sweet revenge 2 (jay)

         Claire's ring tone, "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall rang on my Sidekick. I picked up my phone as Claire said, "Phase one complete."
         I smiled into my cell phone. "Good work, C Bear. I just finished up here too. Home in five. Wanna sleep over here tonight?" I asked her.
         "You always know, Jay. I love you. I'll see you in a bit. I'm just gonna run home and drop off my car." Claire told me and then hung up the phone.
         I was starting to feel exceptionally guilty. I was happy that Claire and Derek had broken up. I should’ve felt bad for her. Claire was my best friend. And I loved her. Maybe that was the problem. I was in love with my best friend. It's basically always been there. Like the threat of nuclear war. It was something I had grown accustomed to. I had lost count of the countless times I had tried to tell Claire my feelings. After so many years of friendship, I had come to accept the fact that Claire just didn't love me like that, and never would. I felt like Dawson Leery; destined to be my best friend's soul mate, but never her true love.
         I almost zoned out driving home thinking about Claire. Abby's house was on the north end of town, and I was heading south, back towards the middle of town where Claire and I lived. Derek was on the extreme south end, so Claire was heading towards our house from the opposite direction. I gauged that I had about seven or eight minutes till she got to her house and then about three more until she got to mine.
         I drove a little faster, pulling my silver Saab into my driveway. It was a nice car, I had bought it myself. This, of course, was quite surprising to most people in town, whose parents bought them new cars and new wardrobes almost monthly. Claire and I live in a rich, snobby little town in Connecticut, called Oakdale. The town was almost as bad as the fictional Stepford. Thankfully, there are no known robots, although there are days when I have my suspicions. People in Oakdale are all lawyers or doctors or accountants. It’s that pseudo American dream kind of town where generally only the men work and the women are housewives. The term "Volvo driving soccer mom" is not a joke in this town. If you say it, you are basically banished from every cocktail party in town for at least 6 months, which would be quite detrimental to your popularity status. My parents are no different, except for the fact that my mother works just as hard as my father. My father is a prominent anesthesiologist at Yale New Haven Hospital. My mother is an obstetrician, also at Yale. They're never home, which has its perks.
         I made my way up two flights of stairs to the third floor of my house, my bedroom. It was originally going to be the attic, but my parents decided that the second floor was going to be four guest rooms, a theater, two full bathrooms and two offices. So the attic became my bedroom. It spanned the entire length of the house, with a large walk in closet on one end which led into my own full bathroom. So you might be thinking, “He’s spoiled rotten.” Well, you're close. My parents try to spoil me. I generally don't let it happen. I work two jobs. My first job is as a lifeguard making $12/hour and the other is as a bartender at my uncle's banquet hall making $9/hour plus tips. I have also been working for three years, since I was fifteen. I guess you could say I have a strong work ethic.
         I turned to my brand new flat screen TV I had just purchased. I pointed the clicker around the room, turning on my sound system, which I had bought myself last May for my 18th birthday present, before turning on the TV. I turned to channel 7, ABC, to check out the end of Ugly Betty before Claire and my favorite show, Grey’s Anatomy came on at 9. America Ferrera’s frantic voice boomed at me from all angles of my bedroom as I walked through my closet to the bathroom. Suddenly there was a beep and I heard the back door close. Claire was here. She’d had a key to my house for 6 years, and I had one to her house. It was a no questions, just come in, four in the morning, whatever, thing. I went back to brushing my teeth and was just drying my hands after washing them when Claire arrived at the top of the stairs. Her arms were loaded. A large bowl of salad, two bottles of water, and forks.
         I looked at her and laughed. “Well, we already had two bags of popcorn today!” she said incredulously as though I was annoyed with the choice of food.
         “Glad you remembered. I was expecting you to bring up Ramen and Cheetos.” I told her, coming out of the bathroom.
         “That was when I needed comfort food. Now it’s just dinnertime and Grey’s!” she said, walking over to my futon which was currently set up as a sofa. She pulled up a little table and put the bowl of salad, water bottles and forks on it. Then she went into my closet, grabbed her favorite pair of my pajama pants and went into the bathroom. While she was in there, I also changed quickly. I put on a pair of pajama bottoms and a clean wife beater. I grabbed two blankets from a large bin behind the sofa.
         I sat down just as the credits for Betty were rolling and showing clips from next week’s show. “Claire! You’re gonna miss the beginning of Grey’s!!!” I shouted to her, throwing one of her teal green Converse all stars at the door. It thudded and dropped to the floor just as she opened the door. She leapt over the shoe and ran over to the sofa, falling onto me and rolling into the space next to me. Somehow she managed to do this with grace. Stupid dancer could do a leap over a person, but couldn’t walk down the hall without tripping over her own feet. I would never understand her.
         “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here! Time to shut up!!!” she said quickly and dove into the salad she had prepared. Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, vadalia onions, chick peas, green peas, olives, cucumbers and shredded cheese with a light drizzling of balsamic vinegar.
         “This is so good, c.” I said, chomping away. She just nodded her head as she ate and watched, enraptured. I looked at her and smiled. She had a little bit of dressing running down her chin. I chuckled to myself and wiped it away. She didn’t even notice.
         After Grey’s Anatomy was over, we talked about the show as we got into bed. My king size bed had more than enough room for the both of us, however Claire snuggled up close to me, as usual. She put her head on my chest and quickly fell asleep.
         I clapped twice to turn off my bedside light. I looked down at her. Her black hair was slightly in her eyes, and I pushed it out of her face. She smiled at me and breathed deeply into my chest. I put my arm around her and quickly fell asleep.