XFurubaX: Hey guys! I hope you liked my first chapter. I'll be posting chapter 3 soon! When I get at least 5 reviews…Please help! Thanks! ~ Xoxo XFurubaX
Eli was sitting alone again at lunch that day, however, so was Clare. He was watching her stare at her lunch bag with her chin resting on her hand. He wasn't eating himself, with what was going on at home, this wasn't any help either. He told himself he'll eat, if she eats…so far he was still sitting there.
He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He wanted to walk over there and sit with her. He wanted to so badly, but he couldn't. He had no idea what he would say to her;
Hey Clare, sorry I got myself beat up on purpose, poisoned Fitz to make him vomit then nearly got stabbed for it. We can at least still be friends right?
HELL no.
He looked back at Clare, and then he noticed something peculiar. Jake was sitting at a table on the other side of her, staring at her as well. He held his lunch bag, half sitting, half standing. Eli could tell he wanted to sit by her.
"Fuck", he thought to himself, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
He was now staring at Jake, trying to keep a masked expression. Jake didn't seem like he had enough guts to walk over there and casually introduce himself, but rather the type who'd walk over there, then melt to the floor. Eli's eyes did not move from Jake…as Jake himself didn't move a muscle. After a second or two, Jake finally sat down fully on the chair and took out his lunch, not looking back at Clare, who was still in her own little world.
He gave up on Clare eating and took out the apple from his brown bag. He couldn't stop looking at her even as he bit out of it. She lifted her head, as if copying him, and started to eat as well. He looked around the cafeteria for Adam, who was no where in site, not even at the three tenners table. When lunch was over and it was time for 5th hour, he walked past the office to his locker, doing a double take. He saw a what looked like Adam, at the main desk with his head down and his lunch bag untouched. He could tell by the purple shirt it was a sophomore.
He wasn't sure until he leaned in a little closer. Was he sleeping? It definitely looked like it.
The second bell was about to ring, he should be heading to his locker but instead he walked into the office. Sitting on a chair in front of the desk where Adam laid his head.
"Adam."
He didn't move.
"Adam, it's me. Eli."
Still, he kept his head down.
"Do you know what's going on with Clare? I've been trying to talk to her but-I…can't."
Adam started to move a little. The bell rang but neither one of them moved.
"It's like every time I get near her I-"
Adam lifted his head and looked right into his eyes. Eli stopped. Adam's eyes were bloodshot, tears crawling down his face, a look full of sorrow and utter sadness. He sniffled, as Eli looked at him with deep pity.
"You ok? What's wrong?"
Adam went to lay his head back down before Eli heard the clacking of heels behind him. He turned around. The guidance counselor was walking up. He quickly jumped out of her seat and backed away.
She sat down, touching Adam's hand gently. "You ok?"
Eli finally couldn't look at Adam's face anymore. He would probably cry. He turned around and walked to his locker. He wondered what happened to Adam as he grabbed his book. Had someone found out? Crap…what if something happened to his brother? Or his mom or dad…or fuck, his dog?
Everything was so miserable around him. It was like being part of a soap opera. A very crappy one at that.
After his Algebra II class was over he peeked into the office again to see if he was there, but no. He had probably went home. God, he didn't want to be there anymore. He couldn't think of what he'd do if he saw someone he knew crying. He put his book back in his locker, grabbed his bag and walked to the entrance.
X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X
He sat at a table alone at the Dot, listening to the chatter of college students from the near by university who have already been released. He sat there with his head in his palm with his eyes closed. Trying to process what the hell happened that day. Weird new kid who's apparently hot for Clare, Clare who's upset about something. He just had to know. What if her parents were divorcing? Her sister! She has a sister…what if something happened to her? Then Adam…he was really upset about something…for his sake he hoped it wasn't any more discrimination.
He had been in his own little world for fifteen minutes and he didn't even realize. When he came back to reality, the college students were still chatting. He stood up, breathing out and walking outside. The sky was completely gray, not like it was about to rain but about to snow. Harshly cold winds were out to. He looked back at the school. Any minute now a mob of high schoolers would be walking that way. He hated crowds. The shoving, the pushing the awkward tight closings between him and random people. He started to walk home until he heard the bell ring in the distance. For some reason he stopped and turned around. He sat on a bench near by and watched the crowd of kids walk in and out of the Dot.
Kids from his classes walked passed him as he kept his eye out for Adam or Clare. No dice. He did see Jake however, he towered over the crowd of sophomores as he hesitantly walked into the little shop. Was he shy or something? Was he…afraid of people? He seemed like the anti-social type from Eli's point of view. Ironically, Eli seemed like the anti-social type from the entire world's point of view. Then he saw Clare at a table outside the dot, stirring the whipped cream around in her frappuchino with her straw.
This was his chance he thought. To work things out and be perfect again. But as he went to stand up, Jake walked out with a coffee in his hand. He was about to start walking in the direction of Eli but he stopped and looked at Clare as he was about to pass her table. Eli watched, Clare didn't seem to notice her.
"Is this seat taken?"
Clare came out of her trance when she looked up to see the towering 10th grader among her.
"ah-No." she said not caring. She didn't feel like talking. She just wanted to drink her stupid frappe, go home, and listen to her parents fight. She took out the straw from her cup and slurped the whipped cream off the end of it before sticking it back in.
Jake handled his coffee carefully in his hand, trying to utter a single word out. Eli sat up in the bench a little, watching from behind Jake. Clare didn't seem to care what he had to say.
"What's your name?"
She continued to stir her straw around. "Clare."
"Oh. I'm Jake; Jake Toal."
"I know. Your in my English class." she responded not interested in having a conversation, let alone small talk.
"Oh…so your Clare Edwards?"
"Yup." she leaned in to take a sip.
Eli sighed in relief. His competition was this guy? He walked away, realizing he was overreacting and would figure out what he would say tomorrow.
"Well…someone's welcoming."
She sat up a little more in her chair.
"I'm sorry. I'm just, not in the mood for talking."
Jake raised an eyebrow, Clare sighed, putting her elbows on the table, "Or in the mood for going home."
"Family troubles?"
Clare snorted, "Like you would know? All I know is your name and I'm supposed to spill out my entire life to you?"
"All I'm saying is, my parents just got divorced…" he shrugged in his shoulders, shivering a little as the winds grew stronger. "And…my dad is pretty tough on me…whatever's going on, I think I can relate to. That's all."
Clare's eyes widened, surprised. "Oh…I'm-I'm sorry."
"It's cool. I don't mind it anymore."
She rubbed the back of her neck, "I guess, listening to my parents argue has become a regular thing in my schedule." she and Jake snickered.
"But, if they separated…god I don't know what I'd do."
"Well, when do they fight?"
"When do they not fight?" Clare leaned up a little more.
"No, I mean-what sets off the flare? What makes them fight?"
She wrapped her hands around her, hands touching the back of her neck as she knelt on the table. She had to think. What was it that they always fought about?
"When they…disagree on something." Suddenly, she had it. "That's it! Every time my mom wants one thing, my dad wants the other so…if I could find one thing they both like, or want, maybe there won't be as much of chance of them divorcing!"
Jake smiled, sipping his coffee, "And how are you going to do that?"
Clare grabbed her bag and her frappuchino, "I don't know but I'll figure something out!" she excitedly walked off, headed to her neighborhood. "Thanks!"
Jake took another sip, watching her leave, smiling.
When Eli got home he was freezing all over even with his jacket. He shivered as he walked into his house, relieved when he felt the warmth of his house.
"Mom? Dad, you home?" He threw his bag on the floor walking into the living room. They were no where in site. He sighed walking back into the kitchen and getting a soda out from the fridge. Just as he slammed the fridge door shut he heard the front door open.
"Cece, Cece I know."
Eli walked over, he saw his dad with loads of bags in his hands and he attempted to hold his phone on his shoulder, while trying to shut the door.
"I know, but that's how its going to be now don't let it get to you."
What was he talking about he wondered.
"I'll see you when you get home from work alright?…ok, bye."
He sat at the couch with the loads of bags at both of his sides. Eli snuck over, peering over his dad's shoulder. They were leather black bags full of, what looked like photos. Maybe they were from work or something. But Eli wanted to see. He decided he'd go upstairs and see later but as he did the doorbell rang.
His dad stood up and walked over. It was one of his friends from work, he heard him say hello before he walked outside and closed the door behind him. Eli set his can down and walked over to the couch, rummaging through the photos. He saw pictures of Cece and her mother, Cece and his dad, multiple pictures with the whole family, happy, dancing, drinking.
"Grandma did die…" he said to himself. Those were all taken at her home. That explained everything. Why his mom was so upset. He sighed sadly, he looked through the other photos he had in his hand. He saw a picture of…Cece in the hospital. With a baby wrapped in a blue blanket in her arms.
It was obviously him. He saw another picture that his grandpa must've taken, because in it, he saw his mother and father looking at him adoringly, and his grandma crying. Eli sighed again…his grandma was one of the first people he had met…come to think of it, he rummaged through the other pictures again. His mother and grandma were holding him in some of those pictures to.
It was most likely some old pictures his grandpa had sent down that his grandma had been keeping. He looked through some more, his mom with her hair all wrapped in plastic and tubes in her arms. Pictures of his father next to her…his eyes were closed in most of them.
Then he saw pictures of him, asleep wrapped in a blanket with a little beanie on. A newborn baby with a beanie…not something he'd seen very often.
"Thanks Jeff, Cece would love to here that."
He heard the lock click, Eli quickly stuffed the photos back into the bags before hurrying back to the stairwell. He watched as his father sat down, rubbing his head and looking through the same set of photos he did. Eli sighed one last time before walking upstairs.
xXx
Clare slowly walked into her house, unbelievably cold. The frozen frappe in her hand didn't make it any less numb. She sat it down before letting out a shiver. She saw her mom at the stove with a boiling pot of water.
She walked in.
"Hey mom."
"Hey honey." she said warmly.
Clare didn't expect that.
"Whatcha doing?" She asked taking off her jacket.
"Making hot chocolate its cold out, it said on the news we might get more snow. Want some?"
"Sure, thanks. With marshmallows?"
"I know how you like it by now." Her mom smiled.
Clare hadn't seen her mother this content in a while. She was afraid to ask about her father.
"How was your day?"
"Oh, it was good.", She followed her mother to the cabinet where she got out the cocoa mix, "And…was yours good?" she stuttered out. She watched her mom reach for the pack of marshmallows.
"Actually," Clare jumped on the inside, why did she ask? "Yes it was."
Clare was confused, but she was able to utter a pleased expression. "Oh, really?"
"Yes," she smiled, looking up for a second, then turning the stove off when she saw the water boiling, "Your father and I watched an old video he found in the garage last night."
Clare smiled, "Really? What?" she grew more and more excited as she grabbed two coffee cups from the cabinet.
"Well…when I was in high school, I took ballet."
"…Ballet?"
Then Clare remembered, her mother used to tell her stories all the time about how graceful she was at dancing, how she received the lead in Swan Lake in her senior year of high school.
"Yes, it was the Swan Lake video. It was how I met your father. He did the backstage lights and tech stuff."
That was something Clare didn't know. They met through, as strange as it sounded, ballet?
"So, both of you loved ballet?"
"Well, I did, your father was a backstage kind of person." she handed Clare her cup. "But, funny things happen on stage I guess." Clare looked at her reflection in the cup…a light bulb went off in her head.
"Yeah…" she smiled and took a sip.
She had the perfect plan.
XFurubaX: Sorry for the short chapter everyone! I promise next time I'll make it longer =) XoXo ~ XFurubaX
