Claire's POV
Sighing, I walked to my dressing table, opened the drawer, and pulled out my diary. I walked back to my bed.
I started to write. "Dear diary, I had the craziest dream. A steamy one of me making out with Rawl. Yes, I know. I shouldn't be thinking of him. He's my best friend's father, and I have kept it to myself all these years. I don't know how long I can continue acting like I don't care about him. What should I do? Should I tell him? But Vanessa would kill me. I don't know if he feels the same. Who am I kidding? He doesn't feel the same way. I'm his daughter's best friend. I'll try to forget him. I just hope I can."
I closed my diary and sighed. "Why do I have such luck?" I murmured.
A knock came on my door, and my eyes widened. "Hey, Claire. Open up!"
"Oh, crap," I thought. That was Vanessa's voice.
"Hey, Claire. Are you in there?" she asked again, and I quickly got out of bed.
"Yes, just a minute!" I answered and rushed to the door, but I stopped, remembering the diary on the bed.
I ran back to my bed, grabbed the diary, and made a quick guess on where to put it. "Claire, what's taking you so long?" she asked, still knocking on the door.
"Are you hiding something? Oh my gosh! Is it your new boyfriend? Open up. I want to see him. Pretty please," she begged, and I pulled my drawer open, throwing the diary inside.
"Coming," I said and locked the drawer. I exhaled and opened the door.
"Hey," I greeted.
"Hey," Vanessa said, smiling. She peeled through the open space and pushed me aside, stepping into the room.
"Where is he?" she asked, searching the room. She moved the curtains and bent down to look under my bed.
"Where's who?" I asked.
"Him? The guy you're hiding. Your boyfriend. Where is he?" she asked.
"Huh?" I answered. "Vanessa, are you sure you're okay?"
"There's no way I'll have a guy in, and Dad won't kill him," I responded. She kept searching and finally nodded.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. So, tell me what the hell was taking you so long to answer the door!"
"Um," I said, smiling nervously. "I was sleeping. I didn't hear you knock the first time."
"Uh-huh," she muttered. "I had this nice dream," I squealed.
"About a guy?" she asked excitedly. "Who is he? Your crush? Ooh, this is going to be good."
Immediately, I froze. I couldn't tell her what the dream was about, or she'd kill me. How do I tell my best friend I was having full-blown sex with her father in my dream?
"I…um, well…" I stuttered. She looked at me, waiting for the story with excitement.
"Claire!" Richmond yelled. I heard footsteps climb up the stairs, and he appeared.
"Oh, hi, Vanessa," he said.
"Hi, Rich," Vanessa replied. I watched Richmond blush, and I rolled my eyes.
"Not today," my brain rang.
"Ahem," I cough, bringing him back from his delulu land.
"Um, oh. Yes, Claire. Dad wants you down for breakfast," Rich said.
"You should join us too, Van. We made extra," Rich continued.
His smile grew annoyingly larger, and his eyes sparkled, which I didn't like either. He kept looking at her, and she smiled.
I kept watching them both. As usual, Vanessa was oblivious to his feelings, and I could only imagine his pain when he found out she had a crush on the handsome captain of the college soccer team.
"Sure," she replied and walked toward the door.
"Are you coming, Claire?" she asked and turned to me.
"Yeah, I'll be right there. I just need a minute," I replied.
She nodded and continued walking downstairs.
Richmond followed her, but I pulled him back by the collar.
"Hey, what is wrong with you?" he asked, struggling to free himself.
I let him go and crossed my arms, watching him.
"What?" he asked, noticing my gaze.
"What did we discuss about looking at her like that?" I asked, moving my hand to my waist.
"Hey, come on. You only said not to act on it. There's no harm if she realizes…" he started, but I cut him off.
"If she ever realized you like her, that would be the end of you being all cozy. She's older than you," I complained.
"I know, and I don't care," Richmond answered.
"Oh, you're going to care when she avoids you. Geez, Rich. I don't know why you want to end up heartbroken. She's totally not into you, and she sees you as her baby brother," I lectured.
"Ugh, please. You're just being a pain. She's not like that," he argued.
"Yeah, sure. I guess you know my friend better than I do," I replied.
He sighed and scratched his head. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.
I walked closer to him and touched his shoulder. "Just play it cool. Don't expect too much and don't hurt yourself. Okay?"
"Okay," he answered. "We should go now. The food will get cold."
"You go ahead. I need to clean up," I said.
Rich covered his nose. He was always dramatic. "Now that I think of it, you stink. No wonder the room smelled different."
"Rich, don't you dare," I warned.
He smirked and took a step backward. "I'm just saying, sister. It does smell like the sewer in the room."
"Rich," I breathed. "You're so dead!"
I chased him around the room with a slipper, missing every throw because he was too good at dodging.
"Stay still so I can hit you!" I yelled.
"No way. Do you want me to smell awful too?"
And I lost my mind. I grabbed the broomstick beside my bed, and his eyes widened in shock.
He opened the door as I chased him and flew down a flight of stairs.
"Richmond!!!" I yelled from my room. "I'm going to kill you!"
"Sure, sis. After you wash up. Brush too; I almost saw Grandma, and she wasn't happy to see me," Richmond replied.
"Rich, leave your sister alone," I heard Dad say, with Vanessa giggling.
I closed my door and shook my head, smiling wickedly. He was going to get it from me sooner or later.
I rushed down a few minutes later after washing up and changing into new clothes.
"Great, you're just in time for breakfast. I had everyone wait until you got here," Dad said, and I smiled.
Then I noticed someone. He turned to smile at me, and I froze. What was he doing here?