Hi guys! Let me start by saying I'm SSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for such a late update. In a nutshell, I had some health complications the past few day. But no worries, I'm all better! Nothing some bed rest and medicine can't fix! Anyway, this chapter could get a little heavy emotionally, so be prepared. ;)
I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. It was Saturday, which meant two more days without class. Our schedules for the CG went like this: two, hour and a-half-long classes from Monday through Thursday, and Fridays through Sundays were considered our weekend. I personally preferred this to the schedules we had at Degrassi.
When I went downstairs, I found Alli and Jenna in the lobby, gushing about each other advancing in their powers. Alli is now able to fly at up to 50 mph. And Jenna can transform anything or anyone to make them appear more appealing to the eye. Come to think of it, we've all advanced on our powers. KC can now grow almost anything in any type of soil. Adam can bring peace to minor problems. Fitz can create conflicts between any two people. Drew's military skills are extraordinary (seriously, he won every game of Monopoly, Battleship, you name it!). Fiona can already play eight instruments and sing impeccably well. Eli can create small fires from absolutely nothing. Remy's powers were already pretty advanced since I met her, and me… I can turn myself invisible and know when something's right or wrong, just by how I'm feeling. But what interests me the most about my invisibility skills, are that when I turn invisible, nobody but I can see me. And invisible objects form a sort of halo on the outline of their body or builds.
"Hey Clare! Come take a look at this!" Jenna squealed when she saw me come down the stairs. She rushed over to me, stuck a finger in my face, and held her fingernail maybe three inched from my eyes.
"Look at my nail! Look at my nail!" she said, jumping up and down. It looked like an ordinary nail.
"Um… cool?" I said, confused.
"No, no! Keep watching!" she said, continuing her jumping pattern.
Pretty soon, her once normal fingernail turned a soft shade of pink. It grew to a square shape on the edge, and a white line on the tip slowly emerged. My gosh… she gave herself a French tip!
"Holy whoa!" I said, bug-eyed. This was enough for Jenna and Alli, who was now standing next to Jenna, to start another round of a jumping fit.
"Okay guys, calm down. And Jenna, congratulations on your new power," I said with a chuckle and a smile. After she thanked me and went to work on the rest of her nails, I walked into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast.
"Hey guys," I said, seeing KC, Drew, Fitz, and Adam in the kitchen.
"Hey," they replied in unison with mouths filled with cereal.
"Where's everyone else?" I asked, popping a bagel into the toaster.
"Fiona and Remy are playing pool in the training room, and as far as I know, Eli isn't awake yet," Adam answered smoothly.
"Yeah, before I came down, I went into his room to see if he was awake and he was sleeping like a log," KC said, crunching down on his Cheerios.
"Ha! I'm going to go and try to wake him up," I said, laughing and starting toward the boys' staircase.
Once I go to Eli's door, I began my process of waking him up. I quieted my steps and soundlessly opened his door just wide enough for me to slip in. I tiptoed over to the edge of his bed, and just stared at him. He looked so peaceful… so beautiful. His dark brown locks hung loose and messy on his head. His stunning green-eyes were lidded, but his long eyelashes created a fan over the tops of his cheeks. His lips were slightly parted and his limbs were strewn about all over. My eyes darted down to his stomach, which was fully exposed due to his shirt having ridden up in his sleep. I grazed my fingers lightly over his toned tummy to see what would happen. He twitched under my touch and turned his head to face the wall, causing me to stifle a laugh.
Remembering what I was supposed to be doing, I slowly and gently crawled onto his bed and straddled his torso. I put my hands on either side of his head and lowered my face until it was inches away from his. I sucked in a silent breath, and blew lightly on his closed eyes. His brows furrowed for a quick second before his eyes slowly fluttered open. Once he realized it was only me, a warm smile took over his face.
"I'd like to wake up to you every morning," he said to me, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Stop that!" I said, laughing and lightly punching his arm. He just laughed along with me until he started to look around. It didn't take him too long to notice the position I was in, and when he did, he got a mischievous look on his face. He quickly sprung his upper body up, causing me to start to fall backward. In an attempt to stay balanced, I held my arms around his neck. At the same time, Eli's arms enveloped across my waist and landed on my lower back, bringing me so close to him, both of our whole upper-bodies were touching. I know I must have blushed, because he only smirked at me before leaning in for a sweet, innocent kiss.
"Come on," I said, biting my lip and smiling, "Let's go eat breakfast."
He just nodded in agreement and followed me downstairs.
"Look! He's alive!" Fitz joked once we got into the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah. Only because this one decided to wake me up by attempting rape," Eli joked, pointing his thumb at me.
"Did not! I just used friendly persuasion…" I said, sneaking a flirty grin at him.
"Suuurrreee…" he said, grinning back at me while opening the refrigerator. "Damn! We're out of practically everything in here!" he said, letting out a huff of frustration.
"Here, what's mine is yours," I said, handing him half of my bagel from before. He graciously accepted, taking a seat next to me at the island in the kitchen. "Remy said the portal would be opened today. Why don't we all take a night on the town to hang out and get some food?" I suggested. "We could all go. And Fitz, you could bring Bianca."
"I'll go call her," he said with a smile before running up to his room.
"What about Remy?" Drew said, looking to me for the answer.
"I could try to convince her to bring Gabe. She seems pretty shy about the subject though," I said honesty.
"Well, if we're all going to be there, wouldn't that make it less awkward for her? You could use that for persuasion," Adam suggested, sipping on his cup of milk.
"Eh… I'll try it," I said, shrugging my shoulders and walking toward the gym area where Remy and Fiona were playing pool.
"Hey guys," I said, trying to make easy conversation to start.
"Hey," they both said, fully concentrated in their game. "Ha! That's it folks! I win!" Remy exclaimed as she sinked the final ball.
"Uh huh. I let you win kid," Fiona said to her winking.
Remy just smiled at her before turning to me. "So, what's up Clare?"
"Oh, um… well the guys and I thought that it'd be a good idea to go out for a night on the town, since the portal's open and we need more food. Fitz is even going to bring Bianca," I answered calmly.
"Ooh! That's sounds like so much fun! I have to go talk to Adam!" Fiona chimed, running to the kitchen.
When I turned back around, I found Remy just standing there, holding her stick close to her and leaning her cheek on the side of it.
"Is it selfish of me to not want to go, since… you know… I'd be the only one without a date?" she asked me, looking worried.
"Well… what about Gabe? You could invite him," I suggested, trying to make my voice sound soft. But the moment I mentioned his name, her face flushed within seconds and she became very nervous.
"Oh, uh… I don't know. I mean… I don't know if he likes me as much as say you and Eli like each other," she said, looking away.
"Remy… is something holding you back?" I said, looking concerned. "Here, come sit," I said, sitting on one of the exercise balls while patting the other one for her. Once she was seated, I turned the ball so her body was facing mine, but her eyes were staring at the floor.
"Rem… are you afraid of losing him as a friend if he doesn't feel the same way?" I asked, taking a shot at the possibility of her feelings being the same as mine were.
She just shook her head, not taking her gaze off of the rubber flooring. I sighed and put my hand on her shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly.
"Then what is it?" I asked softly, trying to find the root of the problem.
She gulped loudly before looking up with tears brimming her eyes. I've never seen her like this. So, exposed… so… vulnerable. She was so open to me now, and I felt honored to be the one she felt comfortable enough to cry in front of. I always saw her as such a strong girl, but I guess I forgot about the emotions that she must be holding inside.
"Well," she started, breathing shaky. "I've known Gabe for quite some time now. He used to be my neighbor in Chicago. He's known about my powers since I have, and the same for his powers. We know everything about each other. He's my best friend, I would do anything for him," she said, taking a pause to sniffle. "But because of my abilities… I'm always afraid that if things start heading in… that… direction, I could accidentally hurt him. And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he was in pain because of me. And I don't mean just physically, but emotionally too," she said, coughing from talking fast while crying. I just kept rubbing her shoulder, giving her all the time she needed to continue her story.
"Can I tell you something?" she said, looking me in the eyes. I've never noticed how stunning her eyes were before. Not even the first day I met her. They were light brown with a thin dark blue rim around each iris. And from the water pooling over the edges, she looked like a painting. A painting of a wounded girl…
"Anything," I said reassuringly.
"I've never had a boyfriend before…" she said quietly. "I'm the youngest one in the house. This would have been my freshman year in high school."
I didn't know she was the youngest…
"What do I do Clare? How do I handle this? You always seemed so poise… so graceful with how you carry yourself. Please… tell me what I should do. I'd rather suffer myself than put him through grief," she said, emotion pouring from her words.
I took a deep breath and held her hands in mine. "If it were me in your position, I would invite him tonight. Then, I would sit him down in private, where nobody could disturb us. I'd take his hands in mine, look him straight in the eye, and tell him how I feel. I'd tell him how much of my heart he holds, and how much he means to me. That the last thing I would want to do is hurt him. I'd try my best to make him understand all the complications of my manner. And if he doesn't understand that… however painful it may be… then it wasn't meant to be. Remy, you deserve someone who gets every part of you," I said, meaning every word.
She just looked at me with her eyes of sorrow and nodded. She was a smart girl, but it's topics like these that make smart girls do stupid things. And I cared about her too much to just watch her fall down.
"I want you to make a promise to me," I said, lowering my head so I could look into her eyes. "I want you to promise me that you will never settle for anything that doesn't feel right. You are so much better than you think you are. You have so much to offer to people, and so much light to shine on the dark beings in the world. Never accept anyone that doesn't give you 100%," I said, starting to tear up myself.
She nodded before, slowly, lifting her head higher to look at me again. She had a small smile on her face that showed me that she understood. And without thinking, we hugged each other, this conversation making its permanent scare in our memories.
When she pulled away, she looked at me adoringly. "You know Clare, you're much more than a friend to me. You're like my older sister, who I know will be there for me when I need her. I love my mother more than anything in the world, but with everything else she had to deal with, being a single mother raising a super-human teenager, she never really had time to build an in-depth emotional bond with me. Thank you," she said, a final tear falling down her cheek.
I smiled at her, a few tears of my own falling on the floor. We laughed lightly at ourselves before standing up.
"Um, uh… I'm going to go, uh… call Gabe," she said with a smile and a small wave before going through the back door and up the stairs.
I decided to take the other exit to give her some time alone. But once I turned the corner, I bumped into a hard figure. I looked up to see Eli, idolization written all over his face.
"Eli… how much of that did you hear…?" I asked tentatively.
"Enough," he answered, pulling me close. "Your amazing, you know that?"
I smiled up at him, "I try." He leaned down to kiss me softly on the lips, passion burning on the surface.
He broke the kiss a few seconds later and said, "Come on, let's go get ready."
There it is! Hope you enjoyed! And I will have to say this in advance, but if I ever don't update for a few days in a row, don't be alarmed! I'm just going through some tougher health stuff at that moment and will update as soon as possible! :) And if you enjoy stories such as this one, involving God/Goddesses... I've read 2 others similar to it by jamester7 and Dluv4eva44, so go check 'em out! See ya soon!