Claire's Song by Ashley King

the weird guy that I am. With a hand through my hair, I start, “So, obviously I don't drug girls to get them to make out with me.”
                Claire gives a little laugh and leans forward, dropping her hands between her knees, “I kind of figured that, although to make out with Lindy you would probably need to drug yourself.”
                I laugh. This girl is too good to be true. But I’ve waited too long to meet her. “Yeah, I was kind of high when it happened. She’d been crushing on me for a while and waiting for me to break up with Kyra. When people started to find out about my Mom being a druggie and me living in a run down piece of crap trailer they started changing their tunes. Then Lindy decided to ruin my life and my reputation so no other girl would want me.”
                A shiver rushes through Claire’s body and she’s got this scrunched up look on her face like she’s going to be sick. “Why do I get the creepy weird feeling that she’s still into you? She freaked out when she found out about your pick.”
                I don’t want to admit it, but I’ve wondered the same thing. I had a run in with her not too long ago and it gave me the creeps.
                My black eye finally healed up from my mom losing it and letting her boyfriend hit me. I tried to fight back, but they threatened to call the cops and say I started it. I stopped fighting, but I don’t know why I care if I go to jail. That would be better than here, anywhere would be better than this trailer. It's crazy to see how rapidly my Mom declined after Dad left. She's not even the same person and I wonder if maybe this is who she was the entire time. Was she always into drugs? Because this is not the personality of a newbie. It caused me to make a few changes in that department. It seems pointless, I know, especially when you're plotting your own suicide, but I don’t want to be anything like her, so I quit smoking pot. That last time was pretty crazy anyway.
                I'm walking through the hallways and I see Lindy. She's watching me carefully, the intent similar to that of a vulture. I look away, wanting nothing to do with her, disgusted that I even fell for her once before. I was in a dark place, am still in a dark place, but at least I have my wits about me. I won’t make the same mistake twice. The only person I can trust is myself. Everyone else is out to get me, lie, and ruin my life, whatever. No one has my back.
                The bell rings and the hall clears within minutes. People actually care about being late to class. I don't. I take my precious time at my locker, switching out books, even though I never do the homework. I feel her presence before I actually see her.
     Lindy is pressed up against my side in the empty hallway, her voice a low purr, "Hey, Ryder."
    I step away from her, taking in the way she wears too much makeup, how everything about her looks fake, plastic even. I can’t even believe I hooked up with her and decide to blame it on the drugs.
                "Get away from me," I growl as I slam my locker shut. Never have I ever been in such a hurry to get to class. I hear Lindy's heels annoyingly click clack on the tile. She puts her hand on my arm, and I jerk it off and spin on her. "Get off me."
                Her eyes are huge, but she doesn't give up. "Look, Ryder, I think we're good together and I want to give it another shot. We just…we just have to be more careful, that's all." Is she serious? I can barely believe what I'm hearing. Her words piss me off and it takes everything I’ve got to keep from cussing her out right here in the hallway. The anger pulsates beneath the surface, and I can almost hear it throbbing in my veins.
                "You're nuts. Stay away from me. I can't believe I hooked up with you to begin with, because look at how fake you are. Then there's that part