All Chapters of The Clay Connection: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

ANTHONY’S POVShit! Shitshitshitshitshit!I did not think this through.I knew I wasn’t a master of stealth and I most definitely didn’t have a single drop of detective blood in me, but I was certain, at the very least, that I would be able to hide and observe from a distance. Dousing Blake in hot soup was not in any way me being hidden and saying hi to him and Stella was most definitely not me keeping my distance.I had not intended for this kind of chaos to ensue in such a fine dining establishment, but like I said earlier, I was no master of stealth and instead of being a semi-good detective, I was a clutz.When I saw the waiter approach, I thought he was coming to yell at me for hiding behind a pillar and spying on Blake and his mom with the camera that I borrowed from Anderson to carry out this plan, so I freaked out and in my lame attempt to escape, I ended up bumping into another waiter right behind Blake that was holding a hot bowl of mushroom soup with freaking lentils. Yuck!

ANTHONY’S POVLooking at me now, the masters of revenge and revealing someone’s evil deed may shake their heads in contempt and spit on me. If I could come out of my body and look at me, I would shake my head in contempt and spit on me too. But I couldn’t, and the masters of revenge and revealing someone’s evil deeds didn’t live near me so I was as free as a bird in the forest.Contrary to my initial plan of exposing Blake, I had let go of his cheating ways and focused entirely on being his close friend again. Of course, I didn’t let him know about my intentions – I always made a show of crumpling up my face in disgust whenever he was around, especially when he was with Crystal. My heart had succeeded in taking over my whole body and so I was under its command, doing things that I never imagined I’d do. Like for example, look through my window to see if Blake was having his morning run already.It was 5:30 on Saturday morning and usually I was asleep by this time, but my brain that wa

ANTHONY’S POVNothing was okay!My life was no longer mine. It was being highjacked by incessant thoughts of someone that was, in a sense, forbidden.I had never had an earworm mess with my thinking abilities the way this forbidden attraction towards Blake had done so. I was constantly thinking of him – in the shower, at night while I was sleeping, when he was with Crystal having lunch, even while Mr. Cornell droned on about the American Civil War!Today was just like every other torturous day in the universe where Blake and I existed in the same plane. We were having lunch in the cafeteria like we usually did, Dante telling a nasty joke, Luke’s face a permanent scowl, Blake looking like the sun god, while my very humble self tried not to drool over him, when something happened that reminded me of why Blake and I weren’t friends for three years.Just like on the basketball court during practice when those two videos of Blake making out with my sister and I were released at once with e

ANTHONY’S POVFeelings.Whoever came up with emotions seriously needed to be beaten till their lights went out.I paced about my room at night thinking of the conversation I had with Blake earlier in the evening at the park. When I saw him standing there in front of me, I wanted to hug him. That was my first thought to seeing my sister’s boyfriend, and it was because of that very reason I had been avoiding him all week.When that video was posted online and Blake did his Blake thing and convinced Crystal that he never cheated on her, I was mad that she immediately believed him. I had hoped that their relationship wasn’t solid and that she didn’t like him as much as to believe his statement just like that. I was madder at myself for believing him too when I had nothing but his words to go by. So, I decided to find conclusive evidence to prove that he was the despicable scum I knew him to be.During cheer practice, before Susan decided that school wasn’t up to par for her anymore, I man

ANTHONY’S POVTo say that I was freaking out was putting it lightly.I have never had this much pressure put on me by my father before a game in my four years of being a basketball player. I’m beginning to realize just how much Blake’s presence on the team was a big help to me. My dad never bothered me this much when Blake was still playing; he always spoke to Blake about every single thing concerning the game and only asked me questions that Blake didn’t know how to answer.It was only Wednesday, 2 days before the first game of the season, and I was not having an easy time controlling my anxiety about it.I was by my locker trying to figure out if I could somehow manage to get myself stuck in it long enough for the game to be over, when I felt someone violently hit me. The books that I had removed from my locker in order to fit myself in properly fell from my hand and landed ungraciously on the floors.“Watch it, Pearce,” Luke said snidely. He made some sort of grunting sound at the