Clare braided her hair; her fingers sliding through her silky hair as she so elegantly twisted the strands in its repeating pattern. When she finished, she grabbed her books and heaved her schoolbag over her shoulder and made her way outside the front door. She stopped in her tracks to find Eli, in his car, waiting for her in her driveway. She rolled her eyes and walked towards the black hearse.

She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to talk his way out of this one. She was never one to have visitors early in the morning – before school at that.

"Did your car die on you?" Clare inquired when he hadn't said anything.

"No. I was wondering if you needed a ride to school." His hazel eyes pierced her own and she glared through that stare with defiance.

She crossed her arms and hugged her books close to her chest.

"Eli," She started. "I have a car. Today is just one of those days where I feel like walking."

Eli hesitated before speaking. "Well, I can leave my car here and walk you to school."

"As thoughtful as that sounds, no thank you. If I do remember correctly, we've been ignoring each other for the past two weeks and, to be honest with you, I liked it. I didn't have to be burdened by your company. Don't get me wrong – I just . . . well, put it this way, I wasn't ready to deal with my feelings after that one night."

He looked at her in suspicion. "So you were afraid of your feelings? I wasn't going to do anything."

She shook her head in disappointment. "You call trying to kiss me not doing anything? We both know what happened. I just feel guilty. So let's just drop it okay? I wish to have no contact with you whatsoever. Please, Eli."

And with those last words, she left him in her driveway. She turned a corner and walked herself to school, enjoying the fresh air coming her way. Clare regretted what she had said to Eli. She hadn't meant for it to come out insensitive but that was honestly how she felt. She didn't want to deal with it. If she had learned to hate, all of it would be directed towards Mrs. Delacruz.

After all – she started the whole thing.

Meanwhile…..

Eli opted for being late to school. He needed coffee. Bad.

He drove to Midnight Café and parked at the side. He stepped out of his car and walked inside the building and was immediately hit by the scent of coffee beans and other wonderful pungent aromas of vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, and other flavorful tastes.

Eli approached the counter and he wasn't surprised to see Peter with a knowing stare. About now, he would've thought it scary that Peter happened to know everything that went on about Clare – relationships, everything. Eli admitted to himself that Peter was a nice guy, almost like a brother to her….

"Sweet Reverie." He ordered.

Peter mixed the right ingredients together as he talked to the younger boy in front of the counter.

"You and Clare still not on speaking terms?"

"Not really."

"I don't necessarily blame her. You're the one that chose to let her go in the first place." He replied and mixed in the chocolate in the cup. He took out a pint of milk and added a cup of that into the coffee mixture.

"So you're saying that if I hadn't done what I did, we'd be friends."

He shrugged. "More or less. Clare's complex to say the least."

"I'll say. The girl's afraid of love."

At this, Peter's brows shot up in wonder.

"I take it she didn't tell you." He said, almost amused.

"Tell me what?" Eli asked. Truth be told, he never bothered to wonder about the mysteries the girl might have been hiding. Now that Peter brought one up, he was determined to find out what it was. He couldn't have blamed Clare for not telling him. They were only acquaintances, nothing more. It wasn't as if they were friends or anything.

Yeah, but it could've worked out into something, he thought.

"If she trusts you, she'll tell you in due time." Peter paused. "But right now, trust doesn't seem to be in your relationship with her. In fact, you guys don't have a relationship."

The reality of the truth slapped him and it hurt – like a bitch.

Peter handed him his coffee and Eli left the café.

At School…..

"Yeah, move it over to the right a little. Yeah, there. Thank you, Bradley." Clare thanked as she crossed out something on her clipboard. As head of the school committee, she was trusted with everything that had to do with upcoming plays, galas, and so forth.

"Clare!"

Clare turned around to the sound of her name and saw a girl, a year older than her, run in her direction.

"Hi Amy." She smiled.

"Hey, Clare." Amy clutched a piece of paper in her hands. "Look, I found a couple of people who I chose would be good at playing Adrian. Especially this boy."

She took the piece of paper to hold in Clare's view and pointed to a name in the middle of the list.

"KC?"

"Yeah! He's pretty cute, your age I'd say. But age doesn't matter now." She brushed away that last comment. "He's one of the guys that hang out with Goldsworthy's gang."

At the sound of his name, Clare cringed. "Listen, Amy. I don't think-

"You know," Amy started. "Out of all these boys, I think KC would do a good job. He's done some acting work in the past…what do you think?"

"If he's had an acting career, then-

"Man, this play is gonna be a blast! We'll make it work, Clare. If anyone else was supervising this committee, I probably would have died. Having a younger committee leader is just wow. Anyway, I'll see you at lunch!"