Status: Being Rewritten

The Wall Between

Jonah Demands Breakfast

Pulling her legs up on the bench, Clarke rolled her eyes. She had been watching for thirty minutes and all Tyler had manage to do was fall down on the ice, make his teammates drag him around, or shoot impressive- at least, she thought so- goals. When they began to shift to a more serious practice setting, Clarke began taking notes from her chapters in her textbook.

Clarke created a pattern of taking notes and looking up at practice. She was fascinated by Tyler’s skating ability. Someone that tall and broad seemed like they could never be as graceful or lithe, and yet there he was, spinning in a neat circle to keep the puck away from a teammate. Clarke was much smaller and far narrower than Tyler, but she realized that she could never move with the grace or the speed that he did.

Speed. Tyler was extremely fast. Clarke found herself raising her eyebrows and craning her neck to watch him take off. If he ever got the puck in his possession, he tore off, a bullet fired from the chamber of a gun. Clarke didn’t know how he kept the small black object up to pace with him or from not speeding past him. She knew it must have taken a lot of skill and from the way he handled himself on the ice, Clarke was beginning to form a picture of Tyler the number ninety-one and not Tyler the number forty-nine.

Clarke’s phone began buzzing in her hand. She looked down to see that her mother was calling and made a face, ignoring the call. She didn’t normally ignore her mother’s calls flat out, but she was trying to study and watch Tyler at the same time. The buzzing started again. Cursing, Clarke got up and walking out into the lobby before answering the phone.

“Hi mom, I’m kind of busy.”

“I know, I know,” she informed quickly. Clarke could hear the soft whinny of a horse on the other side of the line. Her mother must have been in the stables. Clarke could picture her mom now, hair up, flannel shirt on and boots that ran up to her knees. “Just a quick call. I’m going to be really short handed Saturday.”

“And you want me to come down and help.”

“We have a bunch of trail rides going on and Andrew and Deanna both have the flu.”

Clarke sighed. The Beaumont Ranch had nothing if an extensive list of employees. They held all sorts of events and the land was used for an array of occasions. Shows, weddings, parties, horse riding. There was little they couldn’t do at the ranch. “I haven’t ridden in months, mom.”

“Oh please, you were raised riding horses.” Her mom made a sound of annoyance. Clarke grimaced and felt that there was no way out of this. “If you really can’t do it I’ll try and convince your sister, see if she can get away from the kids.”

“Oh look at you, using the kids against me!”

“I’m not! I’m just saying, is all.”

“Well you’re ‘just saying’ isn’t fair. Regardless, if you really need me I’ll come down, alright?” Her mom made an appreciative sound on the other end of the line. Clarke rolled her eyes. “Alright, I really have to go now. I love you.”

“Love you too. See you Saturday.”

Clarke sat back down on the bench and pulled her feet up just as the team seemed to be dispersing. Clarke looked at her watch. It was now late in the afternoon. An hour practice seemed to be a little short to her, but she also realized that Tyler could have been there doing all sorts of other conditioning for a while before he needed her to bring him his things.

All of the players came out of the door that Clarke was sitting next to. None of them paid her much mind and she only glanced at them briefly, watching Tyler, who was talking to Jamie. Just as she suspected. They were close friends, laughing loudly as they stepped off the ice and Tyler sat down in front of Clarke.

“I thought you left there for a little.”

“Mom called.” Tyler made a face that made Clarke laugh. “It wasn’t about grandma or anything, though I’m pretty sure my mom is still scarred from meeting you.”

“You guys seem like close neighbors,” Jamie said cryptically. “Meeting moms, watching practices.”

“That’s because Clarke hasn’t realized we’re actually friends.” Tyler was untying his skate. “She’s weird. She did totally save my ass with Sheena the other day.”

“Is that the red head?”

“Yes,” both Tyler and Clarke answered at the same time. Tyler grinned at Clarke and she gave him a bland expression in return before turning to his friend. “He basically got caught blowing her off, though I don’t know why. She’s extremely nice and she’s gorgeous.”

“Taking sides.”

“Sides? There are no sides. Blowing people off is a shitty thing to do regardless of who they are.” Jamie made a sound of agreement. “Anyways, I’m blowing off finishing these notes so I’m gonna head home.” Clarke stood up, smiling at the pair. “Promise that I don’t have to be interrupted by your sexcapades?”

“His what?” Jamie laughed.

“Sexcapades,” Clarke answered loudly, shutting him up by talking over him and continued saying, “He actually has sex so loud that I can barely concentrate in my study- hey, don’t look so impressed with him. I am a victim here, this isn’t a victimless crime! I got a D on my last quiz, thank you.”

Tyler held up his hands. “Alright, alright. That’s my fault, really I’m sorry. We’re heading out on a roadie soon anyways. No one will be there. Marshall is staying with Jamie's girlfriend.”

“Alright, well good luck on your whatever.”

“Roadie,” Jamie and Tyler said simultaneously.

“Yes, that. Sounds like a sexual act.” She looked at Jamie. “It really was nice to meet you. I’ll see you later, forty-nine.”

“Later, forty-seven.”

Image

Yawning Clarke poured herself a glass of orange juice. The smell of bacon, ham and hash browns comforted her as she slid on her stool, Piper and Jonah in her kitchen busying themselves. Piper’s hair was pulled high in a ponytail, completely out of her face. She looked fresh and glowing, flipping bacon in a pan. Jonah, on the other hand, had hair sticking up in every direction and looked as if he had been dragged from hell straight into Clarke’s kitchen. He was nursing a mug filled with coffee and wearing an expression that told Clarke it was Piper who had shown up at his house, demanding his presence.

Clarke herself didn’t look that great. She was in a giant t-shirt and plaid boxers, her hair sticking up and greasy from not showering yet that morning. Her mouth was also dry, reminding her that she really needed to brush her teeth before leaving the house. Unless of course, she wanted to knock someone out with foul morning breath.

“Has your test been graded yet?”

Clarke shook her head in response to Piper’s question and then realized that Piper wasn’t facing her. “No, not yet. I should have them sometime tomorrow probably if my professor doesn’t forget to put them on canvas.”

“You’re still going down to the ranch tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah. Mom was pretty adamant on them being short handed. I think I’m getting stuck with two trail rides.” Clarke took a sip of her coffee, flavored with vanilla and two spoon fulls of sugar. “I don’t mind one trail ride, not really. I haven’t ridden Tuff in a few weeks.”

Tuff was Clarke’s all-black gelding that she had gotten her senior year in high school. He was a beautiful Tennessee Walking horse, perfect for long trail rides and an extremely patient horse. Clarke’s father had purchased him as an easy ride and a horse that was low-spirited and gentle. Despite his show name being 'Are You Tough Enough', Tuff was extremely docile and a sweetheart, unlike Clarke’s first horse that she was still in possession of.

“I like him better than I like Charger.” Clarke grinned as Piper made a face. “I distinctly remember Charger trying to take off with me on top of him and I hated it.”

“That’s because you squeezed him,” Clarke giggled. “In his defense, that usually makes them go faster. And I wasn’t intending for you to ride him alone, anyways.”

Charger was Clarke’s first horse. He was seven years old and a stallion, with a proud and strong mind of his own. He was strictly for showing and he was Clarke’s first horse that she took care of herself. The stallion was known for kicking other riders, bolting off in any open direction if his rider wasn’t watching, and constantly stopping what he was doing to graze. Clarke was one of the few people who could ride him without incident, but it was only because she was relentless with him.

“Either way, I like Tuff. He’s a sweetheart.”

“Why haven’t I gotten to ride any of these horses?” Jonah grumbled. His hands were hidden in the sleeves of a giant sweater that Clarke was almost sure was taken from her closet. It was navy blue with a Dallas Cowboys logo on the front, something that Jonah wouldn’t typically own. “This sounds like fun. I want to ride a horse.”

“No,” Piper answered, turning the stove off. “You don’t. Plus, you have a dick. That would be so uncomfortable.”

Clarke made a face. “Right, because he’s never figured out how to sit on anything before.”

“It’s different,” Jonah said, agreeing with Piper. “For the love of all that is holy Piper, please feed me. You woke me up at the crack of fucking dawn promising food. It’s now nine and I’m still hungry.”

“You had three granola bars.”

“Feed. Me.”

Rolling her eyes, Clarke finished off the rest of her coffee, knowing that Jonah was just being cranky. She slid off of the stool and grabbed plates, the three of them filling every corner with the breakfast food that Piper had made. The three then found themselves sitting on stools, talking about anything they recently had going on.

As it turned out, Piper was offered a job to continue working as a journalist after her internship was complete. Piper had accepted, of course, having been given an amazing opportunity. Clarke gave her a solid pat on the back and Jonah gave her an approving grumble over his mouthful of hash browns.

Jonah was generally the same. Hooking up with the same girls who thought he was mysterious- before they found out he was a giant nerd- while he worked at an independent bookstore and concentrated on his novel. He never let Piper read, but he often let Clarke look over. Clarke had always thought Jonah should have gone to school for writing instead of public health, but that would have been taking the fun out of it, as he would say.

Clarke and Jonah met early their freshman year when they were both in biology together. They instantly clicked with their relaxed natures, even though Jonah was relaxed to the point where Clarke had to force better studying habits on him. Jonah and Piper getting along was the lock that secured the trio as best friends.

Padding over to the kitchen, Dixie stuck her cold nose against Clarke’s leg. Clarke rolled her eyes but gave Dixie a piece of bacon anyways. Clarke was aware how much of a bad habit it was, but she didn’t care much. Dixie was her only pet in her house and she planned on spoiling her for as long as Clarke could.

Later in the day when the dishes were done and Piper and Jonah had left the apartment, Clarke found herself sitting on the couch religiously checking to see if either of her professors had put her scores in. They hadn’t. It was an anxiety that Clarke couldn’t avoid, needing to know if she did as well as she felt, or if the test had seemed easy because she was wrong.

Deciding she couldn’t keep refreshing the page, Clarke took a nap on the couch, Dixie falling asleep on her legs. It made up one of Clarke’s normal, lazy Fridays.
♠ ♠ ♠
Hiiiiii. I always forget I have pre-written chapters for this. You guys need to yell at me more often so I remember to updated.

Also, a huge shout out to whoever recommended this story to a Seguin blog on tumblr. I happened to see if and totally fan girled because it was a blog I loved. So you're the real MVP and you should message me so we can be best friends.

Also, I don't know if I mentioned I have glass seats to a Stars came in October? Because I do. And I'm going to ask Segs if he'll let me buy him a beer because when in Miami... let a Latina girl buy you a beer.

-N