The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~CLARA~

I'm pacing from left to right outside of the classroom door. I knew I wouldn't be able to look Alaric in his eyes after what I did. All of the memories came back to me last night—dancing in the ballroom, Alaric taking me back to his truck and then kissing him out of nowhere.

I'd completely crossed a line. But that wasn't the worst part. I got so drunk that he had to take me home, but not only that, he also had to carry me to my room where I'm positive that he saw his shirt on my bed. Since he was the one that carried me to my room, I knew there wasn't a possibility that he had missed it.

He must think that there was something seriously wrong with me. We didn't have anything between us, I had no reason to be sleeping with his shirt every night. I knew that was what he would be thinking.

"I'm sure that Alaric will be concerned to see you in front of the classroom looking this frantic," Jenna says as she walks up to me. "Doesn't he always find you like this before every class?"

"I think I must skip class today," I tell her.

She frowns, "did something happen at the dance?" she asks me. "We all saw you leaving with Alaric."

I nod, "I did something crazy." I confess. There was no use keeping the truth from her. She knew by now that I was a little crazy when it came to Carter's older brother. The truth was that I never even acted this way for Carter while we were dating and he was the one I thought I was crazy in love with. He did us both a favor when he ruined our relationship. He was right, we definitely were never meant to be.

She folds her arms and looks at me, "I'm sure it isn't as crazy as you're trying to make it seem. Tell me exactly what happened. There must be a reason why you're this scared."

I play with my fingers nervously as I say, "I know you won't tell anyone and that's why I'm telling you this besides the fact that you're my best friend and I love you. . ."

She looks amused as she waits for me to continue.

I take a deep breath, "I kissed him!"

She frowns, "you mean like last time when you kissed his forehead?" she asks me.

I shook my head, "No, Jenna, this was a real kiss. On his lips!"

Her eyes widen, "you're not serious, are you?"

I cover my face with my hands, "very serious. I can't remember everything clearly, but I know that I was the one who kissed him. He was trying to be nice and get me home safely, but I took things to another level."

"Oh," she whispers. "This is bad. He's our professor, and you practically see him every day. Is there any chance that he had anything to drink at the dance? Scratch that; how did you even get drunk? There wasn't supposed to be any alcohol there."

I run a hand down my face, "I don't know Jenna, but I know I can't face him today."

"You are running out of time to escape." She points out. "If you want to leave now, I can join you."

"Oh, I love you!" I exclaim as I grab her hand and run down the hallway with her.

I was happy that I had company to skip Alaric's class today. I knew that it wasn't the best idea since I was never one to skip classes, but it had to be done. I also was aware that I couldn't keep hiding from him forever. Eventually, I would have no choice but to come face-to-face with him.

"You do realize that you will still see him later today." My best friend points it out to me.

I sigh, "I know he will be there tonight when I visit Scarlett, but that doesn't mean I will run into him. I'll try to avoid him as much as possible when I'm there."

"Do you plan on telling Scarlett what happened?" She asks me curiously.

I bit my lip nervously, "I don't think I have a choice. We promised not to keep secrets between each other again after what happened with Carter. I don't want to make any mistakes. I will tell her what I did."

We make our way to the parking lot. I decided it was best to skip all classes today rather than just his own. Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

"Seriously, Clara, I didn't think you had it in you to kiss our professor," Jenna says the second we got into my car.

I didn't think I had it in me, either. I knew that I wanted his attention, but I didn't think I would go as far as to kiss him!

"So," Jenna whispers as she leans closer to me. "How was the kiss?"

My eyes widen at that question. I hadn't reached that far yet.

I placed a finger on my lips and felt my heartbeat increase rapidly. From what I could remember, the kiss was electric. It was more than I ever thought it would be.

I remember Alaric asking me to stop; I felt my cheeks burn at that reminder. He must have been so alarmed by my actions.

I inwardly groan. I knew that the next time I saw him, I wouldn't know how to act.

Even though the kiss meant everything to me and it probably was the first and last time I would ever be that close to him, I knew I had to try and forget it.

There could never be anything between us. But that didn't mean I would stop trying for us. I wouldn't give up until he told me to.

One day I would have the courage to tell him what he did to my fragile heart. . .