You Can't Even See What You Do To Me

Claire told Bri the news, and after a lot of excited shrieking, Claire decided to get down to business. They discussed how they were going to make this work--Bri wanted Claire to be there when she went to talk to Seth, because she wanted the moral support. Claire knew that she was responsible for the possibility of a relationship, and the whole thing was really her pet project. So, she was more than willing to agree.

They decided the best time to do it was during Astronomy class, the soonest class all three of them had together. They decided that it was best not to do it during lunch, when everyone else was there, watching them. The best time had to be during class, or so they thought. Their strategy was quite inaccurate, though.

Claire could see the excitement and nervousness in Bri's eyes as they walked up flight after flight of stairs, a day later, right after lunch. She looked so happy.

When they got into the classroom, they did not sit in their usual seats. Claire swapped seats with Bri, so that Bri was in the middle, between the two.

"Hey Seth!" Claire said, brightly. "How are you?"

Seth looked up from digging around in his bag for a quill to chew on when he heard Claire's voice. It was a hard voice to miss. "Um..." he said. "Hullo. Guess I'm good. And you?" Maybe if he got all of the standard stuff out of the way she would leave him alone faster.

"Um... Hullo. Guess I'm good. And you?"

"I'm doing well," Claire said, her tone happy and chipper. She was completely oblivious to Seth's tone, as was her style. She never really paid any attention to other peoples' moods, unless they practically hit her over the head with them. She wasn't a subtle person herself, and she did not understand subtleties. Seth seemed to be made of subtleties.

However, with those general remarks opening the conversation, she let Bri start to take over. She needed the two of them to be talking, and she needed to find a way to lead into that conversation.

Bri clearly had other ideas.

"I really, really like you, and I want to be your girlfriend" came pouring from her mouth before Claire could stop her. That was absolutely the wrong way to go about it--even Claire knew that. However, the words were out in the open, and as Bri turned red, Claire waited for a response.

Seth looked completely thrown off by Bri's completely random outburst. "You what?" he asked, completely unsure that he had heard her right.

Bri turned a bit pink, but was caught by the statement that had left her mouth a few moments before. "I... I really like you. I... I thought you liked me, too," she said, horror spreading across her face on the realization that she may have moved much more quickly than either of them was ready for. "Oh no. I'm wrong, aren't I? You don't like me... You... you don't like me at all, do you?"

Bri looked as close to tears as Claire had ever seen her, and she felt terrible. It was her fault that Bri had took the leap, and now she was getting her heart stomped on, without Seth even saying anything yet.

They waited for a response.

Seth just kept staring at the girl, who was looking very much distraught at the moment. "Um," he said intelligently, "you're a friend, but that's really all. Sorry." He was feeling really quite awkward about this whole situation. Seth wasn't even sure that he could ever think of a friend in the sense of a crush.

"Um, you're a friend, but that's really all. Sorry."

Bri's face was a mixture of pain, horror, and shock. Despite the fact that they were right in the middle of class, she left in a hurry, leaving all her belongings. She was so close to tears, Claire could tell. Bri did not want Seth to know how much that had hurt her, because she knew that Seth was not to blame.

Claire was. It was her optimism, stupid and blind, that had led to this whole conundrum. She knew Bri wouldn't forgive her for it. Bri was not the forgiving type, even on her best days. She would probably lose her as a friend. Claire sighed, not meeting Seth's face for the rest of class. When class ended, she followed her instincts and walked back to Bri's room, where she knew she would be.

"Bri?" Claire asked tentatively. "I brought your stuff." She let herself into the room, ignoring the fact that Bri probably did not want to talk to her. Bri was sitting on her bed, her face red and blotchy, a box of tissues next to her.

"Go away, Claire," Bri said angrily. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"I'm sorry, hunny," Claire said, completely ignoring Bri. "I... I should..."

"What? You should have WHAT? Considered someone else but you, with your idealistic daydreams and bad matchmaking attempts? Thought things through better before telling me it was possible he liked me? Lived somewhere outside that delusional, happy little head of yours, where everything fits your worldview, and no one ever gets hurt? I TOLD YOU IT WOULD NOT END WELL. I TOLD YOU HE DID NOT LIKE ME. But, NOOOO, you had to go and convince me that I JUST HAD TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT IT! IT WOULD ALL BE FINE IF I JUST BROUGHT IT UP." She stopped to take a breath, tears now running in a steady stream down her face for what did not seem to be the first time today. "You know what, Claire? Just go away. I don't want to talk to you now. I don't want to talk to you EVER. You were always stuck with your head in the clouds, anyway, and I'm sick to death of you."

Claire was so stunned she could not even speak. Sure, a large part was her fault, but Bri made it seem like the entire situation was all her problem, as if she MADE Bri do everything. It wasn't. Claire was upset, but too shell-shocked to do anything, so she left, just like Bri wanted.