Chapter 4

Eli was waiting for me outside the door. "Blue Eyes!" He shouted as he grabbed my waist. I responded my kissing him hard on the lips. Eli kissed back, then pulled away. "Stop, we'll get suspended for PDA."

"Nice choice, he's a keeper." Jayce commented as he walked by. My eyes followed him.

"Who's that?" I was snapped back into reality.

"Oh, um, just a new guy from England. He has a few classes with me and I was talking about you and he wanted to meet you." I ranted.

"Cool. I'm sure he'll fit in." Eli said, unenthusiastically. I knew he didn't want to add another member to our 'group.' I understood; Adam and Eli were best friends before we dated and he was cool about it after getting over his 'third wheel' stage. Eli wanted us to take a break from drama. But how would having a new friend add drama?

"Only if he likes comic books and doesn't mind Morty." I teased. I didn't worry about him fitting in. We already had loads in common.

The rest of the day went on. I sat through most classes just to hear the 'expectations and rules'. The usual first day of school. I was so excited for English that I ran to the class and I was the first one there. I decided to sit in my old seat from last year. It would bring back memories.

Adam came in and sat next to me on my left. "Hey Clare."

"Hey Adam, are you excited for a new year of English? I hope it's just like last year."

"Yeah, if you mean Eli and you skipping class, flirting endlessly, doing a Romeo and Juliet project to make you kiss, Eli starting to ignore you, then you finding out his 'dirty little secret', then you guys finally starting to date. So yes, I sincerely hope it's like last year."

I playfully slapped him. "What other 'dirty little secret' could he possibly have other than Julia? I mean that was pretty big. It led to his hoarding."

"Oh, you know - I mean - You never know Eli." I looked up at him. Was he...lying? I felt like he knew something I didn't.

"Well whatever it is, I better not find out the hard way again." I said it sarcastically, but my face was completely serious.

"Nice poker face Clare." Eli smirked as he sat down in front of me.

"Only for you." I teased back. I looked up to see Jayce walking over and take a seat behind me. "Oh hey! Um, how's your first day at Degrassi?"

"Besides seeing a blonde chick slap her boyfriend, not as dramatic as I've heard."

"Does her boyfriend have Justin Bieber hair?" Eli asked. Jayce considered it and nodded.

"That's Jenna." I rolled my eyes. "When I was a freshman, I dated her boyfriend, K.C. He then cheated on me with Jenna and last year, got her pregnant. And then he left her when she found out. They got back together, but it's not going to last."

"Wow, maybe I spoke too soon about drama."

"Dude, we haven't even hit the boiling point like last year." Adam added. "I'm Adam."

"Eli." Eli stopped coloring his nails with a sharpie and joined in the conversation. It was awkward being between my boyfriend and...and what Clare? Your hopefully soon-to-be boyfriend?

"Cool, I'm Jayce." Adam and Jayce did the fist bump that guys do.

Mrs. Dawes entered the room. "I hope you all enjoyed your summer. Since this is an Honors class, we will work on advanced literature and studying writing techniques. It will be a fast-paced course. And I'd like to tell you a story of mine. Eli and Clare, please stand up."

I was confused but I followed her instructions. "Last year, I paired Eli and Clare as writing partners. After weeks of editing each other's work, they improved greatly. I would like to give you all writing partners so you can balance each other out. But it won't be random. Today you will be writing a paragraph on your summer. Then tomorrow, when you hand it in, I will read each one and point out your flaws. I will assign you a partner that has the opposite problem of you, and then you and that person will be partners for the rest of the year."

It sounded like a good plan. I immediatly took out a sheet of paper and began writing.

This past year, I experienced drama that changed who I was. My parents fought more and more often, and got a divorce. But that didn't stop me from moving on in life.

The bell rang and interrupted my thoughts. As I was putting books into my locker, Eli started talking.

"I have the perfect plan." He said. "I'll put way too many metaphors and similes into my writing, and you make it unclear what you're comparing something to. That way, we'll get each other for our partners."

"Yeah, but I really want to improve my writing. Maybe we'll get eachother by chance and then it'll be a win-win situation. I don't want to force it, Eli." I argued.

"What are you trying to say? That I'm holding you back? I love you so much that I don't care if I fail English, you're worth it." Eli shot back.

It sounded sweet that he would take a risk for me, but this wasn't the right situation. "No, Eli! I care about my grades and if you truly loved me, you would realize that being English partners isn't a huge deal. We could still edit each other's work." I didn't understand why being English partners was so important to him.

"Fine, whatever, let's just go to lunch."

"Let me run to the bathroom." I turned around and went the opposite way to the cafeteria. I didn't have to go to the bathroom, I just needed time to think. The bell rang, and the halls were soon empty.

"Clare!" Someone called. I turned around. Jayce was running towards me. "Hey, how do you get to the cafeteria?"

"Hold on, I'm going there too." I stalled, waiting for Eli to disappear out of sight. I didn't want him to see us together since he was becoming...almost obsessive over everything he has.

"So, what did you think about English? I liked her idea, she seems like a fair teacher." Jayce commented.

"Let's not talk about English right now." I suggested. What am I doing? Just go with the flow, Clare. My mind seemed to take over my body.

"Sure, belle, what do you want to talk about?" He asked. Um, um, um...pick something, Clare! Well, I could say what was on my mind. That I really liked how Jayce understood me. He understood how religion was important to me. How sex was a big deal. How he was so polite and now he was there for me and Eli left. Sure, I told him to leave without me. But Eli was just...obsessive over the English partners thing. I was losing my mind. Just tell him what you want to talk about!

"Let's talk about us." I blurted out. Oh, God. I did not just say that.

"Well...I met you yesterday, and we have a lot in common. And you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Aww...he knows I have a boyfriend right? He definitely wants to be more than friends, do I? Obviously, or I wouldn't have done what I did next.

I gave him a huge hug. And he smelled good too. It wasn't a cologne smell, but he definitely used soap and his clothes were just washed. I looked up and his large, brown eyes looked inviting. So did his lips. I stood on my tippy toes and leaned in. He didn't make any suggestion that he wanted to stop.

"You have a boyfriend." He whispered. His breath was warm.

"I'm aware." And I closed the gap between us and kissed him. He was gentle and sweet, like Eli, but he had passion and fire. We kissed for ten more seconds, and then pulled away.

JENNA'S POV

I was in the bathroom, puking. I hated being pregnant. I was alone since K.C. didn't want to be a father. We were fighting over baby again this morning, when I had enough. I slapped him and left.

I walked out of the bathroom to see Clare and a boy I didn't recognize. They were making out. Even though Clare and I weren't friends, I was still concerned. Maybe last year I would've tooken a picture and spread rumors, but I was going to be a better person this year. I went back into the bathroom. A good idea too, because I had the urge to puke again.