First off, I would like to apologize for not updating quickly. I was in kind of a slump and today I had family coming over all day and I've just been really busy. But still, I should have made time to write, even if it was only 5 minutes. This chapter was originially supposed to be longer, but I just thought it ended the way it should be, so I didn't want to force more. As you can tell, in this chapter, I really bring Adam into the story. He is going to be a HUGE character throughout the entire story, so I hope you all like him. I think in the next chapter I might show some of Clare's home environment. Let you get to see her dad a little bit more. It's very difficult because I want you to see a good side of her dad, but I also want the story to still revolve around the beating. What I'm thinking about doing is just straight out showing her dad when he's not being so bad, and have Clare explain what the beating was like. Later on though, much later, I probably will have it so you truly see one of the abuses.

"Did you get a quote?"

Adam's voice cuts through my train of un-thoughtfulness. I turn my head robotically to face him, the people and desks around him a stirring blur of images coming down together into one. I forgot to get the stupid quote because I didn't write it down. I write everything important down, because my mind is always too full of nothing to carry anything at all without support.

"I, uh," I'm not quite sure what to say. Sound stupid and saying no or say yes and end up sounding even more stupid when that yes transforms into a no.

"No," I finally mumble, staring down at my hands, "I completely forgot."

"Have no fear," he swings open his binder and pulls out at least three pages worth of papers, "Adam's quotes are here."

For once I laugh. The sound is foreign and rare and I swallow it up to digest so I never forget what it sounds like. My laugh is light and girly, and if I pictured it on an Electromagnetic Spectrum it would have really short wavelengths.

Eli turns to face me. "You laughed?" He says, his voice sopping with bewilderment, real or fake I can't tell. He has this sarcastic side that's so pinned down it's impossible to tell if he's actually being sarcastic or not. "That's a first."

My face turns red again and the heat carried by the sun dives down into my face.

"Will it be last?"

I don't speak at all. That question is so bizarre and strange that there really is no answer to it. I guess Eli realizes he won't get an answer because his eyes roam to Adam and he raises his eyebrows at all the papers, "Dude, we were supposed to get one or two quotes, not an entire novel."

Adam shrugs. "I know, but I like having choices."

"Choices are overrated."

Again with the odd comments. Eli's like some human fortune cookie that spits out "words of wisdom" without a breath of hesitance.

Eli grabs Adam's papers and lines them up side by side along the cracks in between our conjoining desks. He picks up a single page with about three quotes on it and lays them out in front of Adam's so they're all facing us. "First comes first," he states, nodding towards Adam as if I don't exist, "What kind of quote should we do."

Adam's eyes light up with fireworks of joy and he begins bouncing on the chair like a little toddler, "Ooh! I am so glad you said that! I organized all the quotes into different categories. There's happy, sad, life, romantic, and some others I forget. I say we do this quote." He scrambles his hand along the army of papers until one finally pleases him. He holds it up to his face, clearing his throat as though he is preparing for the most important speech of his life. "'Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.'"

An image of my father races across my brain so quickly I wonder if it was ever there. How this quote could remind me of him, I have no idea. But it does, in it's own little unidentified way, and I feel kind of scared knowing anything at any moment could bring his presence into my mind.

Before we even have a moment to give our opinion, Adam shovels up a couple more pages and begins frantically searching them with his eyes.

"Okay, if you don't like that one, how 'bout 'A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.'"

I see my dad again.

"'The key of change, is to let go of fear.'"

And again.

'"False friends are worse than open enemies.'"

And again.

"'Screaming is bad for the voice, but good for the heart.'"

And again.

"'Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart, or burn down your house, you can never tell.'"

I'm slapped across the face with torture. This pain is grinding inside my chest, ripping open every vein, every cell, everything that defines my existence. My throat is closed up, getting tighter and tighter every time I try to breathe. Just breathe. God, please just let me breathe. I open my mouth, but an invisible lace seals it shut, cutting my lips open as blood filled with agony pours down my skin. I see fire and hear screaming and smell smoke and taste rotting metal.

"Yeah, yeah, I like that one."

I'm slapped across the face the opposite way, this time with realization. I look around the room, teenagers sitting on desks and talking to each other as though hell had never broken loose. The world is suddenly bright, so white and piercing my eyes burn. My entire brain slows to a stop. A fender bender. It was just a fender bender. I'm not really hurt.

But I'm still shaking.

Adam glances over at me and takes a double take. My hands are clenched into fists, I realize, and my breathing is so jagged and restless you'd think I was having a heart attack. "Clare," he gently pushes my shoulder, "Clare, are you okay?"

I shake my head. I don't want to be here. I feel sick and scared and alone. Nausea is climbing up my throat but I don't worry too much because I hadn't eaten anything all day.

My voice is raspy and scrawny when I speak. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Adam shrugs it off, taking a pen and circling the chosen quote. But Eli keeps looking at me, his face, or rather his eyes, filled with such astonishment and wonder it stiffens my breathing all over again. His mouth opens up slightly, like he wants to say something, and I can tell my the tension coming off of him that it means something. But he shakes his head, and I can practically hear the mumbling of words he's screaming to himself. Something about "don't do it", or "it doesn't matter". I try not to think about too much. How can I decipher something that's not even there?

"I'm kind of lost guys," Adam confesses, "What are we supposed to be doing here? Writing an essay on the quote?"

"No," Eli says, grabbing the paper from Adam and rereading over the quote again, "We're supposed to write a story that proves the quote to be true. Representing it, or something."

Adam smiles and nods his head in understanding. "Ohh, I get it. So, what kind of story should we do for this quote. Clare, do you have any ideas? I've heard you're a good writer."

How the heck would he know I'm a good writing? But then I think of Alli, and how she loves to show off hers and everyone she's close to qualities. She probably oh-so-humbly explained to the school my "wonders with words" and how I "could practically sell a novel by the time I was twelve".

The idea of sounding stupid and not knowing something again drives me insane, so I dodge it by calmly saying, "What was the quote again? I want to analyze it some more."

"'Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart, or burn down your house, you can never tell.'"

My breathing hitches, and I focus every ounce of strength I have on keeping myself calm. These few words are what sent my world spinning for no reason at all. I close my eyes and don't count at all. There is no telling how long it will take to resist hell from overlapping Earth once again.

I'm fortunate and everything around me stays in place.

"I'm not really sure, actually. There's a lot you can do with this quote."

Eli nods his head in agreement. "Clare's right. There is a lot you can do."

"Maybe…" Adam bites his lip and turns on an intense thinking face, "We could do a comparison. Like one love the character has is good, and another is bad."

My writing instincts kick in and suddenly the words coming tumbling out of my mouth like an avalanche. "No, that won't work. This is a short story. If we have that many people in it, we won't have enough time to really understand each individual character. Plus, that's so on the surface. We need to dig down deeper."

Adam looks stunned, and I can't blame him. I don't think he's ever heard me say more than five words in one breath. I look over at Eli, and he remains cool and content as ever, not affected at all by my sudden change in personality. "Well okay, Oh Great One, what do you suggest we write about?"

Thinking of a story idea is like searching through a maze. There are countless ways you can go, millions of twist and turns you can choose to follow, but there's only one way that leads to the perfect destination.

"Maybe we can do a transformation. Have the love between two characters start off perfectly, but as time goes by, the beauty of the love they have turns into hurt and pain."

The two boys turn to look at each other, sharing a secret grin I don't understand. Their attention heads back towards me, and in unison, they both agree. "Definitely."

Class ends then, and we don't have any time to begin working on our actual story. I head out into the flooded hallways, watching as Eli and Adam walk together, side by side, before they rip apart and head off in different directions.

Grabbing a few books at my locker, I grab my "To Do" journal and on the "October 17th" page, underneath finish world history report, I jot down begin writing again.

Someone walks up next to my locker door, and the second I look down to see skinny jeans and three inch heals I know who it is. I shut the door and adjust the pile of books in my arms.

"Listen," Alli sighs, twirling around a loose strand of hair in between two of her fingers. "I'm really sorry about yesterday, okay? It's just I really like Drew and I wasn't in the world's best mood, and I guess I took it out on you."

"It's fine," I say, turning around and heading off to biology."

Alli catches up to me. "Don't tell me you're still mad."

"I'm not mad."

She grabs the inside of my elbow and whips me around to face her. "Then why are you being so…short with me?"

The honest look in her eyes makes me regret being such a bitch to her. I tune down my tense posture and try my best to sound as comforting and forgiving as possible. "Alli, it really is fine. I promise you, I'm not mad."

She scrunches her eyebrows, and I know I was in too deep to get out that easily. "Are you positive you're not mad? Or is something else bothering you."

"I'm not mad."

"So is something bothering you?"

Yes, I wanted to scream at her, My dad hits me, okay? He hits me and he punches me. You don't believe me? Here, roll up my shirt and look at the bruises, and then tell me you think I'm lying.

"Nope," I pop the p, "Just a huge exam due tomorrow. You know how I get with those kind of things."

Alli stretches a huge smile and gives me a girly hug. I'm not quite sure how a hug could be considered girly, but Alli has this way of making everything gain a girly trait.

"Great. I'm so glad that's over with. Do you want to The Dot tomorrow? We could split a Triple Chocolate Meltdown!"

Something in the universe lightens up, and for a split second I actually feel normal. I give her a half smile.

"Absolutely," I say.

Sooo...whatya think? Good? Bad? Please review! I love hearing your opinions. I was kind of feeling bad for beating Clare up (excuse the pun) all the time, so I let this chapter off on a good note.