Just so you know, in my story, Eli and Clare are not together yet. Just good friends. Who flirt a lot. Haha.

When I got home, I went up to my room. Something under my covers was lit up. My phone! I hadn't even checked it since last afternoon. I had two missed calls from Eli (one from last night and another from today at lunch time) and a text from him as well. The text was from ten minutes ago, only a minute after school got out. It said, "Edwards, is everything alright? Where were you at school today? Don't make me come over there…" My face lit up. Who knew my English partner (and, since Ali moved, pretty much my best friend) would care so much that I was absent? I went to the bathroom to see my new piercing in better light. The swelling and redness had already gone down significantly. Just then, the door opened. That's weird, I thought. Mom doesn't usually get home until 5. I was still feeling ecstatic. I knew she wouldn't be able to ruin my mood. Plus, I was way excited to see her reaction to my new look. So I skipped down the stairs, only to stop half way in shock. It wasn't my mom in the front foyer; it was Eli. He looked just as shocked as me. I didn't understand why at first- he was the one that broke into MY house…

"Eli, there's this polite thing called knocking. In fact, they even put doorbells on houses now! Should I show you how they work?" I was smiling at him. He still looked shocked.

Only then did I realize why. I spun around and fanned my dress out a bit.

"Like it?"

"Wow." Was all he could say. For a minute we just stood there- him dumbfounded and me smiling like mad at his reaction. He seemed to snap out of it then.
"Soo, you ditched school to go shopping and get your lip pierced? Why Clare, I'm insulted. Why didn't you invite me?" He was smirking now.

I laughed. "It was sort of spontaneous. I would have let you come if I had known I'd be doing it."

"And what led you to this great rebellious attitude?"
"How do you know I'm being rebellious?" I questioned.

"Clare, come on. I may not have met your parents but I can tell they're rather strict. Does your mom know you got that?" He pointed at my piercing.

Man, he saw right through me every time. I guess now I'd have to explain it. Lovely.

"No, she doesn't. And I'm not really rebelling, exactly…" I paused, thinking. Why exactly had I gone and spent a ton of money and gotten a piercing? All I knew was it sounded like a perfect idea at the time.

Just like that, my elation was gone. I had been stupid. Changing the way I looked wasn't going to change my family, and how screwed up it had become. My dad was still gone and my mom was a mess and everything was just horrible. Tears stung in my eyes.

Eli looked alarmed.

"Clare? Clare what's wrong?"

Why was he even here, worried about me? I didn't deserve his comfort.

"Eli, just go."

"Clare…" He made to reach out to me.
"Just go!" I screamed.

Alarm turned to hurt in his eyes, and I felt terrible for yelling at him. But he shouldn't have to deal with me. I turned and ran up the stairs, scared to look back and see his reaction. As soon as I jumped on to my bed, I realized I was exhausted. Within the minute, I was asleep.

This chapter was much shorter. Maybe if you review, I will put more up today?