Huge thanks to The Cliffhanger Girl for agreeing to be my Beta-Reader for this story. Helped so much but enjoy!
Eli and Julia were madly in love with each other, like two pieces of velcro and were known as inseparable. They were both there for each other, no matter what was felt-they would be there. That's what being in love, and being best friends was all about; comfort, love, compassion, and trust.
They have been together for three years and spent every waking moment together. And surprisingly, they never seemed to get sick of one another's company.
Spring Break party was being thrown at the Bhandari residents. The house was pumping, guests sweating, dancing, and drinking.
In the mist of all the mangled bodies, Eli suddenly stopped Julia from dancing with him and told her he'd be right back. He sped to the bathroom and barfed up his insides from his excessive consumption of alcohol.
He soon wiped his mouth, found a spare toothbrush and washed his mouth out. He opened the door, and on his way to go back to Julia when he suddenly slammed directly into someone.
"Sorry." He muttered, trying to recover from his dizzy faze. His vision soon cleared up and he picked up the girl and realized he spilled her drink all over her.
She pushed him away, "Watch where the hell you're going."
The girls seemed more pissed off than upset, looking down at her dress which clung to her torso, and showed off her tightly knit curves.
"Sorry, sorry," he apologized, "I'll get you spare clothes."
Eli pulled her into one of the bedrooms and looked in the drawer and gave her shorts and a t-shirt. Clare stripped off her dress and took off the soaked clothing. Eli sat down and watched her change. He looked up at her and licked his lips.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" She asked, giving him the stink eye.
Eli pulled her to sit down next to him on the bed and pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes widened as he pushed his tongue in her mouth.
They tasted the alcohol in each other's mouth but ignored the bitter after taste.
Eli leaned down and hovered over Clare. His hands and body were urging for something other than his mind. He wasn't thinking clearly, and neither was she. But the way she moved underneath him sent a chill up his spine, powerful enough to put him in a blissful daze.
They stared into each other's eyes, both not understanding why they were doing this, but knowing it felt good under these circumstances. The alcohol had overpowered the logic in reasoning, giving them the assurance of intense pleasure.
The thought of having Julia waiting in the living room did not occur in his head all night and he didn't second guess his actions because in that moment, the alcohol was more powerful than his conscience could ever be…
XXX
School started back after Spring break and everything was back to normal. No one recalled a thing from that night and no one bothered to.
As everyone dispersed from their class to make their way to their next one; Clare noticed Eli walking down the hall with his girlfriend, Julia. She played with her curls as she slowly walked up to him.
"Hi."
Eli awkwardly looked around, checking behind him to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else, "Um hi."
"Can I talk to you?"
"Sure." He allowed, waiting for something to come out of her mouth.
"Alone please."
"Anything you can say in front of my boyfriend, you can say in front of me." Julia interrupted, chewing her gum between her lips, glaring at Clare.
There was no doubt Clare felt intimidated by the dark haired, skinny girl that had her arm linked around Eli's waist.
"Please Eli." She begged. Eli kissed Julia and she deepened it as Clare awkwardly looked away.
He pulled back and followed Clare around the corner to the next set of lockers, "What is it?"
"Okay so um you probably won't believe me but—uhm, I'm pregnant." She spat out.
"Why are you telling me that?"
"Why else? You're the father."
Eli's confusion dropped from his face into pure shock, "That night at the party?" Clare hesitantly nodded, "Julia's gonna kill me."
He groaned obnoxiously loud, drawing attention while walking back and forth with his face in his palms.
"Julia? Is that what you're really concerned about? What about your parents? Or mine? Or the baby? She should be the least of your worries."
"Clare, she's my girlfriend."
"Well evidently you forgot that night," She spat, sending him a glare. She was the one who would have to suffer through nine months of pregnancy, pay for necessities she couldn't afford-and the only thing he was worried about…was Julia.
Eli sighed, "I don't know what to say, we can talk after school or something because we're going to be late."
"Okay," she forced the word through her gritted teeth, and they went their separate ways.
"Everything alright?" Julia asked.
"Sure." He forced a smile as they walked to class.
XXX
Eli kissed Julia goodbye and fibbed that he got detention and needed to stay back. He waited at the entrance of the school, looking around for Clare.
He saw her come out and gently tugged on her arm, "Hey."
"Hi."
"Are you feeling okay? You're late."
"I'm late because I was busy hurling up my lunch in the bathroom. It's not like you would care anyways," she whispered, but Eli didn't reply, not wanting to start a fight with her.
Eli led her to his car and they hopped in, "So what are we gonna do?"
"Well, I figured once the baby is born, maybe we can live together. I know we barely know each other but I want my child to be with both their parents."
"Whoa Clare," he interrupted, "I have a girlfriend, we can't keep it."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not raising a child…I'm a child myself. You can't have a child raising a child, it's ridiculous! "
"Well then you shouldn't have had sex," Clare defended.
"I would have no problem doing it if we were together and I didn't have a girlfriend."
"Stop using that as an excuse, Julia didn't even exist in your mind when you slept with me."
Eli groaned, "Clare, I'm sorry this happened to you...I really am."
"You have to be there for me, it's not fair. You don't have a choice and neither do I. You abandon me and this baby, I tell Julia you cheated. Either way, you're going to lose her so pick the better option and be there for your baby."
"Fine Clare, but you just have to promise me not to tell Julia anything, okay?" His voice was shaky, and full of regret, but Clare trusted in him.
"Fine, as long as your support me." They agreed, not aware of the challenges they were bound to face…