Chapter 97

                                    

                                          
To Clay Jensen, it seemed that the holidays had come and gone in the blink of an eyes as the boy and his niece were another year older, and he was already just a few days into the new year, as well as the new decade. Over Christmas and his birthday, the now-20-year-old had received a few things as gifts. Among some things he got, the young man's parents had given him a few new clothing items, shoes, and even a really nice slip-on maroon red Arizona State hoodie since he would be going there for college very soon. The college-themed hoodie was a maroon red color with gold lettering that read "Arizona State" in big letters, along with the college's pitchfork logo resting front and center under the wording. 
                          
The blue-eyed male's grandparents had even sent him a little something as he recieved a Fitbit Blaze watch from them. The elderly couple had been informed by Matt and Lainie about how much Clay enjoyed playing baseball, and how often he went out on runs as well, so Amy and Craig had decided to get their grandson a Fitbit Blaze watch with a black galaxy-themed band - decorated with pink and blue stardust splotches, as well as tons of white stars - due to how much they knew he was captivated by space as well. The young man's brother had even been really proud of his gift, because it was something personal to him, and he had been really excited for Clay to unwrap the special present on his birthday. 
                          
The Foley teen had given his brother a decently sized picture frame that held up to six images. All six photos were random, candid shots of the two males together. There was one photo of the two brothers working together at Monet's, another picture of the two celebrating together with Justin giving his brother a victory piggyback ride after Clay's very first baseball game, another image of the two siblings simply smiling at one another while having lunch between classes, one where the two were leaving the Crestmont after a movie, and one where the two brothers had been playfully shoving one another. Of course, Justin had some help from Tyler in capturing all of these candid moments. Per the football player's request, Tyler had simply gone undercover, stealthily capturing candid moments of the two brothers together. 
                          
As a Christmas present, Justin had given his brother a new, and, in his opinion, really cool t-shirt that he had stumbled upon and ordered online. The shirt was black with an impressively realistic galaxy print consisting of tons of stars and a couple splotches of stardust here and there. The out-of-this-world galaxy print wrapped all the way around the shirt, covering the whole article of clothing in red, blue, and even purple stardust splotches along with countless stars of different sizes. Justin's galaxy shirt actually ended up being a top favorite article of clothing that the young Jensen male recieved for Christmas, along with the college-themed hoodie from his parents, and a fashionable pair of dark red, or maroon, Vans with a white stripe that Hannah had given him as well. Matt and Lainie had even talked with Clay and Justin about the soon-to-be college boys getting required motorcycle licenses, because the husband and wife had brought up the idea of getting the two boys scooters for easier transportation and parking around their college campus, as well as getting the motor driven vehicles registered with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Devision before college starts up. But, as part of their Christmas present and college preparation, the two adults agreed to go ahead and purchase the two motor driven vehicles as well as get them registered in California, also allowing their son and Justin to get the required motorcycle licenses to be able to get in some good practice with operating the scooters. 
                          
As of right now, Clay Jensen was doing something he honestly never thought he would ever do. Given the circumstances of what had happened with Monty, the Walker's house was one of few places the young man wasn't cleared to go. Having run into Nora earlier in the day, the Jensen male had asked her if she could pass a message on to her son by letting him know that Clay wanted to meet up with him somewhere and just talk. Bryce had surprisingly accepted the offer, easily and willingly agreeing to meet up after Clay's morning work shift at Monet's.