"I don't mean to brag, but I used to be even better than this. I've been working a lot lately so." Amalie shrugged a shoulder."Have some of the bread sticks, baking is my specialty."
Lucas sat into his seat and reached for a slice of bread when he said, ever so politely."There he is. Hello, Norman."
"Lucas." The man walking into the room acknowledged him with a quick and just as polite smile. He moved to set across from them and next to Amalie. He raised an eyebrow at Claudia and looked questioningly at the male teen.
"This Claudia. She's a friend of mine."
"Hah, wasn't aware you had friends." Following his words he grunted in pain and looked accusingly at Amalie who was still smiling innocently. "It's nice to meet you Claudia. You wouldn't happen to be a Lightwood would you?"
Claudia frowned when Norman made that mean comment about Lucas. Was it necessary? She could see why Lucas didn't like him. Did he have to be so mean?
Her frown deepened when Norman accurately guessed her surname. "It's nice to meet you, too," she lied. "And, yeah, I'm a Lightwood. How did you know that, may I ask?"
She didn't think he was stalking her or anything, but it was definitely strange. Maybe he knew her parents. That was probably the most accurate reason to his unexpected comment, but Claudia still shot a mystified look at Lucas.
Norman smiled smugly."I knew it. You resemble your parents closely." He said waving a finger.
"Now that you mention it, she does, doesn't she?" Amalie nodded her head in agreement. She was a friend of Claudia's mother, but not a particularly close one. She leaned over and started to serve plates of the shrimp scampi and vegetables.
"I've never seen your parents." Lucas pursed his lips.
"Anywho, I'm a prosecuting attorney. I know them quite well. We run into the courtroom with each other often." He picked up his fork.
Claudia was growing tired of Norman's smug face and snarky voice.
"Oh, I think I've heard your name around, Norman. Were you the prosecuting attorney on that arson case?"
Claudia had mentioned this case because she knew, for a fact, that Norman had lost it. Her father had taken the family into the city for a fancy dinner because he had won that huge case, and he had actually been happy for more than three minutes. Good times, good times.
Norman grunted, answering her in short."Yes, I was on that case." He pushed up his glasses, looking very much displeased.
Lucas laughed. It was the first that he saw the man knocked down a notch based on his oh-so-perfect career."Even you have flaws, huh?"
"No one's perfect."
"Yes, I see that."
Amalie shook her head at the two but stayed out of it. Obviously, she was used to their bickering and didn't feel like bothering to defuse it today."So, Claudia. What do you do for a living?'
"I'd like to go to Yale," answered Claudia as she loaded her fork with the delicious shrimp. "And I'd like to major in psychology there. Possibly take on anthropology and history as minors. My parents want my brother and I to be lawyers but I don't particularly fancy going into the family business. Too many snooty people." She glanced at Norman before taking a mouthful.
Claudia wondered if she sounded too ambitious to Amalie. Lucas's mother sounded pretty chill and laid back, as did Lucas. Would she really want her son to spend all his time with a workaholic like Claudia?
"Yale, you say? You aim high." Amalie pondered."That's not a bad thing. It's a good thing, I came here with big dreams and expectations too. And I got something even better."
"Oh, stop it. You're making me blush." Lucas looked away, feigning a bashful smile.
Norman shook his head at this,but Amalie laughed."Yes. You already know, love. Eat lots." She served another heaping spoon onto Lucas plate."I find your aspiration admiring, Claudia love. Maybe some of it will rub off on Luke."
Lucas shrugged a shoulder as he dug into his meal. He didn't particularly have anything that he aspired to be nor a specific college he wanted to get in. As long as he could keep taking photos and filming he was fine with anything.
Claudia smiled at Amalie. "Thank you, Amalie, that means a lot to me."
She stole a glance at Lucas as she ate. "You know, Lucas could probably get into art school on a scholarship if he submitted his photos. They're really good. I don't know if you know how amazing they are. He definitely has a natural talent."
She smiled at Lucas and nudged his leg with her foot encouragingly.
Lucas nudged her her back, frowning slightly. When he looked back to his mother, she was waiting for him to speak."I mean, they're okay." He had never really shown his photos to his mother, though he always borrowed money from her for equipment. "I made a Tumblr."
"Be frank."
"I could be professional."
"I feel left out here! How come you never shared?"
Claudia's stomach lurched. Had she done the wrong thing, telling Amalie about her son's photos.
No. She didn't believe she did. If anything, this would cause Lucas to receive more encouragement from his mother about his hobby. It was a good thing, right?
"You should show her some," she murmured to Lucas. Then, low enough so only he could hear her with her hand blocking her mouth, "Sorry."
It's okay. Lucas mouthed to her, waving it off. He wasn't upset with her for telling if anything he was thankful. At the same time, he was still feeling awkward for just now letting her know. There were many times he wanted to but didn't have the courage too.
"Didn't you take the pictures for the yearbook?" Norman pitched in. "I saw them, and I'll admit there's potential."
"To you, the most magnificent thing could have 'potential'." Amalie said knowingly."And you couldn't have seen them. He lost his yearbook a while ago."
Lucas hitched a breath as Norman continued."That's not possible, I saw it in his room a while ago and -"
"Wow, you were in my room without permission!" Lucas interjected and shook his head. He wasn't going to get caught now.
The truth was, yes, he kept his yearbook to look over his work. And he lied and said he lost it so his mother so she wouldn't find out that no one signed it. She would put two and two together and then she'd do something drastic. "If you want to see my work, Claudia always still has her yearbook."
Claudia nodded, but she had a better idea. "Or, I may or may not have stalked Lucas's Tumblr and saved a few photos," she admitted, pulling her phone out of her pocket and showing the photos she had saved to Lucas. "Do you wanna pick one?"
Claudia felt that it was a little ridiculous and sad that Lucas had never shown his work to his mother. It was insane. How could someone with so much underrated talent not even show is own parents what he was working on? Maybe that was why no one else cared about his photos. Because he hadn't made anyone care.
"Thank you." Amalie took the phone and looked through the photos, smiling all the while.
Lucas sighed, not so much as glad, but somewhere in between grateful and distressed. He couldn't imagine what Claudia must have been thinking about him and how he acted about it. He couldn't help it. He never started the talent to show off in the first place, it was for himself, a treatment even. It just became very enjoyable and he started to share.
"To be honest, I was going to tell you, ya'know, after I gathered a few more followers and other things." He pulled down his sleeves over his wrist.
"That's alright. We'll talk more later." She returned Claudia's phone to her."Thanks again, love."
When the four of them finished eating, Claudia offered to help Lucas do the dishes. They were alone in the kitchen, and Claudia turned to Lucas as she dried a plate, frowning.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have done that. I ... I thought she knew about it," she admitted. "I'm really sorry, Lucas."
Lucas was drying a spoon with a dish towel, looking as if he was more interested in getting in shiniest it could be, yet that wasn't the case."It's alright, really, I mean it. It was just sudden, that's all." He replied and set down the silverware in his hand.
"How much more time do we have until you have to go?" Dinner lasted for an hour or an hour and a half, he knew.
"I probably don't have to be home until ten," she said uncertainly, chewing on the end of her index finger as she avoided Lucas's eyes. "But I feel like you're mad at me so I understand if you want me to go home early."
Claudia was absolutely terrified of losing Lucas. He was her one true friend, the one thing she knew she could count on in life and she had betrayed his confidence by telling his mother about the photos. A tear welled in her eye but she wiped it away. She wasn't looking for sympathy. If Lucas wanted to be mad at her he had every right to be mad.
"Perhaps I'm unsettled. I don't think...." Lucas trailed off when he quickly came to notice the tear in her eye. He was perplexed, not completely understanding at first, it only took his a short moment to recognize his mistake.
Was she really upset just because of him? He felt awful for making her feel this way. He had saw her almost cry once today and now a second time because of his idiocy. "No, no." He said firmly, bringing his hands up to rest on her shoulders gently.
"I'm not angry with you. If anything I'm angry with myself." He pushed a strand of her hair away from her face."I wasn't asking about the time because I wanted you to leave. I asked because I wanted to know how much time I could continue to spend with you. I honestly don't want you to go."
Claudia nodded and tried not to cry. She stepped forward and hugged Lucas, her face buried in his shoulder to hide her tears.
"Okay," she mumbled. "I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."
One of the few perks of being friends with Crystal was that she didn't care when you were upset. Lucas cared about her, and for some reason that hurt her more. She didn't want to make Lucas upset.
Lucas wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug and rubbing her back soothingly."You're not an idiot. You're smarter than me." He smiled gently and pulled back."Just forget about, alright?"
He didn't want her to feel upset about any matters that included him anymore. Although he doubted that would ever happen because he would get upset if about situations that include her. It was a natural cycle, and that was how it worked, they worked.
He leaned in and kissed her cheek softly."We're good."
Claudia smiled and nodded, wiping her tears away. "Okay. We're good."
She sighed and let him go. "I don't have to go home yet," she told him with a smile. "I can stay for a little while. What do you want to do?"
She would be fine with anything. Lucas could propose that they go jump off a cliff and into a pit of used needles and she would probably agree to it. She would do anything he suggested. As long as Claudia got to spend time with Lucas, she didn't care what they did.
