K.C. grunted to himself as he left the locker room, having just gotten out of a long and rigorous football practice. He walked slowly through the halls, swinging his bag with his dirty uniform in it as he made his way to his locker to drop it off. When he got to his locker, he noticed a certain auburn-haired beauty in Mr. Armstrong's room which was across the hall. She must have been there for Math Club or something.
K.C. quickly put his things away, eager to continue gazing at none other than Clare Edwards. He frowned realizing that they had started dating on this day exactly one year ago, and wondered where they would be now if they had stayed together. He let out a sigh, leaning against his locker and then sliding down against it into a seated position. He sat there, continuing to take her in, continuing to fantasize about how different his life could be right now. He must have been sitting there for awhile because soon his thoughts were interrupted.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" a voice said softly from K.C.'s right-hand side.
K.C. flinched in shock, not even realizing or hearing that someone had taken the time to sit next to him at his locker. He cringed slightly when he realized that it was none other than Eli who had chosen to join him in his "stare at Clare" ritual, one that seemed to be happening more and more frequently as of late. "Yeah, Clare's a pretty girl," K.C. said simply, guiltily looking anywhere but at Eli, embarrassed for having been caught staring at Clare by her new boyfriend.
"She's happy now, you know, with me," Eli said to K.C. What surprised K.C. was just how calm Eli was being with him, like Eli didn't even view him as a threat. Normally K.C. was not one to allow others to take pity on him, but on this day and with everything going on in his life, he really appreciated the fact that Eli wasn't sticking it to him about Clare.
K.C. let out a sigh. "I just miss her, you know? I don't even know why we broke up, I mean, obviously there was Jenna, but why? Why did I screw it up? Why did I let her go?" K.C. wondered aloud, surprised that he was even saying any of this in front of Eli.
Eli paused for a second, making sure K.C. was done talking before he began speaking. "Because deep down you knew it wasn't going to work out, that you were just different people leading different lives," he said, still in a soft tone.
"But did I know that?" K.C. questioned, pain in his voice as he contemplated the one thing that had constantly been on his mind since he had broken up with Clare.
"The important thing is that you cared enough about her to let her go," Eli said to him, reassuring him that K.C. had, in fact, made the right decision when it had come to breaking up with Clare. Just then Clare peered out of Mr. Armstrong's room, raising an eyebrow in confusion at the sight of her ex-boyfriend and her new boyfriend together. She slowly raised her hand and waved at Eli, gesturing for him to join her in the classroom. "Well, that's my cue. Trust me, K.C., you made the right choice," Eli said in an effort to calm him, then stood up to leave.
"Yeah," K.C. agreed half-heartedly, not really believing that he had made the right choice. K.C. watched as Eli walked into Mr. Armstrong's room, wrapping his arm around Clare and giving her a kiss on the cheek as he passed by her to sit at the desk next to hers. Eli must have said something funny, because Clare laughed. Really laughed. Something she seldom did when K.C. was dating her. K.C. smiled at the fact that Clare really was happy, and for now that could be enough for him. He slowly stood up from his seated position by his locker.
A few moments later, Jenna walked over to him. "Hey," she greeted him with her usual cheery smile. A smile that would never compare to Clare's, but would suffice for now.
"Hi," he responded, pulling her in for a hug and kissing her hair, but never once taking his eyes off the girl he lost.
Author's Note: I do not own Degrassi or any of its characters. This is just my take on an issue that I feel went unresolved in the show. Hopefully I stayed in character. I don't know why, but I could picture Eli saying these things to K.C. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story! This is my first Degrassi fan fiction so I hope it was OK! Please read and review!
- Sarah