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Okay, so I know now for a fact that I have made someone's "favorites" list; the wonderful author ScribbleDribble has added this story to her favorite stories list. It's like winning the Oscar or something; well, maybe not but...and thanks to everyone else for your wonderful reviews and if you guys have added me to your "favorites" list, thanks so much! I love you all! Anyway...on with the story....

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Chapter Nine

Total Eclipse of the Heart

The bathroom door swung shut but Clear didn't glance up, didn't even try to stifle her tears, knowing that it would be an impossible task. It didn't matter, anyway, who had entered; she didn't know any girls at Mt. Abraham, so no one would really care that she was bawling her eyes out in front of a dingy bathroom mirror.

High-heels clicked against the cheap tile of the floor, heading toward the row of stalls but pausing suddenly; Clear could feel someone's eyes boring into her back but she remained where she was, face buried against rough paper towels.

"Excuse me, it's really none of my business but are you all right?" The voice asking the question was soft, gentle, filled with semi-interest and actual caring.

At the sound of the teenage girl's voice, Clear looked up, glancing at the figure behind her through the mirror. She was surprised to see Adrienne Grant standing behind her, brows knitted in concern, blonde hair falling down her shoulders.

Upon seeing Adrienne, Clear wasn't quite sure what to think; part of her wanted to knock the blonde across the face with her Chemistry book for being a crush-stealing hussy. But the more sensible, not condoning violence part of her was actually impressed that the blonde had even cared enough to ask at all. Dabbing at her face with the tear-soaked towels, the brunette shrugged her shoulders, in no mood to confuse her deep secrets to the girl who had stolen her potential boyfriend. "Yeah." She muttered shortly, tossing the towels into an adjacent wastebasket.

Adrienne pursed her perfectly painted lips slightly and stepped forward, setting her books and binders onto the floor beside her feet. "Well, you don't look all right; my mom's a psychologist, maybe I can help." She said this proudly, smiling slightly, and Clear wanted to slap that smile right off her face. She knew it was petty of her but she hated it when people talked about their perfect mothers and fathers, and their perfect home lives.

"Thanks but I don't need a psychologist." Clear snapped instead, keeping her hands busy by wringing them together. She was also slightly offended by Adrienne's remark, knowing that it was true that she looked like a mess, with her blotchy face and red eyes but she certainly didn't look like a basket case.

Adrienne frowned, obvious put off by the brunette's behavior; she wasn't used to people ignoring her or pushing away her polite offers to help. She knew she was popular and liked by all and had learned to use that to her advantage; but Clear was having none of it, which slightly confused her. (Adrienne truly was a blonde at heart.)

"I didn't really mean it like that, I just meant that I'm good at listening to other people's problems." Adrienne explained, stepping forward until she was next to Clear, but still a safe-distance away from the brunette.

Clear raised an eyebrow, turning until she could see the blonde without looking in the mirror; Adrienne seemed almost genuinely concerned, or as concerned as a person could be for a complete stranger. No one had paid this much attention to her feelings since she was ten and her father had still been around. "I don't even know you, I don't think you'd be interested in my problems." She said, chewing on the inside of her lip. 'Especially because you're the cause of them,' she added silently, deciding to keep those ideas to herself, mainly because she didn't want Adrienne false 'I'm sorry, I didn't know' spiel.

Adrienne couldn't help but smile at that remark, shaking her head. "Well, then, I'm Adrienne Grant, and I've never seen you before so I guess you're new." The blonde told her, and for a second, Clear thought that she was about to extend her hand but Adrienne kept her arms across her chest.

"Clear...Rivers, from Connecticut." The brunette sniffed, feeling tears threaten to spring again, simply brought on by the mention of her old, once happy life. Connecticut was a long way away, a different life; she had been a different person back then, the sort of perfect only child with a loving mother and father. She briefly remembered sitting with her father on the steps of his vacation cabin, which was only twenty-minutes from here; she and her parents used to vacation up there every available chance. Her father had taught her how to fish and even play the guitar, which she was still struggling with; she had a picture of them, together, proudly holding their fishing poles. She had been ten and it was the last picture she had ever taken with her father.

Clear pushed those thoughts from her mind, knowing it would do no good to dwell upon them. Things were different back then, and she was different now too.

For once, Adrienne didn't laugh at her parent's naming cruelty, just simply nodded. "Well, now we do know each other, so I'm ready to listen to whatever is bothering you." The blonde said with a slight smile.

Clear looked at the blonde, trying to decide if she should open her mouth at all; at that moment, she recalled the words to one of her favorite 80's songs, which had been played constantly on the radio when she was younger, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. She had only been five or six when the song had come out but she still remembered it clearly, singing it with her father and mother as they drove in the car, none of them truly knowing the words. "Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I'm only falling apart, nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart." She hadn't really understood what the words had meant then but she understood them perfectly now. But how could to explain that to Adrienne, especially when she was the cause of her "falling apart" and she wasn't sure she even wanted to.

"It's nothing." Clear said finally, not looking at Adrienne. "It's just this boy..." The opening and shutting of the bathroom door stopped her from saying anything more and she was glad it had. She had been about to tell Adrienne the whole story, something she surely would have regretted as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Oh my God, Adrienne Grant, it really is you!" Trilled a squeaky voice from behind them. Both teenagers turned to see who had spoken and Clear frowned when she saw Terry Chaney, Carter's bubble-butt girlfriend, standing with a falsely surprised smile on her face.

"Terry." Adrienne said, appearing equally happy, rushing to give the blonde a hug. "I thought that was you in French class." She said when they parted, still smiling.

Terry nodded, glancing in the mirror, ignoring Clear completely, and fixing her flawless makeup and re-positioning her curly blonde hair. "I wanted to come up and talk to you but you seemed pretty busy with Alex Browning. So what's the deal with that anyway, he's like a major loser." Terry asked, turning around to face Adrienne.

Clear narrowed her eyes without realizing it, glaring at Terry and Adrienne, feeling her heart threaten to break all over again. She didn't want to hear the falsely sympathetic blonde talk about the love of her life. Adrienne nodded, having forgotten that she was there at all. "He's not a loser, he's just not very talkative; he's really sweet and funny though, not like those other guys."

'I could have told you that,' Clear thought angrily, hurriedly gathering up her books to make a quick exit. Terry shrugged her shoulders, ignoring Clear once again as she bustled past her. "Whatever you say, it's just strange, he's so weird." She remarked.

"You're wrong but anyway, we're going out on Friday, to the movies." Adrienne told her friend as Clear slipped out of the bathroom, gritting her teeth and wishing that she had knocked Adrienne in the face with her textbook.

Adrienne hadn't cared after all, it was just a ploy to surely get her more points in the popular department, assuring a vote if she ever wanted to run for class president. Clear kicked herself for being so stupid, so easily touched by someone paying the least bit of attention to her.

Total eclipse of the heart indeed, Clear thought sarcastically as she hurried to be late to her next class, which had long since started without her. There was nothing eclipsing the fact that she hated Adrienne grant with a passion and that she was still in love with Alexander Browning.

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Okay, that was a really lame chapter, sorry about that but I thought it would be interesting to have Clear and Adrienne interact. Of course "Total Eclipse of the Heart" belongs to Bonnie Tyler; I really love that song and I thought it had to do with Clear's situation so had to put it in there. The part about Clear's dad teaching her to play guitar comes from ScribbleDribble's story "The Lake." Please review!