Part of the Lauren Diaries stories. All characters are 18 or over.
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Ana Claire's Diaries
Thursday, June, 12th.
Dear Diary, Mr. Lowen has assigned us a really hard final project. I hate him so much. You already know this. We have to make a video where we launch a projectile and we make the calculations of the trajectory it's going to take and make graphics and visual representations of it and stuff. Dylan was so excited because he thought a teacher had given us an excuse to fire a gun; but Mr. Lowen corrected him and said it was forbidden to use any sort of firearm. He meant we needed a projectile that was observable at the beginning and end, so that the video would clearly show its position when launched, at its maximum height, and at landing. Like throwing a baseball up in the air, or something similar. Fortunately for me, Ruby had a great idea.
"Hey, Claire," Ruby whispered in my ear, "how about we use a coke and some mentos as our projectile?"
"Aren't you just the best friend I could ever ask for?" I replied.
It sounded like an amazing idea and I am actually excited to make this project now.
So, we agreed we'd do it at her house. I'll be going over there on Saturday and I'm sure, as always, we'll be done in a little while and we'll spend the rest of the day just eating chips and watching Tv.
I still hate Mr. Lowen, though. Sorry, not sorry.
Sunday, June 15
th
I don't even know where to begin, Diary. This weekend has been so much... I guess I'll start at the beginning. So, like I told you before, I had to do this project with Ruby so I went to her house yesterday. I was planning on hanging out and watching TV, but that was not at all what happened. I guess that's why they say if you want to give God a laugh, tell him your plans.
Here's what happened.
Yesterday, I went to Ruby's. It was early, just a little past 10. I had already eaten, so we would focus on the project early on and enjoy the rest of the day. Ruby opened the door when I got there.
"Hey, Claire." She said to me. "Come on in. Mom is in the kitchen. We'll be working on the backyard. I got the things yesterday from the store already, so we can get right to it."
She meant her dad's store. They own a mini market store.
"Cool. That'll give us more time for our TV marathon." I replied.
I followed her inside into the kitchen and said good morning to Ruby's mom. She gave me a huge smile. I've always seen her so happy and smiley. Ruby went to the fridge and took out a coke then she went to a cabinet and rummaged a bit.
"Hey, mom?" Ruby said.
"Yes?" Ruby's mom replied.
"Have you seen the mentos that were in here?"
"I'm sorry, I think I ate them yesterday at work." Sarah, Ruby's mom answered. "But there is still some chewing gum over here."
"Mooooom!" Ruby was appalled. "I don't want chewing gum. We needed the mentos for a project!"
"Oh," Sarah looked ashamed, "can't you do it with chewing gum? Or how about some M&M's?"
"No, mom, we need the mentos."
Ruby then turned to me.
"Sorry, Claire." She said to me. "I'll have to go to dad's and get some more. I just hope he doesn't need me to help him with stuff, as always."
This was not new to me. As you know, Diary, Ruby's dad's store was just a couple blocks away. She would usually go there walking and come back within a couple of minutes, unless her dad asked her to help them out shelving or labelling or something else, because it was a very frequented store. Sometimes I would go with her. It was fun because her dad would let me pick stuff up for free, like juice and cookies, but other times I would just wait for her to return at her home on her insistence because her dad would ask her to help him with some stuff and I would help out too. Nothing nice about sitting back and watching your friend work. Though I have done it a few times, I'd rather just hang back and watch TV.
"Oh, do you want me to come with?" I asked hoping she'd say no.
"Yes! That way I can put you to shelve things and label the prices". She said in a playful tone.
This was going to be so boring.
"No, Ruby." Her mom said. "You go, and let Claire stay here. Maybe if you go on your own and tell your dad she's here, he won't make you stay."
Ruby seemed a bit upset with her mom.
"Yeah, seems like a plan." Ruby replied a bit grudgingly.
"I like your mom's plan." I smiled back at Ruby mocking her a little bit.
I accompanied her to the door and then sat back on the coach at her living room to use my phone and play some Solitaire while she came back.
Sarah, Ruby's mom, came to the living room too and sat down on the coach at an angle from me. I smiled at her.
"How have you been, mrs..."
"Remember, you can just call me Sarah." Sarah replied before I could finish my sentence. "I've been well. Enjoying the little things in life. How about you?"
"I've been well, too... Sarah." I smiled at the fact that calling her by her name, still gave me a little of anxiety. "I'm really excited about finishing school. The projects we have been getting are kind of tedious and boring, but all in all, they're easy to complete."
"I see. That's why you're here, I know. A super special project?"
"Well, nothing too extreme. But Ruby had a brilliant idea. Also, it gives me time away from Jack. We broke up a while ago."
Sarah's eyes went wide. Apparently, Ruby hadn't been talking so much about me with her. I liked that. It meant she was keeping my secrets as a good friend.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you ok?" Sarah asked me.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. It was actually me who dumped him."
"I'm glad to hear that." Sarah had a smile on her face. "It's good to see you know what you want and what you don't want."
"Yeah, I guess."
"May I ask" Sarah continued, "if it's not impolite, why did you leave him?"
"We had different goals in life." It was the answer I had been practicing for when someone would ask me.
"How so? Aren't both your goals study to get a good job in life?"
"Well..." These questions I wasn't prepared for. "Yeah, but there are things in life that you just want to enjoy, but can't when you're with someone."
"When that person constantly criticizes them and disapproves of them? Because I know what that feels like."
"Not exactly... It's more like, things I want to explore and discover. Things that I don't really want to share with someone else until I have done them and have had time to process the event in my head to form an opinion."
I was a bit amazed at my ability to beat around the bush, sort of speak.
"Right? That's so irritating. To always have to be depending on someone else's opinion. Like, it's something you want to try, then go try it. We only have this life. What if it goes away and we never tried that new experience?"
Sarah seemed to be getting a bit riled up. I was suddenly more aware of the glass of wine on her hand. Had she had it in her hand since the moment I got here?
"That's what Jerry never gets." Sarah continued before taking a big gulp of her glass.
"I'm sorry to hear that." The fact she mentioned her husband made me curious. "Are you having problems with Jerry?"
"Yeah," she suddenly jumped with worry, "but please don't tell Ruby! I don't want to hurt her like that."
"Don't worry. I won't tell her. But I'm sure she wouldn't be hurt to know you are having issues."
"They're not just issues." She said while looking at her glass.
She took another big drink and finished the wine on her glass. She stood up and walked to the kitchen where I could see a wine bottle sitting at the middle of the table. That definitely wasn't there when I got here. She started serving herself more. Filling the glass almost to the rim. She didn't fill it more because the bottle was now empty.
"It's bigger than that." She said to me while walking back to the living room. "You want some, sweetie?"
"No, thanks, I'm ok." I would have taken some, but I was not sure what was happening.
"Anyway, what did you want to experience that you couldn't do with your boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend." I corrected her.