(Eli's POV)
The next day, I drove my car to school with no windshield. God, KC was messed up. As I walked up the front steps of Degrassi, I remembered KC's words.
I'm gonna kill you.
KC wouldn't really kill me, he wasn't capable of it…or was he? Had KC tried to kill me yesterday when he shattered my windshield on top of me? I felt for the scratches on my arm from the little pieces of glass. Before I realized it, I was at Clare's locker. Her face was hiding behind her locker door. She closed the yellow door with a clang and jumped a little when she saw me. "Oh hey, Eli." she said a smile growing on her face.
"Hey…" suddenly my attention traveled to a small bruise on her cheek. "What's that?" I asked, reaching out to gently touch her face.
"It…it's nothing." Clare said looking down. She blocked my outreached hand with her own and started walking away.
"Clare," I said catching up to her, "I just want to know why you're hurt." I stood in front of her looking into her magical eyes. "Can you tell me?" I said in a soft voice.
"Okay," Clare said her voice a bit shaky. I followed her to a bench with a view out a window. "Yesterday…" Clare began, "I ran into KC afterschool. We talked and I told him that I chose you…" her voice trailed off as a single tear slowly ran down her face. Clare took a deep breath and continued, "Then, out of nowhere, KC hit me."
"What!" I stood up outraged. I knew KC had been acting weird yesterday. "Have you told anyone; your mom, Mr. Simpson, anyone?" I asked.
"No," Clare said sniffling.
"You should go tell someone," I said, my anger replaced itself with sympathy.
Clare stood up, her tears had stopped and she was back to her own must-bring-justice self. "Okay, I'll go tell Mr. Simpson."
I put my hands over Clare's and said, "I'll go with you."
…
Clare and I sat in the uncomfortable chairs in the main office waiting to be called into Mr. Simpson's office. All of a sudden his door opened and Mr. Simpson's head poked out of the room. "You two may come in now." he said with a stressed expression on his face. As we walked into the office, Mrs. Torres, Adam's mom, walked out giving us a disapproving glance.
"Clare, Eli, please take a seat," Mr. Simpson said gesturing to two chairs in front of his desk identical to the ones out in the main office. "So, what did you guys have to tell me?"
"It's about KC, sir." Clare began sheepishly. "He's been acting out of control."
"And you know this how?" Mr. Simpson asked leaning forward onto his desk.
"Well…he beat up Eli and destroyed his car." Clare said.
Mr. Simpson turned towards me, "Is this true?" he asked, a worried look fell on his face.
"Well yes, sir, but Clare's leaving out the most important part. KC hit Clare yesterday!" I said my voice echoed in the room. I hadn't realized I had gotten so loud.
Mr. Simpson walked over to Clare and crouched down beside her chair. "Are you positive that he…hit you?" he asked in and a kind voice. Clare nodded and showed him the bruise on her cheek. "This is unacceptable!" Mr. Simpson boomed standing up. Then in a calmer voice he said to us, "Don't worry you two, I'm going to fix this."
Mr. Simpson went to the phone on his desk and picked it up, "Meredith, please report KC Guthrie to my office," he said in a very professional voice. Mr. Simpson put the simple, black phone down again and looked up at Clare and I. "Thank you for informing me about this. You guys can go back to class now." he said.
We stood up and exited Mr. Simpson's office quietly. As we were leaving the office we saw Meredith go on the speaker and say, "KC Guthrie please report to the principal's office. KC Guthrie."
Once in the halls, Clare and I turned to each other and gazed at each other. Millions of words passed between our eyes in those few seconds. All I could see were Clare's beautiful, luscious lips. Without a word, I leaned towards Clare and met her lips with mine. Automatically, her lips began moving with mine. After about 20 blissful seconds, I pulled away.
Clare looked at me, awestruck. "Thank…you." She said eventually. I'm sure she meant thank you for coming with her but a part of me also thought she was talking about the kiss.
"You're welcome." I said; also awestruck from what just happened. Of course Clare and I had kissed before, but this one made me feel like we were…connected. When I had pulled away, a feeling of deprivation fell over me. I then realized that I couldn't live without Clare. I truly was in love with Clare Edwards.
"I've…I've gotta get to class." Clare said. Her eyes stayed on me as a glorious smile transformed her face. My own lips turned up into a smile.
Suddenly I looked down, breaking our gaze. "Yeah," my hand rubbed the back of my neck, "Uh…me too." I said. I turned and walked to class with my mind reeling.