Hey guys,
I know, I know, it's been a while.
I had a tiny bit of writers block and I didn't like what I was coming up with.
But better late than never, right?
I can promise, I'll try my best to never take this long again, but I can't promise to stay on a schedule.
When I update, I update, but it should never be more than two weeks.
So, my apologies.
*DISCLAIMER* I do not own Degrassi, or Maroon 5's If I Never See Your Face Again, just the ideas that run through my head, a pen and notebook, and this laptop I'm sitting here typing on.
Love Always,
~Pho:)
Chapter 4
You're Not the Only One
For weeks things went on as they were, Eli tried and tried to at least get Clare to open up a little to him, but she always shot him down. Nothing he tried seemed to work. All she ever wanted to talk about was the class and assignments. Sometimes he even wondered if it was the same Clare Edwards. But he'd already been down that road before.
He didn't understand what her problem was. He hadn't tried to force her into anything, or do that again with her. All he wanted was a little bit of acknowledgement. I mean, hey, was that so much for a guy to ask? Eli didn't think so.
One morning Clare came in, running a bit late. Her papers were uncharacteristically falling from her arms, her coffee tucked into her elbow as she tried to pull up the sleeve of her navy blazer and all he was simply trying to do was help.
"Running late?" Eli asked.
"Oh, no, I'm always this unprepared and unorganized," Clare remarked sarcastically.
Eli rolled his eyes and reached out to her, "Here, give me something," He offered.
"No thank you, I'm just fine,"
"People that say they're fine, are always lying. In fact, the three biggest lies in history are, 'I'm fine,' 'that was my last piece of gum,' and I have read and agree to all of the Terms & Conditions,'"
Clare giggled and lost her balance, managing to save the scalding hot coffee but dropping her papers everywhere.
"Now can I help you?"
"No, Eli, I said I'm fi—okay," She said looking up at him.
"I just want to help you, I'm not going to blackmail you for that,"
"No, just everything else, right?" She asked.
"Fine, be late to class; see if I care," He scoffed, walking off. The only problem was, he did care. Way too much, did he care.
xXx
"She's still giving you the cold shoulder, ain't she?" Drew asked as he sat in the lounge staring at the Xbox screen.
Eli sighed, " Yeah man, she is. And it's really starting to piss me off,"
Drew looked at him like he was crazy, "Man, what's wrong with you? You fucked her and you want her back? That's not how it works. You have no idea how much I envy you that she isn't hung up on you like some of the broads I hook up with. Eli, Bro, it's a blessing in disguise. Unless you're the bitch in this situation?"
"Watch it, Torres," Eli warned.
"Ooh, I'm so scared," Drew feigned, "I'm shaking in my Timberlands," He said poking him in his cheek, "All I'm sayin' is, stop complaining and just take it without question," He said as he grabbed his football gear and left the dorm.
"I hope you know I don't agree with Drew's methods, right?" Adam asked as he brought Eli a Pepsi from the mini fridge they begged their DA for.
"You're friends with Clare," He pointed his can towards him.
"That's besides the point," Adam said, "So what are you gonna do to win you're girl, cause, you know, I've never seen Elijah Goldsworthy…lose,"
"Hey! Don't you dare say that! I do not lose, have not lost, and don't plan to any time soon. No more of that language in this dorm!" He said.
"Yes, Sir!" Adam saluted him, "So what's your plan?" He asked taking a chug from his beverage.
Eli pondered a moment, "Have you ever seen a Jenna Marbles video(1)?" He asked.
"No…why?"
"Well, she has this amazing philosophy. Girls hate each other, it's like a genetic thing or something. They love to compete with each other. Well what if Clare had some competition?"
"You're gonna make her jealous?"
"I'm gonna try. Adam, you ready to go creepin'?" Eli asked with a sly look on his face.
"Oh, this'll be good," Adam said as Eli grabbed his blazer and keys and walked out the door.
xXx
Clare was tired. She's worked a five hour shift because Ali was sick and needed her to fill in. So far she's had pie thrown at her by a rebellious two year old, over filled and almost flooded the soda machines in exhaustion, and been forced to clean the men's bathroom. It was already nine o'clock and she had classes tomorrow at seven in the morning. She was closing at eleven and she still had a paper she had to finish so that Eli could correct it.
When Peter told her she had to close, she asked why, "Darce told me she has something important to tell me, she even cooked me dinner and everything. You know when the last time she did that was?" Little did he know, he was about to be a daddy!
Darcy had called up her sister that morning after her appointment saying she was pregnant. Of course Clare was happy for her and excited that she was going to be an aunt, but this big news left her to close the Dot.
That cursed clock Clare had been staring at all evening told her she had only fifteen minutes left. No one was going to come in; it was the graveyard shift. She figured she could get away with closing early.
She switched the sign from Open to Closed and started wiping off the counter. As she was doing this, she heard the bell chime.
"We're closed," She said without looking up.
"No you're not, the sign hours say seven to eleven on weekdays, nine to nine on weekends. It's a Thursday and only…ten forty-eight. Beside, we won't take long," Oh, dear Lord, not now, Clare thought as she recognized his voice.
She looked up and saw Eli was his arm around some girl, shoulder length wavy brown hair, a petite frame, tight clothing, and way too much make-up. She was the brunette Jenna. Whore, Clare thought.
She sighed and rolled her eyes, looking at the clock. Son of a flying mother-
"Aren't you gonna take our orders?" Eli asked as he and the little harlot he'd come in with sat without being seated.
Clare grabbed two menus and slapped down on them down on the table, "How may I help you?" She asked lifelessly.
"Uck, rude much? What happened to service with a smile?" The insolent girl asked with high pitched, nasally voice. Dumb bitch, "You're lucky I don't talk to your manager; I could have you fired,"
"Listen, Sweetie, it's almost eleven o'clock and closing, I'm tired, and you see this badge? I am the manager. This is a family run business, so I will ask again, how can I help you?" She snapped.
"Okay, that's enough Jules," Eli intervened, "I'll get a coffee and a piece of your cheesecake please?"
"You?" Clare asked as she wrote down the order.
"Can I get bottled water and a salad?"
"We stop serving salads after seven, I can get you a donought or a slice of cake or-"
"Ew, no thanks. Way too many calories. Just get me the bottled water,"
Clare looked at Eli profoundly, and snickered, "We only have from the tap," Clare said.
"The tap?" The bimbo asked.
"Yeah, you know, like the faucet?" Clare said.
The girl continued to look at her funny, "Just get her the water," Eli said looking annoyed.
Clare walked away sucking her tongue against her teeth to keep from saying something she may regret later. She put the pot on to warm and sliced a piece of the cheesecake placing it in a Styrofoam container, and got a kiddie cup for the water, including one of those temperature determined color changing straws.
"Here ya go. I'm gonna have to ask to leave because it's eleven o'clock and we're now officially closed,"
"What the fuck is this?" The girl asked.
"It's a kiddie cup, you know, cause you have the intelligence of a four year old," Eli couldn't help but laugh at Clare's comment.
"Eli!" The girl cried.
"Oh, Julia, calm down, Blue Eyes was just joking," Eli soothed her, still chuckling.
"Blue Eyes? You know her?" Julia asked. She looked from Eli to Clare and Clare smiled smugly, causing Julia to look back at Eli coldly, "Oh. I see," She said.
"Um…I guess we'll go. Can I just get the check please?" Eli asked looking at Clare apologetically.
"Yeah," She walked to the counter to ring them up, turned back and saw Julia clinging herself to Eli, her tongue down his throat. Clare wasn't sure if she imagined it, but she thought Eli looked shocked.
"Ehem," Clare cleared her throat. Eli pulled out a ten and told her to keep the change. As Eli and Julia began to walk out, Clare called out, "Oh, and hun? The next time you decide you're going to be nasty to someone, remember the people that handle your food," Clare said with a sickly sweet smile. She heard the Julia's jaw make an audible drop, and laughed. She took off her Dot apron, wiped down the table Julia had infected and turned out the lights.
She walked out the front door locking it behind her. She heard a small crunching noise under her feet and she pulled her jacket closer to her body as she bent down to retrieve the mysterious item. There were three roses wrapped in a piece of white paper, two red, one white. Attached to the white rose was a card that read simply, to Clare. Here's your first hint.
Here's your first hint? Clare pondered to herself. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the gift but she didn't have a good feeling about it. A chill ran up her spine and she quickly threw the flowers in the trash.
She stealthily walked to her car, jumping at every shadow and noise with the moving wind. When she finally got to the car, she opened the locks with shaking hands, dropping her keys in the process. She quickly slid in, slamming on the power locks.
"Okay, Clare; breathe," She reasoned with herself. After a few tries, she turned on the car, turning up the radio to drown out her thoughts. She honestly didn't know what had her so spooked, but she didn't want to find out.
She made it to campus, almost hitting a cat in the process. She moved quickly, hoping not to be seen by her peers, and was successful. She was most grateful to whatever God had been avoiding her all night when she realized Eli hadn't been waiting for her like she expected him to be.
She pulled on her best poker face so Bianca wouldn't suspect anything.
"Hey, Edwards, how'd your shift go?" Bianca asked as she lied on her bed, popping her gum and flipping through her magazine.
"It went fine, until Eli and this tramp came in the last ten minutes," Clare groaned.
"Oh, how'd that go?" Bianca asked.
"Bee, if you were working, you would have ripped her extensions out," Clare said.
"That bad, huh?"
"The worst. I'm gonna go take a shower and go to sleep; it's been a long day,"
"Sleep tight, chica,"
Clare closed the bathroom door and locked it behind her. She turned the water on cold and just stood under it for what seemed like hours. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
xXx
Eli walked into English the next day, laughing with Adam.
"I'm telling you, man, it worked perfectly, exactly like I said," Eli bragged.
"You got Clare jealous; big deal," Adam said.
"No, she wasn't just jealous, she was furious. I mean, smoke coming out of her ears, face turning red furious,"
"What happened?" Adam asked.
"Well, I picked up a girl I found walking around campus using my oh so clever, Eli charm," He started cockily, "And we went to the Dot. It was almost closing but I insisted she served us. She was tired and not so chipper and the girl…shit, I don't even remember what her name was, well she got really rude. Clare told her out flat she wasn't dealing with and she'd hand her ass back to her on a platter,"
"Are you sure that was Clare jealous and not just her telling the bitch to shut up?" Adam questioned.
Eli looked to see Clare sitting down beside him, "Well we're about to find out, aren't we?"
"Hey, Clare,"
"Eli," She replied flatly.
"Oh, what's wrong, Blue Eyes? You're not still pissed about last night, are you?"
"That stupid harlot was rude and insolent and I was tired and didn't deserve any of her crap," Clare said.
"Aw, why's she got to be a harlot?" Eli asked teasingly.
"For one, her clothes were we too tight...and short and she wore too much make up and-"
"That doesn't make her a hooker,"
"All that depends on what street corner you picked her up from," She countered.
They could hear Adam in the background going 'oooooh' and try to cover it up with a cough.
"Seems like you two were awfully comfortable last night," Clare said, taking the conversation into a new direction.
"How do you figure?"
"I don't know, she was only swallowing your tongue," She answered.
"Is that jealousy I smell?" Eli asked, looking back at Adam and mouthing, 'I told you so.'
"Me? Jealous? Of what?" Before Eli could answer, Miss Dawes came into the room starting her lecture. Clare turned around with a humph but Eli wasn't leaving it at that.
"You know, it could have been you if you wouldn't try so hard to resist me,"
She let out a gasp but bit her tongue, figuring it would just be better to ignore him, as hard as that may be.
It makes you burn to learn you're not the only one. I'd let you be if you put down your blazing gun.
Still not sure how I feel about this chapter...
(1) Has anyone seen a Jenna MArbles video? She's freaking hilarious. And can you imagine Eli watching them? Too freaking funny. Speaking of Jenna, it's Wednesday! And anybody that watches her knows that means a new video is gonna come out today.
Okay, this is important; Adam. Perceive him as you wish. I'm not going to stress on whether he's a transgender or born a male, and I love that story line so I personally wouldn't mess with it. Adam is Adam, go at is as you may. There's no real distinction in this story.
Clare's got a secret admirer. Is she right to be skeptical? Or should she let it play out?
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~Pho:)