Ignominious [closed]

It'd been a strange week, to say the least.

Clarence had made a firm promise to himself that once the red markings on his neck were gone, he'd never touch another scarf or turtleneck sweater again. For seven days they had been part of his wardrobe, and he was absolutely sick of them by now. Luckily, the weather transitioning from warm to cold had given him a decent excuse as to why he'd been dressed as such constantly. He couldn't imagine how painfully ridiculous it would have all looked if it'd been in the summer time.. Not to mention how it would have been made quite obvious that he was hiding something embarrassing.

Now, as the Summer strode down the hallways, his eyes carefully scanned everything that lay before him. He couldn't run the risk of running into Elaine. By some stroke of luck, Clarence had managed to completely elude her for the past six days. It wasn't like Clarence had really ever enjoyed talking to her, but now, he was flat-out avoiding her. In the mornings, he made sure to get up an hour before her, and at night, he'd made sure to come in an hour later than her. There'd been a few instances where he'd spotted her out in the hallways or in the yard, but every time, he'd just barely been able to duck behind something or take a swift turn away.

To be frank, Clarence felt disgusted with himself for giving in to such.. Strange, carnal desires. He couldn't see her - not for a long, long time, at the very least. Thinking about it already made him want to give himself an epileptic seizure, never mind speaking with Elaine again. Doing that would make everything precisely one hundred times more flustering.

It was beyond odd to her that Clarence would avoid her over such a silly matter. No man had ever ignored her after spending a rather exciting. To suddenly receive the cold shoulder, rather than giving it was new.

She had no doubts the boy thought he was being subtle. Taking swift turns, purposely arriving at his room late in the night, faking forgetfulness. The blonde was all too familiar with those tricks, having done them herself on more than one occasion. It always made her laugh a little whenever she caught a glimpse of his dark hair. Yet, as a laugh escaped her lips, she could feel frustration build in her chest. It was more insulting than she ever thought it could be. Hadn't he loved it? Why wasn't he begging for more?

Elaine trudged down the hallway, her book back hung loosely over her shoulder. Her classes for the day had just ended, and for once she could return to her room earlier than usual. The crowd that usually filled the hall was beginning to thin so only a few stragglers remained. A buzzing in her pocket distracted her from her path as she looked at her notifications. Some loser had texted her, asking her if she could help him "study" for an English test next week. Elaine brought her hands up to respond with a swift rejection but she was interrupted as she knocked into someone walking in front of her. A growl rose into her throat.

Before she could spit a small insult, she saw their face. "Clarence Burgess. I haven't seen you in a while."

Clarence felt his stomach drop as a familiar voice sounded out from behind him. Oh, for god's sake..

He wanted to keep walking and pretend that Elaine had never realized his presence, but it was clear in her tone-of-voice that she wasn't going to just let him go that easily. Forcing a tight-lipped smile, Clarence slowly turned around to face her. He'd known all along that she would catch him eventually, but he'd been hoping that it would have been a long enough time down to road for the embarrassment to subside.. It seemed that luck was not on his side this time.

"Ah.. Elaine." Clarence's attempt at seeming curt, of course, ended up sounding glaringly awkward and uncomfortable. His fingers tightened around the spine of his physics textbook. Never in his life had somebody had such an aggravating effect on him. She had to be a witch. The Summer needed to cut this conversation as short as possible. "I, ehm.. Yes, I've been busy. Quite busy! End of the semester, lots of homework, quite.. Quite a very packed schedule. Late nights. Early mornings. Now, if you don't mind, I'm afraid I must go attend to said packed schedule. Wonderful talk. Cheerio."

He spun on his heels and began speed walking away from her.