the boy's forearm, she leaned foward, a smile playing on her lips.

"Hey, baby, did you get it?" she changed her voice tone, to gain attention of the older man, as the boy by her side looked at her confused. "Oh, hi, I'm sorry, he was just taking too long."

The man before her gave her a smirk, not hiding the fact that his eyes were locked on her chest.

"So, how much do you want from it?"

"240 for 8 pills," the man answered, pulling from his pocket a small plastic of white pills. "10 mg each."

"190 and we give you half of what we get the next time he buy it," she bargained, biting her lower lips slowly as she kept the eye contact, her finger playing with the strap of her top. The man was silent for a second, but he agreed, handing the pills while the boy beside gave him the money.

As the older man walked away, she removed her arm from his, crossing her arms while he opened the plastic.

"You know I'll be owing him now, right?" He asked, popping two pills on his mouth, swallowing it dry.

"I know someone who have it with a lower price, guess I'll live," she answered, still looking at him. "I still don't know you name."

"Ian. Osborn," he replied, fidgeting with the zip of the plastic bag, then looking up at her. "I know your name, you're an year older than me at school."

"Well, nice to meet you, Ian."

And she walked off, leaving the boy smiling in astonishment at her.

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