Chapter 1

Eli reluctantly awoke to the screech of his alarm clock. Rubbing his eyes, he groaned and sat up, propping himself up by his arms. Once he was fully awake, he smiled to himself.

It was the first day of school, which for Eli, meant the first day of seeing Clare after two months, in hopes that they would have at least one class together. Even though she was now a sophomore, him being a junior, she was outstandingly intelligent, which meant she could still be placed in one of his advanced classes.

His thoughts giving him hope, he pushed himself to his feet, getting ready for his day.

"Welcome back Degrassi!" Principal Simpson was currently standing at the top of the steps, in front of all of the doors. He chuckled to himself, giving him a once over glance. His arms were wide spread on either side of him, stretching out his lean figure. A rather pleased grin was spread across his face, his excitement showing very bluntly.

"Glad to see all of your bright faces today! I see some old ones," gesturing to one general area on his left, "and definitely some new ones…" He continued, eyeing Eli over for a moment, and then realizing he was in fact, a fellow Degrassi student. "With me, Mr. Simpson, as your new principal, there will be a lot of changes here. Big changes- good changes! I assure you, they are rather easy to adjust to, and very pleasant, if I do say so myself." As he spoke, his upper half leaned forward with his words ever so slightly.

"Enjoy this year, I will make it as enjoyable as possible! But for the next 15 minutes? Catch up with old friends! Hey! Make some new ones! See you inside!"

He headed into the doors, and Eli slumped onto the pavement, playing with his nails. Every so often, he would catch himself involuntarily looking up to find Clare. His glancing worked to no avail, considering Clare was nowhere in sight.

It was odd, because Clare was never one to be late. Every morning of the school year before, Eli would be laying on one of the steps reading any novel, 45 minutes before the school even opened, and he would see Clare's car pull up, her being escorted out next to an older girl with long brown hair, with a tan complexion.

His thoughts were interrupted by a giggle. No, he corrected himself, THE giggle.

He whipped his head to the left, only to find a bus that was unloading buckets of teens. His green eyes desperately searched for the search of the laugh, for Clare.

And then; his heart skipped a beat. His searching had been victorious, for he found Clare, or, a much altered Clare, stepping out of the bus.

Her once long, brown hair had been cut and once straight locks had been curled and dyed with a slight red tint.

Her wardrobe had changed drastically as well. Her catholic school uniform was long gone, and replaced with a pair of flair jeans and a light purple button down top, her green and black bag slung on her shoulder, hitting her hip as they shifted with her walk. Her body had definitely….developed, and just the sight of her made Eli gulp.

But the most shocking thing? Her big, beautiful, emotion-filled eyes were no longer being covered by those glasses that Eli posed as unflattering, and only loved them because they were on Clare's face.

She was currently walking towards a picnic table with Sav's sister, Alli, both with amused looks on their faces as they chuckled side by side.

Minutes passed by, and Eli couldn't take his eyes off of Clare. Not that it was unusual, but it almost seemed as if he was so struck by her beauty that he was in a trance.

He almost didn't notice that the bell had rung, but he was slightly broken out of his trance to hear it. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he strut over to the entrance of Degrassi.

"234, 235, 23- AH! Here we are, 237." Eli muttered to himself, finally finding his locker.

As he put in his combination, he couldn't help but notice someone's gaze was on him. He wasn't really sure who it was, but when he turned to the right, he couldn't help but be slightly confused at who the owner of the eyes was.

Adam Torres; the boy who was in his remedial gym class when Eli had broken his leg and couldn't participate in regular gym. They were never friends, I mean, besides a few head nods during class when they caught each other's glance, but nothing more. But, there he was, staring at Eli with his head slightly cocked and his eyes narrowed as if they were focusing.

"Can I….help you?" Eli questioned, a hint of confusion present in his statement.

Adam's thought grew smaller in his eyes, and Eli caught it briefly.

"Oh, sorry!" Adam apologized, shaking his head. "I was just admiring your Dead Hand shirt! I mean, dude! I never knew you listened to them!"

Eli's eyes widened in amusement. He didn't see that coming.

"Wow. I never pegged you as a Dead Hand fan." He chuckled, the amused expression still etched upon his face.

"Dude- I'm not just a fan; I'm a worshiper. I mean, once, I was at the Dot when the whole crew walked in! I got them to sign my issue of 'The Goon' and everything! It was epic!"

"The Goon? Dead Hand? Awe man….where have you been all my life?" Eli bellowed, wrapping his arm around Adam's shoulders playfully.

"In my room, waiting for you…" Adam mocked, placing his hand on his heart.

Eli chuckled and looked down, as him and Adam walked side by side.

"Eli, watch out man!"

But it was too late. Eli unknowingly rammed into a petite figure, his books dropping onto the floor with a loud thud, and the latter's papers flying into the air, landing on the ground in a cluttered mess.

Both figures leaned down to collect there things.

"I am so sor-''

Eli cut himself off as he looked up and gasped.

His emerald eyes were met with bright blue ones, a hint of warmness in them as she gazed at him.

"It's alright…I- I wasn't paying attention either." She chuckled nervously, still collecting her papers.

Once she had her papers in a neat pile, she glanced up at him again.

"I'm Clare." She smiled at him, holding out her hand.

Eli stared at her hand, before carrying his gaze back to her captivating eyes. His mind was going a-wall, rummaging desperately for any sort of response that didn't make him look like a complete idiot in front of the girl he had been enchanted by for so long. She stood there, waiting for an answer, and he continued to wrack his brain. He thought of everything and anything, but only one statement that crossed his mind stuck.

"You have pretty eyes."

End of Chapter One.

How was it? Good? Bad? REVIEW? I am starting to like this story, so please give me some feedback! I'll love you forever.

~CC