AN: 'Ello! I'm super excited by the reviews. They really inpsire me and make me want to continue on with this story. So with that being said, I'm super happy! (:

Chapter song is Fucking Perfect by P!nk (Pink)

Eli's POV

I walked down the dull Degrassi hallways, struggling with the button on the sleeve of my distressed leather jacket. I felt myself cringe every time someone in the new uniforms passed by. I wasn't really cringing because they were wearing it, I was because I wore the same thing. I had to wear red polo shirts and khaki pants instead of my black shirts and skinny jeans. They only thing that made me still want to go was Clare. And speak of the little devil, there she was, standing at her locker and pulling out her English notebook. I snuck up behind her and squeezed her waist and kissed her under her ear from behind, making her jump. She turned quickly, eyes wide, only to find that it was me. She shot me a half smile, and I frowned. Normally, I'd get something a bit warmer.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, just a bit worried. I ran through the conversation we had last night, and I didn't think I had said anything to make her mad at me. She nodded, but her eyes certainly weren't bright and happy like they usually were.

"Yeah, I'm perfect," she responded half-heartedly. I shook my head at her as she moved past me to go to class. I caught up to her and grabbed a hold of her hand.

"No, you're acting like something's wrong. What is it?" She sighed, and sat down in her seat behind me.

"Darcy's back," she said. I racked my memory, trying to remember who Darcy was. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone named Darcy. "She's my older sister who moved to Kenya a couple of years ago," she informed me when she saw the confused look on my face. This baffled me even more. Being an only child, I had always thought that people would be happy that their sibling was coming back home.

"So…why is this a bad thing." Ms. Dawes came in, and Clare didn't answer for a minute.

"I've always been Darcy's shadow; little baby Edwards. No one ever saw me, they only saw her. And now that she's back, I'm just going to fall back into that role again. She was the perfect one, the pretty one: the golden apple of my parent's eyes. She's perfect, and I'm just not. Not when she's around." Oh, that explains it then. I tried to say something to her, but Dawes came over and shushed us, threatening us with detention. It felt like forever, but eventually the bell rang. And, instead of going out of class together like we normally did, Clare jumped up and ran off without me. I found her at her locker, again, a few tears slipping out of her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her waist, but this time she knew it was me. She turned around and wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her head in my shoulder. No PDA was allowed during school hours, but I didn't - couldn't - give a damn. I hugged her tighter and put my lips to her ear.

"Don't ever say you're not perfect. Please don't. You're fucking perfect to me. And no one is going to change that," I whispered fervently to her. Even though I knew tears were leaking out onto my jacket, I could have sworn that she smiled, faintly, against me.

Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like your nothing
You're fuckin' perfect to me