Page 4 of Pretty Ruthless

“I’m good Ken, how are you?” I say with a nod to Devon, he nods back but his eyes quickly divert back to Kennedy. The two of them have been best friends since Kennedy moved in next door to him and Devon’s mom babysat all of us as kids.

I see Devon a few times a week so there’s no need to catch up with him, I know exactly what he’s been up to since high school.

“I’m great, I moved back late last month, so I’m settling in.” Kennedy says with a smile.

“Ah, that’s great Ken, it’ll be nice to see you around town.” I lift a beer up in a congratulatory manner.

“Thanks,” she smiles again, “hey we’re headed to do karaoke, you guys wanna join?” Kennedy looks from Claire to me, like she already knows how we’re going to answer.

“Absolutely.”

“Sure.”

Claire and I answer in unison.

“How cute, you guys are still doing that.” Kennedy smirks at Claire and Devon chuckles behind them. I turn to Claire and her cheeks are a light pink but the glare she’s shooting at Kennedy could start wars.

Huh.

It’s been five years. Ten if you count the first heartbreak, almost to the day. I’m not sure how I’ll survive this heartbreak. The one I know is going to happen, she’ll leave again, she always does and there’s nothing I can do to change her mind.

“Okay, we’ll let’s go!” Kennedy exclaims, excitement radiating off of her.

Chapter 5 Dawson

June 2nd, 2013

“Dawson James Mercer,” my name booms through the stadium as pride swells in my chest. I’m the first in the Mercer family to graduatehigh school, I look out to the crowd as I take the steps up to the stage and I find my mom and dad both clapping for me, their eyes shining with pride as I take the diploma from the principal and shake the hands of the teachers who helped me get here. When I get to the end of the stage I switch the tassel of my cap from one side to the other. I fucking did it. I walk down the middle of the aisle back to my seat holding a rolled up piece of paper that’s taken twelve years of my life to earn. I find Claire sitting between two other kids in our class, her smile is brilliant and my heart constricts a little when she mouths the words ‘I love you’. I mouth them back to her and smile as I head for my seat.

An hour later the principal stands at the podium and introduces the graduating class of 2013. Cheers erupt as caps are thrown into the air and the celebration starts, we stand one by one and start to file out of the football field. Everyone gathering one cap so we can exchange them back to each other later. Our names were written in sharpie to ensure we had our own caps by the end of the day. I look down at the name on the inside of the cap I pick up,Jessica Mathers.Hmm, I think that’s Jayden's girlfriend. He’s always keeping to himself, and we leave him be for a reason. I scan the crowd to see if I can spot him, or her. I don’t.

I do however spot Claire as she holds up a cap, “I managed to collect my own.” She laughs pointing at it.

“I have Jessica Mathers’ cap.” I say showing her the writing. Then I spot her, “Hey, Jessica.” I reach out, handing her the cap back.

“Thanks.” She says, cheeks turning pink. I watch as Jayden wraps his arm over her shoulder and kisses her cheek.

Together, Claire and I leave the football field, making our way to the car. Claire’s arms wrap around my waist from the back as we enter the parking lot, I turn in her grasp and lift her up, her legs wrap around my waist where her arms just were.

“HEY!” I hear a shout from behind us. “Don’t you want this?” someone asks. I sit Claire back on the ground so we can both turn, only to see Grace running towards us, waving a cap in the air. “I picked up yours.” She says with a huge smile. I hear Claire let out a sigh, mumbling something under her breath.

“Thanks.” I say dryly as I take back my cap.

She lets out a giggle, “You’re welcome.” Her voice is a little bit of a high pitch.

“You can go now.” Claire says, waving her hand at Grace. Grace looks at me like I just kicked a puppy, then rotates on her heels and walks off.

We turn to make our way to the car again, hopefully this time with no more interruptions. I lift her again, carrying her as I walk, placing a quick kiss on her lips. “We did it babe.” I say into her ear as her arms drape over my shoulders.

“Yes we did, I’m so damn proud of you!” She says, landing a long wet kiss on my lips, one that I hope never ends. I could live my entire life with Claire kissing me like this.

“Save some for the honeymoon,” my dad says behind us earning him a slap on the shoulder from my mom.

“Tonight?” I ask, only loud enough for Claire to hear.

“Tonight,” she agrees with a smile as I set her down. She straightens out her clothes making sure nothing is out of place.

Tonight we’re finally going all the way. Yes, we’ve done kissing and touching and one very drunken blow job but tonight, we’re finally losing our virginities to each other. I rented a hotel room and splurged for the honeymoon suite. My dad’s comment about saving it for the honeymoon is so true but he has no idea. Claire doesn’t know either, I wanted it to be a surprise. I want it to be perfect for her, a night she will remember for the rest of our lives. This is the start of our lives together AHS, kind of like AD and BC but after high school.

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