Somehow Alli had convinced me to go to Drew's party. I still wasn't sure why I was going. I wouldn't know anyone besides her, Drew, and Adam. As much as I liked Adam, he and I weren't as close as Alli and I were, and I knew Alli would be strapped to Drew's side the entire night. So why was I going again? The green eyes.
It had been a while since I had seen them, but for some odd reason I had a feeling I'd be seeing the mysterious Hearse-driving boy who ran over my old glasses again. I really shouldn't care about him, but his eyes, emerald green and mysterious, were constantly popping up into my thoughts. I tried to make them go away, but they were just so intoxicating. I could probably stare into them all day long, but there's still a problem. I don't know what his name is. He's mystery boy to me, and I wouldn't dare to admit that I was crushing again. After KC I had made a promise to myself to stay single for grade 10, but I knew if I saw those eyes again, then my promise would probably be broken. Not that that was a bad thing.
My mom dropped me off at Alli's house with my bag packed for my sleepover at Alli's. I stepped out of the car after giving her a kiss on the cheek, and I noticed the sadness in her eyes from the constant fighting she had endured with my father. As much as I wanted to be there for her, I was happy to get away from the bickering for one night.
I knocked on Alli's door waiting for my dark-haired best friend to open the door. She squealed when she saw me and dragged me through the door and up to her room. I couldn't help but be somewhat excited for the night. Inside I was begging for the chance to see those eyes again, but I wasn't sure if I should tell Alli or not. I didn't want her to rush it for me.
"Okay, Clare, what do you think about this purple and silver dress with those black leggings and stilettos? I'm wearing the blue halter dress with those shoes." She was pointing out all these clothes, and I figured that dressing up somewhat sexily wouldn't hurt my chances of catching the eye of mystery boy.
"Sure, I guess, you know what looks best on me! Anyways, Alli, I wanted to ask you if you knew who the guy was that ran over my glasses yesterday?" Alli looked at me with that devious smile of hers. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be excited or scared. Alli's plans always made me nervous.
"You mean Eli? Oh my god, Clare! I know that look! That's the 'I have a crush' look! Clare-bear! Do you like Eli?" SHe was practically jumping up and down now. I wasn't sure how to answer. I liked his eyes and his hair, but I didn't know him enough to say that I had a crush. Alli was hugging me before I could answer.
"Well, you're in luck because I Drew invited the whole school, and I'm pretty sure Adam is friends with him. So, now I get to set you two up! Yay! This will be fun."
"No! Alli, you know I love you and you're my best friend, but please don't. I'm not even sure I like him. I don't even know him. I just want to play out my cards."
"Clare… Fine, but if you need any help, you better come to me." She looked somewhat disappointed. I didn't want to upset her, but I didn't want to rush anything with Eli. Not that there was anything there, yet. I was trying to be positive.
We continued to get dressed for the party by finishing our makeup and dancing around to some songs on Alli's iPod. We walked downstairs and saw that Sav was ready to drive us to the party. He looked at us and sighed while shaking his head. I didn't think that Sav was ready to admit that his little sister wasn't a baby anymore. The car ride was silent as we made our way to Drew and Adam's house. I hadn't been there before, but I was amazed to see that they lived in a mansion. I had heard that their house was big, but this was amazing. It was almost as if they lived in a castle.
Alli and I separated ourselves from Sav as we walked into the mansion listening to the blasting music. Not many people were there yet, but once Alli saw Drew, she ran ahead. They kissed for a second before Drew gave me a quick hug. I smiled at him before I saw Adam in the background talking to Fione Coyne. I was surprised that he had finally worked up the courage to talk to her. I saw Fiona lightly push Adam away, quickly noting that they were flirting. Good for Adam.
Adam started to walk away, so I caught up to him. I quickly hugged him while noticing the huge smile on his face.
"I noticed the flirting back there. Good job, Adam! Now I won't have to hear about it anymore." He looked at me with that goofy smile.
"She actually noticed me. I can't believe it. She's just so down-to-earth…" Adam continued to describe Fiona as I noticed a tall, dark figure parking a hearse outside the window. I felt bad that I had stopped paying attention to Adam, but I couldn't help that my green-eyed mystery boy, Eli, was making his way towards the door.
Adam hadn't noticed that I wasn't paying attention, but he saw Eli, too. He waved to him as Eli made his way through the party back to us. I was beginning to get nervous as he inched closer and closer to us. My throat went dry as he and Adam high-fived. I gulped. I was at a loss for words. His green eyes met mine, and I was speechless. I saw Eli nudging Adam.
"Clare, I don't know if you know Eli, but this is Eli." I laughed a bit at Adam's introduction. His green eyes sparkled as I laughed.
"Smooth, bro. Hey, Clare. I'm sorry about your glasses." I was stunned that he actually remember running over my glasses. He seemed like he was too cool for something as dumb as that. He smirked at me, and inside, I felt my insides melt. I wondered if he knew that he had that effect on me. Suddenly the butterflies rose in my stomach.
"Umm hi, Eli. Those glasses didn't really matter. I don't need them anymore because of my contacts." I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes again. I was sure that I was as red as a cherry.
"Well, I guess it's good that you don't need them anymore because then I wouldn't have seen your pretty eyes." Adam coughed. Had he just called me pretty? I was going crazy over some guy that I had just met. This wasn't like me. Adam slipped out of the conversation winking at me while making his way toward Fiona.
"I hope Adam isn't too weirded out by us."
"And why would he be weirded out, Clare?" I looked into his eyes as he smirked at me. I could tell he would be smirking a lot in the future.
"Well, it's obvious that you were flirting with me in front of him." He was shocked that I had just called him out. I was shocked that I had actually said that.
"You think I was flirting with you?" My heart sank. Was he serious? I didn't know what to say; he had a way of making me go speechless.
"Well, I guess your perception is quite accurate. I was hoping you'd be a bright girl, Clare. I figured if I flirted early on in the night and got Adam away, then I would get to talk to you some more. You intrigue me." He smirked, and those butterflies rose up again in my stomach.
I spent the rest of the night talking, flirting, and dancing with Eli. We didn't kiss, and I was okay with that. When the party was over, Eli left and slid a small piece of paper into my head.
"Good night, Clare. I had a great time tonight." He smiled at me. There was no smirk, no sarcasm, just a sincere smile.
"Me, too, Eli. Good night." I hugged him good bye holding on a little bit longer than I was probably supposed to, but I didn't care because something about this boy made me think that it wouldn't be the last time I'd be seeing him.