There she was, standing in front of The Dot; a place where the many students of Degrassi High school came to do homework or hang out. Clare was distraught; what if Eli rejected her again? After all, she knew deep down she loved him after all this time. She sucked in a gust of air and walked through the doors. Seeing Eli nowhere in sight, she sat down at the nearest table. Beep. Beep. Her phone dinged and vibrated. Clare read the message from Eli: "Hey, sorry Clare, I'm running a little late. Be there in ten."
"Great," She thought to herself. What was she going to do for ten minutes? "Oh yeah, sit here like a pathetic loser." Clare got up to grab a cup of coffee, and when she turned, she saw someone she wasn't expecting. A face she was far too familiar with and one she didn't particularly want to see. "Hello, Jake," She exhaled. Clare walked straight past him to sit down at her table. Jake, however, took this as a gesture for him to take a seat. When he did, Clare look annoyed. She raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"
"Clare," He started. Jake looked nervous, even his voice was faintly shaky, and Clare couldn't understand why. "I've noticed you been avoiding me lately, and I just-I just figured that we need to talk abou-"
"So you decided that right here, right now, is the perfect time? Sorry, I'm meeting someone." She inched toward the edge of her seat, desperately hoping Eli would walk through the door any second.
"Eli?" He looked hurt. Clare looked at his face, and he genuinely looked betrayed. She could see it in his eyes. She looked away nervously. Clare knew it wasn't his business, but she felt terrible for keeping anything from him. He still had a part of her, even if Clare wasn't willing to accept it.
"Jake, you were supposed to have moved on." She didn't look at him. Just kept her gaze set on the front entrance. With the sip of her coffee, Jake stood up.
"Fine, we'll talk later, I guess." Jake moved across the room and out the back door, probably because Eli was heading through the front door. Clare stood up and smiled.
"Eli," She whispered. He gave her a smile back and sat down, setting his backpack on the ground beside him.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" He nervously played with the loose hem on his jacket. It was a studded jacket, nothing unusual for Eli to wear; black of course. But before Clare could start, he began, "Clare, wait. I have a feeling you wanted to talk about us. And that's why I came. So, if that's not the case, please tell me now."
Clare was baffled. She didn't know what to say, so she just stared at him with a blank expression on her face. "Okay," Eli cleared his throat, as if he were speaking to a crowd. "Clare, the truth is I miss you. Not a day goes by that I don't think of you. When I wake up, you're the first person I think about, and when I lay my head down every night, you're the last person I think about, always wondering what you're up to. When you were with Jake, it was the hardest time of my life. And that's why I met you here today, Clare. I love you. I've loved since Ms. Dawes assigned you to be my English partner, and I'll always love you." Clare was filled up with so many emotions. She didn't know what to think. The tears in her eyes were inevitable and she couldn't stop them. Her face became wet, dripping down her blouse. She picked up her purse and bolted through the door.
Clare was troubled. She loved Eli. She had always loved Eli. The feelings were always there, and she knew that. But when she dated Jake, it was like the whole world was lifted off of her shoulders; like she could actually breathe. When she was with Eli, she felt suffocated, like if she made one mistake, the whole world would come falling down, and she knew with her parents getting divorced, that she couldn't let that happen.
Clare had to have a talk with Jake.