Wow, you guys actually like this story. I'm touched. I am truly sorry for the long wait. I just hope you guys didn't forget about this fic.

I love how most of you can relate to this story! It looks like every classroom has to have that annoying kid in the background right? I love how everyone mentioned that they wanted to slap Eli. Put's a warm feeling in my heart, because it meant that I am doing a decent job. :D

Speaking of doing great jobs. I would like to thank my WONDERFUL Beta, Frgtyou. You are always awesome.

Alright so let's get started with chapter 2!

P.S. Some people asked me questions about this story, like about Adam and KC. I will not address them, because this chapter already does it for me. YAY for convenient!


Chapter 2: Basket Case. It all keeps adding up, I think I'm cracking up...


The bell rang, signaling that class was over and Alli Bhandari shoved her way through the Degrassi hallways. She eagerly stopped in front of a classroom that was starting to evacuate slowly. It was both of her best friends' class room, and she was waiting patiently for them to appear. With each person that left the class room, her smile increased, knowing that they would come out eventually. As quickly as it came, the smile was flipped upside down as she spotted an insecure little Clare right next to the very confident, Elijah Goldsworthy.

Clare had a challenging first English class, and tried to bolt out the door, but obviously she was not the only one, as students stomped their way to the exit. Clare quickened her pace, and right when she could experience sweet freedom, the most annoying thing happened. Elijah Goldsworthy sped up as well, and they were both caught stuck between the door frames. Back in the classroom, a light-hearted laugh escaped the teacher's lips. Clare blushed as they both squirmed their way out.

With a simple push, Elijah set the two free and smugly laughed as he walked away.

Clare rubbed her shoulders, while sending a frustrated look to the back of the boy's head. Quietly, she muttered to herself. "He's just so…"

"Annoying, repulsive, horrible, inconsiderate?" Clare turned around, barely acknowledging her best friend's existence. "Or how about all of the above!" Alli clapped her hands in conclusion.

Clare stayed silent as she continued to rub her arms. Her head turned to the direction of the previously occupied classroom and saw Adam barely come out.

"Don't forget tormenting," Adam added to the list as he walked over to Clare and patted her back. "It looked like he just loved messing with you."

"What!" Alli formed her fists into balls and grabbed Adam's collar. "What did he do to her!"

"Easy there!" Adam put his hands up in defense. "It's not my fault that Clare was such an easy target."

"Hey!" Clare finally spoke up. "How am I an 'easy' target?"

"You let him get under your skin, so he took advantage of that."

Alli loosened her grip and then released her hold on the boy. "It's true. You have to be tough as nails with that boy!" Alli came up front to Clare and wagged her perfectly manicured slim finger at her. "Are you listening to me? Don't give him the chance to make you feel inferior!"

Clare resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Honestly, he was a tad unpleasant, but that did not mean she had to go world war three on the person. He represented an annoying fly, that she didn't necessarily have to swat away. Ignoring the 'buzzing' could be just as effective. Yup, that's the plan. A fine plan. "Alright Alli, whatever you say."

Smiling, the short stylish girl swept both her friend's arms into hers and led them to the front entrance. "Come on, Sav promised to give us a ride home today!"

The three walked to the parking lot, where Sav Bhandari was leaning against an extravagant looking truck. Along the side of him, were Jenna Middleton and her boyfriend, KC Guthrie. Both were holding hands and giggling at the world.

Noticing her friends, the optimistic blonde waved her vacant hand in the air. "Guys! Come on!" She said eagerly, meanwhile her boyfriend just stared happily at his joyful companion.

As they reached the vehicle, Clare stared at the bubbly personality and her past love interest, and then frowned. "A-Are you sure we're all going to fit?"

"That's a good question, Clare…" Sav narrowed his eyes at her sister. "Alli, you said a few of your friends; I only have room for four."

The little sister slouched and stomped her heels on the cement, annoyed with the problem at hand.

"I'm out!" Adam announced out loud with hands in the air. Clare quickly turned to him with saddened eyes. How could she survive inside the car drive without him?

She understood Adam, meaning that they had a lot in common. Something they both shared was their irritation of the girls grouped together. It would seem like they needed at least ten minutes a day to bash on a certain student. As far as she knew, Adam wasn't exactly friends with the most hated guy in Degrassi, but he didn't bother him and didn't stare at him differently when word got out about his transgender situation, that put Eli on his 'not a complete ass' list.

"No, Adam." She put a hand on his shoulders and peered at him. "You shouldn't walk by yourself." Adam stared at her quizzically. Clare then moved her blue irises to the couple making baby noises at each other, and then back to Adam's clear blues.

Adam tightened his lips together. He understood. "Right… Fitz might get the urge to jump me." He said as he still continued to look at Clare for approval. With a hardly noticeable nod from Clare, Adam finally relaxed his nerves and turned to the rest of the gang.

"I think I should walk with him," Clare volunteered quickly.

Alli looked at her friend as if she was insane. "No offense Clare, but how could you possibly protect Adam? Maybe KC should go, he seems a bit more intimidating." As soon as the words fell out of her mouth, Jenna was seen gripping her boyfriend's hand tighter, while KC seemed unaffected by the solution.

Adam saw the couple's reaction, and then Clare's. "He could come with me…but Fitz and his crew would never hurt a girl. And I could always use Clare as a shield." He joked as he nudged Clare's sides.

"So, what's the plan then?" Sav interjected his voice into the conversation. "I need to get home quickly to do some work." He took out his keys and threw them in the air to catch; trying to distract himself from the minor problems his sister got him into.

"Fine, you two walk home." Alli said with a worried expression stamped on her face. In the background, blaring music invaded their ears. Random students, including the circle of friends, all turned to the source, and were not shocked to see Elijah Goldsworthy starting up his hearse, along with the radio. He held that same smirk he had all day, as he pulled out of the parking lot and passed the group of friends, and took his leave.

Alli held a small angry pout, just seeing him pass by, annoyed her. Through gritted teeth she faced her friends again. "Don't get into trouble. Okay?" Hugging them both, Alli jumped into the truck and everyone followed, including the giggling couple. Sav sighed, wishing he wasn't such a pushover for his little sister. As Sav backed up, Clare could already hear Alli's and Jenna's "I hate Elijah Goldsworthy" voice seethe through the windows, while both boys locked in the car looked worn out.

"Saved ourselves from that death trip." Adam said playfully.

"Yeah," She said as they began to walk home. Adam offered to walk to her house first, and she accepted the kind gesture. It wasn't awkward walking with him, in fact she loved being around Adam. He was one of the few… who was she kidding, he was the only friend that she could talk to and not have to worry about. She loved Alli to death, but sometimes, when around others her personality differentiates from the one Clare adores. Not necessarily a big difference, but someone who wants to belong. Adam knew he didn't belong, Clare knew it too, but it was because he deserved better than what Degrassi had to offer.

"What happened back there, Clare?" Adam asked casually as he swayed his hands with every step. "I thought you were over everything."

Clare sighed deeply; she knew he would ask questions. It was alright though, Adam and her shared a lot of close conversations, in fact, she was the first to know about him being a transgender. They kept each other sane, basically. "I am, it's just I don't like the constant reminder." Last year, Clare had one of the biggest crushes on KC Guthrie. She thought that he flirted with her on a daily basis, but seeing how he's with Jenna now and she's alone, could only mean it was all in her head. Still, she could have sworn that she felt a sense of chemistry with the kid; Alli even pointed it out to make the chances more real. But no, by the end of the year, he asked Jenna Middleton to the last dance. Jenna, not Clare. It was kind of unexpected, not to mention hurtful.

"Well, it's not like Jenna stole KC from you or anything." Adam said in objective voice.

"I know, I know." Clare said while crossing her arms in disappointment. "But I always thought he liked me, and then I see him with her… it lowers a person's self esteem you know?"

"Psh, I get what you mean." Memories filled Adam's head about a certain junior girl who last year flirted with him, then revealed his little secret to the entire school.

Clare looked over at Adam's features and noticed his anger and regret slowly rise. "Sorry, I brought it up. It must still hurt for you."

"I'm more upset about the outcome, than what happened." His life changed after that day, he became the target of constant bullying from intolerable students at Degrassi. He wasn't hated, but considered very weird, a freak perhaps. If it wasn't for the good souls, like Clare, Alli, and their little groups here and there, he would have transferred out, immediately. "But, I'm still pissed at Bianca."

"I wouldn't blame you." Besides Elijah, Alli's second person to complain about was indeed Bianca DeSousa. When the conversations lead to that topic, Clare was not so hesitant to hear. One cannot call that hypocritical because when a person does something wrong intentionally, and doesn't even apologize, that person loses all respect in Clare's mind. As they continue to walk along the side walk, the silence becomes comfortable by the two. It was nice just venting out to each other. Especially when they were good listeners.


"Alright class, it was a tough time grading, but I see potential in every single one of you." Said the teacher as she held a large stack of rough drafts in her tired-from-using-red-pens hand. Standing up, the adult figure walked around the room to distribute the paper work to their owners. With each paper, she openly spoke her opinion. She said everything with constructive criticism. "Remember, you all got full credit if you did the assignment, but I still put another grade to show how well you would have done."

"Adam, Decent work, I enjoyed reading it, but I'm afraid you need to be a little more clear on your tone. Other than that, really good." As he took the paper out of her hands, he smiled to himself. He received a solid 'B' with a "Good Job" on it.

"Now let's see, who's next…" She took out another essay from her pile. "Ah, Clare Edwards." Conveniently for her, the student was right next to Adam. The young lady looked timidly at the teacher, as she was curious about her grade. The teacher smiled at her, but then saw her essay. "Tsk, tsk, Ms. Edwards. I would have expected the complete opposite from a fan fiction writer with juicy stories..." She said referring to the paper at hand.

"What do you mean?" She asks as she slowly grabs her paper. It held a straight out "C". The concept of barely passing was foreign to Clare. She was shocked to say the least.

"You're work was well written, truly AP material, but it felt like it was wasted on something that held no emotions. It had no real purpose."

Looking sadly at her "C" paper she felt breathing at the back of her neck. "In translation, you put sprinkles on crap." Eli said in a low whisper to annoy her. Clare was scared, and angered by his actions enough, so that she jumped in her seat, making her grip the paper and create wrinkled lines.

Ms. Dawes heard Eli's laughter and saw Clare's reaction. Taking pity on the sensitive young girl, the teacher thought it would be nice to stand up for her. "Mr. Goldsworthy, you shouldn't criticize..." She said and handed him his paper. "You put crap on a cake." The class snickered at the teacher's comment. He read the paper and it held a big "C" similar to Clare's. The redhead's head turned to see his reactions, which was also complete shock. He too, was never given a grade lower than an A- in an English Class.

"You had such passion in you're writing, but cannot explain yourself. It was as if you were bouncing back and forth with your ideas." She sighed and looked at both the students in front of her. "It's funny how, you-" She pointed at Eli. "-write with such strong emotions." Her finger moved onto Clare. "-And you have all the knowledge of a skillful writer."

The teacher wished to just combine the two brains to create a lean mean-writing machine. With that last thought, the teacher snapped her fingers. "That's it!"

The class stared at their crazy English teacher in curiosity. "You'll both be English partners!" She looked at the two's reaction. Their eyes immediately left their "C" paper, no longer worrying about it.

"You can't be serious." Said Clare in a low tone.

"Ms. Edwards, it would benefit you both. I'm sure of it. Besides, I'm the teacher and I make the rules at the moment. You two will have to be partners, and I expect to see great improvement." She spoke with much authority in her voice. Turning her low heels, the teacher went on to pass out the rest of the essays.

Adam, this whole time in the background finally had a chance to see Clare's emotions. Purely, stunned with a hint of depression. Glancing at Eli, he just had his face on the desk, probably dragging out his disappointment at the low grade.

"Well, this is going to be interesting."


The bell rang, and students jumped at the sound of it. They all hurried to grab their belongings to leave the so-called prison they called school. Even the teacher shoved her way through students, trying to get satisfy her daily coffee urges. As the classroom cleared out, Adam motioned for Clare to leave with him, like usual, but she told him to go on without her. Adam wanted to question her, but seeing a gloomy (more than usual) Elijah Goldsworthy, and then turning back to a Clare with doubtful facial features, answered his confusion. After wishing her good luck, he left the room.

Clare got up, and tapped the boy's shoulders lightly. Eli didn't move. Clare cleared her throat to get a reaction out of him, but still got no results.

"Can you at least show me you are alive?" Clare said as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot in frustration.

"What do you want?" He said as he finally snapped out of his daze and reached for his supplies. It was as if his attitude took a three-sixty and felt completely drained from his usual loud antics.

"Ms. Dawes said we're going to be partners. So we should set up a meeting or something, right?"

Eli laughed at the girl, regaining his confident attitude. "You know, we really don't have to."

"But she said it would help us both…"

"I think you just want an excuse to see me more." He said as he smugly smiled at her. Clare wanted to gag, but decided to hide her disgust. Seeing the strained face Clare was trying to hide, he decided to take it easy with her. "Fine, how about right now?"

"Right now?" She asked surprised. Clare was never for spontaneous actions, she liked to plan everything before she accepted any duties. "I don't think I ca-?"

"Public Library. Now, or no deal." He pulled his backpack over his shoulder. "I'll give you a ride or something." He turned his feet and headed out the door. Waiting a second, he looked back at the girl who didn't follow him. She was already conflicted by the idea.

With a deep sigh, he leaned on the door frames. "Contrary to what people say or think, I don't bite." He said and chuckled. "I'll wait for you by my hearse if you actually want to do this."

Quietly, Clare nodded her head. "Can I call my parents first? I don't want them to worry. "

"Do whatever you want. Just hurry. "Finishing his sentence, he left the room, but almost ran into a body. The person was Alli, and she held a look of disgust as he just passed right by her without even saying a sorry.

Clenching her fists in anger, she approaches Clare. "So rude." Flipping her hair in the air to get rid of little frustrations, her nerves calm down. "Come on, Sav's waiting…"

Shaking her head, Clare was somewhat happy that she had an excuse to avoid the car pool. "I don't think I need a ride today Alli-"

"If this is about yesterday, I'm sorry. Jenna needed a ride, and you know how KC won't go anywhere without her…"

"It's not that-"

"Clare, I'm your best friend, don't try to lie to me." The petite, dark-skinned girl lowered her head in self-disappointment. "I'm sorry I put you in that situation. I made sure that they wouldn't accompany us this time."

Placing her hand on her friend's shoulder she replied, "Alli, don't worry about it. And I assure you that I have stuff to do. If I could, I would ride with you." Clare smiled and stared at her best friend.

Regaining her smile, Alli's attitude shifted towards relief. Relief of not hurting her good friend's feelings. Happy, they both shared a quick hug. "I promise I won't ever let that happen again."

"It's fine." Lowering her eyes, she tried to put on a brave smile. "I need to get over it, and seeing them together will help me."

"I guess." Alli's hug was then watered down to them holding hands. "Now, why can't you ride with us? Do your parents plan on picking you up or something?"

Clare's smile faded away to a line, her eyes not making contact to her friend's. "Not exactly." Alli was curious at what was so fascinating behind her, and was about to turn around.

"Ahem."

Both girls steered their gazes at a teenage boy standing by the door, with hands shoved down to his pockets. "You know, you girls talk too much."

Alli's mouth was about to open and jump on him for eavesdropping until she saw Clare's figure walk towards his direction, with her head down. With surprised eyes, Alli stood stunned. "What-?"

Moving her head to the side, Clare paused. "I have to go Alli, I'll see you tomorrow." She weakly waved her hand to her friend and continued to walk towards the 'enemy'.

Eli waited for Clare to go through the doors before smirking at her abandoned friend and shutting the door, hard.


In the vast hearse, a simple ring tone wouldn't stop interrupting the awkward atmosphere among the two teenagers. Checking her phone for the hundredth time, Clare read all the new texts she received in the last minute.

CLARE! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WITH ELIJAH GOLDSWORTHY?- Alli B.

Did he blackmail you or something? Tell me, I probably have dirt on him! We can fight this! -Alli B.

Is he doing anything to you! I'll kill him! D: -Alli B.

Clare respond PLZ! -Alli B.

CLARE! WTH! Is wat alli sed true?- Jenna M.

Hey Clare, the girls are freaking out. I have to say, it's pretty hilarious. Mind if you keep them crazy for a bit longer?- Adam T.

Staring at all her messages, she could only help but laugh at the last one. Adam's always there to push people's buttons, but in a comical sense. Avoiding most of her texts, she focused on the one that caught her interest, and replied back.

Enjoy their hair falling off for now, I'm going to tell Alli tomorrow at lunch. :]

Pushing send, her faint smile disappeared, as she heard thrash music pushed into her ears, reminding herself exactly where she was. With a sigh, she leaned her head on the glass window of the vehicle. She could not believe her own discomfort. Throughout the years, she never experienced the feeling of pure annoyance. Sure, one of her best friends did take her crush away from her, but she would never say that annoyed her… perhaps it saddened her, but not annoyed. Her peers were right. The guy held qualities that could get on people's nerves.

As the music continued to pound on her head, she snuck a glance at the driver. His eyes' were focused on the road. She hated to admit it, but if you take away the cocky attitude and maybe the blinding music, he looked sort of cute. Snapping her head away from the thought, she played with the necklace resting on her chest, attempting to distract herself.

Shaping the form of the cross on her fingertips reminded herself of her own values. Clare always pitied the way her friends, and occasionally the school, talked about him. She told herself it wasn't fair. Sure the guy was annoying, but a lot of people are. Heck, the school targeted Adam, and he's a great guy. Maybe underneath all the black, one can find a decent boy. It's worth a try, right?

With that thought, her cell phone vibrated and played a ring tone. It was Adam's reply.

"Ugh, can't you shut that thing off?" Complained the driver.

"I can say the same thing about your music." The words came out bluntly, and she didn't even realize it. Holding her breath, she slowly turned to see the boy's reaction. He quickly glanced at her and with one hand, switched the radio station off.

"There, now you do the same." His eyes remained on the black pavement.

Quietly, she took out her phone and put it on silence. Gripping the phone on her lap, she regretted the request of shutting off the music. Now it was complete silence with a hint of uneasiness around Clare's aura.

"Shouldn't we be there by now?"

"Calm down, I'm going to the one in the other city…"

"What! Why?" She jumped at the news and squirmed herself in her seat to face him directly. It made her feel uncomfortable, the thought of going out of the city with a boy she hardly knew. Let alone a boy that seemed to irk her.

"Wouldn't want anyone to bother us." He said casually as he took a turn.

"Don't you think that's a little drastic?"

"Don't you think you're exaggerating? It's only fifteen minutes away…"

Going back to sitting properly, the girl looked fearfully ahead. Out of the corner of his eyes', Eli took notice and was amused by her reaction. She was such a worrywart to the pint that it was humorous. Never did he think that he would meet a girl that was completely awkward with doing a simple task like going to a library out of the city.

She started biting her lip.

Was this girl serious? The thought of her just being scared around him crossed his mind. It was a possibility, seeing how everyone always had to bash on him. According to the gossip floating around the school, he was considered as a guy obsessed with death, and obsessed with himself. That could make a girl freak out. Especially a girl like Clare Edwards. Word gets around about her too, nothing bad though. Just that she might be a prude about certain subjects, but always has a kind hearted soul about others.

It made him sick to his stomach, hearing about a girl so innocent. So pure.

She couldn't be so forgiving, so nice. But then again she is sitting in his car with little signs of complaint, maybe she was a saint. That or just plain crazy.


"Here's my essay."

Sitting down in one of the many available desks, Clare handed over her paper over to her English partner. Reluctantly, the boy did the same. For a few seconds, they read each other's work and said nothing to each other. Clare's focus was completely engulfed in the other person's essay, there were mistakes here and there, but she could understand where he was coming from. And the subject he chose scared her. Eli's read-through was different. He was lazily reading the paper with one hand, and a bored expression.

After about ten minutes, a male's voice was heard snickering.

Twisting her head to the direction, she narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"

"You. And this essay." He said with a smile and slammed the paper on the table. "I can't believe you wrote about winning an award."

"And what is wrong with that?"

"Stop making me laugh Edwards, I'll get kicked out of this place if I make too much noise."

Her eyes held a spark of anger, Eli noticed that it faded away when she took a deep breath. "Alright, then what should I write about?"

"Something that isn't so monotone…something that pisses you off I guess."

"Like my English partner?…" She tried to joke with the boy next to her. Instead he raised an eye brow and glanced back to her paper.

"Writing an essay, not a novel." He joked back. Clare was pleasantly surprised by his response. She knew that no person could be a complete jerk, there is a glimmer of hope of him being humane. "Try again, this time be serious about it."

Thinking in her head, there was a few things that did grind her thoughts. One thing was the injustice of the school's actions towards her friend Adam, but honestly that was more of his battle than hers. Then there was her parents fighting, but really she was already fed up with that subject, she knew they were going to separate soon, and knew it was for the best. Besides, that would have been too personal, and her parents would not take kindly if they heard that she wrote about their marriage. Then what?

"Maybe someone backstabbed you? Someone close?" He hinted and leaned forward to her.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I'm a boring person. I don't have anything like-." She averted her attention to the young man's paper with amazement. "-having my girlfriend die after a breakup…"

It astounded her, the courageous and/or heartless expression he held. She knew if she had experienced anything resembling close to that, her very being would be depressing. She could only assume people did not know this fact about Elijah Goldsworthy. It could open people's eyes to see the reasons for his hearse and his selection of attire. The story was heartbreaking and compelling, but like Ms. Dawes stated, it was a little too random, the way it was written.

The boy looked away and shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing. "Not everyone can be a piece of work like me." He smirked at the girl and resumed leaning closer to her. "I'm sure you have some skeletons in your closet." He mentioned and his figure was almost at the point of towering over her.

"You know, the assignment doesn't have to be negative." She responded back and slid her chair a slightly away from her partner. He gave a small chuckle and leaned back to his chair with hands holding the back of his head. It was comical to see her squirm in certain situations. She was so damn bashful.

"True, but great stories are negative. Taps into reality, instead of that Disney fairytale crap."

She couldn't fight him on that logic. "Then I honestly have nothing to write about." It was hopeless for her, all her life she had been protected and prevented from any bad influences. She had never disobeyed any rules, never been the rebellious type, never stepped outside of her comfort zone, never colored outside the lines. She hated to admit it, but she was a pretty boring girl.

"Maybe it's a sign." He said as he put his feet on the table and closed his eyes. Clare ignored the rude behavior and tried to hear him out. "You should do something thrilling. Something people might not expect you to do."

Was it that obvious that she was such a bore? "I would, but I'm afraid our deadline won't give me the time to do anything." It was a relief, in a sad way. Although she still had nothing to write, it was a whole lot better than to actually venture out into the world of 'thrills'. "So back to my essay, maybe I could fib about some things to spice it up?"

"Won't be the same, you have to write what you know." Poking his eye out to her, he let out a sigh and leaned his chair farther back. "You know if you want, I could just ask Ms. Dawes for an extension on this thing."

"It's the first assignment of the year! I hear she is incredibly strict, she wouldn't allow it."

"I can be pretty convincing."

"No, we can't. I should probably just turn in what I have." Collecting her rough drafts, she was stopped by a strong hand. Eli had sat himself appropriately and stared at the girl at his side with his infamous smile.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." He said and went back to his casual stance. "But you owe me." He said and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Subconsciously, Clare rolled her eyes. "And what would I owe you Goldsworthy?"

Folding his hands on the table, he smirked at her deviously. "Well, how about you let me pick out that 'thrilling' activity you have to do."

Not completely believing she would follow through with his offer, she agreed to the bet and resumed gathering her work. Once again, chills ran down her spin suddenly. She could feel a sinister look coming from his direction. And like before, she dared not turn around to see it.


Why is it I write Eli as if he's a creeper? More importantly, why is it fun? Questions, questions.

So get to reviewing you guys! I promise to write faster if you do :D Pinky swear!