Across From Me

Thirty Seven

Clementine knew that Beth was definitely holding something in. A nervous energy seemed to surround her every move, but something that was part of that was that Beth seemed sad. Not the regular sad she usually had, but a resigned, defeated sort of sad. It wasn't any worse than what she had been experiencing throughout the past few weeks, but it still seemed to take a toll on her.

Clementine kept her distance, as promised, but it sincerely pained her to do so. She missed the times when she could tell Elizabeth everything. Where they could laugh together and cry together. It all went so wrong.

But as time went on, and the more the two of them spent time in each other's presence, Beth warmed up to her. Showing her kindness, speaking to her more, opening up more. Clementine trusted that Beth knew how she was feeling and trusted that Beth was pushing her own comfort zone.

But the end of the school year was coming up fast. Exams were around the corner and that caused Beth and Clementine to spend the majority of their time in the library with their noses buried in books. Clementine's wrist perpetually aches during this time, but the stress and the idea of what her mother would do if she failed motivated her enough to keep going. Studying seemed to come easy to Beth, as did everything else academics did. Beth was smart, and she knew it, which is why she rarely put in more effort than needed for anything.

But Beth also seemed preoccupied, her mind focused on studying for the end of the year. Clementine knew that Beth probably had trouble the last few weeks with assignments and was using this time to catch up.

All while this time passed, with a rush of papers and study guides, Beth walked around carrying a weight on her shoulder. Clementine noticed it almost instantly, but she never asked out of fear of overstepping boundaries. But it always worried her to see Beth's leg bouncing with nervous energy under the table, or the sight of heavily chewed nails. Clementine feared that things at home were worse than Beth had described, but she shook off her fear because that was the easiest thing to accept at the time.

As final exams came and went for most classes, and the pressure started to ease up on everyone, school events started to come up as well. Things like graduation and prom for the seniors. But, Clementine figured her school wanted to make the most out of cheap, student-funded parties as much as they could, so they also had a party for the underclassmen every year as well. While Clementine wasn't a senior, that didn't mean she wanted to go to the underclassmen party either. Parties in general were not Clementine's favorite thing. Way too loud and crowded with people.

But when Olivia begged her to come just for a little while, Clementine eventually caved. As well as pressure from her mother as well because Clementine refused to attend homecoming in the first semester because she embarrassed herself her freshman year, last year when she embodied the words "Christian Youth Group". Clementine's mother was a stickler for the memories of attending events like homecoming, while Clementine didn't really care for it. She had plenty of memories, more she would like to forget than remember.

Upon mentioning this to Beth, Beth surprised her completely by offering to come as well. Clementine didn't want to make Beth feel pressured into making a decision, but looking into her eyes made her forget what she was worried about. Clementine figured it was one of Beth's better days, where she was feeling more lively and energetic. Clementine didn't want Beth to feel pressured into anything, so she let that offer stay in the air until the week of the party.

Clementine's mother just about dragged her around town trying to find a dress, in which Clementine couldn't have been more disinterested. Clementine liked to put effort into her appearance in order to express herself, however, dress shopping for a dumb high school dance wasn't something Clementine wanted to spend her Saturday doing.