"Nine, ten, eleven... how much was it?"

"It's thirteen dollars and fifty cents."

"Ah, so I owe you another couple of dollars..." He searched through his wallet and then put his hands over his pockets, trying to feel for any loose change. "Um..." He glanced up at the cashier who was impatiently tapping on the counter, looking around the café as if she didn't realize that he didn't have enough money.

"Here, I got it." He heard a voice from behind him and he turned.

"Oh, uh... you really don't have to –"

"Don't worry, man. It's just a couple of bucks." The taller boy smiled at him.

After getting the receipt for his meal, he turned to the boy and chuckled nervously.

"Thanks. I was afraid that I would have to do the dishes back there or something..."

"Hey, don't stress about it." The boy picked up his coffee and grinned, wrapping his hand around the burning cup. "Mm, there's nothing like a warm cup of joe this late at night." He added, sarcastically. "I'm Jake." He said, holding his hand out.

"I'm Eli." He returned the handshake.

"So, did you get stood up tonight, Eli?" Jake joked, taking the first cautious sip of his drink.

"Something like that. My best friend was supposed to come hang out but he bailed at the last minute." Eli paused before continuing. "Do you go to Degrassi?" Jake swallowed the hot beverage before answering.

"I'm new. I've only been around for a few weeks but the kids tell me that The Dot is the place to be. I'm actually waiting for someone right now."

Eli wondered if this boy had heard any rumours about his accident, though he wasn't willing to bring it up and ruin a possible friendship; especially when he didn't have many left to risk losing.

"I'd better get out of your way then." Eli started fidgeting with the folded receipt that he was still holding. "I guess I'll see you at school on Monday. Thanks again for covering for me."

"Not a problem, man. Yeah, hopefully I'll see you at school." Jake replied, warmly. Eli waved and then walked out the glass doors of The Dot. He knew that Jake was probably a good guy but he also knew that he would eventually find out about what happened to him and like everyone else, he would turn against him. It was a fate that Eli had accepted with every new relationship that he made.

As he turned the corner after exiting The Dot, he bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry about that –"

He recognized that voice instantly.

She stopped and stared at him for a second before smiling. "Eli!"

His heart sunk down into his stomach. What was with this night? First, Adam told him that he couldn't make it to hang out, after Eli had ordered their usual wings and fries for two and then he had to make some polite conversation with his ex-girlfriend?

"Hi." He said, hesitantly.

"How have you been doing?" She asked, trying to keep eye contact. He couldn't do it.

"I've been great. I actually have to go meet up with Adam right now, so..." He waited for her to say goodbye, hoping that they could both move on with their nights.

"I thought that Adam had to help Drew out with karate classes or something." He tried not to let out a big sigh. Was he ever going to get out of this conversation?

"Right, well, I need to get going either way." He said, bluntly. He could tell that she figured out what he was doing and while he felt a tiny bit terrible, he was mostly just glad that he might be able to make it home without any arguments.

"Okay." She paused for a second and looked towards The Dot and then back at Eli. "Um, for what it's worth... I'm glad that you're doing well."

He finally met with her eyes and he could tell that she was genuine about what she was saying.

"Thanks, Clare."

She smiled once more and then made her way past him and over to the café.

As soon as she was gone, another feeling of dread came over him. Clare had sounded an awful lot like she had moved on already.

Ironically, while he was trying to escape all of these people and move on with his life, it seemed like most of them had already done the same to him.