Picture Perfect - 2/4
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Chapter Two
“I’m so sorry, so sorry.” Claire whimpers as she lies across the bed. “I didn’t mean to.” She hates it when he gets this angry, and can’t understand why it’s not like it was when they first got together.
“You never mean to, that’s the problem. You just act without thinking. God, I’m so sick of having to clean up after you when you pull this shit.” She watches as West shakes his head, and she’s terrified that he’s disappointed in her. “It’s just like all the stupid mistakes you made back in high school, only it’s not cute anymore.” He runs his hand through her hair, only when his hands reach the ends, he harshly yanks. “Get up.”
“I said I’m sorry already!” For a brief moment, she feels the tiniest flames of defiance, but they’re quickly gone. She hopes that he hadn’t noticed. She’s trying so hard to be normal, and normal girls don’t yell at their boyfriends like rabid shrews - or at least, West tells her they don’t.
“Claire, Claire, Claire. All I do for you, and you take that tone with me? Is it so easy for you to forget what all I do for you, what all I’ve done for you in the past, what all I’ve given up for you?” He pats her head again, and she braces herself for a blow that doesn’t come. “I’m so disappointed. You aren’t even worthy of punishment this time.”
She quickly scrambles up into a seated position, and looks at him with widened eyes. “What are you going to do with me instead?”
“Nothing.” He pushes her off the bed, before standing and walking over to the door. “Absolutely nothing. Leave. Go back to your own room. I’ll call you when I think you’ve had enough time to think about what you’ve done.”
She’s crying even before the door slams closed behind her. She’s never made him so mad that he’s kicked her out before. As she walks back to her own dorm room, head down in dejection and eyes overflowing with nonstop tears, she wonders how she ever managed to get into this situation. He can’t leave her, he just can’t. She’s given up so much, repressed so much, in this desperate attempt to be like everyone else, and she knows she won’t be able to keep up the act if he breaks up with her.
If she’d stayed, she would have seen West crying too.
- - - - - - - - - -
“I’m so proud of you.”
West wants to yell that he’s not proud of himself, but he knows not to. “Thanks.”
“I have to say, I’m a bit surprised. I didn’t think you’d be able to do it. Now, make sure you keep her that way. What’s she doing tonight?”
“I sent her back to her room. She’s probably still there crying.”
“Oh.” Bob’s voice falls. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it? What about her roommate? A sympathetic girl, the type who’d let Claire cry on her shoulder? I don’t want anyone causing problems for us.”
Laughter bubbles up before he can stop it. “No one has ever accused Shannon of being the sympathetic sort. No, she’ll head out to another frat party or date without saying a word. Claire will never turn to her for help. Peter, maybe - but definitely not Shannon.”
“Still, you had better keep an eye on that situation. I’d hate for you to fail at this point.” He hangs up without saying goodbye.
West hurls the phone across the room.
- - - - - - - - - -
“She’s at it again, Tif,” Shannon whines into the phone that she’s balancing between her shoulder and her head. She stares critically at the red lacquer that she’s just painted onto her big toe, and decides that it’ll look good with her new sandals. She starts painting her other toes as she carries on her conversation. “I swear, I’m going to remove that freaking lock from the door so that she can’t lock herself in the bathroom anymore.”
“Give her a break, why dontcha? She’s having some guy issues, you know how that is,” Tiffany says, trying to be the voice of reason.
“Yeah, her issue is that she hasn’t run him off yet. I can’t stand him, and I can’t stand her crying over him anymore. There’s no good reason for anyone to cry that much over any one guy unless she’s pregnant or he’s dying.”
Tiffany sighs. “Just ignore it. He’s her problem, not yours.”
“He is my problem! I hate it when she has him over here. It’s even worse when she’s been over to his place and comes back crying. He’s so manipulative, and she can’t see it. If it wasn’t for the fact that she never has a mark on her, I’d be sure that he’s beating her. He’s constantly here, yelling or screaming or - worse yet - pouting and whining, and she’s locked me out of the bathroom again because of him.”
“Forget it.” Tif tries changing the subject. “Oooh, are you going to be at the party tonight?”
“Sure thing, if someone would just unlock the freaking bathroom door so I can get in there!” Shannon directs the end of her rant at the closed door. The only response is a muffled sniffle.
“Shannon, please. You’re just making this harder on the both of you. Look, why don’t you try fixing the problem instead of bitching about the problem?”
Shannon rolls her eyes. “What do you think I can do to fix this?”
“She really has no other friends than him. Bring her to the party. She’ll make some friends, have a few drinks, flirt with some cute guys, it’ll be great. Really, other than her craptastic taste in guys, she’s a great girl. I’ll see you in an hour, m’kay?”
Shannon looks over at the closed door, and thinks for a minute. “Better make it two. It might take a while to cover the splotchy cheeks and red eyes. I can’t let her out of here looking like a complete disaster. Are you sure that’s going to be ok to bring her?” Shannon sounds doubtful.
“Of course it’s ok! Technically, it’s an open rush event, which means every woman on campus is welcome to come. If anyone has a problem with it - well, I’m the one who had the idea, no one’s going to argue with a personal invitation from the rush chair,” she argues, convinced that they’re doing the right thing for Shannon’s poor roommate.
- - - - - - - - - -
“Oh, that was the best time I’ve had since I started here! Thanks for inviting me, Shannon!” Claire exclaims as she throws herself on her bed.
“Anytime. You know, the rest of the girls really liked you. Would you want to come to some other events with me?” Shannon can’t believe how different Claire’s been acting. When she’s away from the evil boyfriend, it’s like she’s a completely different girl, and Shannon likes this Claire. She wonders if she can talk Claire into joining the sorority.
“Sure.” Her face falls suddenly. “Oh, um, I better ask West first. I’m not sure what plans he has for us.” Claire bites her lower lip, and Shannon wants to throw something at her.
She can’t believe how easily Claire slips back into the submissive girlfriend routine. “Please. He has you the rest of the day, surely you can come to our ice cream social or jewelry-making night for just an hour or so without him having a tantrum. Besides, why are you asking him? He’s such a controlling ass.”
“He’ll want to know where I am. Really, he’s not a bad guy - it bothers me that you two hate each other so much. He’s under a lot of stress; it’s making him a bit… jumpy,” she says, trying to excuse her boyfriend.
“So he’s an ass because he’s stressed? Um… yeah. You can believe that if you want to, but don’t try to sell that load of bull to me. Why do you have to ask him permission, like he’s your father or something?”
“He takes care of me; it’s for my own good.” Claire’s said the words so many times, has heard him telling her those lines so many times, that she says it without thinking.
“Bullshit. What would be good for you is if you stopped depending on him so much. C’mon, Claire, you know you want to hang out with us some more.” Shannon gives her an encouraging grin.
Claire thinks about it for a minute, and then has to concede the argument. “You’ve got a point. How much trouble can I get in making jewelry? After I did better on that chemistry test than he did, he did say that he needed more study time - it’ll work out perfectly.” Claire looks at Shannon and grins. “So… does this mean that I’m technically rushing your sorority, if I come to another event or three?”
“If you want to.” Shannon smiles at her. “I’d really like you to, it’d be great to have you as a sister, but if you’re uncomfortable with the idea - you can come as just a friend.”
“No, I want to do this. It sounds like fun. I always did want a sister.”
- - - - - - - - - -
“No.” West crosses his arms across his chest, and pouts at her. “I won’t let you.” He doesn’t understand how the situation is slipping out of his control so quickly.
“Please, I really want to.” Claire finds herself begging, and she’s ashamed of how she’s acting around him.
“I said you can’t join the sorority. I’m not having it. Absolutely not.” His dad will kill him when he hears about this problem.
Another tiny flame of defiance wells up in her, only instead of quickly fading into a dying ember, it erupts. “First of all, I wasn’t asking if I could - I was telling you, I already joined the sorority. Second, who do you think you are?”
“They’re bad for you!” He yells. “You act differently around them. You wouldn’t have dared talk back to me like that before they came around. You’re becoming such a perfect little robot. I always knew you would.”
“West, just drop it. I think they’re great, and that’s all that really matters. Please, I just want a few friends.”
He grabs her by the wrist, twisting it, and pulls her closer to him. “I told you, you’re not joining that group of harpies. You’re mine; you do what I tell you.”
She jerks her arm back from him, and rubs at her wrist. “Don’t you ever touch me like that again. I’m not letting you hit me and treat me badly anymore. You don’t have the right to tell me what I can and can’t do.”
“You’re my girlfriend; I’ll touch you however I want to. I wouldn’t have to if you’d just listen to me.”
“Back off, West. God, have you always been this controlling and I’m just now seeing it? I think you need to leave now.”
“But Claire…” He whines, and the sound grates on her nerves. “Your bitch of a roommate’s gone for the weekend. We’ve got the place to ourselves. C’mon, we’ll have a little romantic weekend, just the two of us, and then you’ll tell them you changed your mind on Monday.” He slowly runs his hand down her arm in a caress, and hopes that he can convince her that they’re better off together, just the two of them. He’s got to get her away from those girls before they completely ruin his plans.
Claire glares at him, and shakes his hand off. “No, I don’t think so. You alternate between acting like my father, my guard dog, and my lover. Only one of the three of them gets to sleep in my bed. Pick which one you’re going to be.”
He sticks his lower lip out lower, and she wants to tell him how unattractive a look it is. “Now, Claire, be reasonable. What can those girls give you that I can’t? Look, if you’re scared of telling them, I’ll tell them ‘no’ for you.”
“No, West. I’m not telling them anything like that, and you aren’t either. I told you to pick your role in my life. Seeing how you don’t particularly look like my dads, and you don’t resemble Mr. Muggles at all, that only leaves you one option here. Act like my boyfriend. Tell me you think it’s great that I’ve got a new group of sisters and friends. I’m sure if you gave them a chance, you’d like them too.”
“No.” West heads towards the door. “I’m leaving. I can’t deal with you when you’re hysterical like this. Call me when you come to your senses. Be quick about it, I’m not waiting on you.” He slams the door behind him, just like usual.
Unlike usual, however, Claire doesn’t cry. Instead, she reaches for the phone and calls Tiffany. “Hey, Tif? I know you said to call if I needed anything - any chance you can get a group together to go to the movies? Just had another fight with West, I’m thinking I need to get off campus for a bit.”
Chapter 3