claire stared out the car window, breathing heavily as she bounced her leg up and down nervously.
today was the day.
she could hardly believe she was on her way to do this . . . she felt like she was watching herself from far off; like this wasn't really happening to her.
claire did her best to push away the dark, looming thoughts in the back of her head:
what if he rejects me?
what if he laughs in my face?
what if this all goes horribly wrong?
no, instead, she tried her best to be hopeful. it also helped that luke seemed so sure about all this.
"i'm telling you claire, you won't regret this." he said as he drove down yet another street, yet another road that brought them closer and closer to their destination.
the anticipation was killing her.
claire only nodded, unable to form words. her stomach was doing backflips and she really did not appreciate it.
claire closed her eyes and decided to focus solely on her breathing instead.
in . . .
. . . out
in . . .
. . . out
"your destination is on your left."
claire's eyes flew open as she jerked upwards.
"we're already there?!"
"yes, claire. we've been driving for half an hour."
she knew the drive wasn't exactly short, but it still felt that way. no amount of time could have fully prepared her for this moment.
"i can still chicken out, right?" claire asked quietly, looking up at karl's house like it was some insurmountable mountain. she was so nervous she didn't even think to reminisce about the fact that it had been years since she was here last.
"well, i guess . . . but we came all the way here."
just then, the front door opened.
for an awful moment, claire thought it was karl who would exit the house. she was terrified that he would come out, and she'd be forced to talk to him . . . but she wasn't ready, and-
but it was jess.
she came running towards the car and threw the back door open.
"hi luke! hi claire!"
"jess? what are you doing here?" claire asked.
"i'm here to watch the magic happen."
claire groaned. "that's only gonna make me more nervous!"
"don't be nervous, claire bear. just go up there and tell him how you feel!" jess encouraged her.
"okay, here's how i feel: i'm about to throw up." claire said drily.
"how you feel about him, dingus."
"fine." claire slouched in her seat and sighed. "i feel like he's amazing and funny and awesome and i can be myself around him."
jess's smile grew in size. "that's great! just go up there and say all that to him!"
"you're making it sound like it's easy!"
"claire, there isn't much we can do to make you ready for this. in fact, you'll probably never feel ready for this. that's why you gotta just go up and do it." luke said, staring her in the eyes.
YOU ARE READING
autumn |KARL JACOBS X FEMALE OC|
Fanfiction"she realized something with a sudden clarity as she lay there. claire was falling for karl all over again." in which: claire had known karl jacobs and his family for as long as she could remember. they saw each other all the time, but it was at the...
