Wow, thank you for your reviews! I'm really happy people wanted me to continue. So I did, obviously. This chapter is setting up a few things that I have planned for the story. I know that there is like a whole bunch of dialogue, but I'm not sure if that's an issue or not. Read, review, and enjoy!
7th Grade
-ONE WEEK IN (FRIDAY)-
These past five days have been so amazing! I'm just getting back into the groove of 'eat, sleep, school'. I think I'm getting kind of popular at Degrassi Junior High. I now have at least ten friends in each class, though I still sit with only Eli and Adam at lunch. Many kids walk with me in the hallways, and I even got asked out twice! Of course I said no, though. The guys were total randoms.
Currently, I was sitting in second period science with Alli. We weren't paying attention to the video our teacher put on for us. Alli was painting her nails.
"Alli, are you even allowed to do that?" I whispered.
"I dunno. Who cares?" I looked over at the teacher who was reading a magazine.
"I guess no one."
"Exactly. Can I do yours?" she smiled excitedly.
"Sure." I put my hands in front of her on our lab table. She began painting my nails a hot pink color.
"Sooo, Clare, are you thinking about joining any clubs?" she asked.
"Yeah, I want to do newspaper. I might also try out for the volleyball team."
"Cool. I want to be on the junior power squad. My dad even said I could. You should do it with me!"
"I don't know Alli. Cheerleading?"
"Yes cheerleading. It could make us really popular! And every boy wants to date a cheerleader. Maybe Eli..."
"Alli, I don't like him!"
"Okay..." she sighed, returning to silently painting my nails.
I thought about it. I really did like Eli, even though I would never (in a million years) admit it. It was just a small crush though, not something that would ever be reciprocated. I highly doubted that he would like a cheerleader, anyway. He seemed like he would be against anything extra-curricular, especially something as mainstream as cheer-leading. I should stick to volleyball.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by our teacher's voice.
"What do you girls think you're doing?"
I looked up from my nails, which were half-done. Mrs. Ziegler was standing right in front of Alli and I.
"Um..." Alli drawled.
"'Um' is right. You should know you're not allowed to do that in class. Not to mention in my class. Detention for both of you after school."
A chorus of 'Ooh's echoed through the classroom.
"I can't today!" Alli protested.
"Okay, then you'll have to come to Saturday school all day tomorrow. How about you, Miss Edwards? One hour detention today or Saturday school?"
I sat there shocked. I couldn't believe Alli had dragged me into this ridiculous situation.
"Uh I-I'll take detention, Ma'am" I said.
"Good choice. Now pay attention to the movie!" Ms. Ziegler said to the whole class, who continued to stare at Alli and I like we were aliens.
"Thanks Alli," I muttered. My face was beet red.
"You said I could paint them!" she defended.
"Whatever."
I sat through the last ten minutes of class, not watching the movie and trying to calm down my anger for Alli. This was the first time I've ever gotten in trouble, and it was not accompanied by a good feeling. My parents were going to kill me. The bell rang and I just power-walked out of class by myself, not waiting for Alli. I didn't want to say something I would regret.
I entered my English classroom, taking my seat in the back. Eli wasn't there yet, and I was a little glad. I wouldn't have the chance to snap at him. I looked to the front of the room, where a an old guy with thick glasses resided. The bell rang and everyone went silent. The man spoke up.
"Hello class, I'm your sub for today. My name is Mr. Oliver, but you can call me Mr. O. Um... your teacher said that you are supposed to work on your essay with your partners today, and that you know what to do. Just stay in your seats and keep it down, please." he turned to the computer in front of him and that was that.
Well this is just great. Eli had our paper, and it looked like he wasn't going to-
Just then, the door flew open and Eli walked in. He looked terrible. He had a nasty bruise covering the whole right side of his face and his lip was busted. He went over to the substitute and handed him a piece of paper, a late pass I'd presumed. He then took his seat and looked back at me.
"What are we doing today?" he asked, as if everything was normal.
"Eli, what happened to your face!" I blurted.
"Hi to you too, Clare." he said.
"Sorry, hello. Now tell me what happened!"
"It was nothing."
"Nothing? Eli, you look like you were mauled by a bear!" I exclaimed. A few kids looked at me strangely. What? It's true!
"Thanks, I really appreciate the support you're giving me here. It was no big deal, really. Just some asshole who decided to take my lunch money. I handled it, though." he smirked.
"You were in a fight!"
"How'd you guess?" he retorted.
"Oh wow, Eli. Are you okay?"
"Never better. The kid punched like my grandma. But I do have detention today and all of next week. Bummer."
"I guess I'll see you there today." I said, remembering what happened last period.
"Miss Saint Clare got in trouble?" he mocked.
"Yeah, Alli did my nails in science class."
He laughed. "I should have known it was some innocent little misdemeanor."
"Hey! It's my first time being in trouble, cut me some slack."
"Fine, fine. You want to work on our essay?" he asked.
"Sure. Have any ideas about what it should be on?"
"Well it does have to be a school-related issue...how about detention?"
"Nah, too close to home," We both laughed.
"Agreed." We were silent for a minute. Then I got an idea.
"How about the school board's decision to add more after school activities?"
"Oh, that could be good. We could do like a pros and cons essay, addressing both sides of the issue." he mused.
"Let's do it."
Eli and I used our class time to write our essay on the pros and cons of adding more extra-curricular activities to the school. I wrote the pros part, and Eli, naturally, wrote the cons part.
"So, I'm assuming you won't join ballroom dancing anytime soon ." I laughed after a heated debate on the issue.
"You assume correctly, babe."
My jaw dropped open and I did a double-take. Did I hear him right, or did he just call me babe? No one has ever called me that before. He continued to write furiously, oblivious to my reaction. I decided he needed a little hint.
"Well, babe, I guess I just know you too well by now."
He looked up from his work and grinned. "I guess you do, hon."
Swoon.
I laughed, but my stomach was doing somersaults. "Oh just get back to work."
"Sure thing, Miss Clare."
After class, Eli and I walked to lunch together like we had all week. I didn't crave anyone else's company when I was with him, as I did with other people. We made it safely to the cafeteria doors before a kid ran in front of us and looked at me.
"Um, excuse us." Eli said, motioning for the kid to get out of the way. The guy ignored him completely.
"Hey Clare! How's it going?"
"It's great...do I know you?" I asked.
"Well, we do have media immersion together. I'm KC" he said. Didn't ring a bell.
"Oh hello KC, can we go to lunch now?" I said, growing impatient.
"Yeah, but I was just wondering if you wanted to go see Dead Hand in concert with me next Friday."
Eli gasped. "Dead Hand! You're going to see Dead Hand?"
"Uh yeah..." KC said, addressing Eli for the first time. He turned back to me,"So what do you say, Clare?"
"Sorry, I don't know who they are." I lied. Eli and Adam had definitely filled me in on who they were throughout the week. I had listened to several songs (on Eli's ipod) and actually did like the rock band a lot.
KC looked really disappointed and I felt somewhat bad for rejecting him.
"I'm sorry," I repeated.
"Er, it's fine. See you in class." He walked away swiftly.
That was weird.
I turned to Eli who wore an expression of complete shock.
"Let's go." I said, pulling him into the cafeteria with me. He trailed behind until he recovered from his surprise and stopped me.
"You know who Dead Hand is," he accused.
"Thank you captain obvious."
"Then why would you say no to a concert of theirs?"
Geez how is he this oblivious?
"Because I have no idea who KC is, and I'd rather not go out with a total stranger."
"I guess that makes sense." Eli replied.
"I know it does. Now let's go get some lunch."
The school day went by with no more unusual occurrences or encounters. Alli did apologize to me in the hallway for getting me in trouble and I told her that it was fine. It wasn't really her fault. I texted my mom to tell her I'd be late coming home, but left out the reason. I knew I would have to tell her later, though. That ought to be fun. I walked to the detention classroom and found it full of kids. Eli was sitting alone in one corner of the room with his headphones on and resting his head against the wall. I went over to sit next to him.
"Hey," I whispered. He nodded at me in acknowledgment.
"OKAY THIS IS DETENTION, KIDS. ALL YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO IS SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET. ELIJAH GOLDSWORTHY GET RID OF THE HEADPHONES."
I don't think Eli heard the obnoxiously loud woman talking to him, because he continued to bob his head to the music playing in his ears. I nudged him and gestured for him to take off his headphones. He did, and that seemed to satisfy the lady. She parted us with a "I'M GOING TO A MEETING. STAY SILENT." Once she exited the classroom, everyone started talking.
"Oh my gosh, she just left!" I said to Eli. He laughed.
"Yup, always does."
"You've been in detention before? It's only the first week of school."
"Nah, but I've heard stories. So, what do you want to do with this wonderful hour of consequence and regret, Miss Clare?"
"What do you want to do, Dr. Doom?" I asked, then felt incredibly stupid for calling him that. Eli just smirked.
"Dr. Doom, huh? I'll take that as a compliment. And I wanted to spend my hour talking to you."
I couldn't control the blush that invaded my cheeks. He wanted to talk to me?
Of course he does, idiot. You are friends with him, after all. FRIENDS.
"Okay, let's talk."
And so we did, for the duration of the detention. We mostly just joked around and learned about one another's interests. We have a lot in common, actually. More than I thought, and more than enough to talk for hours on end. I was ironically enjoying detention, but of course it had to come to an end at some point.
"OKAY HOUR'S UP KIDS. HAVE A NICE NIGHT, AND DON'T END UP IN HERE AGAIN." the teacher yelled when she graced us with her presence for the first time in an hour.
Everyone got up and practically ran to the door to get out of the room. Eli and I walked behind, visibly less enthused about leaving than the other kids.
"Do you have a ride?" Eli asked.
"Nope, I'm walking. My house isn't that far from here, on Queen Street,"
"Clare, that's like six blocks away. If you want, I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind driving you home," he offered.
"Wow, okay thanks." I sat down on a bench and patted the spot next to me. He sat down and said, "Friends don't let friends walk home alone, so it's no problem." I smiled.
"And you, Eli Goldsworthy, are one good friend."
"Aw, you're making me blush," he teased. I rolled my eyes, "Oh, shut up."
"Anything for you, doll."
"Really, this again?" I asked, trying to hide my reddened face.
"Yup. I enjoy watching your reactions very much. Like the way you are trying to hide your blush right now."
Busted.
"I am not blushing!" I exclaimed, but it was too late. The evidence was written on my face, literally.
"Hmm, aren't you?" he said as he suddenly lifted his hand and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. I looked up at him, shocked by his touch. He was staring at me.
"Um..." was all I could manage.
"That's what I thought," he grinned and turned away, "oh, here's my dad."
We got up and Eli led me to a black convertible that was blasting heavy metal music. He opened the back door for me and he got in the passenger seat.
"Well, hello, who do we have here?" Eli's dad said, turning down the radio and spinning around to face me.
"This is my friend, Clare." Eli introduced me, "she needs a ride."
"Oh hiya Clare, nice to meet you. I'm Bullfrog."
"Nice to meet you...Bullfrog. I like your car," I said awkwardly.
"Thanks kiddo," he said before turning to Eli and loudly whispering, "this one's a keeper, Eli." I giggled while Eli groaned.
"I know, I know. Can we go now? She lives on Queen Street," he said before his dad could ask.
"Yep, let's giddy up outta here."
We drove away from the school and made small talk on the way to my house. Bullfrog is a very easy going person, much more laid-back than my parents. I groaned inwardly.
My parents, who are going to flay me alive the moment I tell them where I was this afternoon. If they don't already know.
I checked my phone, no missed calls or texts.
So the school is going to make it hard on me, huh?
"Everything alright?" Eli asked. I looked up at his concerned face.
"Oh, yeah. My parents are just going to be really mad that I got detention today." Eli nodded.
"That's so dumb." Bullfrog said suddenly.
"How so?" I asked, confused.
"Well, I see it how it really is. You guys already paid your consequences by having detention, so there's really no need to punish you any more." he explained. I sat there in awe.
"Well, there's one way to look at it. Eli you're so lucky, your dad's awesome."
"Sure," he muttered. Bullfrog mussed his son's hair.
"You know I'm awesome, Eli. No need to be so modest." he laughed. Oh, so this is where Eli gets his sarcastic and cocky attitude.
"This your house, Clare?" Bullfrog asked and I looked out the window.
"Yup, thank you so much for the ride, Bullfrog."
"It was no problem, Clarebear."
"I'll see you on Monday, Eli." I said.
"See ya then." he waved.
I walked up to my house and opened the door slowly, trying to be quiet. I looked back and waved to Eli and his dad as they drove off. Entering the house, there was only one word that could describe what was waiting for me. Complete and utter chaos.