Clare Edwards. I remember Clare Edwards. Short curly brown hair and crystal blue eyes. She was one of my best friends. We had a little group and some people called us the misfits. The term fit us quite well. None of us really fit in anywhere, except with each other. The three of us were nearly inseparable, that is, until Clare died.
Maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, though. I'm Adam Torres. Female to Male transgender with a warm heart who once had the two best friends that anyone could ever ask for. I'm a senior at Degrassi now, coming up on graduation day. I have new friends, but they can't make me forget. I'm going to prom with Katie Matlin, yet absolutely dreading it. All this Prom talk is making me reminisce.
This is where Clare Edwards comes back in. I met her when I was a sophomore, through Eli Goldsworthy. Dark, mysterious, and honestly a little fucked up, but my best friend, nonetheless. The two of them had met before I met Eli, but you can bet that I was filled in on the initial meeting. Eli and Clare were in love from the moment they locked eyes, both too terrified to admit it. I like to call them the modern day Romeo and Juliet, and I guess I'll call this their story.
It was early on in the school year. Clare was walking with her best friend at the time, Alli Bhandari. The two were fighting over her glasses, when they fell out of Clare's hands and onto the street in front of them. Before Clare could pick them up, a hearse drove over them. Out stepped Eli, who picked up the glasses and handed them back to Clare, stating how he thought they were dead. He looked into her eyes and told her they were pretty, she blushed and thanked him. It was their first meeting, and so few words were exchanged, yet they were both already in far too deep. If there was any couple that could make me believe in love at first sight it was those two.
Ms. Dawes was their English teacher. She had assigned them as partners not too long after their initial meeting. Both expressed disappointment very openly, or so I was told. It was their desperate attempt to forget that they may have already been crazy about each other. I was told of the first assignment, and skipping class, even something about a bench and public embarrassment. I asked Eli to spare me the details. This is where I come along. I met Eli through a contest that Sav and Holly J were doing. We won Dead Hand tickets, and needless to say, became best friends from there. I entered smack dab in the middle of two people who were so clearly in love with each other that even I could see it, and I'm not good with these things.
We all found ourselves having to do an English project together. The assignment was to act out a scene from Romeo and Juliet, of course. Clare was Juliet and Eli was Romeo. I was the nifty camera man. Eli and Clare shared their first kiss for that project. I was happy they did. I thought that my two best friends would finally be able to admit their feelings for one another. Clare was all for it, and she had already admitted wanting to take things to the next step. After that kiss, Eli ran scared. He was fighting a losing battle; his feelings. He had a reason, which I knew but I was sworn to secrecy. It was a relief when he finally told her about Julia, his dead ex-girlfriend. Clare had been willing to give him the time he needed, and not too long after the two were a happy couple.
They had bumps throughout their relationship. Eli almost got stabbed just hours after making it official. Clare's parents announced they were getting divorced, which drove her slightly crazy for a while. Secrets poured out about Eli and his hoarding, yet the two always managed to work through their issues. To me it seemed that they fought more so than not, but I could tell they were genuinely happy. At times I felt like a third wheel, but they always found a way to include me and make me feel welcome. We were the misfits.
Prom came along and of course, Eli and Clare were going together. I didn't have a date, but I was looking forward to it anyway. They promised that the three of us would have an awesome time. I needed it for sure, because things at home weren't looking so great. Drew had been involved with Bianca, who in turn got him involved with this gang. They were constantly after him, which is a different story, yet it ties in to mine. We were all at prom, having a good time when the next thing I knew Eli and Clare were fighting again. About what, I am still not entirely sure. I brushed it off because, as I said earlier, the two fought more than they got along. I heard them exchange harsh words. Eli immediately made his way towards me on the dance floor. He gave me a look which I knew meant he needed to talk to me, so we made our way to the punch bowl on the far side of the room.
We barely had the chance to say two words to each other when we heard the gun shot. Both of us turned around in time to see Vince, the guy from the gang who was after Drew, running out the door. Everyone was on the floor at this point, and neither of us could tell who it was that got shot. People started to get up and my eyes scanned the room and noticed the one person who wasn't moving. Clare. I turned to Eli and noticed that he was seeing the same thing I was. He tried to get to her, but was pushed away and blocked by the medical personnel who had already arrived.
We sat in the hospital, waiting for news about Clare. Both of us too shook up to speak. Eli was mumbling to himself. If he wasn't my best friend I would have thought he was nuts. I was able to get him to talk to me about what was going through his head. He was scared to lose her, of course. I knew the pain my best friend must have been experiencing. I loved Clare too, but in an entirely different way. I tried to assure Eli that she would be okay, and that's when the news came. She wasn't okay. Clare was gone.
Losing Clare broke Eli. He was strong, but this was simply not something he was able to handle. I tried to talk to him as much as I could, but he's nearly impossible to speak to when he's upset. With Eli, everything is an internal battle. From the little bit that I was able to get from him, he was not only upset about losing Clare, but he was disappointed in himself for the last words they had said to each other. He felt his life repeating. He lost Julia after a fight, and now he had lost Clare after fighting. I tried to calm him down. I did what I could, but his mind took over.
I woke up one morning about a week after Clare's death to news that I never wanted to receive. Eli had crashed Morty into a wall late the night before. The crash proved fatal. My remaining best friend was gone. I had yet to check my phone that morning, so I did. I had one new text message from Eli, which read: Without her, I can't go on. And within this lies the reason why I call Eli and Clare the modern day Romeo and Juliet. He ended his life because he could not imagine it without her.
Clare Edwards. I remember Clare Edwards. Short curly brown hair and crystal blue eyes. She was one of my best friends. We had a little group and some people called us the misfits. Her death caused me to lose both my best friends. Yet, among all the pain, I find the most beautiful love story.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed! Feedback is always appreciated!