Hearts Afar

...22...

...22...

The following day at school, I was half expecting Jesse standing by my locker but then I was rudely reminded that he broke up with me. As I walked toward my locker, I looked up and saw him and a beautiful brunette with the most gorgeous olive complexion I had ever seen. There was no doubt in my mind that I stood no chance.

    “Hey girl,” I heard Tara. “What’s going on with that?” she asked pointing over to Jesse.

    “That’s Jesse’s fiancée, Natalia,” I said.

    “What?” she exclaimed. “You two were just together last week.”

    “He broke up with me on Thanksgiving day.”

    “How can he just prance around with her hanging off of him like that? Does he not care that he hurt you like that?”

    “Apparently it’s an arranged marriage,” I said causing Tara to bust out laughing.

    “Oh my gosh, that is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.”


I didn’t talk anymore about him so I just focused on getting my books from my locker. I heard everyone whispering around me and I felt like a complete fool. By the time lunch rolled around, I wanted to dart out the doors. I even had Jessica laughing in my face because of this. I skipped going to lunch because I could not handle any more of the stares and whispers going on around me so I just ran out to my car. 

I was starting to feel sorry for myself and I promised that wasn’t going to happen. While I was out there, I texted Clay and told him about everything. He told me that he was sorry for what was going on but he knew that I could make it through it. I told him thanks for talking me through it but I wasn’t sure if I could without going off on someone. 

After my pity party in the car, I decided that I was going to go back in the school with my head held high. I walked to my locker with a new determination and I wanted to dare someone to say one wrong word to me. As I pulled the next couple of lessons books out, I chanced a look over at Jesse. He was still wearing a solemn look as the beautiful girl hung to him but I wasn’t going to let it bother me any longer. I had already been burned by Duncan and I certainly wasn’t going to let Jesse get to me.

I continued my day like nothing had happened. When everyone saw that I wasn’t going to let it bother me anymore, it seemed like the rumors had quieted down, all except for Jessica. After classes, I ran once more to my locker to put my books up and grab the one I needed for homework. When I shut the door, I was startled to see Jesse and Natalia standing there.


   “Hi Claire,” he said.

    “Oh, hi there, you must be Jesse’s fiancée,” I smiled.

    “Natalia,” she introduced herself in the most beautiful voice. “You and Jesse are friends, no?”

    “I guess you could say that,” I said, looking beyond them as I saw a familiar face walking towards me. “Jesse saved me from falling on my face here awhile back when I was sick. If you all would excuse, I have an unexpected visitor,” I smiled and excused myself, walking closer to Clay.

    “Hey,” he smiled.

    “What are you doing here?” I asked.

    “You seemed a little upset earlier and I couldn’t leave with myself knowing that Jesse was hurting you.”

    “Well thanks. Who’s with your mom? You know I have dance practice, right?” I asked.

    “Yes, I know and Brent came over to stay with mom. I thought maybe if Barbie didn’t mind, I’d watch practice,” he smiled.

    “Well come on, my knight in shining camo. Let’s go,” I said, tugging him back the way I just came from and past Jesse and Natalia.

After practice, Clay walked me and the girls to the car. While they went ahead, Clay hung back with me. He mentioned how well we all danced and that he could really see it on my face how much I loved it. I admitted that as much as I loved dancing, running was better. He told me that we would have to make arrangements to go jogging together soon. I loved the idea of spending some alone time with Clay but I also knew how precious that time would be because there would not be a lot of it.