I went back into my room and lied down, waiting for my mom to be done in the shower so we could talk. I must have fallen asleep though, because the next time I looked at the clock, it was11:30 am. Thank gosh it was a Saturday, or else I'd have been late and a half for school. I went to the washroom to wash my face and freshen up.

When I got downstairs, my mother was sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by papers. I noticed her left eye was slightly bruised, but she had covered it well with make-up.

"Good morning, Clare. Have some breakfast." She said, pushing a box of cereal my way.

"Mom, what's going on?" I put the box of cereal back in the cupboard. As if I could eat at a time like this.

She hesitated for a bit, and then told me to sit down.

"Well, as you may have noticed, your father and I have been fighting a lot lately. Yesterday, our relation ship reached its boiling point, and I'm afraid we just can't work this out. We're filing for a divorce, honey."

I stared at her. They couldn't be getting a divorce. Only screwed up family's parents got a divorce. Our family was supposed to be as close to perfect as one's could get.

"A div…divorce? Really?" Tears silently rolled down my cheeks. I glanced at her eye. Maybe a divorce was truly the best option though.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'm going to be leaving tonight for a couple of days, to stay with Grandma, so you'll be staying here with your father."

With my father. She had to be kidding. Or stupid. She was going to allow me to stay alone with the man who had hit her the day before?

"What? But he's dangerous! You can't be serious right now?" I yelled.

"Clare, he's not dangerous. He's your father, no matter what. He just .. got caught up in an angry moment.."

I couldn't believe she was defending him. I had never been so angry with her.

I shot my mother a dirty look, and went back to my room. I refused to leave, or open the door. My mother eventually gave up on trying to talk to me again, and left later that afternoon.

I stayed by my window for the rest of the evening, watching for when my dad arrived. The light outside crept into darkness, and before I knew it, it was 10:00 pm.

He wasn't coming.

In reality, I hadn't wanted him to, but I couldn't help but feel abandoned.

Sleeping in a big empty house by myself was a really creepy thought.

I looked over at my cell phone. I could call Eli, but did I really want him to see me as a mess? I debated for 5 minutes, and decided to call him.

I was about to hang up when he answered.

"Umm hi Eli, it's Clare.. I know this is crazy but, do you want to stay over tonight? I'm home alone, not by choice, and I'm kind of afraid."

Eli was at my house 20 minutes later. We sat on my couch, and I began explaining the whole story to him. By the end of it, I had started crying again.

"Sorry" I apologized, wiping away my tears.

"It's okay to cry you know." He smiled at me.

I yawned. We didn't notice the time was now close to midnight.

"Do you want me to bring you to your room?"

"You know.. I'm actually pretty comfortable right here" I smiled back at him.

He leaned back against the armrest and I snuggled into his chest. We lied calmly in silence like that for a while, and he ran his fingers through my hair until we dozed off.

"Why the hell is there a hearse in my driveway..?"

A voice startled me awake. I sat up, and saw my father standing in the doorway.

"CLARE ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WHAT IN GOD'S NAME, are you doing sleeping on a couch with a boy?"