Chapter 1 Claire
Glancing up from my sketch pad I looked at his house for the millionth time that day. Sometimes I felt hopeless, doomed to forever love a boy who would never want me. A boy who constantly had a different girl on his arm and in his bed. A boy I’d grown up with and spent a good portion of my free time either with him or thinking about him. A boy who I really shouldn’t call a boy he was a man now. Dalton was two years older than me and is the love of my life. I don’t remember when everything changed where he went from my brother’s best friend to the man I dream about, but here we are. Looking back down I resumed drawing the picture of the beautiful baby from my recurring dream.
“And what do we have here sunshine?” I looked up and smiled at Dalton who had apparently walked over when I was lost in my sketch. He looked amazing with the sun shining behind him. I flipped my sketch pad over so he could see what I was drawing today as he dropped down beside me on the grass. “Cute baby, who is it?” I looked back down at the baby wishing I had that answer and sighed. “I have no idea. I’ve just been having dreams for the past couple of weeks that focused on this baby. I can’t get him out of my head and couldn’t focus on finishing my schoolwork.” I said glancing at the piles of books on my other side. I had plenty to do, but knew I wouldn’t be able to focus if I didn’t finish this sketch. It was like once the picture was in my mind I couldn’t see anything else.
“Well, it’s a cute baby regardless. so are you coming to the party tonight, you haven’t been over in a while.” He said, nodding his head back towards his house. I didn’t realize he paid that much attention to his guest to know someone was missing. Chuckling, I shook my head. “How would you even know who was there or not when half the town comes when you parents hold their get together.” He just laughed and shook his head. “Well, for one you’re usually sitting right here where I can see you from my house. Kinda hard not to realize you’re not at the party, when I can clearly see you’re not at the party. And you know I always make a point to know where my favorite girl is.” He could be really sweet like that and always made me feel important. I knew it was the truth too in his own way. He may never love me like I love him, but I am very important to him. “So come tonight it would mean a lot to me.”
“Oh, are you coming to the party later baby sis?” We glanced up at my brother’s voice, and Dalton hopped up to give him a bro hug. Those two have been best friends since before I was adopted almost nine years ago. Since then, my brother Charlie and Dalton have been right by each other’s side, and both have always been very protective of me. “I’m trying to convince her to, she always looks so lonely out here by herself.” Dalton said, giving me a strange look. He’s been giving me that same look a lot lately, and I can’t figure out why. “Well, you should come tonight sis, but if you don’t mind Dalton and I are needed back at his house.” I just nodded and glanced back down at my sketch. Peeking up after I heard them walk away, I watched as Dalton and Charlie disappeared into the other house.
Sighing I put down my sketch pad and picked up my schoolbooks. I had a ton of assignments to get finished this weekend. Senior year could not be over any faster. Two more months and I’d be free. It’s been lonely since Charlie and Dalton graduated two years ago, and Dalton’s sister Nichole last year. They would always make a point of checking in on me during the day, knowing I didn’t exactly have friends. It wasn’t that I was antisocial, I just didn’t exactly care to have other friends outside of mine and Dalton’s family. Our families have always been close, and we spent a lot of time together. Now that I’m the only one of our families at my school, I’m just all alone during the school day. People still talked to me during the day, and it was always a friendly conversation. I even still sat with people at lunch. It just always seems like they just wanted to be close to me to get to Charlie and Dalton. It had been that way for as long as I could remember. When I was younger, I tried to make friends, but I quickly noticed the girls were always more focused on my connections than me. When we would hang out, they would always request, it be at my house. They would then spend the entire time looking for the boys. They only wanted to go someplace else, if the guys invited me somewhere. I gave up after the first year or so. Charlie and Dalton knew it too. They would try and stay away if I was supposed to have friends over so that they wouldn’t be a distraction. I knew they felt bad and probably still do, but I’m happy with my life regardless. It still did sting sometimes though when girls would try and use me. I think it was worse though that nobody ever thought of me as competition where Dalton was concerned.
That’s why I’ve been skipping the parties Dalton’s parents held. It was inevitable that more than one girl would try and use me to get the notice of Dalton or Charlie. Sometimes I’d make an effort to go even get all dressed up, but I’d always stop when I got to the side of the house that faced Dalton’s. I would rather be at home then at the party being used. So, I’d either sit down on the grass or the chairs that mom had insisted be placed out here. We used to only have lawn furniture in the backyard, but with how much time I spend on this side of the house my mom had added four chairs and a table for me. I use them sometimes to make mom think she didn’t waste the money, but I still preferred to sit in the grass. Sighing I got up and went back inside my house. Dalton had personally asked me to go, which he only did when he was tired of seeing me alone. I knew that if I didn’t go, he and Charlie would come over and drag me back with them.
Heading to my bedroom I dropped down on my bed and covered my face to silence my scream. I really didn’t want to go so I was lacking the motivation to make myself get ready. I got up and rummaged through my closet to find something to wear. After five minutes of struggling, I gave up. I wasn’t really into getting all dressed up and I kind of sucked at it. I picked up my phone and texted Nichole for help. That sos would have her here quickly. She was the closest thing I had to a best friend, and she was always there for me. She was also the only girl who didn’t pretend to like me to get closer to the guys. She didn’t have to. She even dated Charlie for a while, but after about six months they decided they were better off as friends. Though I’d still catch her coming out of his room sometimes. We’d just laugh and head to my room to hang out.
Fifteen minutes later she was walking into my bedroom. “Are the guys making you go to the party again Claire bear?” Dropping back on my bed I sighed, “What do you think I’ve missed the last three and you know they only let me miss so many at a time. I’m gonna have to attend the next two at least to get them off my case.” She laughed but headed to my closet. I had nice clothes, my parents made sure of it, but I always choose comfort over style. During the summer I wore tanks and Jean shorts and during the winter it was jeans, and the hoodie Dalton got me for Christmas three years ago. He said he caught me looking at it when the four of us had been at the mall, and knew I’d love it. To this day I can’t remember seeing it, but it did give me a great excuse to constantly wear something he gave me. Just like I always wore the charm bracelet he and Charlie had got me. They would buy me charms constantly. Even our parents and Nichole have added to it, though it was pretty full and soon I’d need a new bracelet if they kept buying me more.
Nicole threw me a pair of skinny jeans and a long sleeve shirt, I couldn’t for the life of me remember where it came from. It was cute though. She then proceeded to toss me a pair of heels. I hated heels but she always tried to get me to wear them. I got up and went to change before sitting down at my vanity since she would want to do my hair and makeup. Nichole loved getting to do hair and make up and never passed up an opportunity. She’s the one who dyed my hair every couple months to keep the pink vivid on my tips. We currently had it as a hot pink because Nichole loved the contrast with my blonde hair. She also dyed her own hair which she typically left as a brown and blonde balayage. When she was done, we both walked back to her house even though we still had over an hour before the party. When we walked in, I spotted the guys sitting around the living room. Already knowing that Nichole was going to take a shower before she got ready, I turned to join them. My younger brother Gavin was also over playing on Dalton’s game system.
Dalton pulled me down beside him and whispered in my ear how beautiful I looked tonight. I could feel the heat of his breath on my skin as his words tickled my neck. He placed a delicate peck on my cheek before he pulled away. I caught him and Charlie watching me and when I blushed, they both laughed. Charlie handed Dalton some cash with a groan. “One day you’re going to stop betting against my charm.” Now it was my turn to groan. Had these two really bet on whether Dalton could make me blush. Was what Dalton said and did simply to win a bet. The previous butterflies in my stomach dissipated quickly. “You really do look beautiful tonight though, Claire.” Dalton said as he pulled me into a side hug. “He’s right sis, you don’t usually dress up though. Did Nichole have her way with your closet again?” Charlie added with a laugh. They were saying the right words, but it all felt cheap now. No matter how much I loved Dalton it would always be one sided. Sure, he loved me, but it was as a sister or a close friend nothing more.
We spent the next hour just hanging out in the living room laughing and watching Gavin play his video game. Dalton never took his arm from around my shoulders where he had left it after my hug, and I certainly wasn’t going to point it out. Too soon the party started, and the house was full. The guys all headed off to catch up with their friends and I was left sitting there on the couch. I didn’t want to be here to begin with and I certainly didn’t want to socialize. I watched as people all around me laughed and ate. I spotted Dalton with a girl hanging on him and I knew it was my time to leave. I’d been here long enough, and I didn’t want to see Dalton with his tongue down a girl’s throat before he not so discreetly walked upstairs to his room. I got up and started heading for the door. No one seemed to notice me leaving and I wasn’t surprised in the least. No one had expectations of me being a social butterfly. It took me no time at all before I was sitting on the grass by my house with my sketchbook in hand. This book was different than the one I had earlier. This one was entirely sketches of Dalton and I only pulled it out when I knew I wouldn’t get caught. Flipping through the pages I admired his beautiful face. His rich chocolate brown eyes, his defined cheeks, his sun kissed tan and his short dark brown hair. He was beyond perfect in my eyes. I got to a clean page and began drawing him sitting on his couch as I had seen him earlier.
