"But, Alli-" Once again, I was cut off by my best friend. I never seemed to be able to speak my mind when hers was set.

"Clare, it's a party for god's sake. One college party isn't going to ruin your career. C'mon, Clare. This will be my first date with Drew, and I need you to be there. Everyone says he's changed, but if he hasn't, then I'll need you by my side." Alli gave me her famous puppy-dog face. Her wide brown eyes and pouted lips forced me to break down. I could never say no to her, no matter how hard I tried.

"Fine. But don't expect me to drink. I made a vow," Alli sighed. This had been my speech since we first attended Smithdale.

"Okay, okay. I get it, you've heard this speech way too many times. I'm just trying to prove a point. I'm not going to change." Alli smiled and put her arm around me.

"I know, Clare-bear. Don't worry. No one's going to change you." I smiled back at her as we walked back to our apartment. We were renting a two-bedroom apartment during our 4th year at university. Alli and I, well, we're inseparable.

"You know, Drew's been telling me about his friend, Eli." I stopped dead in my tracks. She was not trying to set me up, right? I started to shake my head.

"Alli, you're not setting me up on some blind date. I bet he's a football player, too. I thought you realized after KC that I was not supposed to date athletes. It never works out."

"Yet you spend every single day in that training room. Clare, this isn't high school anymore. KC was a dumb jackass who didn't realize what he had. He screwed up, but not all guys are like KC. Take Drew for example," I looked at her with the 'are you serious' look. Drew was known for his one-night stands and various flings. He was the quarterback and didn't seem to care about hurting girls' feelings. Alli knew how I felt about him, but if he made her happy, then I was happy.

"Alright, you don't want to hear about Drew, but in high school, guys only thought about looks. It didn't matter if you wanted to be the first woman president or cure cancer." I agreed. When KC left me for Jenna, I knew it was the looks. It wasn't that I wasn't pretty, she was just prettier.

"Even though I don't want to say it, you're absolutely right." She linked her arm through mine as we rode the elevator up to our apartment.

"Ew, no, Clare. What are you thinking?" Alli and I had completely different tastes in fashion, but I figured for once, I'd let her dress me up. If Drew ended up acting like a complete idiot, I didn't want her hating me for not wearing something appropriate.

She turned my closet upside down. I'm almost positive that she went through every single piece of clothing that I owned before picking out a pair of frayed jean shorts with a burnout stripe tiered camisole. A pair of gladiator wedge sandals completed my look. I had to admit that I looked rather pretty. Although I felt a bit naked in my lack of clothing.

"Thanks, Alli. I love it!" I ran over to her and gave her a hug. Alli's wardrobe consisted of a black v-neck lace dress with wedge heels. Drew was going to be sorry if he screwed up her night.

After putting on our makeup and grabbing our purses, we made our way to the football house, as everyone liked to call it.

About five or six of the players lived in a rather large house near frat row. The football house was known for its outrageous parties. They never got out of hand, but if you weren't "somebody", then you weren't invited.

The line for the party was down the block and around the corner, but when I went to go to the end, Alli grabbed me and pulled me to the front.

"Alli? Where the hell are you going? The line is all the way back there!"

"Clare, calm down. Drew told me to go to the front, Supposedly we're on the VIP list." I laughed. This seemed so cliché. It was almost as if we were in one of those teen movies.

"So, what's the guy's name again? Ethan?"

"No, Clare. It's Eli. Look if you're not interested then don't talk to him. I don't want you to-"

"To what, Alli? Break his heart? Are you still on that?" She sighed and faced me.

"I'm sorry, Clare. That was out of line, but he's, well, he's a good kid. I don't want either of you getting hurt, alright?" Obviously, there was more to this than just a blind date, but if she was going to bring up Nate again, then, wait, I'm not getting upset over this again.

"It's okay. I'm sorry, too. This is my first night out since, well, you know." She nodded in agreement. It was still hard to talk about. She linked her arm through mine as we marched our way to the front door.

"Names, please."

"Alli Bhandari and Clare Edwards." The bouncer searched through the list of names before highlighting two.

"Okay, ladies, you may go inside." Alli and I smiled at each other before making our way into the party.

"To fresh starts?" Alli questioned before looking for her date.

"To fresh starts-" As I spoke the words, my eyes came across a dark-haired muscular boy. I recognized him from the athletic training room. Whenever I would help out Ducky with taping players or wrapping ice around injuries, I would try to meet other people. I had never talked with him before, but he always seemed to be smirking. He was talking with Drew, and I watched as his green eyes sparkled while laughing at a joke told by Drew. He caught me staring. A smirk appeared across his chiseled face, and Drew turned around to see why mystery boy was smirking. A toothy smile spread across his face. The two boys walked over to us, and Alli caught my staring.

"Clare, that's Eli." My jaw dropped, knowing this was the boy I was supposedly meeting up with.

"Should I distract them while you wipe the drool, or are you good?" I slapped Alli's shoulder and squinted my eyes at her.

One good-looking football player wasn't going to make me fall head over heels for him.

"Hi, you must be Clare, right? I'm Eli." He smirked, and I could feel a blush burning through my skin. The way he said Clare, chills ran up and down my spine. I pondered on what to say, but nothing seemed to come out. Finally, I spoke.

"Ehh, yeah, that's me, Clare." I looked around the room trying to hide the fact that I was blushing a deep, deep shade of red.

"Can I get you a drink?" I felt extremely nervous. Boys never made me feel this way, but for some reason, Eli seemed to defy all my former thoughts.

"Yeah, sure. How about a water?" He smirked, and I could feel him eying up my cross necklace. He probably thought I was some church girl who never did anything fun. Well, he was completely wrong.

"That sounds good; I'll be right back." I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, searching the room for Alli and Drew. Before I knew it, I heard her squeaky voice from behind me.

"Dreeeeeeew. Why do you have to leave? I want you to stay with me."

"Alli, I told you that I couldn't stay long. My parents are coming up for the football game this weekend, and Adam's flying in tonight. I have to be there when he arrives at my place." I watched her pout. Oh, Alli…

"Okay." She was upset, but I think she realized she wasn't winning the battle.

I watched them whisper back and forth before the makeout began. I averted my eyes and felt a hand touch my shoulder.

"Here's your water." He smirked before opening his water and bringing it to his mouth. He was so cute. I mentally slapped myself for thinking like that. I was not going to think about another guy. I needed to focus on my education.

"Thanks." I felt a head leaning on my shoulder. I looked over to see Alli reapplying her lipstick. Alli and her makeup, I'll never quite undertsand that.

"So," Alli cut him off.

"Eli, I'm really sorry, but we need to take off. I forgot about a paper I have due tomorrow, and I really need Clare to help me out." His smirk faded. He was genuinely upset that Alli was bailing me out.

"Oh, you know, that's alright. We'll hang out another time, Clare." I felt my knees buckle a tiny bit, but I kept my balance. He was beginning to frustrate me.

"Mhmm, another time. Thanks, Eli." I caught his eyes as I turned. I found myself getting lost in the green.

"Clare? Are you ready to go?" I shook my head and nodded Scratching my head, I walked out of the house with Alli.

"So I'm guessing you weren't interested?" The complete opposite.

"Yep, you're right. I think I need to be single." I need green eyes.

"Well, at least you know what you want. You'll find the perfect guy someday." Already found him.

A/N: So? Should I continue? I've had this thought for a while now. I finally have time to write! YAY! haha Anyways, I want honest opinions about this.

Other questions: What did Clare do? Whose heart did she break? How long can she honestly keep away from Eli? & Lastly, is Alli that oblivious,or is she trying to protect Eli?

Thanks for reading! Please review! :)