˖ ࣪ AGAIN, AGAIN, 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡
AGAIN. . . !

━━━━━ ( 003. real life )
✶ ・・❛ HI, CLEM. ❜

( ☼ )

CHRIS WAS NOT LYING WHEN he said today is his day. whatever higher being there is, they've got his back today. the universe is literally rooting for him, he's convinced.

it's fifth period and he sits in the back of art class with a grin on his face. this could not have worked out better for him — truly.

the whole reason he's even in an art class is because at the beginning of the year, him and clementine were still together and obviously wanted to have at least some classes together. clementine has always loved drawing and once upon a time, chris adored getting to watch her do it, so art class was the obvious choice.

they used to sit together in the back of class, but now the seat next to chris is empty and she sits at the very front of the class with her new best friend, bianca fulkerson. it's kind of funny how quickly things can change like that.

it's okay though, because chris just needs to change things again—this time for the better! right now, the teacher has definitely got chris in mind, because the current instructions she's giving is like straight music to his ears.

"so i'm sure you all remember the partner projects we did at the beginning of the year," the teacher says in the front of the classroom, clapping her hands together as she speaks.

of course chris remembers. it was a portrait project where one was the model and one was painting the other. back then, him and clementine used to be partners for everything, and the two both decided chris would be the model and clementine would paint. he was absolutely ecstatic about it and still has every single detail of the finished artwork memorized, despite his copy now remaining tucked away and hidden in his closet.

clementine has always been such an artist, and for chris to get to be one of her subjects—it was one of his favorite things on planet earth.

he wonders if just like she used to doodle chris' side profile during class, she does that with jax now. he wonders if she kept the pages in her sketchbook that she drew of him. he kept every single drawing she's ever given him even though it hurts to look at them now.

he'd do anything to get another drawing from clementine. he used to get them all the time but now he feels like he didn't cherish them enough. he took it for granted—he took her love for granted.

it's fine though, it's seriously all fine! he's determined to get her love back.

"as we reach the end of the school year," the teacher's voice captures his attention again, and he glances down at the seat next to him where clementine used to sit before looking back up to the teacher. "i thought it'd be excellent to reflect on the time you've spent in class by coming back together with your partner from the portrait project to make another piece. the roles will stay the same and this time, we will compare how much you've improved, and the differences in the details of the artwork."

all of a sudden, chris is no longer sad and dazing about his past with clementine.

now, he can focus on the present with clementine because holy shit—they have to do a project together. they have to spend time together. clementine has to speak to him.

this might genuinely be the highlight of chris' month.

he looks around as the class all begin to glance at each other, making eye contact with their partners and whispering about the project. his eyes shoot all the way up to clementine's desk in the front of the classroom, and he notices how she is now slouched back in her seat, along with her friend whispering something to her with wide eyes.

chris takes in a deep breath and begins to stand up. he starts giving himself a mental pep talk. alright chris, he thinks to himself. here is your chance. put your game face on.

when he's fully stood up from his seat though, his eyes widen as he sees clementine stand up from her seat as well. his heart begins to race because uh, no! he is not prepared for her to come to him! he's supposed to be going to her! he can't be laid back and nonchalant about it all if she's the one making the move to talk to him! he needs to prepare—

his eyebrows furrow once clementine turns not towards him, but towards the teacher. his eyebrows relax though when he realizes she's going to complain to her. that doesn't surprise him, he's not even bothered by it.

he takes in another breath, picks up his stuff from his desk, and now continues his journey to her desk in the front of the classroom while she's preoccupied.

when he reaches the desk, clementine is still distracted by her conversation with the teacher, and her friend is still sitting in the seat next to her now empty one. naturally, chris clears his throat to get her friends attention.

bianca looks up from her phone and her eyes immediately widen, then quickly narrow instead. "what?" she says shortly, her tone a monotone one.

ah, great, her new friends hate him. that's fun!

chris keeps his laid back act though and grins at the girl—he manages a grin at the girl! "mind if i steal your seat?" he asks her nonchalantly.

the girls lips part momentarily like chris has got some sort of audacity to be asking that question which like... isn't that wrong, but — still. she's about to open her mouth to give an obviously clear 'no,' when some other girl comes up to the table.

"bianca, are you coming?" she asks her, unaware of the current disdain for chris. "we've gotta do this project."

"oh no," chris frowns with mock sympathy, he just can't resist. "looks like you've gotta go."

bianca turns to glare at him, him not even being phased and just grinning at her. the girl who's waiting for her looks at him as well, just confused. bianca silently gives him a dirty look before turning back to the girl. "yeah," she ultimately sighs, not wanting to leave her best friend stuck with her ex boyfriend but not really having any other choice.

she side-eyes chris as she picks up all her stuff and his face doesn't even falter once, he just quickly takes her place once she's left.

he puts his stuff down and glances over the desk as he does so. he looks over to clementine's stuff, her phone and airpods next to it, and then back to his stuff. he blinks, feeling the bittersweet lingering in the air at such a little sight. it's been so long now that just seeing their stuff together again makes him feel like he's somehow time traveled.

he snaps himself out of it though, and looks up to watch clementine talking with the teacher. the teachers arms are crossed and clementine is now visibly resisting groaning.

the teacher is obviously not letting her switch partners, which is genuinely just fantastic for chris.

he watches as their conversation ends and clementine finally turns around. there's a small split-second moment before clementine's eyes shoot to him at her table where chris internally prepares himself.

he just stares at her as her face that was already downcast, falls even more. her eyes shoot from his face, to his stuff on the desk, to wherever bianca sat, and then back to him. he watches as her jaw grows tight just seeing him there.

chris is internally losing his mind right now just being around her again, but he refuses to show it on his face. he can't mess this up.

the way she's looking at him right now is exactly how she was looking at him outside of the locker room and as much as he wants to just immediately give up and run away—he won't. he needs to get through this so he can fix it, so he can get to see her look at him the way she used to again.

he's sure she might even hate him and that's fine. that's okay. he understands. he can work with hate. matt once told him this quote thing that there's a 'line between love and hate' or something so he can definitely work with hate. he just needs her to cross that line for him again.

he needs to stay cool, to act like he's not crumbling under her glare right now.

so, he grins at her. "hi, clem," the words fall from his lips easily and he doesn't even react when clementines jaw clenches from the nickname. he just tilts his head at her. "did you not want to be partners?"

💌

extremely short chapter but it's okay bc clementine is now forced to talk to chris 🤗🤗🤗

next chapter will be longer #trust.

also i know u guys hate idfc matt rn but the line between love and hate was so obviously a reference to idfc so just enjoy that like the idfc universe isn't falling apart rn 🫡

<3
jaden