Hey Guys! This chapter is longer than the first one. This took a really long time to write, because I had some serious writers block. I picked the song Homesick by A Day To Remember, because that was the song that inspired me to write this story in the first place. Enjoy the story!
Just a little shout-out to Kami: I hope you had fun on your cruise! ;)
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Degrassi, any of it's characters, or the song Homesick by A Day To Remember.
"Hey Clare, ready to go?" Eli asked me as I opened the door all the way.
"Yeah." I told him with a small fake smile as I flipped the switch off to the light in my living room. I tried not to limp as I shut the front door and stepped out onto my front porch. I locked the door, and put my house key in my back pocket. "Let's go." I said softly, wincing as I went down each step. When I reached the bottom, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up, and Eli was looking down at me with a worried expression.
"Are you okay?" He asked, looking me up and down. I tensed up and began to fiddle with my hands as I thought of something to say.
"Yeah, I'm fine. When I was getting in the shower… I accidentally jammed my hip into the corner of the counter." I lied with a wry laugh.
"Oh. You're sure you're okay?" He asked again, with a look of concern on his face. I nodded.
"I'm fine. It just hurts to walk." I told him, hoping that he'll drop it and accept my lie.
"Do you want to lean on me?" He asked, holding out his arm and resting it on the small of my back. I made sure to keep a straight face and not wince at his action.
"Nope. Thanks, though." I said as he removed his hand from my back. "Let's go." I said with a small smile. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door, with an expectant face. My smile grew wider as I took faltering steps to the hearse. He stepped aside and I tried to slide in the seat with as little movement as possible, but as I sat down, my body tensed from the ripping pain in my stomach. It didn't go by unnoticed by a pair of emerald eyes.
"…You're obviously not fine, Clare." He said, with a look of uneasiness. He reached for me to try to help me out of the car, but I stopped him.
"Eli. I'm okay, really. I think I just bruised a muscle or something." I lied to him, trying to reassure him that I was fine so that he wouldn't get suspicious. He let go, and I closed the car door, wincing as I did so. He rubbed his forehead with his hand, and walked around the front of the hearse and got in the driver's side. He started Morty, and I felt smug that he believed my lies. Eli drove down the street with the same uneasy expression. He turned on the radio, and pressed the channel of the rock station that his dad worked for. I heard Eli's dad Bullfrog announce the name of the next song, and Eli smiled a little bit, but soon his face fell.
"Okay, guys, it's Bullfrog here!" Eli's dad said, a little bit too enthusiastic. "Next, we have Homesick by A Day To Remember. I hope you like the song, and keep rockin'!" Bullfrog said in his gruff, manly voice. I laughed at how cheesy Eli's dad can be. But I quickly grabbed my stomach in pain, as laughing made my stomach move, which guaranteed pain. Eli looked over at me with flat-out concern on his face as I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain as I listened to the song.
Everything around me seems much different from where I'm from,
And at this rate I think my fate's been sealed,
This life's so unpredictable.
We'll go continue to live a life that no one knows.
Everything about me seemed so much different when I was young.
I couldn't wait to take my place.
Two years have passed, good God, have I been gone?
So why, I've never felt so alone in my whole life.
Times not on my side.
Why does everything go wrong?
As I sat there and listened to the song, I fought back tears that threatened to fall down my cheeks. The lyrics made all of the bad memories come flooding back.
When my mom died.
When my dad started drinking.
When I went to my mom's funeral.
The first time my dad hit me.
My first kiss, and how much I regretted it.
How alone I felt.
I sniffled, and wiped my eyes as a few tears trickled down my cheeks. The song was over, but the memories would always be there. We pulled into The Dot, and as Eli parked his hearse, he gave me a look of complete worry. He put his hand on my shoulder. "Clare?" He said, starting to rub tiny circles into my shoulder with his fingers. Even that stung a little bit. "You okay?" He asked, with a look of fear in his eyes. Eli scooted closer in the bench seat of the hearse, and soon he was sitting directly next to me. He reached up with his other hand and wiped the tears that stained my face.
"Yeah." I sniffled. "It's just… the lyrics to that song brought back some bad memories." I told him, with a tiny, wry smile. "I'll be fine." I said, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. Eli had sadness and empathy in his eyes. I never told him about how my father drinks, and how… he does things when he's drunk. I only told him about my mom. Eli moved in to wrap his arms around me, but as soon as he did so, I whimpered and shut my eyes as the came back in a pang. He pulled back immediately, and apologized to no end.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I forgot…" Eli said, scratching the back of his head. He patted me on the knee, which didn't hurt nearly as much. "It'll be okay, Clare. I promise." He told me, with a determined look in his eye. I wanted so badly to believe him, but I had this heaviness in my heart that told me something opposite. I didn't know which to believe.
I smiled a bit at his 'promise'. "Thanks Eli." I said warmly.
"I'll get your door, don't worry about it." He said, scooting back over in the seat and opening his door. Eli ran around the front of Morty and opened my door, and gingerly tried to help me get out of the hearse. I squeezed my eyes as pain shot through my senses as I stood up. Eli stayed by my side as I limped up to the door that said ENTER. He opened the door for me, and I said a quiet thanks and shot him a small smile as I walked fervently over to a booth in the back. Eli walked to the counter and ordered our coffee. I carefully slid into the seat, cringing as my stomach muscles ached and pain ripped through my torso. I breathed a sigh of relief as I was finally able to fully sit down in the booth pain-free. A few seconds later, Eli slid into the seat in front of me, and gave me a small and careful smile.
"So, you must have hit that corner pretty hard, huh?" He asked, bringing up the last thing I wanted to talk about. My palms started to sweat, and I gulped inaudibly.
"Y-yeah… I need to start watching where I walk." I lied to him again. I felt horrible lying to him, because he told me basically everything. This… this, I didn't want to tell Eli. I still need to realize it myself, first. He nodded a few times while he squinted his when he was looking at me, an unsure look on his face. Right then, I was saved from this conversation. Peter came over with a tray. The tray had two black coffee cups with The Dot and it's logo on them, and two muffins as well. I smiled, Eli knew that blueberry muffins were my favorite. Peter handed me my muffin and my coffee with a smile, and did the same to Eli.
Peter turned to me. "So, Clare, how've you been?" He asked, playing with a pen in his hands.
"I've been good." I told him, with a smile. I was about to ask him how he was, but Eli said something.
"Except she has a nasty habit of hitting her hips on counters." Eli muttered, with a pointed look towards me. I gave him a look back, and Peter was looking between us with an amused expression.
"Is there something I'm missing, here?" Peter asked with same amused expression. I told him no, and continued to talk with him.
"How have you been, Peter?" I said, changing the subject. He had a thoughtful look on his face, and then gave me a smile.
"I've been pretty good. I got accepted into Toronto University." He said, with a proud expression and a grin.
I smiled, too. "Wow! That's great! What are you going to major in?" I asked Peter.
"Photography." He answered. I smiled, he always did have a knack for cameras.
"That's perfect for you, Peter." I said, looking up at him. I heard Eli clear his throat loudly. I turned to look at him, wincing as I did so, and he quickly turned his gaze to something outside that was apparently interesting. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, Peter, it was good seeing you." I said to him, beaming at him.
"It was good to see you, too, Clare." He said quietly, giving me a pat on the shoulder. Oww. He flashed me a smile, and said, "Bye, Clare. I'll see you later." Peter backed up slowly, turned around, and went back behind the front counter. I grimaced as I turned back towards the table, and paid more attention to my muffin. I ripped a small piece off the top, and popped it into my mouth. I chewed slowly, and swallowed carefully. It stung a little bit as the food settled in my stomach. Then, Eli spoke.
"Well, he seemed awfully friendly." He said quietly, with an over-exaggerated, sarcastic, cheesy smile. He already had his muffin unwrapped, and he brought it up to his mouth and took a bite. I rolled my eyes again.
"He was my sister's ex-boyfriend." I told him, ripping off another piece and plopping it into my mouth. I washed it down with a drink of coffee, and it seemed less painful to do it this way. I looked over to Eli, and his eyes were wide.
"I didn't know you had a sister." Eli said, in awe.
"You never asked." I said, washing down another piece of muffin with coffee.
"Well, I just assumed you were an only chi- never mind. What's her name?" He said, looking curious.
"Darcy." I answered him, taking a sip of my coffee. "She went to Kenya after my mom died." I told him, trying to look past the panging feeling in my heart and brain as I talked about my mom. "She's been helping build schools there for a couple years, now. She broke up with Peter before she left. That's how he knows me." I said, inserting another piece of food into my mouth.
"Oh." He said, taking his last bite of his muffin. He crinkled up the wrapper and put it in the middle of the table.
"Darcy said she couldn't stand the look on my dad's face after my mom died. That's why she left." I lied, finishing my muffin as well. Darcy actually left because my dad started drinking, and she didn't want to stick around and watch our dad turn into an alcoholic. So she left for Kenya, and left me here in Toronto to fend for myself.
"That must've been tough, going through that without your sister." Eli said softly, pushing his empty mug to the middle of the table. I just stared into my cup, twirling my coffee around with thin, brown straw, blinking back tears as I remembered. Things got even worse after Darcy left, and my dad was rarely even home. He was always out at bars, or at 'work'. When he was actually home, he was usually drunk. And… you know what happens when he's drunk.
I sniffled. "You can bet it was." I said to him, pushing my unfinished coffee to the middle of the table beside his empty mug. I rubbed the tip of my nose with the back of my hand, and stared down at my hands. I froze, and my stomach muscles ached, but I didn't care. On my wrist, there was a purplish-blue bruise about the size of a quarter.
I quickly pulled my sleeve down, and thank God Eli didn't notice. He was looking outside as the cars passed by, and the street lights reflected off of the many windshields. He had a look of complete and utter sadness on his face as he stared off into the streets of Toronto. I put my own problems aside as I suddenly knew what he was thinking about.
Julia.
Julia was Eli's ex-girlfriend, and he was in love with her. They were attached at the hip, and they were spitting images of each other. She had dark hair, and big brown eyes, and she wore black with every outfit.
One night, Eli found out that Julia was cheating on him with one of his best friends. He called her out on it, and she denied it. He knew she was lying. Eli blurted out all of his hurtful thoughts about Julia, but some he didn't mean. She ran out of his house crying, and got on her bike and was going to ride home. On her way there, she was hit by a car, and was killed on impact. Eli got the call from her frantic mother. He blames himself, and thinks that he killed her because if he hadn't said such hateful words to her, she wouldn't have rode off on her bike that night.
"If she's dead because of me, why should I deserve to be happy?" I can remember him telling me. I had great sympathy for him, because I knew exactly how it felt to lose someone so… vital. He lost the love of his life, someone he thought he was going to marry.
And I lost my mom, the very definition of comfort and safety.
"Eli?" I asked quietly.
He jumped. "What?" He said quickly, whipping his head around, clearly startled at the sound of someone saying his name. He looked me in the eyes briefly, and then glanced down at the mugs and muffin wrappers in the middle of our table. "Oh. Um. Are you ready to go?" He asked, breathing quicker than he had before. I nodded, my cinnamon curls bouncing. He gave me a small grin, and slid out of the booth. He walked up to the counter and stood behind someone as he waited to pay.
Now that he was on the opposite side of the café, I lifted up my sleeve. The purple bruise was staring me right in the face. I delicately ran my fingers over the discoloration in my skin, and I felt a twinge of pain. I sighed, and put my sleeve back down over my wrist. I glanced over at Eli, and he was giving the person behind the counter a ten dollar bill. He put away his wallet, and peered over at me. Our eyes met, and I quickly looked away. Ouch. The left side of my head hurt. Oh. I thought to myself in realization. That's the bunch of hair my father had grabbed in his drunken anger. I put my hand to the side of my head, and risked another glance at Eli. He was walking towards the booth.
"Let's go." He said, with a little smile. I attempted to get up, but just sat back down as a rush of agony shot through my torso. I glanced at him, and he had a doubtful look in his green eyes. I thought of an idea, and I tried to slide out of the booth without using my stomach muscles. I successfully got out of the booth, and stood up.
"Are you sure all you did was hit your hip on a counter?" Eli asked, reaching out to help support me. My palms started to sweat. He put his hand on my side to help support me, and I cringed and whimpered quietly. He quickly pulled away, with a mixture of concern and doubt in his expression. I had to lie to him again.
"Yes, I'm positive." I said, trying to keep the pained look off my face. I could tell Eli didn't believe me. My heart skipped a beat. What if he knows? I thought in a panic. I walked with Eli, and made faltering steps across the restaurant, walking around the many tables in the café. We made it to the door, and he opened it for me and stood aside as I walked through. He shut the door, and was at my side again. I limped over to Morty, and Eli opened the door of the hearse for me. I gently sat down, taking in a deep breath and slowly blowing it out. He shut my door, and walked around the front and got in the driver's side. He started the hearse, and it made a low rumbling noise as Eli pulled out of The Dot.
I stared out the window for the majority of the ride. I watched as tiny water droplets hit the windows with a quiet thump. The drops made a trail of water as they dripped down the exterior of the window, and it almost seemed as if they were racing. Eli turned his windshield-wipers on, and I turned back to look out the window. There was a business woman hurrying along the sidewalk with an umbrella, and I wondered where she was rushing to. The Grocery Store down the street? Her work? Home? I sighed, as I realized I didn't even know what home was anymore. I looked at the digital clock on the dashboard, and it read 9:48. I silently prayed that my dad wouldn't be at the house when I got there. Eli pulled onto my street, and cruised along until he pulled into my driveway. You can't understand the relief I felt when I didn't see my dad's car on the other side of the driveway.
"When you get in, you should put some ice on your hip." Eli said with a hint of suspicion in his tone. I nodded.
"I will." I told him as I opened my door. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes as I got out of the door and stepped onto the pavement, shutting the door. I limped up the walk to my front porch, and I got my key out of my back pocket. I put in the lock, turned it, and the door pushed open with a soft click. I turned around and waved to Eli, trying not to move my stomach too much. He waved, keeping a straight expression on his face, and backed out of my driveway. He drove off down the street, and I watched him drive away until I couldn't see Morty's red tail-lights anymore. I stepped inside the house, and shut the door softly. I took off my chuck-taylor sneakers, and grimaced as I saw the mess off glass and the pool of yellow liquid at the base of the light blue living room wall. I walked carefully over to the coat closet, and winced as I bent down and picked up the dust pan. I grabbed the broom in my other hand, shut the closet door, and walked gingerly over to the mess. I set the dust pan on the hardwood floor, and began to sweep the glass shards into it.
After most of them were in the dust pan, I winced as I bent over and picked up the pan. Then, I limped into the kitchen, and slid the shards from the pan into the trash can. I grabbed some paper towel from the kitchen counter, and walked gently over to the closet and put the broom and dust pan back in. I trudged softly back over to the pool of yellow liquid, and flinched as I painfully got down on my hands and knees and began to wipe it up. I made a face as the alcohol burned my nostrils, and picked up the pace so I didn't have to breath the awful smell in more than I had to. I slowly got up off of my hands and knees, and whimpered as I stood up and walked into the kitchen to dispose of the paper towel. I limped over to the fridge, and opened up the freezer to get an ice pack. The coolness of it began to make my pads of my fingers numb. I walked up each step slowly, trying not to make much movement of my torso. I got to the top of the stairs, and took fervent steps to my room.
I gently sad down on my bed, grimacing as I did so. I made a move to lay down, and I squeezed my eyes shut as my stomach twisted with pain. I laid flat on my bed, and put my head on my pillow as I lifted up my shirt. I glanced down, and my stomach looked swollen and discolored. I hope this wasn't serious, I wouldn't be able to lie to a doctor. I hissed in pain as I touched the ice pack to my swollen belly. After the ice pack was fully on, I sighed in relief as it didn't hurt anymore. My eyelids were heavy, I had had a long day. Thank God it's Friday, then I wouldn't have to explain anything to Adam or Ali. My eyelids slowly drifted shut as I went off to dreamland, where it was pain-free.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
I awoke to a strange noise. I looked at my alarm clock on my nightstand, and it read 12:34. I felt something dripping down my stomach, and I looked down to see that my ice pack had melted. I tossed it somewhere across my room and sat up, relieved that my stomach didn't hurt as much. What I heard next made me tense up and freeze in fear.
I heard the front door close.
End of Chapter 2.
I left another cliffhanger, there. (:
So, did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell me your opinion in a review! I'll hopefully have the next chapter up by July 12th or earlier. Have a great weekend. (: