Till Dawn (HS)

x*

It was funny how Clara had gone from desperate for Liam's attention, to the one blatantly ignoring him. His persistent calls and texts through the week were in vain; she didn't respond to a single one because Clara just didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think so, true to her nature, she ignored the problem as if it was nonexistent.

The problem was not that Liam had feelings for her- Clara thought that if he had kissed her a month ago, then she probably would have reacted differently. She would have wrapped her arms around him and let her lips follow the movement of his.

The problem was Harry. The thought of even answering one of Liam's calls forced a knife to lodge into her stomach and twist around with guilt. She shouldn't have felt like she was cheating or anything, because Liam was still her friend, right? And Harry was nothing more than an emotionless lover. But Clara couldn't help it. She hated herself for letting Liam's lips touch hers when Harry's cherry ones were the only pair of lips she wanted to kiss and have linger on her skin. She didn't want to hear Liam's declarations of love over the phone; she wanted to hear Harry's gravelly voice in her ear telling her how pretty she looked in the morning.

"Clara," her brother approached her with a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. He had come over one evening to help her decorate the small tree she had got for the front room of her apartment. "You have been standing there staring at the box of ornaments for the past five minutes."

She blinked out of her daze and gave a sheepish smile. "I was just deciding which one to put on first," her voice wavered as she finally reached for a plastic, clear star. "This one will do."

"Right," he rolled his eyes and took a sip from his mug. The damage from the car accident had mostly faded, except for a small scar on his temple. Jackson told her about how their parents let him skip a few days of school because of it- normally, she would have responded with a snarky remark, but this time she just hummed and nodded her head, distant. Jackson watched with knowing eyes as his sister hung the ornament on the tree, then went back to the box on the table to get another one.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, sitting down on the couch. He tried to keep the worry out of his voice, but it was obvious that he cared for his sister more than he let on. He set the mug of hot chocolate down and Clara looked at him with doe-like eyes.

"I- what?" She shook her head and turned her back to him to conceal the redness on her cheeks. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Yes there is," Jackson fought back another roll of his eyes. "You're easy to read, Clara. Just tell me what's up."

"Nothing is up," she insisted. When she turned back to retrieve another ornament, his brown eyes caught hers and a sigh left her lips. "Fine, fine. Where do I even begin?"

"Is it about that guy?"

"Sort of," Clara shoved a hand through her hair. "It's about Liam, too. I think he likes me."

"Well duh." Her brother snorted a laugh.

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me?" she whined pitifully and took a seat beside him, cupping her cheeks in her hands. "He's my best friend, how could this have happened?"

"He's liked you for years," Jackson snickered. "You're an idiot."

"Thanks." She huffed out a breath and puckered her lips. "I've been ignoring his calls."

"So you don't feel the same way?" Jackson questioned with a tilt of his head. Clara gnawed at her bottom lip before slowly shaking her head, shamefully.

"Not in that way," her voice was solemn. "He's my friend." That's what hurt her the most about the whole thing. She had been friends with Liam since he was a chubby-cheeked boy and she was a scrawny girl with pigtails; why couldn't things just stay that way?