Clare's POV

"Dad you're hurting me!"

The images of my dad abusing me played over and over again in my mind.

Only this part is different. This part didn't happen before.

Dad's picking up the bottle from under my leg but he's not throwing it at the wall this time.

He turned to me and all of a sudden…. BAM! The bottle of alcohol hit me right in the face!

He continued to take the glass bottle and beat me repeatedly.

Mom's trying to pull him off of me until he swung back with the shattered remains of the bottle and hit her in the face and part of her neck.

He turned to me once again and struck me one last time.

Everything is black now. "So this is what death feels like. It's peaceful."

Seconds later, I jolted up from under my covers gasping for air.

"Just a dream…" I said to myself.

I looked over at my clock expecting it to be 6:30 in the morning, which is the usual time I wake up for school. But instead, the actual time was 10:34 AM.

I'm late! I opened my door and ran out to the living room.

"Mom?" I called.

"In here sweetie." She called back from the kitchen.

She was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper and drinking coffee.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked her. She looked at me like I was crazy or something.

"Clare, I wasn't going to make you go today. I thought that you might've wanted to stay home."

"Well, I want to go. School might be what I need to take my mind off of things." I replied.

"Okay, you go get ready and I'll drive you." She replied back in a tone that said "you're stubborn." I walked back to the bathroom and looked over myself in the mirror. My eye looks like it got about 10 times worse than last night before I went to bed. My shoulders weren't that bad and my arm still had a mark on it.

Hmm. Long sleeves for me today. Now, if I could just find some foundation or something so I can cover up the aftermath of the blow I took to my left eye.

I looked everywhere just to find that I didn't have anything that would work. Maybe my mom has something. I walked out of my room, still dressed in my PJs and went to mom's room to look for the makeup.

I looked around in her makeup bag and then found something. "Aha!" I took the foundation back to my bathroom and put it on slowly and carefully. Gosh, I didn't realize how much this was going to hurt!

After I finished putting on the final touches, I went to my dresser to see if I could find something to wear.

The only outfit I could seem to put together was a purple jacket, a navy blue t-shirt, and an old pair of jeans I have. Whatever, this'll do as long as it hides the damage that's already been done. As soon as I threw my outfit on, I grabbed some flip-flops and left my room.

I approached my mom as she was still reading the paper.

"I'm all set." I said in a fake "I'm happy, now let's go" tone.

"Hold on. You and I still need to talk about something before I drop you off at school." Uh oh. She said that in her "motherly" voice.

I sat down in the chair beside her. "Yeah mom?"

"You never got a chance to explain to me what you were doing out last night. Were you really taking a walk?" She questioned.

I thought about what to say for a moment. I could tell her I really was taking a walk… No, I can't lie like I did last night. The only difference is she won't hit me when I tell her. So I guess there's no other way.

"Okay. The truth is I didn't really take a walk. Before I left, I heard you and dad arguing in the other room and I couldn't grin and bear it anymore."

"Go on." She said.

"Well, my friend Eli," I cringed at the mere mention of the word friend and Eli being used in the same sentence. Heck, I'll cringe at the mere thought of Eli. "He gave me his address and told me that if I ever needed him, then I'd know where he is. So I went over to his house to hang out for a little while."

"Is that all, Clare?"

There was a certain tone in her voice that implied something else. "Yes mom, that's all. We were JUST hanging out." I quickly added.

Mom sat there analyzing what I'd just told her. "I'll let this slide under the circumstances but just don't let it happen again." She said. Surprisingly, she didn't even sound upset with me.

"Oh don't worry, it won't happen again." I reassured her.

Mom checked the time. "We better get you to school." She said shortly after she realized what the time was.

The car ride seemed to take hours and it was so silent.

Mom finally pulled up to Degrassi and dropped me off.

"Have a good day." She said. "I'll try mom." I replied as I got out of the car and shut the door.

I walked up the steps to Degrassi and paused for a moment. I'd almost completely forgotten about Eli. Oh well. I can honestly say that I'd rather be at school then at my house… Realizing which period it had to be, I thought to myself.

"Oh joy, time for English."

Eli's POV

I never really noticed how lame this class was without Clare… Minutes are feeling like hours so far. Miss Dawes and her lecture are just background noise to me at this point. I can't pay attention worth shit anyway.

"Elijah, can you tell us the significance of the message in this story?" Miss Dawes questioned. I think she knows I'm not paying attention.

I just sat quietly for a short period of time and it didn't take long for her to figure out that my mind isn't in her lecture, but somewhere else.

"That's what I thought. Pay attention please." She said back to me in a calm voice.

Miss Dawes was writing something up on the board when I notice that Clare entered the class room. She didn't look like herself.

Miss Dawes looked from the chalk board over to Clare. "Ahhh nice of you to join us Miss Edwards." Clare handed her a note. She quickly opened it up and read it. "Open your book to Chapter 12, page 119." She said.

I smiled at Clare as she sat down in her seat. She didn't even bother looking at me.

That made me sort of sad. I mean, I know exactly why she doesn't want to look at me or speak to me. It's because I'm a dumbass and now I'm paying for it.

This sucks! How the hell am I supposed to get her attention if she won't look at me or talk to me?

About half an hour passed by until the bell finally rang.

Clare was the first one out of class. I sort of found that funny, only because that's usually me.

The day went on and it was such a drag. I never thought it would end.

The final bell rang so I rushed to get out of the classroom and out to the parking lot.

I opened up the door to my hearse and got in it. I need to see if Clare's taking her normal route home. I drove for a few minutes but it didn't take long to find her. This is just where I'd expected her to be.

I lowered my speed to keep pace with her. She looked at me and continued walking like I wasn't even there.

I finally got the nerve to say something. "Are you just going to give me the silent treatment forever?"

Clare kept looking ahead and replied "Sure. If that's what it takes."

"Clare, please give me a chance to explain last night to you. Please?" I was begging her at this point. I have never tried this hard for a girl in my life.

She walked like normal and looked like she was actually thinking about it. I stopped the car and to my surprise, she stopped too.

"Get in, Clare. Just give me my chance like I asked. Well… Pretty much begged." I said to her.

She stood there for a moment. And then walked around the front of my hearse, opened the door on the passenger side, got in and sat down.

I looked at her sort of with an "I'm surprised that you're listening to me" expression on my face. "Okay, talk." She said.

At that point, I didn't even think about what I should say. I'm just letting the words flow and hoping I don't screw up again.

"Listen, Blue Eyes. Last night was a HUGE mistake. When you asked me if I had feelings for you, I got nervous. I didn't mean what I said. I told you that I thought that all we were was friends and English partners, right? That's not what I want us to be. I want us to be more than that. It's like my mind was already made up the first time I ever saw you, Clare." Wow. That was easier than I thought it would be.

Clare looked at me and for the first time all day, I saw her smile; a real smile. Her eyes even lit up.

"Clare, will you please disregard my stupidity and give me another chance?" I pleaded that time.

"Eli, I really want to. But your mixed signals and mixed emotions are giving me whiplash. I don't know which side of you to believe. The one I want to believe or the one that can't make up his mind. Can you give me time to think?"

I could wait forever for this girl. I want her to be mine. Right here, right now. The truth is though when girls need time to think, they're serious. So for now, this might be the only thing I can do and my only chance.

"Anything for you Blue Eyes." I told her as I smiled my first real smile today.

Clare smiled and giggled a little. "Thanks, Eli." She said as she got out.

I watched her walk away and I can't help but still feel a little unsatisfied.

There must be something else I can do to win her over.

So far, so good, but still not complete…

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