A/N: Okay, so I know I haven't written in a really long time, and I'm super-duper sorry! And I'm still kind of iffy on this chapter, and I can't tell if it's good or not. I really struggled with Adam's point of view. But, as always, I really hope you like it, and even if you absolutely hated it, please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or Project Runway

Adam's POV

What was the point of coming to the beach with your step-brother and best friend? I had thought the point was that we could hand out together, crack some stupid jokes and yes, the word only parents use, 'bond.' However, add two girls to the mix and all you get is drama, drama and me sitting completely alone on a bench at the boardwalk. Fun times.

I guess I shouldn't have been so mopey. I was happy for them after all, wasn't I? Besides, it gave me a chance to be alone for a while and do one of my favorite pastimes; people-watch. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of stalker. I don't follow people around, figure out where people live or ask them into my van (which I don't even have). I just sit back and kind of watch. Usually I'll make up stories to go along with the people I see, make up life-stories, deep secrets and stuff like that. Nothing too dark or anything.

You could probably say it comes through some physiological trauma of mine, or through my own secret. In fact, making up other people's secrets definitely got my mind off of my own. But through whatever reason, there I was, alone on the boardwalk.

A relatively large man, with an even larger bald spot walked out of one of the many candy shops, holding a relatively small bag. Probably bought chocolate covered strawberries for his wife, who's threatening to divorce him if his hair doesn't grow back. Fun right? Ok, so I wasn't at the top of game that night. In all honesty I was still thinking about Eli and Clare, making out on her deck and how the whole thing sort of freaked me out. I shuddered just at the thought of it.

Just as my thoughts began to wonder away from the game, a tall brunette girl walked out of one of the boutiques across the boardwalk from where I was. She was carrying more shopping bags than I had probably seen in my life, and they probably weighed more than she did. With a sad sigh, she dropped her bags on a bench not too far from mine and sat down. On the surface she was all stereotypical, rich daddy's girl, who got invited to all the cool parties, and who probably used like for every other word. I was contented to think that maybe that really was everything there was to her, but then she began to look around.

Her eyes followed a young preteen boy on a skateboard, who rolled past both of us. His eyes flitted back and forth, searching the shop windows for someone. He seemed to find who he was looking for, and quickly looked away. However, in his distraction he didn't see a misplaced rock in his path, and fell abruptly off his skateboard. As he was righting himself a group of giggling girls about his age walked past, and all but one of them pointed and laughed. The sole girl not laughing looked apologetic and reached out a hand to help him up. Instead, he stood up on his own, pulled one of her pigtails, and yelled a nasty remark as he sprinted away. World's biggest crush anyone? I bit my tongue to stop myself from laughing.

Then, out of nowhere, I heard the lightest of giggles. It was faint, but it sounded girlish, and made me think of the sound bubbles make when they pop. I looked to find the brunette girl from before, laughing at the same thing as me. She was people-watching too. And as her eyes met mine I knew she had a secret just as dark as mine.

Eli's POV

Three hours. That's how long it had taken for everything to go from cloud nine, to the lowest pit on Earth. I shook my head, as I rounded the corner of the deck, to the part facing the ocean. Clare had beaten me there and was sitting on the top step, her face hidden by her hands and her hair. If she hadn't been shaking so violently, I wouldn't have known she was crying at all.

I knew she heard me coming, but she didn't turn towards me, or move her hands away from her face. I sat down next to her and did the only thing I could; I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer so she could cry into my shoulder. Slowly she put her arms around my neck, and we stayed that way for quite a while. When her quiet sobs turned to sniffles I gathered the courage to ask what was going on.

"Parents . . . divorce," was all she could choke out. I sighed with understanding, pulling her in tighter. She had told me a couple weeks back about her parents, who were constantly fighting. It was the first time I had realized Miss-perfect-Clare wasn't too perfect after all. Of course she tried to push aside her feelings about them fighting, but I had seen right through her, just as always.

"I'm sorry, but . . . can I talk to Clare alone for a minute?" I turned my head to see Clare's sister behind us. Her voice has shaky, and her eyes looked watery. "It's just . . . it's kind of a family thing. And we have a lot to talk about."

I nodded, and gently pulled Clara's arms off of my neck. The girl really had some grip. Darcy quickly filled my spot, and wiped Clare's tears away with her sleeve. I sent one last sorrowful look to Clare, and turned to leave.

"T-thank, y-you," I heard her mumble, as I climbed down the steps. I looked back, but kept walking. Her face was already buried in her sister's hair.

I walked and walked, until that dumb deck, where everything seemed to happen, was out of sight. I promptly collapsed on the sand, not having anywhere else to go. Drew was undoubtedly with Ali, and Adam and ditched us to go to the boardwalk all on his lonesome. I groaned in annoyance; at them, at Clare's parents, at everyone. I leaned back, watching the stars (which pissed me off more, 'cause I'm not exactly the star-gazer type) and I let my mind wander off a bit. It really did seem like someone up there had it out for us.

"Julia, you always did have a weird sense of humor."

Holly J's POV

"So, you and Sav, huh?" Declan asked, sitting down next to me on the couch. It was getting pretty late, but I had decided to stay up until Fiona got home. Of course, she just left out of nowhere, claiming to have things to do, but I knew better. She was most likely burning a hole in her credit card with some seriously pricy retail therapy.

"If you're going to sit there and make judgments on things you know nothing about, I'll go wait for Fiona downstairs," I huffed, sliding down the coach, away from him. It was just like him to be so darn condescending even when he had barely spoken. My good mood from seeing Sav had quickly worn off after last night, when Declan continued to look at me with a confused yet bemused look on his face. If it hadn't been for the recent peace treaty, I would have slapped it off. But it was Fiona, not us, that would have to deal with the consequences of that.

"I didn't mean to be judgmental. It was just a surprise, that's all." I had to give him that. The idea of Sav and I came out of left field, even for me. "You used to make fun of his relationship with Anya all the time."

"He's grown up a lot since then. And I'm not Anya."

"Well that's for sure," he said, chuckling. He held out his bag of pretzels for me to take a couple. "Last time I checked, you didn't have a sticker collection." I laughed so hard I almost choked on the pretzels he had given me. Fiona, with her usual knack for timing, walked in carrying what looked like hundreds of shopping bags.

"Who's dead? I thought I heard laughing which must mean one of you killed the other," she said, straining to place off of the bags right side up on the living room floor. When we both continued laughing, instead of responding, she turned to us, with shock all over her face. "Wait, does this mean the two of you are actually getting along?" We shared a look and just shrugged.

Still gaping in shock she plopped down on the couch directly between us. I stopped myself from wondering why my stomach dropped when my knee was no longer touching Declan's. "Do you know what this means?" Fiona asked, wrapping her arms around our necks and pulling us closer.

"What?" we asked in unison.

"Project Runway Marathon!" Declan and I groaned, but easily fell into submission. Neither of us was ready or willing to start another fight.

"Don't think this means you get out of telling me why you're so late," I said wagging my finger in her face. Her blush deepened a tint, barely noticeable, but I saw it anyways.

"Who cares about my shopping? I want to see what Heidi is wearing!" Declan and I shared another look over her shoulder, and started laughing. Maybe submission wasn't so bad after all.

Ali's POV

"What the hell were you thinking? Me and Eli? Seriously?" she yelled, as she stormed down the beach, several feet in front of me.

"I'm sorry, baby I just-"

"No! No more excuses! That was rude, and unnecessary, and now I'm here instead of being with my best friend who just found out her parents are getting divorced! Are you happy now?" She was ranting, and I knew how she was when she got going. There was no stopping her now.

"I know that you want to spend time with me and I get that! But I'm here with my best friend too!" I sighed with relief, notcing that she was winding down. She kind of scared the shit out of me when she was pissed like that.

"I'm sorry, Ali. I was wrong, and you should go be with Clare." She scoffed.

"A little late! Now she's being comforted by Eli!" She said, massaging her temples. She always did that when she got stressed. I tried pulling her in for a hug, put she pushed me away. "I'm sorry Drew, I just can't do this right now. I have to go get some sleep, and I'll talk to you in the morning." She leaned up and kissed me on the cheek before turning away. With annoyance and desperation, I watched her walk down the beach.

KC's POV

So this vacation was slowly getting better. Yes, now that Lora was here, Jenna and I would probably have even less time to spend alone, but Lora was really nice. She had a sense of humor, she liked some of the same books, and even played sports. I will admit her appearance was a little scary. She wore all black, all the time, and always wore a thick layer of makeup, but she wasn't intimidating at all, once you got to know her. We were getting along great, and I thought that this would make Jenna happy. She wasn't as enthusiastic about our friendship as I had hoped.

"Seriously? I thought you guys would be done by now," Jenna moaned from her seat on the porch. Lora and I were playing basketball and it was tied 20-20. She threw the magazine she had been reading aside.

"What kind of cheerleader are you?" Lora asked, taking a shot and missing. "I thought you would be cheering on your boyfriend." I took advantage of her distraction and stole the ball.

"A hot and tired one, who wants to go to the beach," she whined. I couldn't blame her, the game was going on for a while. But there was no way I was leaving in the middle of such an intense game.

"Why don't you go up ahead? We'll be done soon anyways," I said, dunking the ball. Lora mumbled something about a height advantage under her breathe. When I turned to see Jenna's reaction she was shocked.

"You want me to go to the beach without you? So you can stay here and play basketball with my cousin?" I shrugged. What was the big deal? She was only going to get crankier if she stayed here.

"Don't worry, Jenny," Jenna cringed at the nickname, "we'll come up as soon as I kick his butt. Which won't take long, I promise." She winked at me and took another shot. The wink had me flabbergasted but I smiled, giving her this shot. It wasn't as much fun if we weren't tied.

I tuned to take the ball back from Lora, when Jenna stormed past me, purposefully hitting me with her shoulder. As she walked down the street to the beach she turned and gave me the angriest glare I had ever seen. I might have chased after her, but Lora hit me on the head with the basketball.

"Ready to give up?" Jenna was just going to have to wait. Besides, she wouldn't be too happy if her boyfriend lost to a girl, right?

A/N: Remember to review! The more reviews I get the sooner the next chapter will be up ;)