Deadly Love (Book 1)

1.2

September 15, 1932

She was only 13. How could she have really understood what was going on?

She was walking home from school, Bucky and Steve at her side. They were freshmen in high school and she was just in middle school. But they were just as close as ever. She had noticed that Steve had been getting more sick lately, so she often stuck to his side. He had missed quite a few days of school; today being one of the days he felt better. As they continued to walk, Clara spotted the old candy store. She smiled to herself and told Steve and Bucky to wait a second. She ran into the store and looked around. Much to her surprise, everything was more expensive. She opened her backpack and took out all her money. It would take all of her lunch money to buy one candy bar for Steve. Every penny. She looked back outside to the boys, watching them stare back at her. Steve had become very skinny; surely he needed food more than she did... Clara sighed and grabbed the largest candy car she could find. She gave all her money to Mr. Pebbles (the store owner). Even he looked sad for her.

She put on a smile though, as she greeted Steve and Bucky. "Here Steve. I bought this for you." She smiled. "I know you've been really sick lately, so I just wanted to give you something to help you get better." Steve and Bucky both looked shocked as she handed over the candy bar. Steve took it and hugged her tightly. "Thank you Clara, but you really shouldn't have." He told her. She shook her head. "I wanted to." Steve smiled and put the candy bar in his backpack. They continued to walk in silence, none of them really having anything to say. As they approached Steve's porch, they waved goodbye to him as he ran inside the house yelling a goodbye back. Bucky and Clara continued walking, still no words being said. Just they reached Clara's house, Bucky turned to her and asked, "How much money did you spend on that candy bar?" She looked at him, confused. "Not a lot..." She lied. She could tell Bucky didn't believe her, but it didn't matter. What's done is done. Bucky looked like he was about to say something else but he shook his head. "You should head inside." He told her. She smiled and nodded, giving her a hug before walking up the steps of the porch. Luna was laying on a chair, waiting for her. Clara picked her up and waved to Bucky. "I'll see you tomorrow!" She yelled. Bucky waved back and started walking away.

August 11, 1933

Freshman Year

Maria and Clara walked the halls of their new school. They were officially high schoolers. Both wore new dresses and both were extremely nervous. As they stood arm in arm at the door of the classroom. Their first high school class together. And it was Clara's favorite class. English. They gave each other a look before walking into the class just before the bell rang. They sat next to each other, not wanting to be separated on their first day. The teacher, Ms. Johnson, stood from her desk and began to write on the chalkboard. Class had now begun.

Neither girls learned very much in their first class, other than what the MLA format was. They also needed to get papers signed by their parents. Everyone pretty much just stuffed the papers in their bags, never planning on actually giving the paper to their parents. As the girls walked out of their class to put their books in their lockers, Clara ran into someone, making all her books fall to the floor. She groaned, feeling embarrassed. She was a freshman after all and didn't want to completely embarrass herself on the first day of school. She fell to the floor in a hurry to pick up her books, when her hand brushed another's. She looked up, accidentally bumping heads with this other person. Both groaned and backed up. Clara looked up from her books and stared at the person in front of her. It was a . He was smiling at her, his perfect face just beaming down at her. She smiled shyly at him, looking back down at her books. "I'm sorry. I should've been looking where I was going." Clara mumbled to him. His hand grazed her chin, lifting her face to meet his eyes. "It's my fault, really." He gave her books back and smiled at her, before walking away again. "My name is Jack, by the way." He said, as he walked backwards. His friends were all rolling their eyes and patting him on the back. "Her name is Clara." Maria yelled to him, seeing as Clara was too shy to muster up the courage to speak to him. He smiled and shook his head. "I'll see you around, Clara."