Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi nor do I own the song I used for the title. Which is Things I'll Never Say by Avril Lavigne.
A/n: I kind of came up with this idea the other night when I was half asleep. I was thinking about Manny, Emma, and Liberty at Smithdale. Then I thought 'well, what if Clare, Alli, and Jenna were to go to Smithdale too?' Then I thought up this whole Clare/Eli/Adam/Eclare plot that branched off of that. This is the final outcome. It hopefully will be my first successful non-oneshot fanfiction. I can't wait to write the rest of it! I hope everyone enjoys it.
It will be rated T for now, but could possibly change to M later on.
Just one last thing though; the prom I bring up in this fanfic is in no way related to Dead and Gone Part 2. A few things will relate back to storylines that have taken place in Season 10 and 11 though.
Oh and thank you to my lovely beta reader, aka my twin, Megan for proof reading this for me. Love ya twin!
Clare glanced around at the huge campus in front of her. People were crowded in groups here and there, some handing out fliers for clubs and sororities, while others were looking around mirroring her look of complete awe. This was it; Clare Edwards was finally a university student! Even though she had taken some university classes during her senior year at Degrassi nothing could compare to the feeling of finally living on an actual campus. In a sense she felt free.
Clare had been accepted into both Toronto University and Smithdale, but ended up choosing Smithdale when she decided to minor in Theater. Plus, Smithdale had not only an amazing Theater department, but also a great English program. Clare decided to major in English because of her love for reading as well as writing. So in the end Smithdale had been a win-win situation, and even though it was far away from home she knew it would be worth it.
Though truthfully Clare was glad to be far away from home, and that is another part of the reason why she had chosen to go to this specific university. Ever since that night at prom, things hadn't been the same. A lot of bad stuff had happened and more proceeded to happen afterwards. Even now, she shied away from thinking about it. It was refreshing to be away from it all.
"Clare!" She turned instinctively toward the sound of her name being called only to find Alli running up to her. Alli was waving a white sheet of paper around with a huge smile on her face.
"Let me guess; you just got our dorm assignments?" Alli had come to a stop in front of her, and was now trying to catch her breath.
"Did you just run all of the way here?" Alli nodded which caused Clare to laugh.
Alli glared at her, but ended up breaking out into a smile again, "Guess what!"
"We're all roomed together?" Clare asked hopefully.
"Yes," Alli exclaimed gleefully but then her expression fell slightly. "There is one catch though… We're going to have another roommate. They couldn't find this person a room, and since we have one of the bigger rooms they figured that it would be okay if we had four people in our room."
"That's okay, but who is going to be our extra roommate?" Clare asked.
"That's the thing…," Alli looked as if she was contemplating on saying something.
"What?" Clare urged her to go on.
"They didn't tell me. It looks like it's going to be a surprise for all of us!" Alli answered quickly avoiding eye contact with her. Clare narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She knew Alli was hiding something from her, but decided against pushing her for an answer.
"Wait, I thought Jenna was with you? Where did she go?" Clare asked Alli who was studying the map that was supposed to show them where their dorm was.
"She has been swept away by a room full of musical instruments. She told me that we could go ahead and take our stuff to the dorm. She'll meet us there later." Alli laughed then glanced around, then back down to the map, and started walking off in a set direction.
"I hope you don't get us lost, Alli. You're not the best with maps. Remember that summer we took that road trip, and you got us lost in the woods?" She teased, laughing, knowing fully that Alli was probably glaring at her now.
"You can't blame that on me, Clare. You and Adam were in the backseat singing to Avril Lavigne at the top of your-"Alli eyes narrowed slightly but then she gasped suddenly stopping mid-sentence, "I'm sorry Clare—I didn't mean too."
Clare looked down at her feet as she tried to avoid eye contact with Alli so she couldn't see the look on her face, "No, Alli, it's okay. You don't have to watch what you say around me. I won't break down at the smallest mention anymore."
"How is...?" Alli's voice faded out not wanting to say the name again for fear of upsetting Clare even more.
"The last time I talked to Mrs. Torres she told me that he was still in a coma, and that the doctors aren't sure when he's going to wake up, or even if…" She couldn't finish because her throat closed up tightly at just the thought. Clare felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
"What happened that night, Clare?" Alli asked in a soft, sad tone.
"I really don't want to talk about it, okay. I don't even remember much from that night, anyway," Clare huffed quickly. She turned slightly away from Alli, and tried to hide the fact that she was swiping her hands over her eyes to get rid of the tears.
Alli knew that Clare's sudden quieting meant that she was getting even more upset. "Why don't we stop off at the café we passed earlier for some sweets and coffee before we head to the dorm?" She changed the subject quickly before grabbing Clare's arm, hauling her off in a different direction.
Clare looked up appreciatively at Alli and smiled. She was glad her friend knew to change the subject. "Are you sure you know where you're going though?" She asked cautiously trying not to laugh.
Alli rolled her eyes, "Yes, I am sure I know where I am going. Don't worry."
Clare fingered the straw on her vanilla iced coffee absentmindedly as she examined the little café. It was small and compact, which was to be expected since it was located on a university campus, but at the same time it had a nice, homey feeling. It was very comforting. She could imagine herself spending a lot of time in this place.
She took a quick sip of her iced beverage but choked suddenly when a movement in the corner caught her eye, "Alli, is that who I think it is?" Clare asked, half coughing as she pointed to a figure seated a few tables away from them.
Alli looked toward the table Clare was pointing at. Realization lit up in her eyes, and suddenly she snatched a menu off the table to cover her face with. "Yes, it's who you think it is. What is he doing here? Dave never said anything about deciding to go to Smithdale!"
"Well considering you two broke up at the end of our sophomore year you couldn't have possibly known," she pointed out.
"Whatever, let's just sneak out of here before he notices me!" Alli whispered hurriedly, starting to scoot closer to the door. Clare followed slowly behind her.
"Clare, Alli? Is that really you guys?" an all too familiar voice called out.
"Busted!" Clare whispered laughing. Alli gave her look before she turned toward the voice.
"Dave? Wow it has been a really long time." Alli forced a smile.
"Yeah it has, I didn't know that you two decided to go to Smithdale." Dave smiled back completely unaware of Alli's false smile.
"Yep, but listen we really can't chat right now. We still haven't been to our dorm room to unpack yet," she replied.
"That's cool. Maybe we could all hang out sometime?" he asked hopefully.
"Sure thing, Dave." Alli let the lack of enthusiasm she felt lace her tone.
"Well that was interesting." Clare looked as if she was about to start cracking up again.
"Shut it, Clare. Let's just get to our dorm and forget that ever happened." With that Alli headed toward the café doors.
"Are you sure this is the right place, Alli?" Clare asked. She looked down at the paper that Alli had handed her, and then back to the dorm room numbers that lined each door. None of the doors had the number 1810 stamped on it.
"Well, the map specifically pointed us in this direction, even you read it, so don't blame it on my lack of navigational skills." Alli glanced toward the doors on the left while Clare watched the ones on the right.
"Wait. Look at the numbers on the doors; they're starting to match up!" Clare smiled. Finally, after a long day of walking they were about to reach their dorm. She, for one, could not wait to relax and unpack.
"1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, and finally here we are 1810!" Alli exclaimed. A little number had never made her this happy before.
"There might be a minor problem here, Alli. It looks like you forgot to get the key." The joyous smile fell off Alli's face. "How're we supposed to get in now?"
"We could knock. I am sure the fourth roommate is in there by now," Alli suggested.
"It's worth a shot, I guess," Clare agreed. She stepped forward and began knocking on the door.
Suddenly they heard the sound of light footsteps approaching the door. The lock flipped quietly, and the door slowly opened to reveal a figure.
"I'm sorry about that. You see, my friend forgot the key. You must be our other—" Clare looked up only to meet those all too familiar green eyes. Her jaw dropped immediately. She turned to look at Alli who by now was sporting a very guilty smile. So this is what Alli had been hiding from her earlier. She turned back slowly to face the person in front of her.
"Eli?"
His shocked, yet surprised, look mirrored hers. "Clare?"
A/n: Cliffhanger on the first chapter? Yes, I am very evil indeed. Sorry if this was a tiny bit boring. It was more of an introduction to my fanfic then anything. I didn't give away too much about what happened concerning Clare as well as Adam because that's part of the plot. It's going to play out over time, and trust me this is going to be one crazy plot. I hope the first chapter intrigued some people.
Also who ever figured out what significance the numbers 1810 have, and why I choose them for their dorm room number kudos to you =)!
Reviews are very much appreciated3
Twitter: MunroCNation
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-Love Lina