Last Year

six

Clark parked his Jeep by the curb near Tom's house. There was already music and some partygoers but he knew nobody he would care to meet was there. Instead he looked at the rearview mirror and met Kate's gaze. Amelia was silently sobbing against her shoulder.

Melissa let out a soft curse and unbuckled her seatbelt. She kneeled on the passenger seat and faced her two friends. She sighed and reached out to stroke Amelia's hair.

"It's going to be okay, Lia." She murmured. "I'm sure the adults will sort it out."

"Do you need to go back there, Clark?" Melissa asked her cousin.

Clark shrugged. "If they're not here soon, I should go back."

Kate sighed. "I left my car... Could use a lift to get it back..."

Clark nodded. "We'll wait for the guys to come, okay?"

Amelia slowly pulled away from Kate. She apologized for being such a cry baby.

"I can't believe Tristan would dare." Kate whispered.

"I don't know what he wants." Amelia replied, wiping her face furiously. "I should have just let him talk to me. None of this would have happened if I didn't go tonight."

Melissa huffed. "We all know you cannot hide away forever, Lia! Sooner or later you would have to see each other eventually."

Kate nodded. "Besides, you did so well the entire night."

Amelia remained quiet neither acknowledging or denying anything. She suddenly felt so tired and all she wanted was to curl in ball and sleep. But, she couldn't go home without seeing Mark. She prayed he would be okay.

The three girls jumped when Clark's phone started ringing. He picked it up on the second ring. He let out a long breath before speaking.

"Where are you guys? How's - oh - I see. Uh-huh...Okay." Clark took a deep breath. "Yeah. She's fine. Mel and Kate are here too... Uh-huh.. Okay..."

Amelia sat up straight and asked Clark who it was the minute he hung up. He gave her a smile of relief.

"That was Mark. They're on their way here. Nobody got into trouble- just a couple of detentions. Thank God nobody was suspended." He supplied. "Now, I don't know about you ladies but I need a drink."

"Here! Here!" Melissa cheered and hopped off the Jeep. Katie scrambled over to the front seat and followed Mel. They both turned towards Amelia who shook her head.

"I need to be alone for a while. You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up. I just- I just need to calm my nerves and get back to normal." She explained, forcing a smile.

"I'll stay with you then." Katie replied making a move to get back in the Jeep.

"No, it's okay. I'm okay. I'll catch up- I promise."

Katie shot her a meaningful look that said she wasn't convinced that her friend was okay. She then turned to Clark who was just looking at Amelia, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Clark, why don't you wait for the rest of the guys here with Lia." Kate suggested.

"No- it's fine-“ Amelia began to protest. She already felt bad for dragging everyone into her problems. She did not need Clark to feel even more obligated towards her.

"Okay."

Clark and Amelia both replied at the same time but it was too late. Kate was already dragging a confused Melissa away from the car and towards the party.

"We'll be back with some drinks!" Katie called out.

Amelia let out a slow swoosh. She did not move when Clark let himself into the backseat of the Jeep and he sat down beside her. She shivered.

"Are you cold?" Clark asked. He rummaged around the duffel bag on the floor and pulled out his letter jacket. “Here.”

Amelia accepted it without a sound. She slowly tucked herself into it. The jacket smelled like Clark and it somehow made her feel warm and safe.

"Thank you." She whispered still not looking at him. She pulled her glasses off and leaned back, eyes closed. She rested her head on the backseat and took a deep breath.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Amelia opened her eyes. She realized that Clark had also leaned back and rested. She looked at his peaceful face and smiled softly.

He was not strikingly handsome as her brother or Tristan but Clark's face was gorgeous in his own softer, aloof way. He kept his hair a bit longer than most guys on the team that it fell over his eyes most of the time. His nose was straight and his lips not too thin but just the right shape and plumpness that girls might find irresistible on guys.

Amelia mused. She never actually got to look at Clark this up close before. Well, at least not in the scrutinizing way that she was doing now.

"Hey, Lia. Feeling better?"

Amelia felt heat spread across her cheeks as Clark opened one eye and looked at her, a soft knowing grin on his face. He looked like he knew she was watching him. Amelia felt a little bit self-conscious that he had caught her staring.

"A little bit." She mumbled, returning her gaze up to the starlit sky. She was glad Clark had his Jeep's top off.

"So, is this going to happen more often?" Clark asked, turning his head to look at her.

Amelia felt super exposed so she just closed her eyes and snuggled into the Jacket. Inhaling as she took a deep breath. The clothing hid her blushing face while she posted a question to Clark.

"What do you mean?"

"You owing me for saving your butt again." Clark teased. "How many times is it already? I mean- I lost count..."

Amelia could not help but grin as she shook her head. She opened her eyes and proceeded to put her glasses back on.

"You're unbelievable. I'm sorry but I didn't ask to be rescued. I guess I’m just unlucky for the most part!” She retorted and slapped his chest with the back of her hand.

"Ouch!" Clark declared dramatically while grabbing her hand and placing it over his heart. "You can be so cruel, Lili!"

Amelia giggled. "You just can't say cruel and call me Lili. It makes me seem like an evil kid!"

She tugged her hand but Clark didn't let go. Instead he continued looking up at the sky while slowly pulling on the tips of her fingers. Amelia suddenly felt goosebumps rising all over her skin.

"I'm proud of how you handled things during the game. I'm sure your brother is too." Clark began while continuing to hold her hand. He began unconsciously tracing the lines in her palm with his index finger.

"I have always known Mark to be so concerned about you since we were in kindergarten. I've seen you hang around us and he always let you be included in our little adventures. I mean we were all the same age but since you were a girl, we sort of felt you were a year younger or something."

Amelia smiled at the memory and decided to just relax. This was Clark. They grew up together. She could be comfortable without having to read into anything, right?

"Remember when we all used to just hang around your house by the pool? You were still lagging behind the growth spurt that Mark seemed to have acquired during middle school. He always worried you'd do something stupid and drown."

Amelia laughed. "He was always so paranoid even then. Not that I blame him, I fell down a lot as a kid!"

"Then you started dating that jackass. And just like that, you no longer hung out that much with us. We were distracted of course by our own conquests but Mark would always wonder where you were and would always worry.."

"He never really liked Tristan from the very beginning." Amelia mentioned, shaking her head. She remembered the numerous times Mark argued and even begged her to quit seeing Tristan and just find someone else.

"Geesh! None of us did!" Clark scoffed. Amelia noticed that their hands were already entwined. It felt comfortable and safe. Again, she told herself not to read into it. 

"We knew he was bad news even if we didn't really know him that well. We guys are highly attuned to each other's bullshit. But we could not do anything about it. Our little sister wanted the jerk."

Amelia felt confused and a little let down when he said our little sister. It would be natural for Clark to see her as a kid sister. Like he said, she had always chased after the two guys when they were kids and they mostly had to take care of her whenever she hung around both of them or try to join them in their antics.

"But I guess I realized it sooner than Mark did."

Amelia tried her best to smile as if nothing was bothering her. She asked what he realized.

Clark tugged her hand until she was looking at him. He smiled softly and using his other hand, he brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, touching her skin lightly as a feather. He stopped and just looked her directly in the eyes and said 

"I realized that you had grown up."

There was something in the way that Clark was looking into her. It was as if he was telling her that this was not the first time he was seeing her so close and so deep. He looked like he wanted to say a lot of things through his eyes; things that were not appropriate when spoken out loud and given the circumstance that they were in.

And for the first time, after a year, Amelia started to feel funny again. Something was tugging inside of her that she did not want to heed. No. She wasn't ready yet. If she was reading his look correctly, Amelia did not know if she wanted to be elated or scared.

"You snuck up on me, Lia." Clark murmured that Amelia could barely hear him.

Amelia tried to break the growing tension between them. It had seem as if the air around them had charged up with energy. She did not know where it was coming from. She wanted to look away but she was trapped. So, she tried to joke her way out of it.

"What do you mean? I'm no longer an annoying little sister?" She teased but deliberately stressing on that part of their friendship. She is his best friend’s sister. 

Clark seemed to have been taken aback by her comment. He chuckled and brushed his fingers against her cheek one more time before tucking the strand of hair behind her ear.

“You are Mark's sister, not mine." He whispered and Amelia realized Clark was staring at her lips, his hand clutching hers tightly now. He was unconsciously pulling her closer and Amelia suddenly felt powerless to stop him.

Panic bubbled inside of her because she wasn't sure how to read the signals that Clark was sending. Sure, he had always been as protective and caring as Mark ever since but surely that was because she was his best friend's sister, right?

What about Cindy? Did he just forget about her? How about the fact that Amelia had also witnessed them being a couple? Kissing in front of her and being sweet and flirty?

Amelia was aware that their faces were inching towards each other and in a desperate attempt to find some semblance of normalcy, she opened her mouth, blurting out the words that she knew will stump him from whatever force it was propelling him towards her.

"I'm your best friend's sister." She repeated what he had said.

Just like that, the intensity between them seemed to have been sucked out like a vacuum. Clark stopped moving forward and pulled back, looking at her like she just grew another pair of eyes on her forehead.

He shook his head and let go of her hand. He seemed to have realized what he was doing and somehow, Amelia knew he was feeling bad.

"Clark- I-" she began but the sound of incoming cars made Clark tense up and he got down from the backseat. He stood there for a minute, his back turned to her.

Amelia frowned. She knew that he was upset. She did not understand why but it was clear it was something she said. She reached for his shoulder not wanting for him to be hurt since he had always had her back.

"Clark... I'm sorry- I don't know what I did." She whispered. Amelia could hear her brother's voice as the sound of car doors opening broke the silent atmosphere she was sharing with Clark a few minutes ago.

Clark straightened up and looked at her, the same soft smile decorating his face. "No, babe. You did nothing wrong. This one's on me." He said before reaching out his hand. "Just forget about it, okay? Come on. You're brother's looking for you."

Amelia did not say anything about the fact that he just called her babe. It bothered her but not because it felt weird but because it just felt as natural as their holding hands.

She gripped his hand and jumped down from the truck. True enough, Mark was jogging his way towards them.

"Amelia! Are you okay?" Mark asked before enveloping her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to come to your side as soon as I saw Tristan there! Really Lee! I wanted to run as fast as I could but the crowd-"

Amelia smiled. "Stop it, Mark. You can't always blame yourself. You can't always protect me..."

"I know but I should have known better! I should have known that the sleaze-ball would attempt something outside-"

"So you decided to throw a punch?" Amelia asked, raising her eyebrow disapprovingly.

"Aw you know he had it coming!" It was Mike who replied. "I would have jumped right in and kicked that d**k face's ass but Mark would not let me have my turn!"

Amelia frowned at both guys. "I don't want you getting hurt on my account. Or get detention! Geesh Mark! You could have been suspended!"

Alex and Tom joined them.

"Hey, why are you wearing Clark's Jacket?" Tom pouted.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "I got cold sitting at the back of his jeep waiting for you, idiots!"

"Wait what? You two were jeepin' at the backseat?" Tom asked.

"Jerk!"

Amelia swatted him, trying hard not to blush. Clark grabbed him by the neck and got him under a headlock. He began dragging Tom towards the house while Mike and Alex hooted after them.

If Mark wanted to say or ask something about Clark, he didn’t, much to Amelia's relief. She was not sure about what to think of what happened in the backseat of his Jeep. With all the drama that happened tonight, she just wanted to go home.

"Are you really okay, Lee?" Mark asked.

She nodded and smiled. "I just think I'll skip the party."

"Okay, I'll take you home." Mark draped his arm around her sister and they walked in silence towards his car.

The top was down and Amelia was glad because she needed the cool night air to refresh her thoughts. Mark pulled out of the curb slowly and stopped in front of the house where the guys were waiting.

"I'm taking Lia home. I'll catch up with you." He announced.

The guys nodded except Clark. He didn't say anything. He just looked at Mark then Amelia. 

She gave a small wave and thanked him for helping her out once again. He gave her a small grin and said it was nothing.

"Mike, could you tell Kate I'm sorry that I bailed out on her and Melissa.” She added, turning towards Mike who is standing beside Clar.

"Sure, Lia. You take care!" Mike replied with a salute.

Mark drove away and Amelia looked back to see that Clark was the only one left, staring at them as they left.