Little Green Monster.
On her walk to school, Clare couldn't help but feel like someone was following her. She gained the courage to turn around and when she did, she was met with a pair of brown eyes.
"Fitz?"
"Hey Clare." Clare stumbled back a bit. She wasn't expecting him to be so close. Seeing her take a step back, Fitz moved forward.
"Uhm.. Not to be rude, but what do you want?" Clare was slowly moving backwards, but her back was met a pole.
"Oh nothing." He was advancing closer and closer, and Clare wasn't exactly liking the lacking space between them. Fitz came to a stop right in front of Clare. Literally. Clare grew self conscious. She was trapped.
"Just wanted to talk to a pretty face."
"There are plenty of other pretty faces around here..." Clare avoided Fitz's gaze. He reached out to touch her face.
"Yeah, but they don't stand a chance to you." Clare wasn't stupid and she recognized this as a lame attempt at picking her up.
"Charming, but I think that I'd rather be elsewhere. Like class..." She knocked his hand from her face. Fitz grabbed Clare's wrist and leaned in closer.
"Class can wait." Fitz face was moving closer and closer to Clare's. She couldn't get away, considering she was pinned to a pole. She really wished that someone (preferably Eli) could come to her rescue.
"What do you think you're doing?" Clare sighed in relief at the familiar voice. Under different circumstances, she would've laughed at his timing. Fitz let go of Clare and turned around.
"What's it to you?" Eli took a step towards Fitz, ready to throw a punch if needed.
"Well, by the looks of it, Clare definitely doesn't want you getting any closer and honestly, I don't blame her." Fitz glared daggers at Eli, his fists clenching.
"Oh and what makes you think she would be into someone like you?"
Eli smirked. "I didn't even say that, now did I?"
"You didn't have to."
Clare was worried that a fight would break out between the two. She really didn't want to deal with something of that sort today.
"What are you implying?" Eli dug his nails into his palm, using all self control possible. He didn't want to start a fist fight in front of Clare. His jealous side was starting to seep out.
"Just bug off, Goldsworthy." Fitz spat. Eli's need to protect Clare from this scum grew stronger.
"Not until you stop bothering Clare."
"Really it's not a bother..." Clare just wanted to get to class. Honestly.
"Yeah, see? It's not a bother." Fitz said obnoxiously. "So if you could just skiddadle off to your morgue or wherever you hang out while you skip school-"
"Hey!" Clare said, now offended. Fitz could make fun of her all he wanted, but he shouldn't dis Eli. That's just low.
"What now?" Fitz turned towards Clare, gritting his teeth. She distanced herself, not wanting to be hit if Fitz lost control.
"Look, at least Eli actually cares about my feelings. If I had started to cry just then, you probably would've raped me! And I've skipped school with him before and we went to the park and it was better than anything I could ever do with you!" Fitz approached Clare, brushing a hair out of her face.
"You know you want it."
"Back off!" Eli grabbed Fitz's shoulder, pulling him away from Clare and punching him in the gut. Fitz wrapped an arm around his torso and threw a punch at Eli's face. Eli ducked and Clare grabbed Eli's hand, dragging him away from the scene.
"You're gonna regret this!" The pair heard Fitz yell behind them. They ran to the school steps, adrenaline pumping. For a minute, they just stood there, catching their breaths. After gaining her composure, Clare looked down at their still intertwined hands and contemplated pulling away but Eli noticed her gaze and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Clare looked up at him and grinned.
"You're cute when you're jealous." Clare admitted, shyly, biting her lip.
"Woah, who said I was jealous?"
"Eli."
"What?"
Clare laughed. "It's just so obvious!"
"I'm not jealous!"
"Eli." Clare gave him a look. "I know what I see and I see jealousy!" Clare teasingly pointed at his face. Eli couldn't help but smile a little. "Look! You're smiling! Admit it! You were jealous!"
"No! I will not! What was there to be jealous of?"
"You were jealous because some other guy was flirting with me." They began their walk toward first hour.
"Why would I be jealous that some GUY was flirting with you?"
"I don't know..." Clare mumbled, although she and Eli both knew the answer. It was quite obvious what the answer was.
"Well...I'm not jealous."
"Denial." Clare sing-sang.
"I'm not in denial!"
"Wow...denial about denial. That's new."
"You know, I bet you'd do the same thing if some girl was flirting with me." Eli turned the tables.
"Well..."
"Well...?" Eli urged her to answer. He was daring her to deny it just so he could tease her back.
"Maybe I would." Clare said suggestively.
"Ha! Well, now I'm not alone!" Eli smirked.
"Heh, you just admitted to being jealous." Clare looked smug while Eli's eyes widened in realization and his cheeks were tinting pink.
"You can't prove anything."
"Oh, but I can. I could go up to Mr. Simpson and ask him to play the tape that just recorded you admitting to being jealous."
"Shut up." Eli mumbled. Clare grinned.
"Eli Goldsworthy is jealous. Eli Goldsworthy is jealous. Eli-" Eli clamped a hand over her mouth as people were starting to stare.
"Okay, okay, I was jealous. Now, can you stop chanting it to the whole school?" Clare smugly nodded and Eli lifted his hand from her mouth, intertwining his fingers with hers, once again. Clare was a bit shocked at the action, but quickly calmed down, squeezing his hand. Eli walked Clare to her first class in silence, both just reminiscing in each others presence. When reaching Clare's class, Clare hugged Eli. Eli's eyes widened at the gesture but quickly, his arms snaked around her waist.
"Thanks."
"What for?"
"For saving me from Fitz."
"Oh really...it's nothing..." Eli said sheepishly. They unwound themselves from each other and blushed. "Again, you would've done the same if some chick was all over me."
They both looked down and away, not sure of what to say. Finally, Eli was the one to break the silence.
"Well, I better get to class." He said. Clare nodded and tucked her hair behind her ears.
"See you in English, Eli!" She said.
He smiled and walked off, leaving Clare very confused about what just happened.
...
Clare got to the English classroom before Eli did, so therefore she got to talk to Adam before he did.
"Hey Adam...have you ever seen Eli get...well...jealous?" Adam could tell that he was about to get in the middle of one of their weird happenings again, so he braced himself and played innocent.
"What do you mean by jealous?"
"As in...jealous! You know..."
Adam grew uncomfortable. He wasn't sure what the right answer was in this situation. He could be letting down Eli by saying "Not really" but he could be letting down Clare by saying "Yes". But Adam was sick of this game, so he decided to do what he thought was right.
"Only when it comes to you." Adam said quickly. Before Clare could answer to this, Eli sat down in front of her.
Clare looked down, blushing, fiddling with her hands. Eli walked in and noticing Clare's expression, he couldn't help but a little green monster slowly overtake him. What if Adam flirted with her?
"So, what are you blushing about, Blue Eyes?" Clare looked up and turned a bit redder, but eventually answering with a, "Nothing." Eli was a bit suspicious but did everything to not look jealous. His eyebrows raised and he shrugged, turning around. He would be talking to Adam later.
Class ended after what seemed like forever. It was probably the longest hour Eli had ever experienced. He raced out of the door, hiding against the wall, enabling himself to catch Adam on his way out. He grabbed Adam's arm as he walked out.
"What the hell, man?" He said, once Eli let him go. He rubbed his forearm, where Eli had been holding him.
"Why was Clare flustered when I came in? Dude, did you flirt with her?" Adam held his hands up, defensively.
"Woah, no. That's just crazy. Don't you think you might be overreacting? And she just asked if you ever got jealous and I said, 'Only when it comes to you.'" He put air quotes around what he had said, previously. Eli sighed in relief.
"Dude, why do you get so worried about that stuff?" Adam asked, but already knowing the answer.
"Just...because, man." Eli clapped Adam's shoulder and walked off wordlessly leaving a thoroughly confused Adam behind. He would never understand the relationship of Eli and Clare.
Later that night, Clare received a text from Eli.
So.
Clare texted back immediately.
Uhm, so...
She wasn't sure what he was going for. In truth and all honestly...neither did he.
I heard you asked Adam about me.
Clare's first thought was, "OH CRAP."
And if I did? Clare responded boldly. She awaited the answer, which came quickly.
Someone seems to care. ;)
Clare couldn't help but blush at the wink he sent. She knew it was stupid to get flustered over a little wink, but it was from Eli. Making it ten times better than an average wink.
You can't prove anything.
Clare bit her lip, waiting for a reply.
Oh, but I can. I could go up to Mr. Simpson and ask him to play the tape that recorded you asking Adam.
Clare recognized that the line was similar to what she said earlier. She then remembered something.
There's no tapes in classrooms, dummy.
Clare smirked at her own response. Her phone lit up, but this time the text wasn't from Eli.
Hey Babe. ;)
From, Fitz.
Clare's eyes widened at the text message and clicked delete. She wondered how she even got his number. Eli's number popped on the screen and Clare realized he had replied to the text.
You sort of just admitted to asking.
Clare silently cursed herself, repenting afterwards for her language.
Shut up.
Another text message popped up on her phone.
Ignoring my text messages?
Clare's stomach turned, unpleasantly at the message. She clicked delete once more.
Original response, Blue Eyes.
Clare rolled her eyes.
I thought is was, keep your mouth shut!
Clare tried to ignore the fact that Fitz had her number and that he was still trying to text her. Yet another Fitz message showed up on her phone.
You know, I'll see you at school. You can't ignore me there.
She clicked delete once again. The next time her phone vibrated, it was Eli. She let out a breath when she saw his name.
Whatever you say, Saint Clare!
She smiled before, once again, another message from Fitz appeared on her phone.
Alright. If that's how you're going to play it. I want what I want, Clare. Don't think I'll stop just because of your idiot emo boy.
Clare couldn't help but feel offended. Eli wasn't just a stupid emo boy. He was much more. Clare's hate for Fitz grew a bit more. Right after she deleted it, she decided to tell Eli. It would bug her otherwise.
Eli, Fitz is kind of freaking me out right now.
She couldn't help but feel unsafe in her bed. She wanted nothing more than to just be in Eli's presence so he could be her knight in shining armor. Just like in all those books she read as a kid.
Don't worry. He can't hurt you.
Clare was confused. Of course he could hurt her! He was stronger, taller...she was too vulnerable.
What? Yes he can!
Not with me around. He texted back.
After that, she didn't say anything back. She went to sleep with a feeling of reassurance and safety.
...
The next day at school, Clare felt a little less safe. She couldn't find Eli anywhere and she feared that Fitz would come out of no where and hurt her. All in all, she was very paranoid.
"Hey, Clare...where's loverboy?"
Clare's eyes widened when she heard the voice behind her. She responded with out turning around, nervously trembling.
"Uhm.. I don't know.." She stuttered. Fitz walked up in front of her, blocking her way.
"Then I get you to myself." Fitz winked an eye at her and Clare slowly backed away. The scene from yesterday morning flashed into her mind. Clare quickly turned her head around and saw nothing was behind her. She internally sighed in relief. She turned her head back around and saw Fitz staring intently at her. She quickly tried running to the side of him, hoping to escape, but Fitz grabbed her arm, violently pulling her back.
"Ow! Let go of me!"
"You can't run away forever."
"Leave her alone!"
Eli pushed Fitz's shoulders, but forgetting he was holding onto Clare, Fitz and Clare had both been pushed over. Clare hit the pavement and she could feel Fitz's hold loosen and Eli kneel beside her.
"Dammit. Clare, I am so sorry." Fitz reached over pushed Eli, causing him to fall onto the pavement himself.
"Both of you are pathetic. I don't know why I even bothered with you, Clare." Fitz snarled at her. "Have her Eli. You'll be the only one willing to go near the convent girl."
As Fitz stalked off, Clare sat up with tears in her eyes. Both from the fall and from what Fitz said. Eli stood first and pulled her to her feet. Eli noticed the tears filling her eyes and quickly grew concerned.
"Clare, you okay? You know, he was just trying to get to you." The two made their way to the front of the school building.
"I know." She looked down, ashamed at herself to be so upset about it. "It's just, I don't want to be the convent girl anymore Eli. I'm not her."
"I know you're not her anymore, Clare. You're...Clare. He's just a jerk." Eli assured. "Plus, I'm here." He winked as they split to go to their different first hours.
"Eli you will be the death of me!" She yelled after him. He turned around and gave her a signature smirk.
A/N:
Liv- Holllaaaaa! Thanks for reading our first collab :) Sorry if it's a bit iffy, I know I'm not used to writing in conjunction with someone so this is new :D PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT :D
Dominique hereeee:) This is my first collab too, sooo.. it's new for me too:) This took us awhile, so we hope you like it! Thanks for reading:) There will be more from us soon. And if it takes awhile to update/publish, it's because we both have already started school, meaning homework, less time for writing, yada, yada, yada. Soo, yeaah:) See if you can figure out what parts each of us wrote. ;)
Love,
Liv and Dominique:)