So! New fanfic! I got the idea for this a few days ago, and I managed to type up the first chapter while the idea was still fresh in my head. I don't know how good it is; I feel like it may be a bit rushed, and the ending is a little bit bland because I realized I was just dragging it out and really had no idea what I was writing. Anyway, I hope my negativity and criticism of myself doesn't change your want to read the story. Ignore me and enjoy the chapter!

Don't Let Me Go

1.

"We were never meant to have a fairytale ending."

The words are always swimming in his head, repeating over and over in her voice. He rolled over in his bed, throwing an arm over his eyes, willing the darkness to fall back over him so he can be thrown back into his dreamland, even though he knows he'll find her there too.

"No more sleeping, Eli," a cool voice tells him. "It's your first day as a transfer student at this school. You need to be there on time and make a good first impression."

Eli smirked to himself and moved his arm to glance at the girl lying on his bed, her elbow propped up on his pillow and her cheek resting in her palm. "Why should I care about first impressions?"

"Why shouldn't you?" the raven-haired girl asked, blinking her brown eyes.

"Because I couldn't give a fuck about what people think," he replied simply.

The girl rolled her eyes at him and jumped to her feet. "Come on! Get up!" she exclaimed, hitting his bare foot lightly.

Eli groaned but pushed himself out of bed, wiping his sleepy eyes. He stumbled over to his dresser, pulling open a drawer and grabbing random clothes and putting them on. He combed through his untidy hair, watching in his mirror as the girl stood behind him and watched.

"Not going to get changed, Jules?" he asked her.

"Not going to apply your eyeliner?" she retorted as he stepped away from the mirror.

"Ha ha," Eli laughed dryly, and she flashed her bright teeth at him.

Eli grabbed his backpack off of his messy floor, slinging it over his shoulder before opening his bedroom door. He felt a cold hand take his, and he looked at her to see that she was still smiling.

"It'll be fine. You'll be fine," she assured him. "It's a fresh start."

"A fresh start," Eli echoed, and he brought a hand up to brush against her cheek. But before he could make contact, she pulled away with a giggle, bouncing over to the stairs.

"Come on, let's go! Hurry up now!" she called to him.

Eli sighed in frustration but followed her down the stairs, his feet making dull thudding noises every time they hit the carpeted stairs. He left the empty house and made his way out to his vintage hearse, which was parked in the driveway and shining from the wash down he had given it the day before. He pulled open the driver's side door for himself, but as usual, the girl slipped in before he could. Without acknowledging her, Eli slid in after her, slamming the door shut.

"Are you going to ignore me all day at school?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly in a questioning manner as Eli started up the hearse.

"I might. It all depends."

"Depends on what?" Her voice took on a hint of annoyance.

"If I actually feel like being social today," he told her as he pulled out of the driveway and began the dreaded drive to school.

She chuckled. "Then do me a favor and don't try to make friends with anybody, please."

"Don't worry - I don't intend to."

She frowned at him. "I was only playing, Eli. I do want you to meet people and make some friends. Why can't you do that?"

"Julia, I don't want to get into this," Eli told her, biting back a sigh.

Julia stared at him with agitation in her eyes. "You can't shut everybody else but me out. You need to talk to people and get back out into the world."

"I don't want to, okay?" Eli snapped at her, and Julia's lips pressed into a thin line. He waited a moment to calm down before saying slowly, "I'm perfectly content with just having you."

Julia sighed, and suddenly she looked much older and worn out. "I know, Eli. But you need other people in your life."

Eli didn't respond to her as he pulled up in front of a building that was certainly larger than his last school. Clusters of students were walking around along the sidewalk and in front of the school. Laughing girls were gathered on the stairs, and another large group of girls were gathered around a red pickup truck in front of the school. There were a few boys practicing with their skateboards in the streets, and school buses honked at them to move out of the way as they began to pull up in front of the school as well. Eli waited patiently for the buses to move before he drove through the gates of the school parking lot.

Eli tried to ignore the people gathered in the parking lot that cast him funny looks as he drove by as he searched for an empty spot. He could honestly care less about what people thought of him, but their reactions annoyed him immensely. Why did they even care so much about him or his choice of vehicle? Couldn't they just ignore him like he would ignore them?

"You make yourself pretty hard to be ignored," Julia pointed out.

"Be quiet," Eli muttered to her as he finally found an empty parking spot. He pulled into it carefully and then put the car in park. He grabbed his bag and then pushed open his door, climbing out. He waited a few seconds for Julia to slip out after him before closing it and looping his arm through the strap of his backpack.

"Nice ride, Emo Boy!" a loud voice called out to him, and both Eli and Julia glanced to the sound of the voice.

A boy with bristly hair was watching Eli through squinted eyes, and he had three friends surrounding him that laughed at his little joke.

"Thanks, but I only put out for girls," Eli yelled back, and Julia placed a hand over her mouth as she contained her giggles.

The boy's face flushed red in embarrassment, and then his hands balled into fists. "Oh, so you're looking to get beat up, huh?" he growled.

Eli shrugged. "Not right now, no. Maybe some other time though."

The bully's face turned even redder, but he watched, frozen, as Eli sauntered off, heading for the entrance to the school with Julia at his side.

Eli pushed open the glass doors of the school, and he looked around the crowded hallways until he located the office. He made his way over to it, jumping out of the way of a boy with curly black hair that was running past him. Eli glared after him before continuing his journey to the front desk.

Once he reached it, he glanced awkwardly at the secretary. She kept her eyes on her computer screen until Eli cleared his throat.

The red-haired lady looked up at him from behind her wire-rimmed glasses, and then looked back at the computer. "Yes?" she asked, tone slightly impatient.

Eli stared at her for a brief moment, wondering what her deal was before saying, "I'm Eli Goldsworthy. I transferred here and I, uh, need my class schedule."

The lady typed away on her computer for a moment before questioning him again. "Elijah Goldsworthy?"

Eli nodded, then remembered that she wasn't looking at him and replied, "Yes."

The secretary began typing faster on the keyboard, staring intensely at the computer screen as she clicked on the mouse a few times, eyes scanning the screen. Eli drummed his fingers impatiently on the desk, and the lady tried to hide the annoyance this caused her.

"Could she be any slower?" Julia complained.

"Sh," Eli hushed her, and the secretary shot him an odd, curious look.

The sound of a printer starting up filled Eli's ears along with the chatter of all of the talking students around him. He waited a few more seconds before the lady placed a form in front of him.

"We'll just need you to fill this out, and then I can give you your schedule," she told him before looking back at her computer screen.

Eli rolled his eyes but dutifully filled out the form, the entire time grumbling in his head about why he had to fill out even more forms when he was sure that his parents had done all of this for him. Once it was filled out, he pushed it back to the secretary, and she took it in her hands, looking it over. She nodded once, and then placed it in a folder and tucked it away into a cabinet. She then grabbed a few pieces of paper and passed them to Eli.

"Here is your schedule," she said, "and here is a map to help you find your way around school." She then reached across the desk and grabbed a few more papers. "These are lists of the classes here and who teaches what and which classroom they are in. Refer to this to help find your classes and learn about your teachers."

Eli took the papers from her, clutching them tightly in his hands and wondering to himself why he needed all of this paperwork.

"It's all a bunch of useless crap," Julia muttered.

Eli bit down on his lower lip to keep back a chuckle as the secretary passed him more 'useless crap.' Slowly, she began handing him text books, and Eli frowned, for he had been expecting to get these when he went to class and not here and now. He attempted to grab them all, piling them on top of his papers.

"And…that's it. Good luck on your first day." She gave him a tight, false smile, which Eli didn't bother to return as he struggled to collect all of his books. He picked them all up in his arms, surprised at their weight, and trudged down the hallway to find the locker he had been assigned.

"Wanna give me a hand?" Eli grunted, looking at Julia.

"Can't. Sorry!" she chirped, and Eli narrowed his eyes at her.

Loud ringing made Eli jump, and he let out a breath when he realized that it was only the bell. Julia's laughing rung in his ears, and he glared at her again.

"Will you just -?"

His question was cut off as he felt someone collide into him, and a gasp escaped his lips. Or maybe it wasn't from him, but from the girl standing before him. Eli's books and papers fell from his arms, scattering across the floor.

"Shit," he cursed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl exclaimed as she hurried to bend down and pick up his things. "I didn't mean to -!"

Eli watched her stiffly, and Julia's eyes narrowed at the curly haired girl. "Maybe you should watch where you're going," he told her coldly, letting the girl gather his things for him. After all, it had been her fault that all of his things were currently on the ground.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again, and she looked up at him as she rose to her feet again, his things in her arms now.

Eli's breath suddenly hitched in his throat as his eyes met her blue ones. The color was startling, and they were so clear that he could see his own surprised face in them. The girl's full lips were parted slightly, her own breathing coming a tad uneven as she took in the sight of him.

Eli cast a side-glance to his right to look at Julia, wanting to break his gaze with this girl, but he frowned when he noticed that Julia was absent. His head swiveled around as he tried to find her, his heart beating hard and quickly against his chest in panic. Where had she gone?

"I'm, um." The girl's anxious voice made Eli snap his head back to look at her. "I'm sorry, again. Um," she stuttered, holding his books and papers out to him.

Eli hastily snatched the things from her, attempting to take them all from her in one quick, fluid motion, but failing. "Don't apologize. You obviously weren't paying attention to the people around you, and you honestly probably don't care that you're wasting my time," Eli said to her, voice cool, hiding the anxiety.

"I really wasn't trying to - I was just running late and - I honestly didn't see you…" She fumbled for words, her thin fingers playing with the sleeve of her denim jacket.

"Whatever," Eli snapped. "Can you just go?"

A blush spread across her face, and she nodded quickly. "Y-yes, of course. I'm s-sorry, again," she said, backing away from him and thus going in the direction she had come from instead of heading for where she had originally been going. She seemed to realize after a moment that she was going the wrong way, and she ducked her head down and walked around Eli, avoiding his gaze as she quickened her pace in an attempt to get away from him.

Eli shook his head at her as he watched her go. He found himself filled with annoyance and agitation. He absolutely despised people like her; nervous and always apologizing, blaming everything on their self. Too…kind. It irked him for some reason.

"Have something against Jesus girl?" a higher key voice asked him.

Eli turned his head, expecting to see Julia, but was faced instead with a girl who almost looked scarily like her. The girl's head was cocked to the side slightly, her brown eyes looking back at him from behind the large lenses of her glasses. Her hair was done up in pigtails and she dawned a strange, patterned dress that went down to her knees. She wore spotted tights underneath and large combat boots over them. She tugged on the large, circular necklace dangling from around her neck as she awaited an answer.

"I don't even know her," Eli mumbled, beginning his quest to find his locker again.

The girl followed after him, trailing just a little behind him. "She's Clare Edwards, the resident Christian girl with a big brain. Probably the kindest, most innocent person you'll ever meet." The girl wrinkled her nose, and Eli kept back a laugh.

"Not somebody whose company you would prefer?" he assumed as he stopped in front of his locker.

"Not really. We're not friends, and I don't talk to her," she informed him. She glanced at him, then down at his books. "Here," she said, reaching forward and taking his books from him before he could protest. She grunted and shifted the books in her arms. Eli stared blankly at her, and she gave him a funny look. "Well, hurry up and open your locker. I'm not going to stand here and hold these all day for you."

Not even questioning her now, Eli pulled the slip of paper with his locker combination written on it out of his pocket. He mumbled the code out loud as he turned the dial, and then he pulled it open quickly. He reached forward and took the books back from the girl, piling them into his locker. Eli grabbed his schedule from her, and then took back out the books he needed and stuffed them in his backpack. He slammed the locker shut again and looked back at the girl, who was still standing there and watching him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Eli asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"From the looks of it, we have the same class for first, third, and seventh period," the girl chimed.

Eli's eyes bugged a little, wondering when she had found the time to figure this out. "Wait, excuse me, who are you?"

"Imogen Moreno, pleased to meet you. And you're Eli Goldsworthy, right?" She extended a hand, waiting for him to take it. After a minute, she let the hand drop again, frowning a little at him.

"How did you know that?" he asked warily.

"Your name was on your papers, of course," she answered him, as if it was obvious that she would have found out that way.

"Right, well…I should be getting to class," Eli said slowly, attempting to dodge around her.

"Oh, I'll just walk with you since we're going to the same class!" she exclaimed, a bright smile spreading across her face.

Eli sighed. "Okay, listen -"

"Hey, is this girl bothering you?"

Eli held back a groan as he heard another voice coming from behind him. All he wanted was to be left in peace, and then find Julia.

A younger-looking boy with short, clean-cut hair came up to them. He had round blue eyes, and was wearing a plaid button-down shirt and a beanie. A gray backpack was slung over one of his shoulders, and he wore a bemused expression.

"Oh Adam, be quiet. Nobody wants you here," Imogen said to him, but her tone was teasing.

"Ouch. I'm hurt. But who's your friend?" the new boy, Adam, asked as he assessed Eli.

"Friend?" Eli echoed in a confused tone.

"This is Eli. He has first period with us," Imogen told him eagerly. "We were just on our way to English right now."

"I might as well tag along then!" Adam said, smiling at them.

Eli finally gave up trying to avoid them. He could tell that neither of them intended on leaving him alone, and with his luck, they'd want to befriend him as well. "Let's go then, before we're late," Eli grumbled.

Imogen gave a little jump of excitement. "Great! Follow us!"

Adam and Imogen took the lead, and Eli let himself fall behind in an attempt to avoid conversation. Thankfully, they didn't notice that he was excluding himself from their chatter as they made their way through the hallways.

"I don't like that girl," a voice hissed to him.

Eli glanced up sharply to see Julia walking alongside him again, eyebrows furrowed and an angry expression on her face. "Who? Imogen?" Eli questioned, looking at the girl with the pigtails.

"No, the other one. The one who made me disappear," Julia told him.

"Wait, made you disappear? What are you talking about?" Eli asked, stomach churning. He didn't like the idea of Julia disappearing ever.

"The girl with the curly hair and the blue eyes. When you looked at her, I suddenly found myself…no longer with you. I don't know what happened. But I don't want you around her. There's something peculiar about her," Julia told him quietly.

Eli snorted. "Don't worry. I wouldn't want to hang around her."

Julia smiled at him, and Eli couldn't help but notice that the smile seemed a little different - like it was less happy and cheerful and more…devilish almost. "Good," she purred. "But I definitely think you should make friends with those two." Julia nodded her head at Imogen and Adam, who were still walking ahead of them and talking amongst themselves. "They seem nice, and I believe they might share some of the same interests as you. Note the Dead Hand pin on Adam's backpack and the Escape The Fate wristband on Imogen's wrist."

Eli sought out these items and nodded his approval. "I'll consider friendship if they offer it then," he decided, even though there was still apart of him that believed he would be better off without anybody else.

"Hey," Julia said to him, and she placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, making him shudder. "Just talk to them, let them make you happy. You need friends here, Eli."

"But I…I don't want to neglect you," he whispered.

Julia smiled again, and this time Eli felt the warmth in it. "Oh, don't worry about that, you'll have plenty of time for me. Besides, I won't always leave you alone with them." Eli looked like he was going to protest further, so she quickly added. "Please, Eli. Do it for me."

Eli stared at her for a while, and then nodded.

"Okay. I'll do it for you."

Author's Note: So, was what I said about it earlier right or wrong? What did you guys think of it? Should I continue? Review it and let me know!