Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi!


Eli zipped up his thick, leather jacket and looked at himself in his full-length mirror, with his phone pressed against his shoulder and ear. The girl spoke steadily and slow on the phone, much like she did in person.

"-And everything is going to plan. You've hung out with Clare for four days this week, and I'm sure that she doesn't have doubts anymore. And she's meeting you at your house today, right? And then you're going to the park. Which means, it's time for step two," Eli heard rustling from the other side and the phone and silence. He watched his expression change in the mirror as he waited. He never realized how confused he looked when talking to her, "Step two...Are you listening, Elijah Goldsworthy?"

"Um...yes. Er...step two, right?"

"Yes."

Eli waited silently for Imogen to finish her sentence, but when she didn't, Eli cleared his throat in hopes of making her talk.

"Step two," She said finally, "You need to..."Care" for her. Show her that you're "there" for her. Comfort her; make her vulnerable. But, the point of this step is to make her weak, Elijah Goldsworthy. Make her melt into the palm of your hands."

"How exactly do I do that?" Eli asked, pulling his belt tighter around his slim waist.

"I don't know," Imogen admitted, "Just make sure that you're not the cause of it. Don't make her cry because of you. That will ruin everything. Hm. Maybe she'll cry if she's reminded of her parents? Or her sister in Kenya? Darcy, is it?" She clucked her tongue in thought and Eli froze and gripped his phone in his hand

Eli scratched the back of his neck and stopped chewing the grape gum that she had shoved down his throat. "Um. How do you know about Darcy?"

Silence filled the air and Eli sighed, knowing that he wouldn't get any answers from her. "Look, I'm going to finish getting ready, but I'll think of ways for showing her that I "care", okay?" His finger was already on the end button and he just waited for her parting words.

"Goodbye, Elijah Goldsworthy." And with a click, she hung up.

In slight awe, Eli hung up after a few second and ran his fingers through his hair. Once again, he liked Imogen. She was odd and different and he never really knew who she was. And while part of him didn't like that, another part of him did. She definitely freaked him out in the beginning, but now, her oddness amused him. Imogen wasn't honestly like anyone that he'd ever met. She was nice, but she had that evil side that had the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Eli looked back into the mirror, glad that he no longer had to wear a cast and sport a cane everywhere. And just when he was about to fix the collar on his black jacket, he heard loud laughing coming from downstairs. He ignored Bullfrog's booming laughs and rolled his eyes. But then, when he heard the light and airy laugh, he stopped and he was a deer in headlights. He licked his lips and stayed still, his ears wide open.

"Hey, Eli!" Eli heard Bullfrog yell from the bottom of the stairs and silence soon followed after it. Eli wasn't ready. He squinted his eyes and bit his lip, trying not to freak out too much, "Eli! Get your white ass down here!" And silence followed once again, and Eli heard Bullfrog mutter to Clare that his son was a bastard.

Bullfrog stomped up the stairs and before Eli could say anything, his father was already in his room.

"Oh, Clare!" He wasn't working on his essay! He was checking himself out in the mirror!" Eli glared at his father, and a giggle was heard from downstairs. Eli held up one finger, signaling that he needed one more minute and Bullfrog nodded once, "He'll be right down, Clare! He's applying his eye-liner!"

Eli huffed, and walked to his dresser. He picked through his sheets of rough drafts for his essay, and ignored his father, who was still staring at him from the doorway.

"How did you get her over?" Bullfrog asked, his tone low and soft, trying not to upset his son, "The last time we saw her...was...well, you know. What did you do to...?"

Eli shrugged and stacked the papers into his bag neatly and threw his backpack over his shoulder. "Oh, of course. Clare needs a reason to come over here. Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, she chose to come over? Or is that just too hard to imagine with a screw-up like me?" Eli walked forward, his head down and his shoulders slumped. He tried to push through Bullfrog, but his father was stronger than him.

"Did I say that?" Bullfrog said, his arms folded across his chest. He stared down at his son intently, "Look, you're just keeping me in the dark. The last time I knew, you were in the hospital and you two were done. You haven't let me in since that. Forgive me for not understanding what you don't tell me."

Eli sighed, his shoulders rising and falling dramatically. He shook his dark hair out of his eyes, "Sorry." He offered softly, unsure of what else to say.

Bullfrog nodded and looked over his shoulder with a soft smile on his face. "You know, I missed Clare." He said matter-of-factly, and then his face became older and wrinkled, making Eli's heart drop, "I miss how happy you were."

Eli looked down, trying to ignore the tears swimming in the air.

"Me too. More than you know."


I'm so sorry for the length! I wrote the last part of this...but my computer crashed. So, this is part 1 of this chapter.

Review, please?