Right There || Dylan O'Brien

chapter twenty-four; the freak out

It was Friday and Clara was incredibly nervous. She tried her best to focus in class but couldn't, she was even too nervous to watch the an episode of Teen Wolf through break. She knew she said yes, she really wanted to date him but it was impossible, how was she ever going to survive this evening at Dylan's?

Holland told her not to worry, she even drove 30 minutes just to pick her up from school and help her get ready at her house. That meant another 30 minutes back.

And well, that wasn't the only reason she was nervous. It was almost Sunday, Sunday was her birthday and she still hadn't heard anything from her friends. She expected something to happen, but also was prepared to have a normal birthday at home. She trusted Holland, Dylan, Crystal. She trusted them all but that was the problem. They wanted her to happy, wanted her to celebrate it with them but she didn't want a party.

Clara watched Holland open the closet with a smile, looking through her clothes to check what suited her best. It was the smile that struck her the most, but she didn't know why. Maybe it was because she didn't smile in the way she usually did. "You like blue, right? And what is your opinion on dresses?"

"I like blue, I dislike dresses."

"How about jeans?"

"I like them."

She grabbed a light jeans along with a blue blouse, handing it to her. Then she went to search for some makeup, hair elastics and then she was in the bathroom doing something else. There was no time to ask Holland if something was wrong, she would be too busy to even answer.

"I'm not sure how to do your hair, I'm not the best at it to be honest," she brushed the blonde hair before braiding it. It was silent, Holland sighing deeply as it went wrong. "See, I'm not good at it. I'm sorry, maybe it was best if you asked Seana or Crystal-..."

"Don't talk like that. It's already enough you're here to help me. You know how much that means to me? I don't want you to make me look like a super model, I want you to distract me until it's time for me to go and survive the evening."

"Is it that bad?"

"No, let's not talk about me," she stopped her tucking at her hair by turning around in the chair. It made Holland sit down on the bed, another deep sigh leaving her mouth. "Tell me, what is going on? You're usually not so uneasy and stressed. Is it something that happened at work?"

"No, not at all."

"Are you ill?"

Holland raised an eyebrow, causing Clara hold her hands up in defense. "No, of course I'm not ill. I've had an argument with my sister on the phone this morning. It was really stupid; she's stressed and she woke me up by calling me, I was tired."

"I'm sure she isn't mad at you, you're not mad at her. It's normal for sisters to argue once in a while, it's healthy. Sandra and I had that a lot when were younger and we were still living in the same house."

"Yeah, I think so. I'm just a kind of afraid to call her. We said some things to each other that we didn't really mean."

"You hear that? '...that we didn't really mean'. If you apologize and explain, she'll be alright with it. She'll say sorry and you're back to being best sisters."

Holland stood up, nodding her head before grasping for her phone, "I'll be right back" and she left the bedroom to call her sister.

 ----

They were almost there; Clara was sitting on the passenger seat, playing with her sweaty hands while she felt herself getting sick. She was so nervous, she had never been so nervous before when she was with Dylan. Usually knowing she was going to be with him made her happy, made her forget about everything bad around her. But now. This was a date, there was a label and it kind of meant it was serious. They were serious.

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing really," she replied, shrugging as she turned her head to Holland. She was driving, eyes focused on the road with a smile tugging on the corners of her mouth. "I don't know what to think, what to do. I'm so nervous, it feels like I can't even breathe."

"Don't be. I know Dylan is as excited as you are-..."

"I'm not excited."

"You are. You are nervous, yes, but when you see him. When you're with him, I know you'll be fine. The idea of dating him, being alone with him and getting actually serious about your relationship, it's scary. But you already know each other, you've known each other for – what, how long? – like a month." She threw her hair over her shoulder, sending Clara a look. "And by the way, he couldn't stop talking about you today or the whole week for that matter. He couldn't even eat his lunch the day he picked you from school."

A giggle left her mouth, thinking of something to say but couldn't. What was she supposed to say? That she was glad someone actually liked her back as much as she did, because she was. But it still was scary. Everything was scary about this. God, she never imagined someone like Dylan having feelings for her, someone cooking for her on their first date and talking about her to his friends. But then again, she never imagined herself having feelings for a guy and actually wanting to be around him. This wasn't a dream, this was more like a freaking nightmare.

"How about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you like someone at the moment?"

Holland shook her head, stopping at the side of the road in front of Dylan's apartment to let her step out. Then she ran a hand through her strawberry blonde hair, sighing. "No, I don't. I've liked a guy a while back, but I didn't like him enough to have a relationship with him."

"Oh, really? Why?"

"I'm not sure. I tend to fall slowly, guys have to wait a long time to catch me and of course they get impatient. It's understandable, but I'm fine on my own. I've got my friends, my family, my dog."

"Hmm," Clara hummed, opening the door to step out. "Well, interesting. I know what you mean, I think you should wait for the right guy. He'll come around and you'll fall hard."

Holland laughed, nodding and waved at her. "If I need to pick you up, call me before 10 and you'll sleep at mine. If you don't, you sleep at his."

"I've never even kissed him."

"Well, maybe you will tonight-..."

"No, wait. How do I kiss?"

"It's going to be fine. Close the door." Holland started the car, causing her to jump and take a step back. She closed the door by accident, cursing herself as she watched her friend give her a thumps up and drive away. No, this wasn't freaking happening. This was going to be a disaster. She didn't know how to kiss.