Claire held her phone away and said with zero hesitation, "I never loved you, you know. But thanks, I guess."
“Ugh, you heartless girl!" Shirley blurted out. "I think I totally flunked the exam and you don't even try to comfort me."
"I tried calling you earlier and you didn't answer. What were you up to?"
“I'm not as energetic as you," Claire replied. “You're already bouncing off the walls right after exams. I was sleeping, and my phone was on silent."
"Not as energetic as me?" Shirley snorted. "How did you manage to take all those competitions and sit through finals without collapsing? I bet your brain just fried from overwork, that's why you need extra sleep."
"So are you awake now? If you are, I'm coming over."
Shirley could talk a mile a minute, but Claire tended to keep things brief.
"Don't bother. It's almost evening now. Are you coming just to fish for a free dinner?" Claire had already gotten enough rest and was thinking about heading downstairs for a little walk. After finals, she really deserved to enjoy life a bit.
“Come on, Claire, please let me over. I swear I'll lose my mind sitting home alone.”
Ever since Shirley's exams finished, she'd been waiting for her girlfriends to come visit her in Apex. She wanted to get everyone together for a graduation trip, but since that hadn't happened yet, she had nothing better to do than hang around Claire.
Claire gave in with a little sigh. "Alright, fine, come on over."
She hung up and turned to her grandmother. “Grandma, Shirley's coming by in a bit."
"She seems to really like you. She took the exams too, right? How'd she do?" Pandora never really fussed over their grades. She just asked out of habit.
"She's so-so. Before, she probably wouldn't have even gotten into a proper university, maybe just a junior college or something. She crammed hard for a few months, so now I honestly dont know Shirley's grades were never anything special. Cindy was different. Even though Cindy didn't get a fancy education, she still built a decent base. Shirley just got by playing around instead of studying, so it was always rough for her to catch up. It wasn't that she wasn't smart-she just couldn't stand schoolwork.
Shirley wasted zero time showing up, arms loaded with snacks-bags full of her favorite junk food.
Claire met her at the door and took the bags, wowed by how heavy they were. "How did you even haul all this up here?"
"I'm cute, and I know how to sweet-talk. Got someone to help me out," Shirley said, looking totally pleased with herself.
"Alright, fair enough." Claire stepped aside and Shirley quickly swapped her shoes, barging inside.
"Pandora!" Shirley saw her and broke into the biggest smile, greeting her like they were old friends.
When Shirley wasn't being obnoxious, she was honestly pretty lovable. Pandora didn't mind having her around at all.
"Shirley, you're here," Pandora said, nodding in welcome.
Shirley dropped her snacks on the coffee table and beelined over to Pandora with a marshmallow in hand "Look at this one, Pandora! Strawberry filling, my absolute favorite. You have to try it!
Pandora obliged and took a bite. "Too sweet, dear."
"What about this? Chocolate strawberry. It's dried strawberry inside, covered with white chocolate." Shirley offered it up, and Pandora took a bite like a good sport.
"Is it good?" Shirley watched her, eyes full of hope.
Pandora's face stayed perfectly neutral. "It's good, but I'm old now. My teeth aren't what they used to be. I can't eat things that sweet anymore."
Shirley looked genuinely disappointed. She dug out some other snacks. “Pandora, just take whatever you want."
Watching her grandma get overwhelmed by Shirley's food parade Claire finally stepped in 'Alright, just set the stacks on the table. Grandma can pick for herself if she wants anything."