A/N: I wanted to write this chapter before I go back to school (I had the week off so that explains the fast updates) Updating will probably get slower after this but I'm really determined to get through this fic. So please bear with me and don't forget to review!

Clare hated the feeling of being speechless. Drew was probably mocking her, as he attempted to solve quadratic equations. She knew it. He was probably nitpicking at her appearance or her diction. Clare just knew it. She tried to keep her mouth shut but she simply couldn't. The questions buzzing through her mind wouldn't give her peace. Drew didn't notice the death glares he was receiving until Clare spoke out in frustration.

"How do you know my name?" Clare asked in a bitter tone. Drew looked up at Clare. He seemed to be thrown by her question, considering that all his attention was focused on his math problems.

"Excuse me?" he asked as he looked at her from across the library table. Her arms were still folded across her chest, even as she sat in a chair opposite from him. Her frown seemed to be permanent. It was as if she'd never smile in Drew's presence. Drew quietly noted that Clare's expression only rivaled Alli's in intensity.

"How do you know my name?" Clare repeated. She gave him a look that let him know she was determined to hear his answer. Drew looked around and chuckled as if she were joking.

"You're one of my brother's best friends aren't you? Not to mention you're Alli's best friend too," Drew replied.

"Oh," Clare said quietly. She fiddled around for a bit, not wanting the jock across from her to think he had avoided her questioning. Oh heavens no, she was just getting started. She cleared her throat before speaking up as nonchalantly as she could fake. "So you still think about Alli?" Drew cocked an eyebrow at Clare. She was obviously fishing for information. Well, he could play that game too, and he'd happily prove it. He placed his pencil down on his notebook, glad to have a legitimate distraction.

"You're not very happy that you're tutoring me, are you?" Drew asked. Clare rolled her eyes and gave him a sarcastic laugh.

"You could say this was under less than ideal circumstances," she replied in a matter-of-factly tone.

"And I bet you'd much rather be sucking face with that hearse guy, right?" Drew shot back. Clare despised the mischievous glint in Drew's eyes.

"He has a name."

"And you have someone you're supposed to be tutoring." The two stared at each other strategically. This was meant to be a tutoring session to help Drew in math. How on Earth had this turned into some battle by word of mouth? Clare's expression still didn't change. She was determined to let Drew know she wasn't like any other girl he had been around. A few quick remarks wouldn't make her warm up to him.

"You know, I don't have to tutor you," Clare said. "I skipped out on a day with Alli to help you." Drew looked taken back. Clare really was the sweet and wholesome person she was portrayed to be. He couldn't think of a single person who would've helped him in his situation, let alone ditch their best friend to help him.

"Really? But isn't she like... you're best friend forever? Why would you do that?" Drew asked. His eyes showed his confusion. He simply couldn't understand the way Clare thought. And now that he was thinking about it, he was interested to find out.

"Eli asked me to help you, so here I am," Clare stated simply. Drew let out a light chuckle as he noticed the abstinence ring on Clare's left hand. He could tell it had something written on it though what it said exactly was impossible for him to read.

"You really have a thing for him don't you? It won't be long until he finally gets that damn ring off your finger." Drew shot Clare a wicked grin as Clare felt her cheeks grow hotter. She couldn't believe the things that Drew said. He was so crass and blunt, yet he didn't seem to care.

"How dare you..." Clare tried to say but she lost the words. Drew had thrown her off and she had to take a second to cool off. She hoped he would stay silent but instead, his teasing continued.

"Cat got your tongue? Or maybe Eli has it..."

"That's enough!" Clare exclaimed. A few other students turned their heads to look at their table. Clare was mortified. She did exactly what Drew wanted and she fell straight into his trap. How couldn't she have seen it coming? Drew grinned at his tutor triumphantly.

"Maybe I'll just get back to these functions," he said. Clare didn't say anything. Instead the two sat in silence unless Drew asked for help with a problem. Clare was more than glad to have a break from him. He had a certain way of getting under her skin. He was like the annoying itch that couldn't be scratched. After almost twenty minutes of silence, Clare noticed that Drew had stopped working to stare at her intently.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Her voice had a certain irritation in it. Drew didn't seem to notice though. He chewed on his pencil for a minute before he spoke.

"You're not mad right? I was totally kidding before," he said.

"Um, what?" Clare asked. She hadn't expected an apology from him, especially not without being asked. It truly was something to think about. Drew took the term unpredictable to a whole new level. "It's fine. It was just some... Innocent fun."

"But you don't want to be here obviously," Drew said. "I need a tutor, but we're not gonna get much done if I'm busy beating you in arguments." Clare scoffed and was about to tell him, but she knew he was right. If she and Drew couldn't sit in the same room without being so easily distracted, they'd never get anything done. For Clare that would mean a lot of wasted time and for Drew it would mean a horrible math grade.

"So what do you think we should do?" Clare asked. Drew shrugged sheepishly.

"It's probably help if you didn't hate my guts," he said. Clare still wanted to be angry at him, but Drew made some pretty good points. Perhaps she could put her past bias behind her just for a while. It couldn't hurt to try and be civil could it?

"That won't be a problem. You may have done some stupid things that I don't agree with, and I may not like you, but I'm a big girl. I'll find a way to deal with it," she said coolly.

"Good," the dark haired boy replied. "I'd be pretty screwed if you didn't." Clare shook her head. Drew was the kind of person who had a smart ass comment for everything. Just like Eli, though with a lot less wit and whole lot more vulgarity. Still, somehow she found that countering him was nearly impossible. Luckily, he interrupted Clare's thoughts before she needed to formulate a clever reply.

"Am I doing this right?" Drew asked as he showed her a problem he'd been working on. Clare did the problem step by step and got the same answer. She was almost shocked by it. The problem was a bit on the difficult side and she was surprised that someone who needed tutoring understood it completely.

"Yeah, actually. Maybe you should work on something you don't know that well," Clare suggested. Drew flipped through his notebook before he looked at his watch. It was minutes to 5 already and he and Clare had already covered quite a bit.

"It's getting late," Drew said. "I do have this one question on logarithms though, so if you want to go over it with me..."

"Sure," Clare replied before he could finish speaking. Drew showed her a problem he had scribbled in is notebook. After taking a second to see what was being asked and looking over Drew's work, Clare's eyes widened. He had the problem completely correct. Every single step was right. Drew looked at Clare with a blank face.

"What?" he demanded as he studied her expression. Clare looked at the notebook, then back at Drew. It didn't make any sense. It was Drew Torres. He wasn't supposed to be good at things academic wise. Clare was more confused than Drew was at that point.

"You're absolutely right..." Clare stated. She handed him his notebook quietly, noticing his expression was still blank. "How did you get the answer?" There was a slight pause. Drew hesitated as if he was thinking of the right answer. The silence seemed to be building slowly. Clare knew that whatever Drew was thinking, he was finding the words to say it in a way she wouldn't really be able to reprimand him for.

"I sit near a lot of smart people," he finally replied. Clare nodded translating it to mean 'I have a lot of smart kids to cheat off of in math'. That made perfect sense considering Drew's personality. Not that Clare wanted to be rude to Drew, but he didn't strike her as a math genius.

"Well, do you want an explanation?" Clare asked. Drew nodded and tried his best to listen to every detail of Clare's explanation. Her voice was soft and patient. Drew was dying to know if Clare was still upset with him and was covering up for it. She didn't seem quite as mad anymore at least. He forced himself to tune in to Clare as she thoroughly covered everything Drew had to know about the problem. He refrained from asking her anything until after she was absolutely finished to avoid throwing her off. She was no Alli, but she was a good tutor none the less.

"Thanks," Drew said. He stuffed his notebook into his bag as Clare watched him quietly. She still remembered Eli's promise to take her out. She was happy that it was almost time to meet him but tutoring drained her. All she wanted to do was crawl up in bed and fall asleep. She got the odd feeling that being with Drew would have that side effect. Oh joy.

"I guess I'll meet you here tomorrow," Clare said as she packed up her things.

"Yeah," Drew replied. They started to get ready to leave in silence. They were still strangers in most respects. It wasn't as if they were just going to hit it off. Clare gave Drew a quick glance through her eyelashes. He was an odd ball, Clare decided. Drew, from what she could tell, was the type to not really care about anything too much. Not his girlfriends, not his peers, and up until that point his grades. But, she'd put her past feelings aside for the sake of helping him. She was the one and only Saint Clare. It was practically her duty to help the less fortunate.

"Drew, do you mind if we keep this a secret?" Clare asked. "Me tutoring you and all? I know Alli will have a fit if she finds out."

"No problem," Drew replied. Clare smiled gratefully. She hadn't expected him to agree and she was more than happy he was cooperating with her.

"Thanks," Clare said. As she walked out of the library, she let out a sigh of relief. At least that was over with.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Bianca asked as she placed her hand on her hips. Her scowl wasn't as deep as it used to be; Eli could tell there was some kind of change going on. He hoped he wasn't imagining it. He knew that the girl was trouble and he was pressing his luck just by acknowledging her.

"I don't know," he replied incredulously. "Why do you want my help?"

"Teach me," Bianca said as she came closer to him. Without her usual heels, she was eye level with Eli. The pair stared each other down. "Show me what it's like to be with a guy..." Bianca paused as she walked closer to Eli. He stepped back. He had an odd feeling about Bianca's intentions. She was a flirt and he willingly agreed to meet up with her in private. It was such a bad idea.

"You've been with enough guys," Eli replied. "And you're not my type." Bianca glared bitterly, but Eli didn't apologize. He was right and she knew it. There was no telling where her mouth had been. That thought alone was enough to make him want to gag.

"No stupid. Show me what it's like to be with a guy, without anything sexual." Eli searched her brown eyes for any hint of deceit. Maybe she had changed. After all, Bianca was not the type to beat round the bush. If she wanted someone, she'd go after them full force. She had no problem stealing Drew from Alli. What would stop her from trying something on Eli while he was with Clare?

He wanted to say no. He wanted to turn around and walk away, and just leave Bianca behind while he waited for Clare. He could've hopped into Morty and never looked back. But no. He had to stay. He had to have faith that he was doing this to help her. He had to let Clare's good will rub of on him and give him hope that people, even despicable people like Bianca, could change for the better.

"Fine," Eli replied. He cursed under his breath as Bianca grinned. It was obvious that he was weak. Being with Bianca had dangerous side effects. "So... Are you asking for a friendship?" Bianca stared Eli up and down. She looked as though she hadn't thought that through and was puzzling it over now.

"I guess I've done worse," she said. Eli snorted as he leaned against Morty. It must've been in Bianca's nature to be snarky. She seemed to do so without even trying. The sixteen year old boy turned on his heel and opened the door to his hearse, motioning for Bianca to get in. She didn't and instead she eyed the car wearily.

"Well?" Eli asked in a mock impatient voice.

"Where in the hell are we going?" Bianca demanded. Her arms were crossed to emphasize her irritation.

"Just get in the car," Eli said. "Friends trust each other." He wore his smirk as the brunette rolled her eyes as she entered his hearse. If they were going to be friends, they were going to do it on Eli's terms. Bianca still looked irritated but she kept her comments to herself.

"Well, drive emo boy," she commanded. Eli let out a small laugh.

"Sure thing, buddy."

"Clare was it really that bad?" Eli asked with a laugh. Clare groaned as she held her face in hands. After she finished tutoring Drew that afternoon she had developed a slight headache. She gave Eli a full description on how tutoring went as they sat at the Dot. Instead of making her relaxed, she started stressing more. It didn't click in Clare's head until after she left the library that tutoring Drew would be an everyday occurrence until finals were over.

"Oh goodness Eli," Clare droned as she rubbed her temples. "I don't understand how his mind works!"

"I don't think you want to," the Goth boy smirked. Clare huffed loudly to make her point as she sipped her hot chocolate gingerly. The cold winter air made her crave the beverage like there was no tomorrow. Eli knew that and made certain to order Clare her favorite drink with mini marsh mellows in it just to tickle her fancy. She appreciated all the things he did for her, especially the little things. He was far too sweet.

"I just can't wait until midterms are over," Clare said absentmindedly. Eli's laughter cut through the air, filling Clare's ears.

"You mean you don't want to hang around the hottest guy in school? I thought you had a thing for jocks," he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Clare looked at him indignantly. She knew he was poking fun at her old crush on KC and couldn't believe he would do such a thing. She was just a freshman back then, could he really blame her?

"God Eli, sometimes you're just so..." Eli took Clare's hand before she could finish her sentence. He kissed her fingertips with a sultry smile, nibbling gently. Clare felt her cheeks grow hotter. It was obvious that they were darkening in color. She had no words to say.

But then again, that was a side effect of being with Eli.

I won't be able to update as fast anymore but please review!