*Disclaimer: I do NOT own the rights to Degrassi nor do I intend to misuse the material.*

Chapter 1

"The Memory Remains"

Winter was right around the corner as the end of fall approached. An icy breeze ruffled Clare Edwards' short, curly hair. She took a moment to run her fingers through her curls as she waited for Morty on the front doorsteps of her home. Already dreading the inevitable cold, she silently hoped that Toronto would hold back on its snow for once. Of course, that was almost as impossible as hoping for the new rules at Degrassi Community High School to change.

Ever since Vegas Night, Clare couldn't forgive herself for the events that occurred that day. It hadn't completely been her fault, but in some way she felt that she deserved part of the blame. Never before had Degrassi implicated strict rules such as the use of uniforms and what not.

Time had passed since the Vegas Night incident and so many other things had occurred. Recently Clare discovered that her boyfriend, Elijah Goldsworthy, had a severe case of hoarding. Because Eli was not completely over his deceased ex-girlfriend, Julia, those existing feelings took over his life. But his problem began improving as soon as Clare started to help him clean out his room, promising to never give up on him. Several weeks passed since Clare began helping Eli and already he had improved more than he could have wished for; he got rid of almost the whole mess in his room, his locker was tidy, and his heart was content.

Morty's rough engine broke Clare's train of thought. She looked up at the familiar sight of Eli's hearse. She gathered her school bag before walking up to the car and sighing happily. As she got into the passenger seat, Eli leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, making a light blush decorate her pale face.

"Nice day today," Eli made small talk as he drove away from the Edwards' household and headed for school.

"Perfect weather for some public embarrassment if I may add," Clare teased.

Eli snorted, "You haven't publically embarrassed me since the day we skipped English to work on our assignments."

"Yes, I perfectly remember the first day you negatively influenced me," Clare stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey, whose idea was it for us to get matching piercings?" he retorted.

She stayed silent with defeat.

"Goldsworthy one, Edwards zero," he said triumphantly.

"No fair!" she whined.

"You're just a sore loser," he smirked.

Clare merely caught a side glimpse of that smirk and even so, the pit of her stomach did backflips. She loved that facial expression of his because no one else wore it as proudly as he did. Just then her cell phone vibrated and she flipped it open to find a text message from Adam. After reading it, she fidgeted uncomfortably with her phone and blurted out, "You know what? I think today is the perfect day for us to skip school. Don't you think? We can go on an urban adventure somewhere or we can go to The Dot or-"

"Or you can stop rambling and calmly tell me why you suddenly feel the desire to skip school," Eli supplied suspiciously.

"No reason. I just think-"

"Clare, just tell me what's wrong," he said kindly.

"Well umm, Adam just texted me that umm-"

He purposely sighed noisily, "Spit it out Edwards."

Clare couldn't find the right words to tell Eli what Adam texted her. She knew perfectly well how he would react. For their sake, she would stall a while until Morty was fully parked and they would be out of harm's way.

"It's really nothing," she said nonchalantly.

"Does 'nothing' usually make you this jumpy?"

"I'm not being jumpy!"

"Come on, just tell me. You'll feel better."

"I feel impeccably fine," she looked out the window. "So since you're turning the corner here I guess we are going to school after all?" she asked nervously.

"Since you refuse to tell me what's wrong, I will refuse to skip school with you. Besides, Mrs. Dawes will wonder why her favorite pair of English partners is absent," he quickly winked before focusing back on the road.

"You're no fun. You know that?"

He chuckled and shook his head, "The suspense is really killing me."

They arrived at Degrassi and Eli parked his car in the first space he could find. When he turned off the ignition he turned to look at Clare. "Now can you please tell me what's up?"

Focusing on her phone, she looked away and said, "Just don't blow a casket, okay?"

Eli grinned, "Have I ever overreacted?"

Clare giggled, "I'm not going to even answer that Mr. I think I'll slip-,"

"Thanks Clare, thanks," Eli wore a serious expression while remembering the Vegas Night chaos.

Clare regretted reminding him of the fact that he slipped Ipecac in Fitz's drink which caused him to vomit. The gesture scared her more than Eli thought it had. It showed her that somewhere within him, he really did have a dark side. Although he drives a hearse, wears dark clothing and colors his nails black, Clare saw that as his style and not as a part of his personality like mostly everyone did. But after he poisoned Fitz's drink, she couldn't help but wonder if that side of him was still hiding beneath his sarcastic charm.

"I'm sorry for bringing that up but you walked right into it," she said.

He looked at her with a shrug, "I did overreact I guess. But don't think I've forgotten what you're keeping from me. What did Adam text you?"

She took a deep breath. "Adam saw Fitz at The Dot."

Just as she predicted, his face became outraged. "Why would they let that Neanderthal off the hook? What kind of system do we have? He could have killed me or you for that matter!" he spat sourly.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Eli calm down. This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you."

"I can't help it. The guy insulted you with that curse word and then he- what if he actually meant to kill me-"

"Quit it! That's in the past and it's not going to happen again. The bell is going to ring soon so we should head to class," she said while scrambling out of the car. Thankfully he got out of Morty as well and joined her.

They walked hand in hand out of the parking lot. When they reached the front steps to the school, Eli stopped in his tracks. Clare was busy complaining about her parents' latest fight that she didn't notice that he stopped walking with her. Soon she realized they were no longer holding hands and turned back. She gave him a questioning look only to see that he was looking past her. She followed his gaze and spotted Mark Fitzgerald.