Clare Went Back to the Dance
By TheBucketWoman
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Degrassi or anything else I reference herein. No profit is being made and no infringement intended.
Chapter One.
Clare went back to the dance. At the time, it really seemed like the best thing to do.
Alli didn't question it, just went back inside with her. They went straight to the bathroom because Clare'd been dying to pee for the last five or six blocks.
After she came out and washed her hands, she took time to fix her face a little and Alli did some stuff to her hair to make it seem less like running-in-high-humidity messy and more like messy-on-purpose. Alli seemed to have that power.
"Okay?" Clare asked.
"Perfect," Alli said. "Me?"
"Perfect."
"Awesome," Alli said. And they went back into the gym.
It was good for a while, Clare downed a few glasses of punch, ate some chips, and bobbed to the music, until that Katy Perry song came on, the one that Clare sort of liked and Eli (of course) completely hated.
Who says 'firework,' singular? Eli's voice said from somewhere inside Clare's over-caffeinated head. She rolled her eyes and took another swig of her drink.
Suppose that Train song is next? Imaginary Eli asked. "Hey Soul Sister." He'd actually made up some parody lyrics once. "He-ey! Heeeeeey! Buy my washing machine! Tonight" He'd sung. It wasn't Eli's best material, but it had gotten Adam to choke on his popcorn that day.
Her eyes sought out Adam, whom she found in the middle of a cluster of girls. After a minute or two, Clare saw Wesley pop over to the group and, next thing she knew, the two of them seemed to be having a dance off. And of course, being Wesley and Adam, they weren't about to let a little thing like a complete lack of rhythm stop them.
She caught Alli's eye and gestured toward them. Alli winked and grabbed Clare's drink out of her hand, putting it down and starting to drag her toward the group.
"No," Clare said, not that anyone could have heard her. "No! Alli! Quit it!" Her voice got swallowed by Rihanna's.
Alli, being Alli, jumped into the fray and danced horribly in between Adam and Wesley. Clare stood and watched them, shaking her head, as did Wesley's date, Hannah.
But Hannah was laughing. That was the difference. This was really funny, no doubt. It should be funny. Any other day, Clare would be clutching her sides, but that night, she was having a little trouble reacting the right way. All she could do was stare at them.
The song abruptly changed to something drum-heavy. It was familiar; Clare thought it was called "Poison" or "That Girl is Poison," or something like that. It had been on Glee, another thing Eli liked to make fun of.
"Oh my gosh!" Alli yelped, jumping up and down, and then she and Adam did something that approximated 90s dancing, while Clare stared at them like she'd forgotten how to blink.
Blink, Clare. Her eyes felt like she'd been reading fine print.
"That girl is poison!" some 90s guy sang.
Poison.
Great. Just great. She glared up at the stage where Sav was currently doing the same dance Alli was trying to do, except that he was doing it the right way. How a guy like Sav could pick something so…misogynist, she didn't know.
And true, Clare thought.
What? She thought. Screw that. It is not true. I did what I had to do. I will not let Eli turn me into Bella freakin Swan. It's just not gonna happen. I am fifteen years old and I'm at a dance with my friends. And he is not about to take that away from me, dammit! I have friends and I am going to have fun with them.
Until of course the news got out about what had happened to Eli of course. Then there might be some whispers about what kind of person left her boyfriend in a hospital bed, covered in cuts, a cast, and a neckbrace, and went back to a dance.
People didn't do that unless there was something wrong with them.
"Poison!" the guy (and what seemed like every other girl on the dance floor) sang.
Somebody nudged her.
"Hey," Wesley said. "What's going on?" Hannah seemed to be looking at her with concern, too. Clare looked away.
"Clare," Wesley said. Then suddenly Alli and Adam weren't dancing anymore.
"What?" Adam asked. "What'd I miss? Jeez, Clare. Look at you. Are you okay?"
And Clare burst into tears, making a bunch of people descend on her until she couldn't breathe. She tried to squirm away, but they surrounded her. Especially Alli.
"I knew this was a bad idea," Alli said when they got outside the gym. "I am so stupid! I'm taking you home, okay? Clare? Look at me."
"What is going on?" Adam kept asking.
So Clare had to tell him.
"He…crashed…"
Things got quiet.
"What?" Hanna asked. "Who?"
"Morty…"
"WHAT?" Adam asked.
"Adam!" Alli said.
"What the fuck!" Adam said. "Eli crashed the…"
Stuff got a little loud again.
"Are you serious—"
"Not helping!"
"Oh my God!"
"Clare! What the -!"
"HEY!" A security guard yelled.
"We're leaving!" Alli said.
"No you're not!" Adam said.
"We. Are. Leaving," Alli said.
"Okay," Adam said. "Let's go."
The security guard didn't want to get lost, kept looking at them like he was about to call for backup.
"I need to separate you?"
"She had a fight with her boyfriend, but she's gonna be okay," Alli said.
"Either of you the boyfriend?" the guard asked.
"No," Adam and Wesley said together, almost in harmony. Hannah didn't seem to be with them anymore.
"All right," the guard said. "Whatever you guys got going on, take it outside."
"We're going," Alli said.
Alli dragged her outside and they sat on the steps again.
"Now where's Eli?" Adam asked.
"He's in the hospital," Alli said. "He's gonna be okay though."
"What the hell are you doing here?" Adam asked Clare.
"Adam, go back inside if you're gonna yell," Alli said. "You are so not helping." Adam went off to the side somewhere and pulled out his phone.
To put whipped cream on top of the chaos pie, Sav came out and started asking questions.
"I'll tell you later," Alli said. "Just give me ten bucks for a cab. I don't wanna make her wait for a bus." Sav went for his wallet and handed over cash.
"You have a number for a cab?"
"No," Alli said. Sav rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, making the call and giving out the proper addresses, all the while seeming awfully calm and in charge. He was even absently rubbing Clare's arm with his free hand and she leaned on him until he got up suddenly.
"Adam!" he called, chasing after him. "Where the hell're you going all by yourself! Are you out of your damn mind?"
"Join the club," Clare said.
"It's gonna be okay," Alli said.
"He's never gonna talk to me again," Clare said. "Nobody will."
"Clare."
"What kind of person am I?"she asked. "I deserve everything…"
"You're Clare," Alli said. "Stop thinking so much. I'm telling you it's gonna be okay. I have your back. I got you."
"Who's Dj-ing?" Clare asked, after a minute.
"What?" Alli asked.
"'Cause, Sav—" Clare said, gesturing in the direction Sav went after Adam.
"He's got it programmed," Alli said. "Or he asked someone to take over. Who gives a rat's ass—"
"How am I gonna explain this?" Clare asked. "My mom—"
"What did I tell you about thinking?"
"Do you guys hate me?"
"Of course not," Alli said. "Right?"
"No!" Hanna said.
"Nuh-uh," Wesley said.
But Clare was sure that they did. They were just too decent to leave her; maybe they were afraid she'd wander into traffic and get hurt. They were good people. Not like her.
"Stop babbling," Alli said. "You're a good person. You'll see that in the morning."
The cab came and obviously they climbed in and got home, but Clare barely remembered doing so.
Alli stayed with her all night, leaving only when Sav picked her up in the morning. For the record, Clare didn't feel any better.
