Clara West Wants Me (Dead) | ✔

NOT A KISS AT MIDNIGHT

     If I have to see Clara West ever again, I will spontaneously combust and die.

     That is, if she doesn't kill me first.

     A problem, seeing as we still have months left of school, we're in all the same classes, Winter break is almost over, and, oh yeah, my mom's throwing her annual NYE party. The one she invites everyone on the PBA board to. Hell, she practically invites the whole town.

     I could not be in attendance tonight. My house was too small, feeling smaller by the second, and I'd have nowhere to hide from the wrath of Clara West.

     "Think about how much room you'll have," I said dramatically. "Without me there."

     Convincing my mom to cancel her New Year's Eve Party? Impossible. But convincing her to let me sit this one out?

     Also impossible.

     "You're my daughter," she said, not even sparing me a glance as she moved around the kitchen. "Everyone is expecting to see you."

     There was no way I could tell her the real reason I couldn't be in attendance tonight. I couldn't even tell her part of that reason without sounding absolutely insane. I can't go tonight, mom, because I absolutely cannot see Clara West. Because she's going to murder me.

     My mom would just roll her eyes and tell me to squash whatever beef I had with Clara. If it was as easy as just squashing, I would've squashed it already. The beef would be so squashed it'd be minced meat. But as it stood, I'd been avoiding Clara for days and she was out for blood.

     She nearly cornered me in the locker room at school but by gods saving grace Shonda walked in because she forgot her knee sleeve for practice in her locker and it was just enough of a distraction for me to get the hell out of dodge.

     Avoiding Clara was no easy feat when she was literally everywhere always. She was in all of my AP classes and we ran in the same clubs and her freaking face lit up our iPad screens every morning to greet us and read morning announcements. There was no avoiding Clara, there was simply prolonging the inevitable and I wanted to prolong it long enough to make it into the new year before I died.

     My only hope was that if I sulked enough, my parents would grant me clemency and I wouldn't have to show my face tonight.

     I pushed my bowl of cereal away from me and crossed my arms. "This isn't fair, mom. You're not making Michael or James go to this thing."

     "Michael has a fiancé he's spending New Years Eve with," she responded with a roll of her eyes my way.

     "Why can't I go out with James?" I whined.

     "Because James is twenty-one, and last time I checked you were still sixteen." She sighed. "Veda, what has gotten into you? You always loved this party."

     "It's boring mom," I responded. "None of my friends are going to be there. I'm just going to be stuck in a corner the whole night."

     She looked at me, confused. "A bunch of girls from your class will be there, Veda. The McKinley family. The Jamesy's." Her tone changed slightly. "The West's."

     "Again," I said flatly. "None of my friends will be there."

     My mother shook her head several times. "I thought you and Clara were friends?"

     I balked. "She hates my guts."

     "Oh, don't be dramatic, Veda. She does not."