Clare's POV

There we stood, watching my best friend walk out the doors, possibly to not see her for a while longer. Where was I to go from here? I couldn't survive in this jungle of a school without her. She was my rock. The only friend I have stuck with through thick and thin. Now she was leaving, because of the pile of trash standing beside me. If Drew hadn't of cheated I wouldn't be in this situation. Ali would never have gotten in that stupid fight with Bianca and her parents would never have found out about her record. She would still be here. All of this was his fault, and my blood boiled just thinking of what may happen to Ali now, because of him.

He would be lucky to get a fighting glance out of me…

Drew turned to me as if to speak, as if I would want to hear any of his excuses or false apologies.

I turned and hurried to my locker. Eli was leaning against it, he lifted my mood but not enough to help me to get rid of the missing feeling that I got as soon as Ali sauntered out of the school. We had so many plans this year, so many experiences we wanted to get through and now it was all gone because of that stupid jock.

"Hey." I said. Eli moved away from my locker and I spun the combo. He placed his hand over mine and I looked at him.

"If there is ever a day for skipping, I believe today is the day."

"I don't know."

"Come on blue eyes." He continued, gently. I looked at my locker. The inside of the door was crowded with photographs. In a majority of them, a brown haired girl had her arm around an auburn blue eyed girl. They were smiling like that was the best days of their lives. Ali and I were everywhere. Our memories would fill the hallway, the times we shared our stories, laughed and cried. I looked at Eli, blinking back tears that clouded my vision.

"Fine." I slammed my locker shut.

I couldn't help the thoughts wondering around in my head as we walked out the door. What was I to do when my best friend was gone and all I had left was my boyfriend?

…Wait…?

Just my boyfriend? What was I thinking? Eli was the only person who could get my mind off of this. Being with him was the only way to replace the already vague thoughts of Ali.

I placed my elbow below the window and stared at the clouds, trying to think of what was on her mind at the same moment. Was she scared? Just as scared as I am? Scared to walk down new halls with so many strange faces, but I could argue which was worse. Walking down different roads, or new ones. New roads always seem to propose an adventure and no matter where you end up, you find a little bit of yourself along the path, but old roads never propose anything new. As a growing human we all need room to aspire and to succeed, but how can you grow if you can never find elbow room? A rut was never described as roomy; it was simply described as never-ending.

I can safely say I'm just as scared. Possibly more terrified than Ali, or even Eli, could imagine.

No POV

A few weeks had passed since Ali's departure. Drew had taken a certain liking to Clare. He attempted to get closer to her, but it only ended up with her getting more frustrated and angry at him. He wanted to show her that he was truly sorry that he caused her best friend to leave. He did feel guilty but she wouldn't let him apologize, she wouldn't give him the time of day and that was something that he wasn't used to coming from a girl.

Eli had helped Clare immensely. He was always there for her when she needed him. With Ali leaving and her parents fighting, she really needed something constant. She had grown annoyed at Drew's constant attempts to strike up a conversation with her. She couldn't go to Adam's house anymore; they mostly hung out at The Dot.

On this particular Tuesday, Clare was in a relatively good mood. She walked down the halls, holding Eli's hand.

"So Edwards, what do you want to do tonight?"

"What about if we go on one of our infamous urban adventures?"

"Sounds great." Adam walked up, his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Clare," He said, not looking at her eyes.

"Hey Adam, what's up?" She smiled, and then saw the expression on his face and her smile fell. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure, what?"

"Can you tutor Drew?"

Eli's POV

I lay on my bed with a huff. I couldn't help being so annoyed.

I had plans with Clare today after school. We were going to go to the Dot but Drew needed last minute "tutoring." There was something off about that guy. He wouldn't leave her alone. Every time I would meet Clare at her locker, Drew was always there before me. It was no surprise to see the flirt in his eyes. He could have any girl he wanted, but Clare wasn't going to fall for some low life jerk like that.

Would she?

My mind once again wandered to today's incident in the hall.

-I rounded the corner after lunch, finally making it by the crowd of students reluctant to put their cell phones away, and saw those familiar, dainty curls.

I stopped in my tracks. There he was, once again one step ahead of me. His arm was stretched out to his side, resting on the lockers, as if he was portraying himself for her.

My blood boiled at the repulsive sight. He didn't have a chance.

As I approached them I heard part of their conversation.

"I don't know if I can tonight, Drew, I have a date with Eli," Clare complained.

"Come on, Clare, I could use the extra tutoring." He emphasized tutoring. I knew exactly what he was implying.

"Hey, Edwards." I approached her with the little flirt my body could hold, wrapping my arms around her shoulders, and swiftly placing a kiss on her cheek. I watched with delight as the burning pink rose to her cheeks.

"Oh, sorry Drew. Were you two talking about something?"

His eyes burned with the same envy mine had. Good.-

I thought Clare would never go through with Drew's idea of a tutoring session, but here I sit, all alone as they were out at the Dot on their date.

That's exactly what it would be if I don't do something soon. Drew Torres is not going to take my girlfriend away from me.