Different Perspectives
Eli Goldsworthy and Clare Edwards
Summary: Clare is the rebel; the black-wearing, smirking, bantering, fiction writer. Eli is the alter boy; the brightly colored, sweet and kind, aspiring journalist. Opposites attract, don't they?
Chapter 11: Face the Music
After Eli left Clare with Fitz, he followed close behind into the school. Starting at the entrance and into the gym, the school was dressed for the occasion. The ring of slot machines, chatter of students, and thumping of a rhythmic beat overwhelmed Eli as soon as he penetrated the dance scene. His first intention was find Adam and Fiona but as soon he found them he planned on keeping an eye on Clare and the meat head for the rest of the evening.
Eli finally spotted Adam and Fiona by the punch bowl. The two were laughing hysterically at some funny joke. He approached them with a smile.
"How are you guys? Having fun yet?" He asked the pair. Adam nodded enthusiastically and Fiona hiccupped with a smile on her lips. Eli noticed Fiona taking sips of drink from a tinted water bottle and was becoming gigglier by the second. With another swig from her bottle, Fiona draped an arm across Adam's shoulders and announced, "Come dance with me, pretty boy!" Adam laughed and led her out to the dance floor. Before leaving Eli, he glanced back at his friend. "Isn't she adorable?" He smiled.
Eli glanced at Fiona, already halfway through the crowd, walking around in an almost drunken stupor. "I'd keep an eye on that one." He warned before watched Adam run after his date.
Eli saw them leave and grabbed a glass of punch. He was just about to take a mouthful when someone took hold of his sleeve.
"I'm glad you stayed." Clare whispered in his ear.
"I couldn't just leave you here. Besides, I think I need to keep an eye on Adam tonight too." He pointed Adam and Fiona out to Clare. At the moment, Fiona was almost grinding the kid in the center of the crowd.
"Is that Fiona?" Clare asked. "Is she drunk?"
Eli's eyes widened. "No, she can't be. She wouldn't do that to Adam."
He felt Clare give him a skeptical look. "She wouldn't." He glanced at her and caught an eye roll.
Then Clare grabbed tighter onto Eli's arm, almost spilling his punch.
"Fitz is back." She muttered. "Shit."
"What did he do?"
"He got handy on the dance floor so I ditched him because I told him if he touched me I'd kill him."
Clare eyed Eli's punch and got an idea. "Can I have a drink?"
"Sure," Before Eli could pour some more punch; Clare slipped something into Eli's glass from her purse and quickly ran with it. "Hey, I have your punch- Clare? What are you doing?"
"Handling this!" She called to him and made her way across the dance floor.
Eli sighed and watched her go. He leaned back on the edge of the table and just took everything in. He walked into this mess knowing how miserable the night would be. Maybe he could just stand off to the side for the remaining time. That was his plan, until he ran into Imogen.
"Hey Eli," The quirky girl grinned. "Seen Clare yet?"
"Yeah and she just ran off again. She said she was handling things, without much explanation."
"Good." Imogen replied. "I heard Bianca wants to talk to you."
"What?"
"Yeah, Bianca was by the poker tables and I heard her talking about you." And with that, Imogen skipped away. Eli was puzzled. What did Bianca have to say? She had already ruined his night. He hoped she wouldn't make things worse.
Eli glanced towards the direction where Imogen had come from and caught sight of Bianca. She was there alright. Beside her, Eli noticed Adam's older brother Drew, and Alli Bhandari. Drew looked like he was going to break down and Alli already had tears streaming down her face. Drew tried to reason something with her but the girl pulled out of his grip and fled.
"What are you looking at, pansy?" Bianca sneered.
Eli's eyes left the scene by the poker tables and turned to the bully. "Just trying to survive this night. You know, the one you murdered?"
"Yeah, about that. Tonight's been going well, so far our deal still stands. We'll leave you losers alone."
"Thanks." Eli replied and was about to shake her hand when Fitz barged in and vomited all over Bianca's dress. Eli coiled his hand back to avoid the mess and heard the girl screech with fury.
"What the hell, Mark!" She screamed. Her arms were up in the air and her entire body cringed in disgust.
Mark wiped his mouth with his sleeve and stumbled aside; away from Bee. "Sorry, I don't know what happened." He muttered and sputtered out a few coughs before leaving the gym.
With Bianca so enraged, Eli shoved himself into the crowd of students gathering around. In all the riot, Eli spotted Clare watching everything unravel with a grin on her face. Suddenly, she caught his gaze and as soon as he had found her, she was gone. Eli quickly followed her out into the hall and took her by the arm. "You did this, didn't you?" He accused, pointing his finger at a giggling Clare.
"It's not nice to point," She told him with a straight face.
"Clare, they were going to leave us alone! If you hadn't done," He motioned towards the gymnasium, trying to summarize what had just happened, "Whatever you just did to Fitz, this could have been over! All of it!"
The smile fell from Clare's face. "I'm sorry."
"What did you do? Poison him?"
"Ipecac." She replied, trying to hide the smirk coming across her lips.
"What?"
"It makes you puke. I told you, if Fitz laid one finger on me I'd kill him." Clare argued but paused for a moment. "Ok, well not kill him, but hurt him like he's done to me, you, and Adam since day one."
Eli groaned in frustration and nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Did you think about what would happen now? Bianca is furious, Fitz is sick and the rest of their gang is willing and able to beat us all to a pulp." He tried to calm down but his body was already seething. Eli sighed heavily.
"I'll think of something, okay? We can tell Simpson-"
Eli cut her off and began to pace back and forth in the hallway. "Tell Simpson what? That I set off the stink bomb? That there was a cat fight in the girls' locker room? Face it, we're screwed."
Clare winced at his words. "We'll figure something out-" Just as before, she was cut off but this time, not by Eli. The sound of footsteps was echoing from down the hall. "Someone's there." Clare whispered, listening intently for more noise. The footsteps were growing louder by the second.
"Follow me." Eli instructed and grabbed Clare's hand to tug her along. The two dashed down the hall in the opposite direction but soon came to a dead end. The wide double doors to the rest of the school were locked up. "I wonder who it is."
"A teacher?" Clare guessed.
"I don't think so."
At the end of the hallway, a shadow appeared in the corridor from the security lights. It definitely was not a teacher. "Hey!" A gruff voice called. Anger flooded the person's tone. Eli took a closer listen and heard the squelching of rubber on tile. The sounds they heard were then given a face. Approaching them at a sluggish pace was none other than Fitz. "Hey losers!" He called to them and come close enough that Eli and Clare started to back away.
"I'm very sorry, Fitz," Clare started.
"Shut up, bitch!" He yelled. Fitz looked at Eli. "Bee told me she saw you by the punch bowl before this happened. You make me sick and got this little slut to do the dirty deed." Eli's eyes grew wide when a blade slipped out of the guy's sleeve and was pointed at Clare.
Clare's face went pale and Eli thought he heard her cry. Thinking quickly, he pushed her away from himself and the blade. Clare backed up against a bank of lockers and started to sob. "Eli, please don't do this!"
"Do what? You know I did it." Eli lied. He turned to Fitz. "I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean it."
"Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses." Fitz kept walking closer taking a tighter grip on his blade. "It's always the quiet ones with the fucked up minds, isn't it?" He sneered and adjusted his hand on the knife as Eli was backed up against the doors. "I knew you were trouble; always."
Eli had nowhere else to go. He was cornered. He started to feel a sweat. His hands got all clammy and the tie around his neck was choking him. "Please don't." Eli pleaded. "Please?" He looked at Fitz whose teeth were bared, his jaw was tight and blade at ready.
"Nighty night, freak," He jeered and then Eli went numb. His ears rung from the silence and with a scream, they stung. A dizzy feeling had swept over. The sweat that pooled on his forehead never had been so chilling. It was dark and cold. Was this what death felt like?
From falling to the ground, Eli's hands landed upon his torso and unexpectedly found no gaping hole. He felt no wound or the stickiness of blood. Another body rushed to his side and Eli's eyes shot open. He was alive. Clare was next to him. One hand was on his shoulder and the other on his shaking knee. Her eyes were filled with tears that continued to stream down her face. "I'm sorry, Eli. This is all my fault." She whispered.
Eli couldn't reply. He was too in shock. He glanced up to watch Mark get arrested. Police officers crowded the hall, their flashlights blinding him. A pair of hand cuffs was tightened around Mark's wrists and he was taken away. Once he left, Eli looked up to see the dagger stabbed into the wall.
Xxx
Eli and Clare filed out of the building and into the parking lot. The sirens had quieted down, but the police cars' bright flashing lights still spun their alternating pattern. Coming down the steps, he felt Clare's hand entangle his. He didn't know what do now. Her mischief had almost got him killed. He couldn't even muster any simple words at the moment, how could he say anything mean to Clare? He didn't want to lose her but the feeling in the pit of stomach wanted to flee.
Before anything was said, Adam caught up to the pair. "Hey, I heard there was a knife. What happened?"
Eli remained staring forward. "Fitz tried to stab me." He muttered.
Adam didn't reply. "Holy shit! Are you okay, Eli?"
"I'm fine. It was only a scare."
Fiona appeared beside Adam. Her face that once held a cheesy grin now was overridden with a tired smile. "I need to go home." She whimpered and took hold of Adam's arm.
"Sorry that I can't stick around Eli, hope you're okay." Adam said sympathetically and nodded to the girl beside him. "Come on princess, let's get you home." He caught her around the waist and Eli watched them cross the parking lot and call a taxi.
"Excuse me, is someone going to explain to me what happened here?" Eli heard Simpson ask Holly J and Sav. "I trusted you both and you lied to me. Stripping in the music studio? Knives on school property? Drunken students? This is a disgrace."
Eli felt Clare let go of his hand.
"Sir, they can't take all of the blame. I was the one who set off the stink bomb. I also was the one who encouraged Mark Fitzgerald to use his knife. I teased him. It's all my fault."
"So you lied to me?"
"Yes, Sir." Clare answered.
Simpson turned cold. "Well there will be consequences."
"We are all so, so sorry." Holly J pleaded.
"I've had enough!" The man then raised his voice. "I've never been so disappointed in my entire life."
Holly J spoke up. "We didn't mean for any of this to happen,"
"Yeah, there must be something we can do to make it better." Sav said.
"It's too late." Principal Simpson headed up the steps back into the school. Anyone could sense the pain in his voice. "There's going to be changes; big changes."
Eli glanced at Clare, Sav and Holly J. All of them looked miserable and very remorseful.
"When you all get back from break, you won't recognize this school at all." And with those final words, Simpson walked back inside.
Xxx
Everyone had left. The police cars had scattered from the scene. The night had been horrid. Fitz was probably going to Juvie, Bianca hated their guts, and Mr. Simpson was so heartbroken and disappointed in all of them. Clare and Eli sat outside on the steps alone. The night was getting colder and Eli could see the breath accumulate in front of his face. Beside him, he heard Clare shivering. Part of him wanted to comfort her and see if she was alright but the other half just wanted leave her be.
"Eli?" Clare asked.
"Yeah?"
"Do you hate me?" A chill ran down his spine as her question sunk in. No, he did not hate her. Honestly, he was still head over heels for this girl but after tonight, he had lost all respect for her. Any trust he had put in her was gone.
"No, Clare. I don't and I never will." Eli took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She huddled against him for warmth. He rested his chin on top of her head.
"I'm so sorry, Eli." She whispered into his chest. "I hate myself for letting that happen to you. I hate myself for letting anything happen to you."
That's when he pulled away. He would regret the words that left his mouth but they were eating him up inside. "This isn't a game that I really don't want to play, Clare. Poisoning people, starting fights, and all this aggression? I can't deal with it." Clare scooted further from him and kept her head down. "I lost your trust tonight. I lost any respect I had for you." Eli shook his head and began to stand up.
"Where are you going?" He heard panic in her voice.
"I need to go home. My parents are going to be worried, especially after hearing about this." He hopped down the steps and started walking across the parking lot.
"Eli, wait up!" Clare called after him, but he didn't stop. When she finally reached him, she spun him around. "I said I was sorry."
"Sorry can't fix things this time, Clare!" Eli hadn't meant to raise his voice, but he couldn't stop himself. "It can't. What's going to happen when we get back from break, huh? Bianca is going to hunt you down. What are you going to do then?" He hated seeing the pain on her face. "I can't get involved, not anymore." He took a deep breath. "If you keep playing these games and starting these fights, I can't be with you, Clare."
That's when Eli turned away. This time he kept walking and Clare didn't follow him or call out to him. The streets were quiet. The air nipped at Eli's fingertips and exposed face. He couldn't care less. In the dark, his mind wandered aimlessly. He regretted every word he had just told Clare but nothing could be changed. Eventually he would forgive her, but now it stung him too much to think about it.
Note: I got the idea last nght around midnight and finished it up this morning. Hope you guys enjoyed it :D Please review! And I'll have the next chapter up soon! Thanks for reading! Love, Anne xoxo
First half of Season 10: Completed.
Second half of Season 10: Coming Soon.
Season 11: Coming Soon.