A/N: Your reviews make me smile oh so much! There will be some EClare interaction in this chapter, but wait until two chapters from now… That's all… :)

*An anonymous reviewer pointed out that Jamie Stone is a combination of Peter Stone and Jamie Johnston. My answer is YES, I did do that on purpose! Lol. Shows how creative I am, huh? =P


Owen grabbed his books from his locker as the school day began. He continued to rummage through his locker when a petite girl caught his eye.

"Er, hey, Owen," Clare spoke.

"Hey Clare," Owen flashed her a smile.

"Did you… still need an English tutor?" she asked hesitantly.

"Are you accepting my offer?" he continued to smile.

"Y-yes," Clare started to blush.

"It would be an honor," Owen replied.

She found the courage to look at him, "How does tomorrow at lunch sound?"

He nodded, "Perfect."

Clare blushed further and mumbled a "bye" before leaving.

Owen watched the redhead disappear around the corner and slightly chuckled. He turned his attention to Bianca, who was a few feet away. He gave her a wink. She smiled back – perfect. She made her way to class, but was stopped by Eli.

"Hey babe," Bianca cooed, "I had fun at the Boi –"

"Shut up, Bianca!" Eli snapped, "Nothing happened and you know it."

"Too bad Clare doesn't…" a smile started to form on her lips.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" his voice was rising.

"Oh come on, Eli," she caressed his arm, "Just give us a chance…"

Eli stepped back, "Give it up, Bianca! You and I will NEVER happen! You cheated on me!"

He started to walk away, frustrated.

"Are you going to look for Clare and explain everything to her? Too bad all of her time will be on Owen!"

Eli stopped in his tracks.

"If this is about the tutoring, I already know she isn't tutoring him."

Bianca crossed her arms and walked over to him, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," he said through gritted teeth.

She whispered in his ear, "Ask her. Just to be safe."

Eli heard Bianca's heels click away as he did all he could to stop himself from punching a wall.


Eli got to rehearsals early and saw that only a few people were there. One of them was Clare. He quickly jogged over to her.

"Eli, hey," Clare could sense something was wrong, "Are you ok?"

"I need to talk to you," he replied, "Privately."

She looked confused but nodded and followed him. They found a secluded spot in the hallway.

He spoke first, "Please don't tell me you're tutoring Owen."

"Oh," she looked down, "Well… I kind of am…"

"What?" Eli couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I spoke to him about it this morning," Clare kept her voice soft.

"But Clare, it's Owen," he reminded, "'Hit It and Quit it'?"

She sighed, "I'm helping a friend, Eli. I can take care of myself. Give me some credit."

"I know," he said, "But I don't trust him."

"But you can trust me, I'm your best friend," she answered.

"I really don't like this idea…" he continued.

"Well I'm doing it," she finalized, "He's a friend who needs help."

"I don't want you to help him!" he said.

"Why are you so against me spending time with him on English?" she asked.

"Because –" he stopped his sentence.

"Because what?" she asked.

Eli's eyes widened.

"I have to go," he walked past her.

"Eli!" she yelled.

He ignored her and went back to the auditorium. He scanned the room for a familiar face.

"Sav!" Eli ran over to the older boy, "Code Blue, dude! Code. Blue."

Sav started to choke on his water bottle.


-At Sav's house-

"So 'Code Blue' means, 'I'm falling for Clare?'" Adam repeated.

"Yes, Adam!" Eli replied.

The youngest boy put his hands up in response, "Sorry, dude."

Eli sighed, "Sorry about that."

"It's cool," Adam gave him a pat, "So why the term?"

"It was an inside term between Sav and I," Eli explained, "That way if other are around, they wouldn't know what we were talking about."

"Why Blue?" Drew asked, "Why not Red? Red sounds more urgent."

"Because the Blue refers to Clare's eyes…" Eli whispered – he always loved Clare's eyes.

The boys grinned to one another.

Eli noticed, "This isn't funny! I can't fall for my best friend!"

"Alli is going to love this," Sav mentioned.

"You will tell your sister nothing!" Eli snapped.

Sav laughed, "Just kidding, bro."

"Have you fallen for her before?" Adam asked, "Hence, the term?"

Eli fiddled with the ring on his finger, "When I first met her and got to know her. I was just intrigued by her, but it disappeared."

"Are you sure it's not just an "older brother" feeling you're having?" Drew questioned.

Eli shook his head, "I felt like this the first time around. The only other times I've felt like this was with Julia in middle school and Bianca."

The boys remained silent.

"What do I do?" he buried his face in his hands.

Adam spoke up, "Tell her how you feel…"

Eli looked at him oddly, "I can't do that. Three years of friendship will go down the drain."

Sav scoffed, "So you're just going to bury these feelings?"

Eli's eyes widened, "That could work…"

"Uh… I was kidding…" Sav said.

"But it works," Eli insisted, "Besides, these feelings are recent. I'm sure they'll go away within time."

"Did you ever feel this way when Clare was with K.C.?" Drew asked.

Eli glared at him.

"It's just that… you punched K.C. and all…" Drew said softly.

Eli remained silent.

"Almost as good as my comics…" Adam whispered.


A/N: Like I said earlier, two more chapters from now…

Please review!