Eli

I burst through the front door. I was fuming. Cassie came in walking after me and followed me silently up the stairs to my room. I walked over to my bed and grabbed a pillow and a blanket that lay on the ground. "You can sleep in here tonight, I'll go on the couch." I monotonously told her before I shut the door behind me.

I put the things on the couch and looked up to the clock near the tv. It was only 7.

"Oh, sweetie, what are you doing down here?" Cece asked as she walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn.

"Getting ready for bed." I said with clenched teeth. I was still seething.

"But it's only 7." She told me with confusion drawn on her face.

"Yeah, I know." I simply replied as I spread the blanket out and took off my shoes.

"Is there something you want to talk about? I could get Bullfrog if you'd rather talk to him." She said consolingly as she set the popcorn bowl on the coffee table, right over the burn mark.

"I'm fine. I just need some rest and quiet." I replied as I plopped on the couch.

"Have you taken your pills today?" She asked sitting next to me.

"Yes. It's just, well, we ran into Clare today and, um, Cassie got into a fight with her." I admitted exasperatingly as I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

"That's not good. What happened? Is Clare okay?" I felt Cece shift a bit on the couch, turning to me. Normally, I would have asked why she was more concerned about Clare than my girlfriend, but I was pissed at Cassie. And I knew My parents loved Clare, I don't think they will ever stop caring about her.

"No, it's not good. There were words exchanged, but no physical contact. A punch was about to be delivered, but I yanked Cassie away and dragged her back here, and here we are." I told her, trying to avoid as many details as I could.

We sat there for a minute, nearly silent. The only sounds were the clock ticking and muffled footsteps from above. Cece leaned forward and reclaimed the popcorn bowl as she stood up. "By any chance, you wouldn't like to work at the station this summer, would you?" She asked me as she straightened out her jeans.

"No." I said shaking my head. I worked at the radio station with Bullfrog once a few years ago and now, every summer, they asked me if I wanted to again. The answer was always no. I had wanted to spend every free second with Clare. And last summer, when I was single, I had wanted to spend every second mourning or sleeping. Or hanging out with Adam. Which reminded me, I hadn't talked to Adam yet.

I grabbed my phone and sent him a quick text, wondering if he wanted to go out somewhere tonight. After I sent it and was waiting for a reply, I couldn't help but look through my contacts until I came across the familiar name.

Clare Edwards.

After we had gotten engaged, I changed her last name to Goldsworthy, but sometime after the break up, I changed it back. I had wanted to delete her number, but I couldn't bring myself to actually do it. Besides, I have it memorized.

I felt bad. I felt sorry. So I decided a quick text wouldn't hurt. I quickly typed out a message. I knew it was probably the lamest thing I have ever sent anybody, but I didn't know what to say. Just a short statement would have to suffice.

I'm so sorry.

I set my phone down on the couch's armrest and turned the tv on. I heard my phone buzzing and grabbed it. Excitement and happiness rushed through my body, something that hadn't happened to me for a long time. I unlocked my screen and my excitement died when I read the name. It was Adam. I don't know why, but I really thought Clare was going to reply, but I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to talk to an ex if their new partner yelled at me.

Adam was excited and decided we should go to a club. I replied to him, telling him that sounded like fun .

I quickly grabbed the keys to Cece's car, knowing she wouldn't mind, and I headed out after I wrote her a short note on a napkin. As I sat down in the driver's seat, I sent Cassie a quick text.

I'm going out, be back later.

Clare

After an hour of walking home and lounging at the park, I made it up to my room. My mom and Glen muttered their hellos to me and I muttered them back.

In my room, I closed the door and turned on my laptop. Hopefully Zach would be able to skype tonight to distract me. This Cas chick annoyed me, but I wasn't sure if it was her attitude, demeanor, or just the fact that she was dating Eli. Actually, I was sure. It was all three.

My laptop started up and changed into pajamas. Once I heard the noise of it logging in, I sat down on my bed and brought it into my lap. I opened up skype and smiled because Zach was on. Without giving him warning, I video called him and thankfully, he answered.

"Hey! I've missed you!" He told me as I put in ear buds. The sound and video were lagging and bad quality, but I was just excited to see him.

"I've missed you too!" I told him as I took my ponytail down.

"Hey, I'd really love to talk and all, but I have to get going. We're leaving for the wedding tomorrow morning and I'm not even packed. We can talk tomorrow though. I love you." He told me as my face fell a bit.

"Oh, yeah, whatever. Some other time, then." I told him as he leaned in to kiss the camera and I did the same. It was lame, but it was the only affection we could give through the camera. He smiled at me before his screen went black. I shut my laptop and set it on my desk, where I noticed my phone was laying too. There was a notification blinking, so I unlocked the screen and saw I had a new message from a number.

I knew that number. Even though I deleted it from my phone, it was burned into my brain.

Eli had texted me.

I opened it up, feeling my heart speed. It said that he was sorry and I smiled at the gesture. It was nice to know that he hadn't fully taken her side and it was nice to know he still knew my number. Suddenly, a new alert blocked my view of the message and I saw that Alli had sent me a text.

Let's go out tonight!

I had been talking to Alli a lot, but we hadn't hung out in such a long time. I was already in my pajamas and I was too lazy to change out of them, so I told her now wasn't the best time, but we could tomorrow. She immediately replied.

I'm not taking any of your bullshit. It's a Friday night, we're going out! I'll be over in 10 min, but don't change yet!

I sighed, but agreed. I knew fighting would only result in her winning, so why waste the time?

Ten minutes later, I heard my mom tell me that Alli was here, and seconds later, I heard Alli knock on my door before I saw her enter. We both went to go hug each other.

"Oh God, I haven't seen you in person in such a long time!" She said as she hugged me tighter. We had seen each other on Winter Break, which was about six months ago.

"Seriously! I'd say we need to catch up, but since we talk to each other every day..." I laughed as we realized how much we still keep in touch. We pulled away and I looked down at her outfit, it was a pink sparkly cocktail dress and I sighed. Alli was taking us to a club or to a party, both of which I wasn't in the mood for.

"Oh, come on Clare-Bear, it'll be fun!" Alli said as she sensed my emotions. "But first, let's get you dressed up!" She pulled me into my closet and we rummaged through my clothes. I had a few party dresses in the back of my closet because Alli would always make me buy them when we went shopping. I had put them into good use too, Alli used to take me out all the time and I'd be forced to wear one of them.

She put me into a black one-shoulder dress, where I didn't feel totally comfortable, but I was used to this dress, it was actually my favorite. She did my makeup and hair, puling it up into a neat side bun. Pulling out my shoe bin, she reached for a pair of sparkly, black pumps. These were my only party shoes, seeing as they went with pretty much any dress.

"Alli, I swear. I already got in one fight today, I can get into another." I said as she tried to put bright red lipstick on me.

"Oh my God, what?" She asked me as she pulled me to sit on my bed. I sighed and told her about my encounter with Eli and his girlfriend.

"Wow, holy shit." She said with wide eyes after I finished the story. I just nodded my head. "Okay, drinks are on me tonight." She stated as she brought me in for a quick hug. She and I both knew I wasn't a big drinker, but I would let loose every now and then, and tonight was no exception. The run-in with Eli and Cas today was mentally exhausting, so a drink or two would be on the menu tonight.

We called a cab, planning that neither of us would be exactly fine to drive back home.