An Eclare Story With a Twist

Eli's Point of View

I slammed against the lockers, defeated. She had picked Fitz over me. She was right though. I deserved whatever Fitz did to me. Why him, though? Why did it have to be him? I know what he wanted to do with her; she knows what he wanted to do with her! That wouldn't stop her, though. She always saw the good in people, even a guy like Fitz. Even me.

I jammed the ear buds from my iPod into my ears and allowed the music to consume me. Although my favorite Alexis On Fire song quickly shifted to a panicked, feminine voice. I opened my eyes to see a terrified Clare.

"Fitz has a knife!" She said breathlessly. When I didn't respond she said, "This is where we run! Let's go!"

"I'm not going to let that jerk scare me." I said quietly. She had an expression of disbelief on her face. That's when I heard it.

"Well don't you two look cute?" Fitz said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. He was pointing the knife at me.

"Fitz, I think you should leave. Now." Clare said, calmly, but forcefully. She slowly started to retreat backwards. I began to follow.

"And let this freak, make time with my date? I don't think so." I noticed the knife was beginning to point at Clare. I had to stop this. There was no way I was letting this happen to me again. Not to Clare.

Clare's pace began to quicken, as did Fitz's. I didn't know what to do. I tried to angle my body in front of hers, a feeble attempt to protect the girl I cared about most.

"Fitz," I said, "please don't do this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. Just please don't do this."

"I've heard that before, Emo Boy." Fitz did not look at me, but he pushed me out of the way and into the lockers. Clare was completely unprotected. I was not ready to lose her.

Fitz had Clare backed up into a wall, but oddly, she looked calm. "Fitz," she crooned, as she reached out to touch his free hand, "you don't want to do this. You'll go to prison, never go to university, and never have a life. Plus, I know that you're a good guy. You don't really want hurt me, do you?"

I was completely amazed. Clare had managed to mesmerize Fitz with only the tone of her voice and a gentle touch. Although I soon realized, that Fitz wasn't as gullible as he originally appeared. He gripped the knife tighter, closed the majority of the distance between them, and thrust the blade towards her. My heart stopped as I heard Clare cry out. I was completely nauseous. I was seeing Julia suffer through her final moments all over again.

Although I was totally caught off guard when I heard Clare yell out, "you son of a bitch!" And punch Fitz in the mouth. She wasn't hurt! Fitz had stabbed the wall, not her. I ran to Clare and wrapped my arms around her, making sure I was positioned in front of the knife that was still stuck in the wall. Fitz just rubbed his jaw like an idiot.

"I'm so glad you're okay." I whispered. "I'm not going to lose you." She kissed my cheek in response.

"Hands where I can see them!" The police officer appeared suddenly, causing Clare and I to do what she asked, and Fitz to flee. The officer took off after Fitz, while her partner came to talk to us.

"Are you two all right? Will we need paramedics?" I found the second question to be quite stupid. If we needed paramedics, wouldn't someone have to be in obvious pain? I didn't bother commenting, though, I was just glad that Clare was safe.

"No, we're fine. Just a little shaken up." Clare responded shakily. The anger she'd felt clearly subsided.

"C'mon. I'll walk you two outside. The lockdown's over."

The officer walked Clare and I through the halls and out the door. I kept my arm wrapped around Clare the entire time. "A detective will collect your statements tomorrow." The officer said as she walked away.

"Promise me something?" Clare asked.

"Anything." I replied.

"Will you please just end the violence with Fitz? If he'd stabbed you, I wouldn't have been able to handle it."

"Of course, Clare. But seriously, how can you be worried about me, when you're the one who Fitz nearly stabbed?"

"It's really all just a blur to me. Eli, would you mind giving me a ride home?"

I laughed. "Come on, cutie. Let's go home."