Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi


"Bye Alli." I laughed as Alli left the house. I stood in the threshold, waving goodbye as she got into Sav's car. She said that her parents were too busy to pick her up, and that Sav was in charge of his little sister while they weren't at home.

I laughed; thinking about how my parents said the same thing when Darcy lived in the house. Darcy had shown me several things that I had found useful for when I would be a freshman in Degrassi, and I never thought I would've taken her advice. But, of course, we had grown close while she was in Kenya, which I enjoyed. It reminded me that my family was still together, even if my father left us.


"Clare!" An ebullient voice said as the front door closed. I froze, knowing that my mom didn't have such a manly voice. I slowly turned around to see my father, standing in the threshold.

I couldn't decide whether or not I was shocked or angry, or a combination of the two. He had left suddenly; out of my life in one second. I could feel the rage come back to surface.

"When are you leaving next? In an hour?" I spat, regretting my tone. I had never been such a bad child before, but that was because I hadn't believed in many things. And most of those things had happened over several months.

My fathers face fell as he walked closer to me, as I stumbled backwards. I fought the urge to cry as I fell down, scrambling to get farther away from him. I was too slow, as always, and could feel that he would win and pull me into an embrace. I let my arms hang loosely at my sides, a tear cascading down my face.

"I missed my daughter." He breathed, and I rolled my eyes.

"You have two, if you don't remember." I growled, and he pulled out of the hug.

"Excuse me, but what is with this tone?" He asked, and I shrugged, walking away from him.

"I'm angry; it's better to let go of your emotions than bottle them up." I stated, and my father stood, confused.

"You're angry? Why?" I fought the urge to scream at him, but couldn't help but get into his face.

"You want to know why? It's because you left without any trace! You left mom and I all by ourselves and you didn't care! Mom and I don't want you anymore!" I was now crying and hitting his chest with the force that I knew I had, and he didn't try to stop me. I cried until nothing came out, and then the sorrow emotion engulfed me again.

It was one of the worse things that I had ever experienced, and it took weeks to get rid of the feeling. My father still stood there, but now he leaned his weight towards the door, as if to make a run for it.

"If you leave," I said, with utterly strong dignity. "Never come back."

And like that, he left. I smiled slightly, plopping back on the couch, thinking about what I had just done. I had just won an argument against one of my parents, which I hadn't done in a long time. Darcy had always done it when she was in Canada, but now it was my responsibility to make sure that things ran smoothly in the household.

My mother came back within the hour and I grinned menacingly as she walked in.

"How was your day, Clare?" She asked, setting her keys down on the table. I shrugged, the smile still on my face.

"Dad came back." I said, and my mother froze. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Why do you look so happy about it?" She asked, and I shook my head, my grin falling.

"Well I told him that we didn't want him anymore, and that he wasn't welcome anymore. So now," I said, getting up from the couch. "We don't have to worry, Mom! He'll never be back!" I giggled, waiting for her to do the same.

She didn't.

I saw as several emotions ran across her face, and most of them were ones that I was not proud of. I could feel my confidence plummeting, figuring out that I had done something wrong.

"You told him to leave?" She asked, and I hastily nodded.

"He was holding us back, Mom! Now you don't have to worry." My voice had become smaller as I saw her emotion change to disappointment.

"Clare," was all she said, and I frowned, lowering my head. "I need him, Clare." She softly murmured, and I looked at her with an unfathomable expression.

"You don't need that scumbag, Mom!" She shook her head, groaning.

"Yes I do, Clare!" She argued, and then stopped. She held a hand to her forehead as she said, "Go upstairs." I couldn't help but feel another tantrum coming over me as I did what I told to do, and shut my bedroom door with unnecessary force. I was trying to help us! I had seen what my mother had been fighting for months since his departure, and now, all of a sudden she needs him?

I shook my head. "Adults," I muttered, and then walked over to my cell phone. I dialed Adam's phone number, praying that he would answer the phone.

"Hello?" A partly groggy voice said, and I wondered if Adam had been taking a nap.

"Hey," I softly said in the receiver, and I could hear Adam yawn. "I wanted to talk." I said, and a silence took over.

"Now?" He asked, and I looked at the clock to see that it was close to midnight.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't know that it was midnight. I guess I was just caught up in everything." I trailed off, not wanting to hang up the cell phone. Right now, all I needed to do was talk to Adam about this and then I'd be OK.

"It's alright," he yawned once again, and I felt another guilt wave for waking him up. "So, would you like to talk about it right now?" I nodded, remembering that it wasn't useful to just nod at no one.

"It's my parents," I started, telling him the whole story and what my mother had said afterwards. Adam had remained silent for the whole time, and I wondered if he had hung up. "And now, I just feel like I'm the worst kid in the world." I stated, and Adam chuckled.

"I would be before you, I promise." He said, and I forced out a laugh. "Just give her some space, and later on she'll find out that it was better for her. You did the right thing, Clare."

"I hope so," I lightly added, glancing around my room. "I'll talk to you in school tomorrow. Bye, Adam!"

"Bye, Clare." I waited for Adam to hang up, and sighed sadly once he did. I was alone, once again.


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