Hello readers! I just want to let you know that I appreciate the reviews, all 3 of them. And I think I did a pretty good job with the posting. 1 day? Not bad! And this chapter is longer than my old one by a good, I think about 100 words? Anyway, I'm iffy on this one. It seems kind of forced and sloppy in my opinion. Let me know what you think. And just to let you know, I am really not very talented at writing beginnings at stories. That is definately my weakness. So if the beginning is not that amazing, please give my story a chance! I promise it will get better.

I pretend like I don't hear Alli calling me from the end of the hallway. I pretend like everyone else's chatter is blocking out my ears. I pretend like I don't sense her high heels clanking closer and closer to me. I pretend like-

"Clare! Are you deaf or something?"

I turn around and the first things I notice are a.) Her skirt is way too short for school. B.) She's wearing ten pounds too much eyeliner and c.) That even though she drives me insane and kind of resembles a slut, I still love her.

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and swallow. "Sorry," I mumble, turning my head around to watch a couple holding hands stroll down the hallway in their own little bubble, "I didn't know you were calling me."

She rolls her eyes, linking her incredibly tan arm with my incredible pale one and pulls me across the sea of fishes- I mean students- and shoves shoulders with a couple of losers who won't move out of her way.

"Do you know who Drew Torres is?" She asks as we round a corner with a bunch of cheerleaders swapping lipstick and practicing dance moves against the lockers.

Drew Torres. Do I know who he is? I think he's a junior. Tall and tan, maybe? He might be in my child development class. I decide to play smart and just tell her of course I know Drew, because I'm really not in the mood to have her spend eight hours explaining what he looks like and then completely forget the punch line.

She pursed her lips and a smile began to crawl its way onto her face. I knew that smile. It was the exact same grin she had whenever she would talk about Johnny. Alli was "in love" again.

"Isn't he amazing? I mean, he's so, I don't know the right word."

"Amazing?"

She throws me an annoyed look and nudges my rib cage. Searing pain shoots up my chest and I clutch my stomach for one painful moment. There's a bruise underneath my shirt, black and blue and possible even yellow, and it's ripping through my body like claws, trying to get out. I push down harder.

Alli notices my awkward stance raises her eyebrows. "Are you okay?" Her voice is hesitant.

I nod my head and slam my eyes shut, all while cautiously tearing my arm off of my shirt. I look down, half expecting to see the bruise on my shirt and open for all the world to see, but all there is is the blue and white plaid of my button down blouse. My whole body releases its panic mode, and everything is back to how it should be.

I choke out a quite yes.

Alli nods her head and opens her mouth to continue speaking. That's the thing about her. Alli really isn't the inquisitive type. Everything and everyone is single layered, one-dimensional. There is never another secret lurking behind the surface.

I guess I should be thankful for that, and I am.

But I'm not.

"I totally have to talk to him," she babbles on.. "But I just don't know how. You can't like go up to a guy like that and-"

Some guy wearing all black crashes into Alli's shoulder and almost knocks her down. I raise my hands up and grasp her back to resist her fall.

Alli turns to the guy, who is just standing there, staring at us. He has these incredibly dark green eyes, almost the color of olives, and they look so exhausted that I'm tempted to lie down on the floor and go to sleep.

Allie begins screaming at him. "Watch it, jerk!"

He shoots daggers at her with his eyes of olive. "You watch it," he mumbles, turning around and walking away.

Alli bends down to pick up her purse that had fallen on the floor during all the commotion. A couple of nearby guys tilt their heads to get a better "view". They begin to whistle, but the look I dodge at them shuts them up.

"I swear to God," she mumbles, and I'm not sure whether or not she's speaking to me or herself, "People like that have no right going out in public. Did you see his shirt? I bet he has a butchers knife in his pocket, or something."

"Haven't you ever heard of the phrase, 'don't judge a book by its cover'?

Alli relieves a frustrated sighed and linked her arm with mine once again. "Of course," she says, "But it's kind of hard not to when the only thing on the cover is black."

What do you think? I read over it, and it's actually not as bad as I thought it would still be. But I'm not sold yet. I am kind of in a block right now. If anyone has any ideas/tips, PLEASE PM me! And yes, I will have the incredible Adam in this story. I just love him so much. No one is quite like him =) And the Clare/KC/Jenna thing never happened. Clare has never had a boyfriend in this story. And yes, that guy in black may be a certain Eli...

-JENNA