Eli and Clare have always had strong feelings for one another, and when they finally share a kiss it's nothing but love, lust, and spilled secrets. They have good times and bad times, but at the end of the day they love each more and more. But for how long? Once a new girl enters the dramatic school of Degrassi, she tests El'is devotion to Clare. Will he stay faithful to his girlfriend, or does he give in to temptation? My story starts out in the midst of Clare and Eli's friendship just as they're about to take the first step in becoming a couple. (Note: When the font goes to a new paragraph in italics, that means that there is a flashback or a memory is being revisited.)

Clare Edwards opened her front door to find none other than Elijah Goldsworthy standing on the sidewalk outside her house.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him confused.

"Hi Eli, how are you? Fine Clare, thanks for asking." Eli said showing her how a proper greeting is done.

"Hi." she emphasized. Eli smiled.

"If you don't want to tell your mom how you're feeling, I respect that." he told her.

"Too late." Clare said walking towards him.

"You read her the letter?" Eli asked.

"And she wants to know what's wrong as much as I do. She and my dad are talking right now." she pointed to the door.

"So what you're saying is, my plan worked?" Eli said admiring himself.

"Could you be more smug?"

"Absolutely!" he laughed. "Here, you might wanna borrow these." Eli reached around his neck and took off his headphones. "They're a noise cancellation. Might come in handy if things get worse with your folks. Or if you need to ignore your English partner."

"Thanks." Clare said taking them.

"And I'm sorry for interfering. Promise not to do it again." he turned away, opening his car door.

"You can interfere every once in a while, but I'm still going to do whatever I want." Clare said, placing her hand on Eli's as he began to get into his car.

Looking at their hands he says, "Wouldn't expect anything less." Smiling, Clare turned away and started to walk back to her door. "Hey," Eli said, grabbing her arm. 'It's now or never Eli.' he thought. Mustering up the courage, he pulled Claire towards him and put his hands on her hips. Smirking, he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against her's. Pulling away, he looked at Clare, still smirking. Clare looked at Eli in slight shock.

"Yeah, I'm an awesome kisser." he said taking advantage of her moment of surprise. "Most people have that stunned effect when I kiss them. It's a gift really."

Clare stuttered, trying to find words that expressed what she was thinking. "What was that for?" she finally managed.

"Making you scream I guess." Eli chuckled as he revisited the memory.

"Wow this is a first. Skipping school to do work." Eli said looking over Clare's paper for their English class.

"Okay, I don't understand how you got an A and I got a C." Clare said frustrated.

"Simple, I'm dating Miss Dawes." Eli joked. "You're a good writer, but anyone could have penned this piece. There's no point of view."

"I wrote about gun control, I say it's good." she said defensively.

"Wow, controversial." he said sarcastically, smirking.

"Fine," Clare said setting the papers down and crossing her arms, "what am I supposed to write about?"

Eli thought for a moment before saying, "Something that pisses you off."

"Besides my English partner?"

"Ouch!" Eli said pretending to be hurt. getting serious again he said, "If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?"

A depressed look crossed Clare's face. "My mom and dad. They're not exactly getting along."

"So write about that." he suggested.

"I can't, it's personal!"

"You care too much about what people think." Eli said to Clare. Being personal is what a writer is all about. Writing about the way she felt about her parents would make for an excellent piece.

"That is not true." Clare said defensively. Elijah Goldsworthy was the second person to tell her that she cared too much about what people thought of her.

"Then prove it." Eli challenged. "Scream at the top of your lungs." he gestured to the sky as he said 'top'.

Clare sat a little straighter. "Ahh…"she yelled softly. The scream died away quickly.

Eli scoffed at her. "That's the best you can do?"

Clare looked at Eli pointedly. 'I'll prove to you I don't care what people think.' Clare thought. She then stood up and smoothed her skirt before letting out a good long scream. Eli made a series of strange faces as she yelled and looked around at the other people staring. When she finished, Clare turned to him and said, "Okay, your turn."

'Yeah right.' he thought. "Yeah, not my style." Eli said getting off the bench.

"No, you have to do it." Clare said smiling, backing him into a telephone pole, her finger pointing at him. They struggled for a bit, getting closer. Eli took hold of Clare's wrists in an attempt to stop her from poking out his eyes with her long fingers. Both stopped moving and looked at each other in a moment of silence. Eli then released her wrists and put both his hands up in a gesture of innocence. Clare stood awkwardly while Eli leaned against the pole before she sat back down on the bench.

"And this is for helping me out today." Clare said, putting her arms around his neck. This time it was she who kissed him, but slightly rougher this time.

"Missed you last night. Was Twilight on TV?" Eli joked the morning after he and Clare skipped class.

"She thinks she's protecting me by lying, but she's just making it worse!" Clare exclaimed ignoring Eli's comment about her declining his offer to hang out the night before.

"Woah," Eli said taken off guard and grabbing her arm, "stop, rewind, and play."

Clare sighed. "According to my mom, everything's fine between her and my dad, but anyone can see that it's not." she said slower.

"Do you think they're getting divorced?" Eli asked her.

A frenzied look came about her. "Divorced? My parents would never get divorced. My mom's just sad because my dad's always in a bad mood." It sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than Eli.

"Well have you told them how you feel?"

"I've been trying, but they don't wanna talk."

"You can write how you feel in that letter for English class." Eli suggested. "Kill two birds with one stone."

She had taken Eli's advice and wrote about her feelings. Showing her mom the paper, Claire discovered her mother wanted answers just as much as her daughter.

"Wow." Eli said when she pulled away from him.

"I know," Clare smiled mimicking him. "I'm an awesome kisser."

"It's about time, huh?" Eli said with a knowing look. "I think Adam was about to go insane if we didn't finally do something like this."

"I think I'd have gone insane if we hadn't." Clare smiled. She looked over her shoulder at the door. "Well I'd better go back in. My parents might wonder where I am. "

"See you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah."