"Claire realized what was coming and struggled to convince herself that it wouldn't matter, that they were just foolish rumors spread by foolish people, but that did not stop the utter silence in the room or her own complete shock, when Mrs. Alvarez...
The first week at Crestview High passed in a flurry of classes and assignments. Students had become accustomed to their schedules and daily routines and teachers were busy planning new lessons for the upcoming week, but everyone was looking forward to the weekend. As the final bell chimed, students and teachers shuffled out of classrooms, thrilled that the week was over at last.
Claire left the Physics classroom and made her way through the crowded halls to locker 647. By now, she had assured and reassured herself that the rumors about her locker were just that -- rumors. Her classmates, on the other hand, would stare every time Claire went to her locker, as if waiting for claws to reach out from within and pull her in by her raven locks, but to their dismay, locker 647 seemed completely normal, complete with a rusted hinge and annoying squeak each time it was opened.
"Did you ask your aunt yet?" Claire jumped, not having noticed Mia coming to stand beside her. Mia and Claire had gotten to know each other over the first week of school since they shared three classes, and Mia had invited Claire to a sleepover which Claire had yet to ask for permission to attend.
"No, sorry not yet, but I promise I'll ask her as soon as I'm home." Claire said as she closed her locker door and locked it.
"Okay. Come on I'll give you a ride then." Claire thanked Mia, followed her outside to her blue Toyota in the school parking lot, and the girls climbed into the car littered with papers, clothes, and shoes. Mia had to lift a stack of magazines from the passenger seat and throw them in the back to allow Claire to sit down. "Sorry for the mess. I keep telling myself that I'll clean this thing but I never do."
"That's okay. I could help you organize it sometime, if you like." Claire said, picturing the car spotless inside and out and imagining the feeling of accomplishment for cleaning and arranging Mia's imaginary car. Claire loved to organize things almost as much as she loved to read fictional novels.
"Well, I might just take you up on that offer." Mia remarked as she looked at the mess on the backseat through the rearview mirror. She then started the engine and the brick building grew smaller as she drove away.
"Turn here," Claire instructed, pointing to an upcoming curve in the road. "Stop, this is it."
Aunt Gail's house was the third building on the street. Built by German architects almost eighty years ago, it was modeled to resemble a gothic cathedral in medieval Europe with alternating maroon and beige bricks, faded from years in the sun, long rectangular windows covered by thick curtains from the inside, and ornate, pointed arches crowned by a mahogany gable and valler roof and surrounded by shrubbery that only added to the building's enchanting sense of mystery.
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"Woah. Is your aunt a vampire or something?" Mia joked as she stared up at the regal arches.
"Or something," Claire answered. "Thanks for the ride, hopefully I'll see you later today." Mia nodded and waved before she drove off.
