When summer was over, Clare was still debating whether to spend her senior year at Degrassi or at a different school for fear that she would be haunted by the memories her and Eli had there since they were both all over the place at Degrassi. She was worried that just walking through the door of her English class would cause her to have a meltdown. Then she made her decision to start and finish her senior year at Degrassi since she started her high school career there and planned on finishing it.

When the school year started, Clare was able to see images in her head of the times her and Eli had at Degrassi-the library where they had their first kiss, backstage where Eli waited for her as she gave her speech at the theater awards, any desk, the lockers where Eli first put his arm around her, the school gym where they went to prom, and many, many more memories. Clare was glad to still feel these memories. At least then, she knew that Eli and the times she had with him were real. There were times where Clare did have trouble adjusting to certain things like when she was forced to have an English partner in class, she would automatically refuse knowing that any partner she would get would never come close to her first one. Even times where certain guys would hit on her or try to touch her at school, she expected Eli to just storm in and tell them to back off. Clare couldn't believe she actually missed that as that used to be Clare's least favorite quality of Eli's.

Clare's senior year at Degrassi might not have been smooth sailing but it wasn't a shipwreck. She had Alli and Adam there to always help her pick up the pieces. It's always good to be thankful for the people that come into your life because you never know how important they are until they disappear. Adam spent the summer in New York with Fiona and then came back to Degrassi to start his senior year. After the drama that went on in the summer, Alli learned a very valuable lesson- that having a clique of friends isn't a necessity. Sometimes in life, all you need is one really good friend to be there for you and that's exactly what Alli continued doing for Clare. She always made sure that Clare never felt alone.

When it came time for Clare to pick a car to drive around in when she went to college, her parents expected her to get an ordinary car like a Hybrid or an SUV. Clare's decision left both of her parents in utter shock- a vintage hearse. Not just any vintage hearse. Morty. Ever since the accident, Morty still looked totaled with the windows shattered, the tired blown up, and the interior smashed up. Eli's parents didn't have the courage to send the car to a junkyard to have it mangled and disappeared forever. That car was like Eli's baby. Clare couldn't bear to see the car destroyed either so she decided that if anyone was going to take care of that car, it would be her. She needed the money to have the car fixed so she got a waitressing job at The Dot. By the time it was near to her graduation, she had the money and Morty looked pretty glossy and new. Clare even managed to have a new engine built in Morty to prevent him from breaking down once a week like before. It took Clare's parents a long time got used to the idea of their daughter driving a car that's used to carry corpses. A…very, very long time.

Clare became valedictorian of her senior class. The basis of her graduation speech was all about how this would be "the first day of the rest of the lives of every graduate in the room" and to live life to the fullest. Her speech was received with thunderous applause-mostly heard from the Goldsworthys who were in the audience sitting next to the Edwards family who were in tears by the end of the graduation ceremony. Clare could swear that at the end of her speech, she could feel the presence of a certain someone watching over her and listening to her every word with a proud smile on his face. At the end of the ceremony when the graduation graduates received their diplomas, Alli surprised Clare when she told her that she, too, got accepted into British Columbia University. Clare responded with huge open arms at the news that her best friend would join her in college and wouldn't have to go through the initially scary college experience alone. Adam moved to New York with Fiona and still writes to Clare almost every few weeks.

Clare's college life was pretty satisfying. She had her roommate, Alli, with her every step of the way…except for when she went partying. Hey, she's still Alli. Clare would occupy herself with plenty of writing. Having a giant vintage hearse as her mode of transportation of course received many of the college students' stares and sneers. No hard feelings though since Clare learned not to care so much about what people think. She would write poems, short stories, journal entries, or even just jogging down any feelings or emotions that came to her mind.

Clare still thought of Eli every day. There were times at night where Clare would wake up in the middle of the night with single tear stains down her face. Whenever that happened, she would write her dreams down and even write letters to Eli. Clare knew that it was apparent that Eli would never be able to read these letters but it was more of a way for her to communicate with Eli spiritually just to put her mind at ease. Simple every day objects would make Clare remember him- when she looked at the mood ring on her finger, a sheet of paper, Dead Hand playing on the radio, Chuck Palahniuk, or even a thunderstorm. She felt secure to know that these objects would bring her back to Eli because then she wouldn't be worried about forgetting Eli whenever she got caught up in any college craziness.

If Eli's death taught Clare anything, it was that you are never truly alone. You may lose someone very important in your life but that doesn't mean you should shut people out that are still alive in your life. Depending on one person to be your only hope to a happy life isn't healthy. It's important to be with people who still remain in your life that make you just as happy as the person you lost and to let new people in. In life, every ending is just a new beginning.

I finally put my pen down and sighed in relief that I finished my story for the "Express Yourself- a College Freshman's Experience" assignment. Professor Bates thought the best way to start his English class would be to express a life-changing event told using real storywriting techniques. If this story gets an A by my professor, then maybe he'll submit it in the university's newspaper like he mentioned. This story is the longest and most full length piece of writing that I've ever created. Just as I was about to get up from sitting on the steps outside the college entrance, I heard someone behind me.

"Hey, scribe. Writing another story?"

I thought to myself "Scribe? He has some nerve calling me that." I turned around to see a tall guy with light brown hair, plaid shirt over a white t-shirt, and jeans.

"Yes actually, I am. Writing relaxes me and puts me in a place where smug people like you don't exist," said I, very annoyed and impatient.

"Sorry," said the guy as he put his hands up in mock surrender. "It's just that writing is the only thing I see you do. It's cool though. It beats what a lot of the other girls I see here do like partying and get hung over."

So he's seen me around, huh?

"Then you would hate my roommate," said I with a small smile. The boy laughed.

"I'm Leo," he said as he held out his hand for me to shake.

"Clare," said I as I shook his hand. As our hands touched, Leo looked deep into my eyes, forgetting that his hand was still holding mine. Then I looked at my hand which caused him to come back to his senses and let go of my hand. Then we both looked at each other awkwardly and he turned his head away. Then Leo turned back quietly and continued to look over my shoulder as I was skimming through my story before I submit it.

"That wouldn't happen to be the story Professor Bates assigned us to write, is it?" asked Leo.

"Just finished," nodded I. "I'm just looking at it quickly before I submit it." Leo looked at me confused, questioning why I care so much about this one story.

"Maybe you shouldn't try so hard to make your story a masterpiece," said Leo. I looked at him in confusion. "If Bates likes it, he might submit it to the paper and these stories are supposed to be personal."

"I know," I admitted honestly. "A very special person in my life taught me to not be afraid to be personal."

Leo nodded in understandment and continued to look over my shoulder, annoyingly, attempting to take a peek at my story.

"Any chance I could get a little preview of this award-winning masterpiece?" asked Leo, curiously.

Wow. This guy really doesn't give up. It's actually pretty entertaining.

"Of course you can…" said I as he reached over to grab it from my hand but then I hastily move it away. "…when it ends up in the paper. Until then, be patient."

Leo sighed heavily in defeat as I laughed. Then I looked away and down at my paper.

"Well, I'll let you get back to it. Nice to meet you, Clare," said Leo, smiling.

"Yeah, bye," said I, still not looking directly at him. For some reason, it was hard for me to look at him without feeling these fluttering butterflies in my stomach. But they couldn't possibly be identical to the ones I felt when I first met Eli...could they? Then Leo turned around while my back was still turned.

"Hey. This might sound a little forward since we just met but…" said Leo, nervously. "has anyone ever told you that you have pretty eyes?"

Suddenly, my eyes opened wide and I gasped as many images were floating through my head.

"I think they're dead"

Eli handed Clare her broken glasses and Clare took them.

"It's ok. I don't need them anymore. I got…laser surgery," said I. Then Eli looked deep into my eyes while I stared at him wondering what he was thinking.

"You have pretty eyes," said Eli, looking very sure of his opinion. Clare blushed and said "Thanks. I'll umm…see you around?"

"Guess you will," said Eli as he went back into his hearse and Clare watched him as he drove away and smiled.

"Deal?"

Clare and Eli are driving in the car on the way to celebrating their engagement.

"Well…It's too hard for me to say no to you as you look at me with those beautiful eyes," says Eli.

Then I smiled and turned around to Leo in astonishment.

"Yeah," I said with my eyes getting teary. "I've heard that before."

THE END

Note From the Author

Well, my story has come to an end. I hope all of you readers liked it. Thank you so much for reading my story. It really means a lot to me because if it wasn't for your responses and for you favoriting or story alerting "Only Hope", then I wouldn't have continued and I'm glad I did. I didn't expect to get many reviews or that anyone would be interested but I'm glad that I was wrong. Based on many reviews, many readers apparently got teary-eyed while reading this. I'll take that as a compliment that my writing skills were able to cause that kind of reaction. In case you're wondering why I added the twist and killed off Eli was because by having Eli's death be told in an unexpected and surprised fashion is how death is in real life. We aren't supposed to see it coming. I also wanted you to feel all of the emotions that Clare was feeling in the story when she found out Eli died-confusion, heartbroken sorrow, and shock. I also wanted to show the pain Clare would feel if she ever did lose Eli because of the strong love her and Eli shared and still continue to share on the show. It's possible I might write a sequel but only if people want me to continue. If not, then I'm not going to waste my time and write the story if people think I should just stop here. If I write a sequel, it would be about Clare's life at college with Eli still being heavily involved in the plot of course. Here's a hint, something else happened at the hospital right after the doctors announced Eli deceased after the car accident. I have another story idea that's totally different from this story but I'm going to write it after the season 10 finale so I know more about Eli and his secrets to write the story. All reviews are appreciated and again, thank you all so much for your feedback and for reading "Only Hope."