Chapter Seven
"Eli, you did amazing!" Ms. Dawes beamed at the boy at the end of the play.
Eli looked passed her in search of Clare and casually said, "Thank you."
He left Ms. Dawes as Eli saw the reverend escort his daughter out of the auditorium with an armful of flowers. He grimaced disappointed before Declan stopped him and offered a handshake, "You didn't do too horribly out there, Goldsworthy."
"Did you expect anything less?" Eli retorted.
Declan chuckled, "Nice re-write out there. Take it easy there man."
With that Declan was replaced with a tight hug from an ever-so-proud Cece. "You were so good, baby! I'm so proud of you."
She smothered her son with kisses which he brushed off slightly embarrassed. He still had a rep to uphold. She finally released him and allowed him to celebrate with his cast mates.
Eli had to admit, he did enjoy doing the play to an extent, but out of all the cast members and production team, he was really only looking for one, and she had already walked out the door. He smiled to himself when he remembered Clare kissing him back. He wasn't sure how she would react when he did it, but he did not expect her to respond positively. After the curtains closed after the final bows, she went backstage and hurried out of her costume taking time to accept the numerous praises from everyone backstage. Eli never got a chance to talk to her.
His recollection turned sour when he saw a figure standing by the exit of the auditorium. He growled low under his breath and turned to find another exit when the man reached out to stop Eli.
"You did a fine performance out there, son." Bill Goldsworthy said with a small smile.
Eli gritted his teeth. For as long as he could remember, his father had been an empty space in his life. When Eli was young, Bill had left him and Cece and within the year, he married someone younger and became a big shot doctor. A check once a month never made up for the fact that Bill was never around, and now he had the audacity to come to Eli's play. Where was he when Eli was in jail, or when Cece was balancing two jobs?
Eli scoffed and tried to turn away but was stopped by a clasp on his arm. "I was hoping we could get a bite to eat."
"No," Eli said removing his father's arm. He pushed past him opening the door to the exit when he heard his father's voice. "Eli, don't walk away."
"You taught me how." Eli kept his back to his father as he left the school.
The days following the play, there were murmurs in the halls about the bad ass Eli locking lips with the Virgin Mary Saint Clare. Still, Clare had yet to speak to Eli, and it was time to take matters into his own hands. Kissing her confirmed something he had suppressed for weeks. Like it or not, Eli was starting to have feelings for Clare. It may not be love or in love, but it was certainly something that made Eli have Clare on his mind twenty-four hours a day. It was time to do something about it.
He found her sitting alone at her usual table at lunch. She looked paler than usual, but she had her nose buried in To Kill a Mockingbird and seemed oblivious to everyone's existence, especially Eli's. Eli stood up straight and swung his bag over one of his shoulders. He slowly approached her table not caring about the watchful eyes that followed his every movement. "This seat taken?"
Clare flipped a page not looking up. "People can see."
"And that would ruin your reputation, how? What are you reading?"
"You have eyes."
He smirked amused, but she continued to talk. "It's on my list of books to read."
"Is that on your list? To finish your books?" He asked her legitimately curious. He was fascinated by the idea of accomplishing worthwhile things before his death, and after meeting Clare, he felt like he could accomplish some of them. He always wanted to be an editor or a writer or something.
She didn't answer and just continued to read.
After a few silent moments, Eli sighed heavily and adjusted his sitting position to scoot closer and lean in towards her. His hand stretched to touch her arm, but she ripped it away hastily. "Clare, I'm trying here. Maybe, maybe I'm changing. Maybe you're the reason for it."
She slammed her book shut and looked at him with fury in her eyes. "Maybe? Or is it some sweet talk?"
"It's not."
"Prove it." She picked up her bag and stormed out of the cafeteria.
She was halfway to her car with Eli going after her. She was walking down the steps of Degrassi when Eli called out, "Clare! Clare!"
"You don't know the first thing about being someone's friend!" She kept her back to him as she closed the distance between her and her car. She could feel the tears coming as she walked away from him. During the weeks she and Eli spent time rehearsing lines together, she thought she had found a side of Eli that he had kept hidden from the world. It turned out he only played it up so he wouldn't look like a fool in front of the school. She inhaled sharply just thinking about how she thought she might have even liked Eli. And now here he was asking to break her heart again. She wouldn't let him.
She felt strong arms turn her around as her blue eyes clashed with Eli's green ones. "I don't want to just be your friend, Clare."
Her eyes flashed. "You don't know what you want."
"Neither do you. You're just too scared that someone might actually want to be with you."
She gasped. "And why would that scare me?"
"Because then you wouldn't be able to hide behind your books, or your faith."
She huffed walking away before Eli grabbed her turning her to face him. "You know why you're really scared? Because you want to be with me too."
There was a flicker in Clare's eyes, and a moment of hesitation. Eli stared at her waiting for her to respond, but she didn't. She just ripped herself out of Eli's grasp and drove away.
Adam rocked out on his air guitar to Coheed and Cambria. Eli shook his head at his friend's foolishness. It had been a day since he confronted Clare, and he was going insane. She wasn't necessarily mad at him, in fact, he thought he caught her smile at him once or twice, but they weren't exactly on speaking terms. Eli groaned at the thought as he checked the oil in Morty. Adam turned up and the music and said, "Wait, here it comes" when the guitar solo on the song came and proceeded to fall on his knees head-banging and rocking on.
Eli looked up from under the hood not in a good mood. "Dude, can you turn that down? I'm trying to work."
Adam picked himself off the ground seemingly to understand. "Oh I got it. Let's get some Rolling Stones up in here."
He inserted a random CD into the player and was about to head bang when he heard the chords of a soft sounding guitar and pop music. Needless to say, Adam was totally disappointed. "What the hell is this man?"
Eli wasn't as shocked and continued working on his car. "Clare lent it to me."
Adam shut off the radio scoffing. His expression carried a mixture of annoyance and sadness. "What's with you? It's like you don't even have time for your real friends anymore."
Eli remained silent. What was he supposed to say?
"You know, Jenna's starting to think that little lip action with Clare was a little too real."
"I'm passed the stage of caring about what Jenna thinks," Eli snorted.
"What about what I think?" Eli looked up, completely taken aback. Adam took Eli's silence as a chance to continue. "This girl's changed you, man, and you don't even know it."
"Did Jenna say that too?"
"No, but I did."
Eli tensed his jaw as he watched his best friend walk away.
"No, Clare." Reverend Randal looked his daughter in the eye, something he shouldn't have done because at that point, she had made her famous puppy dog eyes.
"Daddy, please?" She took her father's hands in hers as they sat for dinner. "It's the last dance of the year, and I've never been to one yet."
"Honey, you know how I feel about those dances." He said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
She opened her mouth to object when a small fit of coughing overtook her. Randal held his breath as he got his daughter a glass of water. She sipped and smiled at him like nothing happened. "Thank you. And I know you don't like them, dad, but some friends from the friendship club have asked me to go, and I would really like to experience it."
Randal sighed. "I guess one night won't-"
He was interrupted by his daughter's hug and squeal. "Oh thank you, thank you daddy!"
Randal smiled to himself as he watched his daughter run upstairs. The least he could do was to make her happy.
A/N: So the next chapter will deviate away from A Walk to Remember and be more Degrassi-like. The big dance? Vegas Night! What could possibly happen there? Also, thank you so much to all the reviewers. You guys really make me want to write. =)