The Game of Truth- Clare
It is Clare's turn to pick a card from the deck.
"'Name the dumbest things you've ever done'" reads Clare as she scoffs.
"I guess we better skip and go to me" says Eli, quickly. "Nerds don't do dumb things. Might ruin their reputation of being a genius and those college applications..."
"You're actually wrong about that" interrupted Clare. "I've done two stupid things since coming to Degrassi."
Everyone looks at Clare paying close attention.
"I used to date this guy- K.C. Guthrie. I liked that he saw more to me than I saw in myself. Yeah, he was smart but he taught me that there's more to a person than being smart. It's about loosening up sometimes and knowing that we don't need to succumb ourselves to just one label. Anyways, we went out for a year but then he cheated on me with one of my friends, Jenna- a cheerleader" explains Clare.
Eli looks at Clare with sympathy.
"I was so angry at them both. She told me she wouldn't even look at him but then she kept hugging him after every one of his basketball games and he wouldn't even kiss me for a while. When we would try to hang out, he kept inviting Jenna to join in. But despite all of the anger I was feeling, I was still hoping he would forget about Jenna and come back to me and have things be like before." continued Clare.
"So did he ever take you back?" asked Fiona.
Eli is looking at her curiously as well.
"Not exactly" says Clare, annoyed. "He was having trouble in our Algebra class and he asked me to 'help' him. At first I was tutoring him the way you're supposed to. He would smile at me the way he used to and brush my shoulders when I was teaching him the problems. He even once...kissed my cheek."
Clare started blushing a little until her face dropped as she was continuing her story.
"I was actually stupid enough to think that maybe us spending so much time together translated as falling back with each other" said Clare, angrily. "He told me that he wanted to get back together with me but his foster dad at the group home he was staying at said he couldn't leave the home without getting good grades. So he said in order for us to be together, he needed to get good grades on his tests and that it was hopeless for him to pass. He needed me to give him the answers during the exam."
"And you gave them to him, didn't you?" asked Drew.
"Yes, regrettably, I did" said Clare. "It was multiple choice so I would give him hand gestures for a-1, b-2, 3-c, etc. But I got caught. When Coach Armstrong made us talk about what happened, K.C. told him a lie of a story that made him the victim and me the criminal. That I've been tutoring him but that I randomly gave him the answers during the test because I had no faith that he would pass. That he felt 'confident' taking the test and I was distracting him. He didn't write anything down on his test yet so it was easy for Coach Armstrong to believe him. That's why I'm here today. Luckily because I'm 'such a good student' and it being my only offense, he let me off easy and I'm on probation for the rest of the year."
"Oh my g-d" says Fiona, sympathetically.
"When I confronted K.C. about it, all he said was 'thanks for trying.' Jenna enters and she kisses him. She tells me that I was 'such a great friend, Clare-bear!' I wanted to punch her. First he cheats on me with her and then he cheats off of me because of her. I wanted to die." says Clare, angry at herself.
"Pathetic" says Eli.
"Yeah, he is" says Clare agitated, letting a small tear roll down her face.
"I meant you too!" shouts Eli.
"Excuse me?!" asks Clare, yelling. "I didn't cheat and I talked to Mr. Simpson but he still said that I was cheating for even attempting to give him the answers!"
"I'm not talking about getting caught. I'm talking about you cheating for some asswipe! You talk all the time like a know-it-all but you're no different than a person with an average brain. Maybe less than average in your case" says Eli.
Clare scoffs.
"A smart person would have been smart enough to know that he's been screwing with your head this whole time" points out Eli.
"You shut your effing mouth, Eli!" shouts Clare. "You don't know what it's like to feel like your whole world is falling apart and when you lose someone you love to someone else!"
"You don't know shit about my life!" yells Eli, defensively. "You don't know if I've ever lost anyone before and you absolutely don't know what it's like to want to die! You think because you got a detention that means your life is over?! Wake the hell up little girl because true grief stings a lot worse than some unrequited puppy love! You're the smartest dumb person I've ever met!"
"I hate you!" cries Clare.
"Yeah? Good!" Eli retaliates back.
"You can't curse, can you Clare?" asks Imogen, interrupting.
"I just did…" says Clare in a dumbfounded tone.
Everyone laughs loud.
"That was cursing?" asks Fiona. "You said effing!"
"Yeah, sorry Clare but that was pretty weak" laughs Drew.
"Just...shut up." says Clare, not knowing how to respond back.
"She can't curse. The king in his castle up above wouldn't score you brownie points into heaven that way" says Eli, sarcastically.
"Just try it Clare." says Imogen
"Yeah, come on Clare." says Drew.
"Why? For what reason?" asks Clare, annoyed.
"Because sometimes you can just do things for the hell of it. That's how I live basically" says Imogen.
"What are you afraid of, Clare?" asks Fiona.
"Yeah, Clare. Show off your inner sailor." says Eli, in a taunting tone.
"Come on, Clare!" shouts everyone.
"Motherfucker!" yells Clare.
Everyone's eyes pop out at Clare.
"Mother fucking cocksucker! Shit-faced dickhead! Fuuuuuuuck you K.C.!" screams Clare.
"...I just wanted you to say one word" says Imogen, slowly.
"You're such...a bitch!" says Clare, angrily.
Imogen looks at Clare impressed.
"See? You're getting the hang of this!" says Drew, smiling.
"You just told me to do that to mess me up!" yells Clare.
"Please, you're just mad at her because she got you to do something that you wouldn't have the guts to do" says Eli.
"Fine! That doesn't mean I like it" says Clare, defeated with her arms crossed.
"Yes you do" says Eli with his smirk.
Clare's angry look slowly turns into a smile.
"Yes I do" says Clare, half laughing which then turns into full laughter. "That was the third dumbest thing I've ever done!"
"You never said what your second was" Imogen points out.
"I helped my friend, Alli, once when her dance team bailed on her at a football game by dancing with her on the field. I can't dance at all." says Clare, embarrassed.
"We know" says everyone.
"We were there" says Fiona.
"Everybody?" asks Clare, looking in Eli's direction.
"Everybody" says Eli, smiling again with his smirk.
"Anyone wanna see?" says Clare jokingly smiling as she's about to stand up.
"No!" shouts everybody.