the art of being troubled || clouis

2 || oh, mullet boy

08 APRIL 2003

   "Okay, uh... eye spy with my little eye... a fish!" AJ barked with enthusiasm, evoking a chuckle out of Lee as he watched the road.

   "Aw, come on. Now that's too ea–"

   "Lake," Clementine interrupted, her hand propping up her disgruntled face atop of the door's armrest.

   "–sy..." Lee disappointedly continued, pursing his lips. The car zoomed past the sun-twinkled lake before the driving straight back into the woodlands.

   "Damn it! How do you do that?" AJ sat dumbfounded, folding his arms.

   Clementine wouldn't dare to look her foster father in the eye; she was at her wits end with this whole boarding school fiasco. She didn't have to be punished like this, because no one did. Not even the pettiest of mutts. Boarding schools were just prison for kids that no one would listen to. If it weren't for Audrey, Clementine would be snoozing in first hour Calculus right now. Instead, she was confined to the leathers of Lee's station wagon, forced to sit through a foolish nine a.m. game of I Spy. She was suffocating, and it was all because of Audrey. Audrey, Audrey, Audrey. Her last Monday of freedom was spent brooding over the fact that her life was essentially over. She packed the rest of her belongings, took Sam for one last walk, and had a nap to adjust her sleeping schedule. Oh, right. Did she mention she had to wake up at four in the morning just to get there by noon? Lee took one hell of a sick-leave and even pulled AJ out of pre-school for the next two days just to drive her to some hell-hole on steroids. Audrey was on yet another one of her "business trips," which meant she didn't want to stick around to watch Clementine beg for her liberty one last time. Funny, she thought Audrey would have liked to see that.

   "You gonna lighten up any time soon?" Lee playfully nudged her with his hand.

   "Not unless you light a fire under my ass," she mumbled, a giggle immediately erupting from the young boy in the backseat.

   "You swore," AJ said, a sly grin flickering onto his face. "You said ass, ass, ass–!"

   "Language," Lee firmly warned, glaring sternly into the rear-view mirror before looking back at the road. "Look, I know you think I'm excited to send you off. But you know that ain't the case," he insisted. "I'll miss you. I always miss you when you're not around. Shit, I miss you right now. I didn't want it to go this way."

   "Then don't let it," she persisted, dropping her hand in frustration. "If you really don't want me to leave, then don't let it happen."

   "But it has to, for you," he assured her. "You're gonna come out the other end of this a better person. I'm just sorry it's not me who gets you to that point – like it's supposed to be."

   Clementine's brows furrowed as she sighed. It seemed that disappointing Lee at every turn, around every corner, had finally taken its toll. This really did feel like the end. All the outbursts, all the shenanigans, the general crappiness... it was killing him more than it was killing her. Maybe it was time to succumb to her plight. She was on her way to a boarding school of all things, it was clear that Audrey had won. Maybe it was time to make Lee happy for once and just grow up. This was her last chance to prove herself worthy of amounting to something in this life – to be a good role model for AJ, a good daughter for Lee, and hell, a good "I'm better without you" to Audrey. All she had to do was face this school head on, and maybe then, she could come out on top of all this.

   "I'll... Fine, I'll try, okay?" Clementine turned to him. "I'll try. Just... stop talking about it. Please." 

   Lee's lips formed a restrained grin. His head nodded as he averted his eyes back to the road.