i am sixteen going on seventeen

[lucked]

Claire can't quite remember when birthday parties got to be a pain. It's probably, she thinks, balled up with all of the other stuff that started losing its luster once she made it into high school, once Jackie told her clearly that high school was Claire's chance to make something out of herself rather than just sit idly by and daydreaming,

Comments

Claire, please <3

[arrownomore]

Jogging had seemed like a good idea when she'd first thought of it, but she hadn't considered how incredibly boring it would be to go by herself when she didn't even have any music to distract her from all the stuff she didn't want to think about.

Catching sight of Claire was a welcome distraction and she veered over to greet her and her charge. "Hey you guys! What are you doing?"

[lucked]

With Nate still squealing and doing his best to try and escape his cousin's grip, Claire turned to catch a glimpse of Cissie; as she raised an arm in greeting, the three-year-old managed to slip away and ran in Cissie's general direction, but stopped upon realizing that this blonde was not nearly as familiar. Although peaceful times on the island had resulted in Nate usually trusting those he was introduced too, being of a naturally shy personality (much like his father, Claire thought fondly), he still toddled all the way back to Claire and hid behind the girl's back.

"Hey Cissie," Claire greeted, still laughing lightly as she reached around to pat Nate's head. "We were just engaging in a tickle war. I think I was the victor, but I also cheated." Her nose wrinkled as her fingers ruffled Nate's brunette locks.

[arrownomore]

Cissie smiled warmly at Nate and waved. He was a cute little kid, she thought though she had to admit she was glad someone else was looking after him. The last time she'd babysat hadn't exactly ended well and while she was sure that the Hugga-Tugga-Thuggees weren't here and wouldn't have power even if they were, she didn't put anything past this place.

"A tickle war, huh? That's definitely more fun than jogging," she said as she sprawled on the sand. "I wish I had headphones or something like that. Singing out loud just isn't working, you know?"

[lucked]

"Singing out loud seems like it'd conflict with the whole running thing," Claire agreed with a nod, still beaming from cheek to cheek as Nate wiggled about on her lap. "Seeing as how, I mean, running kind of requires the whole breathing regularly thing, but singing also requires the use of your windpipe, so. But hey, the island's been giving out presents and stuff this year; maybe it'll give you an iPod or some mp3 player to make running more fun."

Letting the toddler run off to where Eden was sitting some distance away, Claire sighed contentedly, then pat the space next to her. "Sit. I feel like we need a girl talk."

[arrownomore]

Cissie slid over so she could sit properly next to Claire, leaning back on her hands. It was possible the island would give her something helpful like that, but she thought it was more likely it would give her something boring or obnoxious. That was how it seemed to be working lately.

"Now that I can definitely do," Cissie grinned at her. "What's up?"

[lucked]

In spite of the fact that she'd asked for it in the first place, Claire felt a slight wave of panic when Cissie asked after Claire's life, wondering if it was just too much to talk about Chris, to even begin to mention how there was a part of her deeply, inexplicably attracted to him. And another part of her that felt safest, safer than she felt with nearly anyone else (Eden and Mary Jane, perhaps, being the exceptions) when she was by Peeta's side. Neither was really an option, as romance went, but both had so quickly dug into her heart and that was worth mention. Instead, she tried her best to suppress a blush and shook her head.

"Well," she began, pulling some sand over to shape and mold. "I am pretty sure that I saw you at that house party last month. And I am also pretty sure that you were dancing a lot. With a guy. I have to admit, I'm kinda curious."

[arrownomore]

Cissie turned red at that despite herself and groaned, wishing for a moment that the sand would just swallow her down before she died of embarrassment. She'd figured on Kon and Cassie harassing her about Bart because they were all family, so to speak, but somehow she'd never thought that anyone else might notice thing.

"Oh yeah, um." Cissie answered, staring fixedly at a loose thread on her shorts. "That was Bart. He's... well. I don't know. It's pretty complicated right now, actually."

[lucked]

Maybe it was hypocritical of Claire to ask. No, she was almost certain that it was hypocritical, with the way that she didn't want to talk about Chris, with the way that she didn't want to talk about Peeta or the way that the girl on fire (Katniss Everdeen, she'd found out) had told her to make him happy. She breathed, a slow inhale before she grinned and pat Cissie on the shoulder, shaking her head.

"Sorry, I know it's really nosy of me to ask," she said apologetically. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, I just figured... I was really rolling around in my sleep about the party after it happened, until I talked it out with people."

[arrownomore]

Cissie let out a deep breath. "No, I just - kind of don't know where to begin, you know? And it's so weird and I can't really talk about it with, like, Cassie or anything because it's weird and I guess I've just been trying not to think about it."

She didn't want to particularly talk about how the loss of control had made her feel, but at least she could mention Bart without Claire immediately jumping to conclusions or knowing anything about him in his Impulse days.

"So, like... I've known Bart for ages. I've known him longer than anyone from home. Back when I'm from, he sort of had an impulse-control problem, let's say. And here? He's way ahead of me in the timeline and he's actually grown up. His babbling makes sense. He kissed me on a dare at that truth-or-dare party all those months ago and things kind of kept happening."

[lucked]

"Sometimes it can be hardest of all to talk about crushes and stuff with really good friends, especially when that crush is, like... an old friend, too." Claire nodded her understanding, trying to find people in her life who could even begin to fit Cissie's situation. Maybe Zach and Jackie; goodness only knew that if Claire had ever ended up with a crush on Zach (sometimes she wondered about that, come to think of it, but without him physically around it was impossible to tell), Jackie would have been the last person she'd open up about it to. Especially since she'd been one of the people who had encouraged her to turn away from him in the first place

[arrownomore]

What Claire was saying made perfect sense and if they had been normal teenagers, Cissie would have attempted to take her advice and pull Bart aside for a very awkward conversation. But they had been superheros and they'd fought together and even if the island took powers away, it couldn't change that. They were family, of sorts.

"I'm just... I'm just afraid that things could get very bad. I'm not even sure what I feel, really, like if it's a real crush or something. And who knows with Bart what he's thinking or feeling. I don't want to screw things up and lose him, you know?" Cissie sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Cassie and Kon like each other like that and they're always arguing. I don't want that to happen to us."

[lucked]

Even if Claire knew, technically, all that Cissie and her friends had been involved with from the mere look of the comics that Kon had handed her off of the bookshelf, it was hard to think of them as anything other than teenagers. After all, from her own experience, in spite of being what she was and having those abilities, Claire still always felt as though she were just a normal girl, that her emotions were just those that a normal girl might feel. Being indestructible didn't stop her from having crushes, really. Even if she was hesitant now, that had been more the result of Brody's actions than anything else

[arrownomore]

Cissie smiled wryly and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, Kon and Cassie are really complicated. I just wish things would work out for them, but it doesn't seem like it will, least for right now."

She grew quiet for a moments, considering the rest of her words. Until she'd met the rest of Young Justice, she hadn't had a real set of friends or a family she knew really cared about her. "I wonder if I was just lucky to find a group of friends like them."

[lucked]

"Hey, you never know," Claire countered, wrinkling her brow in amusement. "My parents always tell me that a lot of the teenage drama really does go down after people grow up and hormones stop jumping all over the place. Maybe they just need... a few years?" She laughed then, apologetically, a palm raising to press against her forehead. "Sorry, that probably doesn't help in comforting much, does it? But, I mean, if you're family, chances are you'll be fine in the end, one way or another."

Claire laid back in the sand, knowing that she'd regret it later when she had to wash her hair, but right then, it felt perfect. Sand warm and wrapping her from all around. "If you'd asked that a year ago, whether or not you're just lucky, I'd say that no, amazing people just kind of congregate, they find each other. Now, I think... maybe that's still true, but they're just as likely to get torn apart. So, the fact that all of you are together? Yeah. That's pretty lucky."

[arrownomore]

A few years and a locked room to work all of their issues out just might do it, Cissie thought. Whether that would happen was anyone's guess and really, all things considered, it was probably for the best that things were the way they were. It'd be better if they were talking but small steps and all that.

"So, you think I should - say something to Bart? We kind of talked about it, a little, but I didn't exactly say that I... crushed on him or anything."

[lucked]

Claire pressed her hand up to her cheek, the tip of her pinky held between her teeth as she more carefully considered Cissie's question. The fact that the other blonde seemed to be going back to the question at all seemed to solidify Claire's opinion that yes, Cissie needed to at least talk to Bart. But then again, she could understand far too well the fear of ruining something, of making a relationship awkward. She'd never again want to go through the cold war that she'd had with Zach once upon a time.

"I... think it's more likely to do good than harm," Claire replied with a wrinkled nose. "I mean, from how well we know each other, I don't think you're as stubborn or unyielding as Kon, or as much as Cassie, the way you've described her. So, who knows? But if you're okay with keeping it secret and just letting things be, obviously I'm not going to say that you have to tell him everything."