Disclaimer: I own no part of Degrassi.

Hey everyone! New chapter, yay yay! But first...

So this is the chapter where Eli and Clare have their "chance meeting!" Woohoo! The majority of this is just fun stuff. But first, I must clear something up...

This is not, not, NOT a love at first sight story. This is going to take a lot of time. Eli has a lot of healing to do (which Clare will be a part of) and Clare has to figure a lot of stuff out (which Eli will help her do). They are starting out as friends, just like in the show. This is going to take time, so be patient. Getting over a dead girlfriend and a parent's divorce is hard; it takes time. They will get there, though; don't worry.

Without further ado, chapter three!

Eli's POV

"Eli! Eli, wait up, man, come on!"

Adam ran up next to him in the hallway, but Eli just kept walking. He was still giving his best friend the cold shoulder after he tricked Eli into watching a chick flick Friday.

"Dude, it's been two days, can you please stop with the silent treatment already?" Adam asked tiredly. Eli just raised an eyebrow. "Ugh, you're being such a girl." Eli arched his eyebrow even more. "Oh shut up."

"I didn't say anything," Eli countered.

"Ha!" Adam pointed. "Got ya'! Silent treatment is now officially over!"

Eli rolled his eyes. "Sure, why not?" The silent treatment was too much work and was honestly exhausting. And, Eli had to admit, living without his best friend was pretty hard. As annoying as he was, Adam was a vital part of Eli's life, whether he liked it or not.

"Awesome!" Adam grinned. "Now I can hear your opinion on this." Adam thrust a paper under Eli's nose.

Eli looked at the bright blue sheet and saw that it was a flyer that read:

Come to the very first

FOSTERVILLE IMPROV CLUB

MEETING

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5

7:00 PM

at the

FOSTERVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER

ROOM 700A

All are welcome!

Contact "Fiona Coyne" on facerange for additional details

"Saw it on the bulletin board," Adam said. Eli nodded; the bulletin board at the front entrance of the school was where all announcements and advertisements went. "Looked this Fiona girl up. She goes to Marie Hamilton. That school across the street. What do you think?"

"What do I think of what?" Eli asked with a shrug, handing the paper back to Adam.

"About the club!" Adam responded. "You wanna' do it?"

"Hell no," Eli answered.

"Why not?" Adam asked.

"I have no interest in playing silly improv games with a bunch of strangers, the majority of whom think they are amazing but in reality are quite terrible," Eli stated.

"You don't know that's what it's gonna' be like," Adam argued.

"I don't?" Eli inquired disbelievingly.

"No, you don't," Adam insisted. "How could you?"

"Because my parents dragged me to one of those things when I was ten," Eli informed his friend. "I vowed never to go to one of them again."

"Yeah, but if your parents were there, that means it was for kids and adults. This would just be for high schoolers, like us," Adam reasoned.

"Wrong. Read the flyer. 'All are welcome,'" Eli pointed out. "That's what the flyer for the thing my parents took me to said."

"Come on, let's give it a chance!" Adam pleaded.

"Why would you even be interested at all?" Eli questioned. "Last time I checked, your aspirations did not lie in theater."

"Because if this Fiona girl put flyers up our school, that means she put them up in her school," Adam replied. "And her school is an all-girls school. And girls like theater. Are you catching my drift?"

"You're pathetic," Eli said shortly.

"I know," Adam answered. "That's why I haven't had a date in a year. Come on, man, help me out. Be my wingman, please."

"So I get to look bad while you get chicks?" Eli understood.

"Well are you interested in getting chicks?" Adam responded, knowing the answer.

"No," Eli said evenly.

"Then what's the problem?" Adam argued.

"That I have dignity," Eli protested.

"Dude, come on. Be a bro," Adam begged. "Besides, we may even have fun, who knows? Please?"

Eli sighed. "Fine."

"YES!" Adam threw up his arms triumphantly, then patted Eli on the shoulder. "Knew you'd come around, buddy."

"Yeah, yeah," Eli said tiredly.

"Hey, we're still on for foosball tonight, right?" Adam confirmed. "In the lounge?"

"Of course," Eli replied as if Adam was crazy. They always played foosball on Monday night!

"Cool." Adam grinned. "See you tonight!" He split off into his classroom.

"See ya'," Eli said to no one, finally realizing what he'd just agreed to and wondering how the hell he'd gotten into this situation.

A few days later, Eli walked into his dorm, threw his bag on a chair, kicked back on his bed, put in his headphones, leaned back, and finally relaxed. Finally, Friday. The weekend. Time to rejuvenate, recharge his batteries, and-

"All right, all right, all right, let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Eli looked up to see Adam bursting through the door, grinning like an idiot. "Ready to get a couple of fiiiine ladies tonight? Or, well, get me a couple of fiiiiine ladies tonight?"

Eli groaned and put his head back.

"Come on," Adam said as he walked over to Eli and yanked the headphones off his hears.

"Ouch!" Eli protested, looking at Adam with annoyance.

"Get off your lazy ass," Adam retorted, turning towards the closet. "Now get ready."

Eli groaned again and went over to the dresser. "I still don't see why Jake couldn't have been your wingman."

"I already told you why!" Adam proclaimed, looking through shirt after shirt in the closet. "He has a date with that Katie girl."

"Of course he does," Eli muttered. Jake always had a date, and with a different girl each week.

"Hey, he said he actually really likes this girl," Adam said, pulling a shirt off the closet and setting it on his bed. He went back into the closet, probably now in search of a nice jacket and jeans.

"Uh-huh," Eli said disbelievingly.

"I'm serious!" Adam insisted. "He said he's had a crush on her for weeks. Like, an actual crush; he doesn't just think she's hot. I think we may be seeing a lot more of this girl."

"Oh great." Eli rolled his eyes and pulled a black T-shirt and pair of jeans out of a drawer.

Adam looked at the outfit for barely a second and then said in a tired tone, "Seriously, dude? All black? Would a little color kill ya'?"

Eli feigned shock and outrage, drawing his hand to his chest and saying, "Adam! You know about my condition!"

Adam just rolled his eyes and went back to the closet. "That won't help you meet any chicks, you know."

Eli sighed and simply answered, "That's the way I like it."

They finished getting ready and headed over to the community center. When they got to Room 700A of the community center, Eli and Adam were immediately greeted by a bubbly brunette with extremely curly hair.

"Hi!" She smiled widely and vigorously shook first Adam's, then Eli's hand. "I'm Fiona Coyne. Welcome to the first Fosterville Improv Club Meeting!"

"Thank you." Eli nodded, somewhat taken aback by this Fiona's enthusiasm. He looked over at Adam and saw that he may have found his target for the night. Eli rolled his eyes and prepared himself.

"Would you mind writing your names on these?" Fiona held out two slips of paper. "We're going to need them for an activity."

"All right then," Eli agreed easily. He took the pen Fiona was offering, scrawled his name on a slip, and handed it back to Fiona.

She looked at it and said, "Nice to meet you, Eli."

Eli nodded again and answered, "You too."

Fiona gave the pen to Adam, who was still staring at her like an idiot and who just managed to catch it. He shakily wrote his name on the slip and gave it back to Fiona, who smiled warmly at him, as if she had noticed nothing. Eli rolled his eyes; if she really hadn't, she had to be completely blind.

"Thanks! Nice to meet you, Adam." She continued to smile.

"Th-thanks," Adam stuttered. Eli was surprised drool wasn't actually falling down his chin. He decided this was the perfect opportunity to bow out of the situation without any objections.

"Hey, man, I'm gonna' go get a drink." He started to walk away, then felt a hand grab him and pull him back.

Adam smiled courteously at Fiona, said, "Excuse us," then pushed Eli off to the side. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Eli asked, completely clueless.

"You're supposed to be my wingman!" Adam whispered. "You can't bail on me now!"

Eli sighed. "Dude, do you really want me hanging around when you're trying to...you know?"

"Yes!" Adam exclaimed. "That's the whole point of the wingman! You have to make me look good!"

"Just let me get a drink at the water fountain, then I'll come back and make you look amazing," Eli offered. "All right?"

Adam considered, then reluctantly agreed, "Fine."

"Try to make it without me for five minutes." With that, Eli departed.

Once in the hallway, he leaned against a wall, closed his eyes, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He didn't like crowds. They didn't make him nervous, exactly, just...uncomfortable. He'd rather be alone, or with just a few friends. But a whole mess of people all packed into one place? Definitely not the ideal situation for Eli.

He started to walk towards the fountain, his eyes still opening, when...

"AH!" Eli exclaimed, crashing into someone. Straightening up, he saw it was a girl about his age, maybe a little younger.

"Oh, sorry!" the girl said.

"No, no, it's my fault," Eli insisted. "I should've been watching where I was-"

He cut himself off, suddenly locking eyes with the girl. The gorgeous blue orbs seem to pull him in; they were so incredibly captivating. Almost...intoxicating. Just like...like Julia's had been. Different color, but they gave him the same...indescribable feeling that he'd never been able to figure out what to call. He stared at them for a solid five seconds, getting lost.

"Um, are you okay?" she asked, and he finally managed to pulled away.

"Um, yeah, yeah." Eli tried to play it off, but the resemblance was kind of derailing. Then he realized something else, though. He actually recognized this girl! "Hey! You're the girl with the curls!"

"Um...excuse me?" The girl's eyebrows drew together, and she bit her lip.

"I...I mean, you're the girl who's friends did something to make your clothes all soaking wet last week," Eli explained. "I saw you from across the street. And heard you."

"Oh, yeah, right." The girl seemed clearly embarrassed. Eli pretended not to notice.

"I'm Eli." He held his hand out. "Eli Goldsworthy."

"Clare," the girl said and shook his hand. "Clare Edwards."

He started, "I go to-"

"Fredrick Wintersole School for Boys, yeah, I know," Clare completed for him.

"Right, of course." Eli kind of wanted to sink into the ground right now; of course she knew what school he went to, he'd only just told her he saw her from across the street! He hated sounding like an idiot.

"So what are you here for?" she asked in a clear attempt to make conversation.

"Improv club," Eli answered. "You?"

"Same," she said flatly.

"Oh, a bit unenthusiastic, are we?" Eli teased.

"Well considering how my friends forced me into this, just a tad," she mocked right back.

"Well then we're in the same boat," Eli responded. "I'm supposed to be my friend's wingman." He immediately wanted to have the ability to teleport, just to be anywhere else. Why did those words have to come out of his mouth? He could have said anything, and his brain chose that? She probably now thought he was some creepy womanizer! He hated players; he didn't want to be thought of as one!

"I can see you're doing a good job with that," she taunted. Relief flooded through Eli; she took it as a joke. Which it was, really. Honestly, the whole idea was a joke! Eli as a wingman? Really? Greatest joke of the century.

"We should probably head back," she continued. "I think they're starting soon."

"Yeah," Eli agreed.

They started making their way back to 700A, and Eli smiled to himself.

Maybe there was a reason to go to Improv Club.

Please note: That last line is not meant to be romantic. It means he's met someone new, someone interesting, someone he wants to get to know better and possibly be friends with. Eli is still not open to any romance yet. Just please keep that in mind. When feelings turn romantic and more-than-interest-and-friends, trust me, you will know. It will be very clear.

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