Clara Carter

I yawn, oblivious to my surroundings.

"I apologize for taking up your time, Mr. and Mrs. Carter," Kate says as she approaches our Dean's chair. "However, your daughter, Clara, needs to behave before it's too late."

"Before it's late for what?" Dad scoffs, frustrated as hell at having to sit and listen to his daughter's complaints for the zillionth time in three years.

"Before we have her suspended," Kate responds swiftly, glancing over to me as I move uneasily between the Dean and my parents' gaze.

Our Dean, Mr. Wilson, on the other hand, is thoroughly bored and has had enough of this talk and drama. As he watches Kate and my parents argue, his chin rests on his fists on the desk. I got a few judgmental and analyzing looks from him in response to what Kate must have told him about me, but that was it.

My mother joins the conversation and few more dialogues are thrown around the room. 

When a shrieking sound leads from someone stepping in, everyone's head snaps in the direction of the cabin door.

"I apologize for not knocking, but Ms. Ovando, did you call me?

"Yes, Stefan," Kate declares triumphantly. "You're the only one who can tell this girl's parents about the mess she's made on campus over the previous few weeks."

My eyes roll as though on cue at the pathetic and predictable nature of the scenario. Stefan, of course, had to take the fall for Kate's losing hand in the dispute.

I'm more relaxed than I've ever been, knowing that I won't be suspended today because of my academic performance and clean record for any other accusations than being arrogant and disrespectful.

While Stefan enters, Mom and Dad scrutinize him from head to toe as he respectfully nods at them.

He stands next to me, not even having a look at the girl who has brought him here.

My and Stefan's legs neatly hide behind the large rectangular desk, giving me the advantage of purposefully stepping on his foot.

"Ah!" Stefan hisses softly, but no one hears him since my mother has continued the argument by my side, unbothered.

"Please leave if you are here to assist Dean in signing my suspension letter." I stifle a groan, clenching my jaw to keep from voicing anything loud enough for others to hear.

Stefan sighs, his lips near my ear as he pretends to glance at something behind us. Due to his breath striking on my skin, my consciousness returns to its basic functioning and I feel myself drawing away from the conversation.

Strange how I still haven't got used to his goosebump-appearing and knee-weakening habits.

"We both know you'll get in trouble, Ms. Carter. I just have to tell about the fight you had in the locker room and how terribly the guy's nose was injured," he threatens. "If I ask the guy to complain against you, you're in real danger, foxy girl." 

The unintentional brush of his lips on my ear as he looks in front of us causes my breath to get caught in my throat.

"I don't believe my daughter can leak exam papers."

Mom continues to talk which I'm thankful for. All of them are totally unaware of what's going on between Stefan and me.

"Do you think I'll fall your ridiculous threats?" I sneer. "Good try though."

I notice Dad's irritated expression and his hands reaching for his phone to get some office work done rather than listening to them.

"Don't underestimate me, Clara," Stefan mocks, and I tilt my head to him to see his cocky smile.

What is he going to do? That day, whoever that jerk was who got banged up didn't spell my name to Kate.

Was it out of fear? It makes no difference anyway.

I'm confident Stefan will keep that incident a secret too.

But what if he doesn't?

No one can guarantee what he'll do.

When he clears his throat, all eyes, including my father's, are captivated by him. My pulse quickens out of fear.

"I'd like to talk about a fight that Clara had—"

I plan to step on his foot one more time as I can't think of anything else that will work.

But just as my heel is about to drop on his shoe, he shifts his leg away knowingly.

"Whoaaa." My heel screeches on the floor, unable to balance, making a squeaky noise.

Stefan, like a savior, avoids me from splitting on the floor by grabbing my elbow and pulling me back to my feet.

Mom and Dad give me a stare as if I'm the worst thing that has ever happened to them.

While adjusting my jacket, I shake my head, making foolish throat-clearing sounds.

Nothing happened, absolutely nothing.

No one felt embarrassed. Certainly not me.

We exit the cabin after more 15 minutes of an elderly conversation between my mother and Kate. Kate tried everything she could to get Dean to suspend me, but she failed.

As a result, I've been cleared of all the false charges against me, including exam paper leakage, class ditching, and puncturing a professor's car tire.

Stefan remained silent and didn't say anything about the brawl after that, thanks to my embarrassingly effective attempt.

"Wow, that was exhausting," I mutter, breathing out my boredom and wiping sweat from my forehead.

On the back of my head, a harsh slap lands.

I wince and vigorously rub the affected area. "What was that for?"

Mom spits, "For your foolish and immature behavior." While she taunts me in front of Stefan, her voice seems suspiciously calm.

Embarrassed, I look at Stefan, who stands next to me. He bites his lower lip, closes his eyes, and muffles his laugh.

Since we are standing in the center of the corridor, junior students around us are enjoying a free and live show of me getting scolded by my mother.

My dad is away from us, on a call. My father was quite anxious and scared about me the first time they were called to the college. However, this was not the case after a few more complaints.

My mom, on the other hand, makes a huge deal out of it, constantly lecturing me on proper etiquette and manners.

She continues, "Even Tyler and Ray are considerably more disciplined than you, Clara. Then why don't you learn a thing or two from them on how to act?"

My ability to control my eye roll is stretched to its limits, yet I manage to avoid being disrespectful to her.

When she realizes I'm not going to listen, she stops talking.

Her gaze falls on Stefan, who's still standing calmly next to me like a good boy.

"Stefan, right?" She strikes up a conversation with him, a warm smile on her face. "I'm wondering as to why my Clara isn't friends with someone like you."

I must have choked or spat out my water if I was drinking it at her comment.

Friends? Sure, she forgot about the rest of it, friends with benefits.

Stefan sighs and helplessly shakes his head, glancing at me with the same sad and concerned face as my Mom.

I swear he'll make a fantastic actor.

"Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow?" Mom asks out of the blue.

Both of us, unable to trust our hearing, snap our heads in her direction.

Mom looks taken aback by our quick behavior, but she finishes her sentence nonetheless.

"After all, according to Ms. Ovando, you're a great student and a decent person to be around, so why not?" she replies, a grin on her face for having found a nicer company for me to hang out with.

"You'll teach Clara some valuable lessons."

I can't tell you how many times I've regretted today's events. Stefan's ridiculousness and positive influence in one statement are insane.

Mom, trust me, you don't want to know the valuable lessons taught by him.

I keep my mouth shut nonetheless and listen to Stefan's lame attempts to decline the invitation.

But, at the end of the day, she's my Mom, and she knows how to subtly manipulate and convince someone for one's observation. With a huge grin of delight on her face, Mom leaves me and Stefan me alone.

"Your Mom has only known me for the last 30 minutes or so, yet she still prefers me over you." With a chuckle, Stefan says. "I'll see you tomorrow for dinner, Ms. Carter."

"You better not show up!"

He winks and walks away from me without looking back or replying, which I appreciate after my face has nearly reddened.

As I watch his retreating form, I curse under my breath.

Mom could have asked him to be my friend or keep an eye on me, but instead, she had to invite him over for dinner, where anything or everything could go wrong.

But, no matter how much I lie to myself, I can't deny that deep down inside, I want this dinner to happen. I want Stefan to meet my family.

I want him to be liked by my family.

I smile within myself, hoping I'll be able to get away with the unplanned dinner tomorrow night.