My Obsession With Chloe Claire

Chloe's P.O.V

"How was your date?" Hailee asked while she was eating a yogurt with Marshall in the living room.

"Yeah, Claire, how was your date?" Marshall asked with a bright smile on her face.

I didn't really want to tell them what happened, but they were my friends. They should know what happened. "Kason and I are not seeing each other anymore," I said, trying to act like it was nothing.

"What?!" Hailee said, sounding a little more on the angry side.

"But I thought things with Kason were going well?" Marshall asked, her expression confused.

"Well I decided to end things with him," I said and sat on the armchair.

Hailee licked the yogurt off her spoon and narrowed her eyes at me, pushing up her glasses up her thin nose. "Don't tell me it's–"

"Yes, Hailee, it's because I like Luke," I said exasperatedly. "I am so sick and tired of you badgering me over me liking him. I can't help it, and neither can you. He's a great guy and I'd rather be his fat, ugly friend than be nothing at all."

Marshall was quiet. She didn't know that I liked Luke until now, but I guessed it didn't matter. She could now join in with Hailee and tell me why I shouldn't like him and why I should like someone else.

"You know I'm only saying this for your own good," Hailee said, setting her yogurt and spoon on a napkin on the coffee table.

"But are you Hailee? Because sometimes I get the feeling that you're not," I folded my arms. I was starting to get angry. "Besides, he likes you…not me…"

"W-what?" Hailee stuttered, her glasses slipping down her nose. "Luke l-likes me? How do you know that?"

"Kason told me," I huffed out a breath. Even though she frustrated me sometimes, Hailee was still my best friend and ultimately, she deserved to be happy.

Hailee began clapping her hands giddily and squealing, jumping up and down around the dorm room. "Did you hear that Chloe? Luke likes me!"

"Yeah I know–"

"Not you. Chloe Marshall," Hailee rolled her eyes and then resumed to act ecstatically.

Marshall tucked her mozzarella blonde hair behind her ear, her blue eyes staring at Hailee methodically. "I wouldn't get too excited," she c.o.c.ked her perfectly shaded in eyebrow.

"And why not?" Hailee raised her eyebrows, pushing up her glasses once more.

Marshall shrugged. "I don't know," she said casually. There was something Marshall wasn't telling us, and I intended to find out.

"Well anyway, I'm going to go finish packing and then head back home tonight," Hailee smiled, throwing away her empty yogurt cup and plastic spoon.

"Have fun with that," Marshall waved at her goodbye with her beautiful fake nails.

Hailee scrunched up her face happily and then disappeared into her bedroom.

"Guess I should go do the same," I said and started to get out of the armchair when Marshall stopped me, motioning for me to sit back down.

She looked around the corner as if to make sure Hailee wasn't near and asked quietly, "Do you really think that Luke likes her?"

"I mean…well…Kason said–"

"I call bullshit," Marshall said seriously, staring at me with her ocean blue eyes. "I know Luke pretty damn well. I mean, we even dated junior year of high school, which I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that he didn't even like me at that time–or really any other time for that matter but still. He tried pretending but let's face it, Luke is not that great at hiding his emotions."

I would have to agree with her. Luke wasn't exactly the best at hiding how he felt.

"Something just doesn't seem right, Claire," Marshall crossed her legs and folded her arms while leaning all the back onto the couch.

I shrugged. Maybe there was actually nothing wrong.

––––––––––

Thanksgiving was the perfect time to be at home with family. I missed my family and fat cat terribly and it was nice to finally be around people who genuinely loved and cared about me. That was the hard thing about college that no one ever told me. How hard it would be to do everything by myself. But that's just being an a.d.u.l.t. They have to deal with it every waking day.

It was Thanksgiving Day, and the festivities already began at my house. For Thanksgiving every year my entire family–grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles–would come over to our house to celebrate. Unlike other families, ours wasn't large enough to overcrowd our house.

Before dinner, Felix, Elijah, and I played cornhole in the backyard taking turns throwing bags of plastic resin into the hole. Elijah ended up winning every single time, which annoyed the heck out of Felix but only made me laugh. It was nice to goof off with my brothers.

Soon enough we were called back into the house to eat, where Felix, Elijah, and I decided to sit with our grandmother at a separate table away from the a.d.u.l.ts of the house. I snuck small pieces of turkey to Miss Kitty, who was underneath my chair. I then stared at my phone, thinking about Luke. I knew it wasn't healthy to be thinking about him like this, but I couldn't help it. I took my phone and texted:

Me: Happy Thanksgiving Luke!

I hoped for a response, but there wasn't any. He was probably too busy with his family anyway. That was the only reason why he would ignore me…right?

Next thing I knew it was the last day of Thanksgiving Break, and soon I would have to drive back to Tuscaloosa–which I dreaded.

I was snuggled up in my bed watching a movie on my laptop with Miss Kitty curled up at my side purring when I got a text. Excited to think it was Luke, I checked it to see:

Marshall: Hey girl! I was wondering if you wanted to go to a local coffee shop with me?

Sadly, it wasn't Luke, but at least it was Marshall asking me to go somewhere. I needed to take my mind off of him anyway.

Me: Sure! Is it JJ's coffee?

Marshall: That's the one! I'll see you there in about ten minutes!

Me: Okay!

I groggily sat up in my bed and placed my laptop on my desk. "You're going to have to get up, Kitty," I told my cat.

She only stretched and yawned, releasing her infamous bad breath.

I giggled. She was too cute. After kissing her on her soft, little head, I had to f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y remove her fat, potato self from my bed and gently put her down in the floor.

I hurried downstairs, grabbed my car keys and started to head out the door when I heard Mom ask:

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to JJ's with Marshall–Chloe Marshall," I replied.

"Wasn't that Chloe Marshall girl in your grade?" she asked, folding her arms.

"Yes Mom."

"And didn't you used to not like her?" She was thoroughly confused, which was only expected. It's not like she was there with me at the University of Alabama.

"Yes Mom," I smiled. "But she's different now. She's a whole lot better than she used to be."

"Okay then…I just worry about you making bad friends sometimes…Is Hailee going to be there too?"

"Not that I know of," I bit my lip, looking at the door. I was going to be late at this rate.

"I'll leave you alone now," Mom laughed. "I can see that you're probably freaking out over being late."

"I am not," I lied with a smile.

"Uh huh, love you bunches," she winked and gave me a light squeeze.

"Love you too, Mom," I smiled, and walked out of the door.

JJ's Coffeehouse was a small coffeeshop in Willowbrook that had a h.i.p.ster, open vibe as soon as I walked through its door. Funny t-shirts lined the walls along with framed coffee quotes, and none of the chairs matched, which only added to its aesthetic. It smelled heavenly, a mixture of chocolate and cinnamon.

"Hey Claire!" Marshall waved at me from one of the small tables in the corner of the room.

I waved back and smiled.

"Have you ever been here before?" Marshall asked as she got out of her seat and walked towards me.

"You'll probably say I'm weird but I haven't actually. This is my first time," I said as we got into line to order our coffee.

"You're right, I would say you're weird," she joked as we stood in line.

"What can I get for you ladies today?" the woman at the counter smiled.

"Now don't laugh at me while I order this, Claire, but I would like a small, iced, skinny, hazelnut macchiato, sugar-free syrup, extra shot, light ice, no wh.i.p.s," Marshall told her smoothly.

How the heck she managed to remember that I had no idea. Thoughts of the first time in the coffee shop with Luke came to mind where we both burst into laughter about it. I smiled stupidly to myself just thinking about it.

"And what for you ma'am?"

I snapped out of my daze and quickly looked at their menu. I started to get nervous from all of the pressure put on me and went with the first thing I saw. "I would like a dark caramel mocha."

"Alrighty I'll get that for you girls right away," she smiled and left the counter to go make our drinks.

I then saw that they had a raspberry mocha, but it was too late. I couldn't go back and change it.

After Marshall and I paid for our drinks, we walked back to the secluded table in the corner of the room with our drinks in hand.

"You're probably wondering why I asked you to come out here other than to hang out, and I have several interesting reasons," she said as she sipped her macchiato.

"Hm…and what would those interesting reasons be?" I asked, taking a sip of my dark caramel mocha to find it to be surprisingly good, but of course not better than a raspberry mocha would be.

"I hate to be that bitch that does this," Marshall smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear, "but I just don't see Luke liking Hailee."

Oh, so we came to gossip? I didn't really like that idea, especially when it was about my best friend. It didn't seem right.

"You're probably uncomfortable with me talking about it, but trust me, I have my reasons," she continued, eyeing me carefully.

"You're right that I'm uncomfortable talking about it. It feels like I'm stabbing her in the back," I said while strumming my fingers against the table.

Marshall smiled. " I wish someone would say that for me, not that it matters right now anyway. I'm not here to stab Hailee's back, I'm here to tell you why I don't think Luke likes her and why you shouldn't either."

"Okay?" I scrunched my eyebrows.

"You'll understand me as I talk about it," she said, swirling her straw in her drink. "Like I told you before Thanksgiving Break, I have a little bit of history with Luke. I've known him for as long as you have–which was since fifth grade right?"

I nodded.

"Anyway, what I mean to say is that that I have never seen him act the way he does around anyone except you. I fully support the two of you being together, not that you need it. Luke just wasn't the guy for me. Yeah, he's extremely hot and a gentleman, but he just doesn't act as happy as he does around you. I've been around him when he has dated other girls and he never acts the same with them. Sure, he thought they were pretty or nice or something but there was never that spark. With you Claire, I see that spark."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Marshall was basically telling me that Luke and I would be great together. "But you've never even seen us together."

"Yes, I have," she smiled, sipping from her straw. "I've seen you two walk together plenty of times. I even saw him carrying your backpack for you," she laughed, almost spitting out her drink. "Luke is hella dorky sometimes but also hella cute."

I laughed with her. He was.

"And I don't mean to be offensive to Hailee when I say this, but I just don't see Luke and Hailee as a couple–ever. And to be honest, if I knew any better I think Mr. Kason lied about Luke liking Hailee so that you would go back to him. That's just my opinion."

"First of all, that would be extremely petty of Kason if he did that–"

"Exactly," Marshall nodded.

"–and second of all, are you even sure that Luke even likes me? I hope you're not just lying to me because I like him." I hated it when girls knew a boy a girl liked and were all like, 'Oh yeah he's totally into you,' when he was obviously not.

"I am positive," she said confidently. "I just spoke to Luke a couple days ago and he seemed pretty depressed about something and I bet it was you."

"Why doesn't he talk to me then?"

"Because you were with Kason," she reminded me.

"But this doesn't make any sense, Marshall. If he really liked me he wouldn't just drop me like that."

"Look girl, I don't know. Let him lick his wounds. He's getting used to the idea that you're with someone other than him and hurts pretty hella bad," she shrugged.

Either Chloe Marshall was a genius or extremely imaginative. "I guess I should tell him that I'm not dating Kason anymore, right?"

Marshall nodded with the straw in her mouth.

"But what about Hailee? I don't want to hurt her feelings…"

"F.u.c.k her feelings…I mean who cares… In my opinion I think you should go for it," she smiled sheepishly.

"Are you sure you're not doing this to make me look stupid?" I narrowed my gaze at her.

"I swear, Claire," she smiled, crossing an 'X' over her c.h.e.s.t. "Once a friend, always a friend. I've got your back no matter what."

"And what about Hailee's back?" I asked, a little unsure.

"Hailee and I aren't exactly friends, but I'll get to that later," she smiled and continued to sip from her straw.