Chapter 6

Burning Bridges

Clare's POV:

After a few minutes of standing there alone on the curb, her tears subsided to a sniffle, though her eyes were still bloodshot and puffy from crying. Well, what was she going to do now? She could always call her mom to come pick her up, but she really didn't think she could handle a car ride home with her right now. There would just be too many questions that Clare didn't feel prepared to answer. She was just considering walking home when her thoughts were interrupted by the slight aroma of burning tobacco and the sound of footsteps. When she turned to see who was there, she was wishing to herself that she could be anywhere but here right now.

"Oi, brain! Aren't you supposed to be doing your homework or something?" Fitz said in a scathing manner as he took another long drag from his cigarette. Clare just rolled her eyes, trying to turn away so he wouldn't be able to see her face. This was the last thing that she needed right now.

"Just leave me alone, Fitz. Don't you have some underclassman to harass?" Clare said in an exasperated tone. She was just too emotionally exhausted to have to deal with Fitz and his bad attitude right now.

"Looks like that lot falls on you, cupcake." He said with a guffaw, chuckling to himself and putting out his cigarette before moving even closer to where Clare was standing. However when he caught a glimpse at her tear stained face he seemed to change his mind and kept a bit of distance from her. "What's the matter with you? Did emo boy break that little heart of yours, or what?"

"That is none of your business." She told him sharply, though she was a little off put by the fact that Fitz's tone actually showed some genuine concern. It's not as though he was reaching out to her to be some sort of shoulder to cry on or anything, but it did almost make it sound as though Fitz actually cared if her heart was broken. Definitely a weird thought, and Clare was really hoping that she was just imagining it.

"Sheesh, sorry I asked. No need to take it out on me, though." He said with a shrug. He then looked up and down the street before turning back to Clare. "You waiting for someone?"

"I was just about to call my mom to come pick me up actually." She lied, brushing some hair away from her eyes so she could glare at the thug. At this point she was pretty dead set against calling her mom right now. She would rather walk home now, and she might have to seeing as she really didn't have anyone else to come and get her.

"Save yourself the phone call. I can take you home." That kind of made Clare eyes go bug eyed with shock. Why in the world would Fitz want to do her a favor? What exactly was he playing at?

"And why, pray tell, would you want to do that?" She asked as she turned to face him, her arms crossed firmly across her chest. It was probably pretty obvious that she did not trust his motives, and she was a little concerned of where she would actually end up if she agreed to get into a car with this hooligan.

"Let's just say I would love to see the look on Eli's face if he were to see us together. Come on, you have to admit the possibility is tempting." He said with a crooked grin as he nodded in the direction of a car that Clare could only assume belonged to Fitz. Well he did have a point, it was tempting to see was sort of reaction it would elicit from Eli if he caught her in Fitz's car. Perhaps if she started spending time with Fitz, Eli would no longer have any desire to be with her. Sure, it wasn't as though spending time with the guy seemed at all pleasant, but there would be sacrifices to be made if she was to convince Eli that he didn't need her in his life.

"Fine. But it's straight to my house, no pit stops, no detours. Got it?" That just seemed to just make Fitz smirk as he started to make way towards his car, Clare following a safe distance behind. Fitz slid into the driver's seat, leaning across the cab of the car to unlock the passenger side for Clare. She had a moment of a second thought, but dismissed it and just got into the car and fastened her seat belt. Okay, so she was stuck in a car with Fitz, but that didn't mean she had to talk to him. The only words spoken the entire way to her house were Clare's directions on how to get there. When he came to a halt outside, Clare was all set to get out with a quick thank you and leave it at that, but it seemed that Fitz had something else in mind.

"You know, if all those tears were over that idiot, I think I have the perfect way for you to get back at him." Clare wasn't sure she wanted to know, but he had actually been nice long enough to drive her home, she could at least indulge him long enough to hear him out. Then she could simply dismiss it in the most polite way possible and be on her way. Though she wasn't actually prepared for this particular proposition. "You could go to that dance with me on Friday. I guarantee if we went together he would go crazy."

Yes, she was definitely surprised by his idea, but he did have a point. If he were to find out that she went to the dance with Fitz, he may never forgive her. But considering that was the kind of reaction she was hoping to get from Eli right now, it was making her do crazy things. Like accept Fitz's proposition. "Fine. Pick me up at eight."

And with that Clare got out of the car and headed straight up to her room. She realized that this was probably a stupid idea, but it might just be stupid enough to work.

Eli's POV:

The next morning, Eli had been half tempted to not even go in to school. However he knew that if he missed another day his dad would probably kill him. So he went, grudgingly, putting forth his best effort to not be in any of his usual places all day. He really didn't want Clare to be able to find him, even though he really wasn't sure she was looking for him. For all he knew Clare was avoiding him with equal effort. Now he knew that he would have to see her come English, but he would do everything possible not to have to see her until then.

Come lunch time, rather than heading to the picnic tables where he usually sat with Clare and Adam, he opted for retreating out to Morty in the parking lot. From where he sat he could see the picnic tables, but neither Clare nor Adam were occupying any of them. Yep, he was pretty sure Clare was avoiding him now. Now if he weren't paying so much attention to the courtyard searching for Clare, he probably wouldn't have been so startled to hear the knock on the passenger side of the hearse. He jumped a little as he flipped around to see who had come knocking.

"Damn it, Adam!" He cursed, leaning over to unlock the door so Adam could join him. Of course Adam would know how to find him. Not that it bothered him since it wasn't him that Eli was intentionally avoiding.

"Dude, what gives? You just plan on hiding out all day?" Adam said with a huff as he slammed the car door shut behind him. He seemed pretty annoyed with something, but since Eli hadn't been around all day he had no clue what it could be.

"Maybe." He said with a shrug, seeing Adam rolling his eyes at him.

"Man, just because Clare has apparently gone crazy doesn't mean you have to waste all of your time moping out here." Gone crazy, what the hell was that supposed to mean? He had assumed that she might be a little broody today, but that didn't really constitute crazy behavior.

"What in the hell are you talking about Adam?" Eli said in a flustered tone, seeing Adam's eyes go wide as he realized that Eli had no idea what he was talking about.

"Wow you must have seriously been in a hole all day. All I've heard anyone talk about all day is how Clare is going to that dance with Fitz." What the hell? No way, that couldn't possibly be true. There was no way that Clare could be so stupid.

"And how did that rumor come about?" Eli could only assume that it was something that Fitz was spreading around to get to him. He had to know that it would piss him off, considering how obvious it was he and Clare were close... or at least had been.

"I'm afraid it's the truth, bro. Heard it from Clare herself. Why do you think she's hiding out? She's freaked that everyone is talking about her." Adam told him as cautiously as he could. It seemed as though Adam was waiting for him to explode, but he was strangely calm. Numb, almost. Was she intentionally trying to hurt him? That was the only explanation he could come up with. Well one thing was for sure, Eli would not be going to English today. Or for the rest of the week if he could avoid it.

Come Friday if she actually went through with her date with that jerk, Eli didn't think he would be able to speak to her again.

Please don't hate me for this, but things have to get worse before they get better! And I swear, eventually they will get better, you just have to be patient with me. I just hate for things to come together too easily.