A/N: Greetings Degrassians! :) Welcome to my story. Takes place after Nowhere to Run. Normally written in third person, but if I do have POV's, I'll make a note of it so it won't be confusing. Note: If you haven't seen nowhere to run, There is some foreshadowing in my story, but it will not give away much. Nothing more than you probably already know or guessed about. Yes, the story begins in Cake, but don't worry, Eclare will happen eventually. Just can't rush into things. Enough babbling, You can read now.
"Just take it one step at time, Eli." Ever since the awkward car ride home with Jake and Clare, All Eli could think about was Clare… and why that couldn't be him. He didn't understand it. He was the one who saved her in the woods. Sure, Jake would have found her eventually but he found her first. Clare said that she was glad that he found her. Didn't that mean he still had a shot? Eli cleared the thoughts from his clouded mind. No, he wasn't off his medication. Just thinking. He slowly made his way to his locker when he saw Jake and Alli in the garden sucking face. "Wait, what? I thought he and Clare were together? I must just be seeing things." Eli shook his head. No, he wasn't seeing things. That was definitely Jake and Alli. Is that what Clare was upset about? Every time Eli tried to ask Clare about what happened, she just said it was no big deal and changed the subject. He had suspected it had something to do with Alli when he saw that they weren't going to ride back home together. Should he go in there and call them out, should he just continue walking like he saw nothing or should he tell Clare? Eli thought about the possibilities when his thoughts were suddenly interrupted. He felt a small hand on his back. "Hey El- Is that Jake? And Alli? Holy crap bro." He recognized the voice of his best friend, Adam. "Yeah. I don't know how long this has been going on. But I guess this all started at Jake's cabin party." Adam's face dropped. "Does Clare know?" Eli shook his head. "We need to tell her! She has the right to know." Eli shook his head yet again. "I don't think we should tell her. Let her find out on her own, It's none of our business. Besides, When was the last time Clare chose to hang out with us over Jake?" Adam hung his head as Eli looked at the floor. "Yeah, I guess you're right." "So did you get the new Gothic Tales comic? It's beast bro!" Eli chuckled as the two kept walking down the halls of Degrassi.
Eli slammed his locker shut. Today was just not his day. First he fails Ms. Dawes' test. Seriously, how could he fail his best subject? Not including Clare has been on his mind all day. He didn't know whether he should tell her or not. He could tell Adam had been thinking the same thing. The two were going to meet at The Dot later to discuss things. Eli slowly made his way down the hallway to the exit of the school when he heard a familiar voice. "Jake, Stop it!" He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to see Clare Edwards being tickled by an over enthusiastic Jake Martin. Eli wanted nothing more to keep walking but something in his mind stopped him. He knew then that he had to tell Clare. Not only for his own state of mind but because it was the right thing to do. Sure, now wasn't the best time but he could drop subtle hints that he knew. Eli marched over to Jake and Clare. "Greetings, guys." Clare smiled at him. "Hi, Eli." Jake just nodded. "So, Jake, I saw you walking down that dark ally today. You should know better, there's lots of creeps out there." He smirked. Eli could tell Jake knew exactly what he was talking about by the look on his face. "I'll be fine Eli, As long as those creeps mind their own business. Well, if you two excuse me, I have to be getting to the library to study." Jake took a brisk walk down the hallway as if he had something to hide. Eli mentally laughed at the sight. "What was that about? You two have some kind of feud going on that I don't know about?" Clare giggled. Eli leaned against the wall. "Nah, I just wanted to make sure Jake knew what he was getting himself into. Not a safe place to be walking around all alone, never know who might be watching. "Clare's face turned white as she gulped. "So, uh, what are you up to Eli? Read any good comics lately?" All Eli could do was smirk. "No, I'm just going to meet up with Adam at The Dot. If you don't have anything else to do, you could come. If you want of course, no forcing you to do anything." Clare looked around before answering. "Oh, I uh, I don't know. I mean I wouldn't want to interrupt guys night or anything." Eli nodded. "Well, it's not exactly a guys night. It's more of a Eli-and-Adam-miss-their-friend-Clare-and-want to-hang-out-with-her-even-though-she-only-spends-time-with-her-boyfriend night." Clare nodded. "I guess I have been kind of ignoring you guys. After everything That happened I didn't know if I should even ask you guys to hang out. I know Adam is more of your friend anyway. But I guess since Jake has to study and Bianca is busy helping Drew's dad out, I can hang with you guys. Meet you there at four?" Eli nodded. "Four it is."
"Dude, we have to tell her. We can't let her go on thinking Jake is some hero when he's not. He's bad news, trouble." Adam took a swig of his coffee. "It would be the right thing to do. But what if she doesn't believe us. I mean we have no proof and she probably already thinks you don't like Jake again. Clare will think we are making it up. We have to get proof before we tell her." Eli groaned. "I can't wait that long. I know the chances of her believing us are slim to none but we have to do it. Think about how Clare would feel if she knew that we have known what's been going on this whole time and that we didn't tell her. She would be even more heartbroken. Sure, We could just let bygones be bygones but come on Adam; Clare is one of our best friends. Wouldn't you want someone to tell you if a girl was cheating on you with, let's say, Drew?" Adam pretended to smack his head against the table. "Fine, You're right. We'll tell Clare." "Tell Clare what?" The two boys watched as their third best friend Clare Edwards sat down at the circular table. "Tell Clare that she looks absolutely stunning today." Adam smiled. Eli just smirked at his best friend's nervousness. "Well, Thanks… I think." Eli took a small sip of his coffee. "Clare this wasn't Eli-and-Adam-miss-their-friend-Clare-and-want-to-hang-out-with-her-even-though-she-only-spends-time-with-her-boyfriend night." Adam's eyes widened. "You're going to do it now? Can't I just leave and you tell her?" Eli shook his head. "No, Adam. Friends stick together. Clare, we saw Jake kissing Alli at school today." Eli was blunt and straight to the point. Clare's expression turned to stone. "Just because you guys don't like Jake doesn't mean that you should make up lies about him." Clare's tone of voice got louder as she stood up from the table. "He was helping his dad out this morning! You two need to stop being so judgmental and just accept that Jake and I are dating." And with that, Clare Edwards stormed out of The Dot.
Well, That's it for chapter one I guess. Will be updated weekly, unless I get bored and decide to write another chapter. Which is quite possible.