I must apologize to all my readers about yesterday's chapter. While it wasn't bad, it wasn't my best, either. Today, I am in my groove again, so I hope this chapter is better. =)

And here is the second part of Better off Alone- Part 1! Thank you to everyone who is reading it; you guys are great. Enjoy! :

I lead Clare across the basketball court behind the school to the spot where I had earlier parked Morty.

"Where exactly are we going?" Clare asked nervously, looking over her shoulder every few seconds like an escaped convict.

I chuckled at her. "Calm down, will you? Nobody is going to catch us." Then I gestured at Morty. "Miss Edwards, your golden carriage awaits," I mocked a British accent.

Clare skeptically eyed Morty. "Um, is that a hearse?"

"Why yes it is, thanks for noticing," I told her sarcastically. "Morty this is Clare, Clare meet Morty. And if you don't make friends with him, and get in soon, we actually might get caught," I threatened her lightly, throwing in a smirk for good measure.

Clare glanced over her shoulder one more time before walking up to Morty, patting his hood, and then climbing in. I paused for a moment, still shocked that Clare was going through with this. I felt kind of evil for convincing such a good girl to skip school. "Are we doing this thing, or not?" Clare asked, leaning out the window. She raised her eyebrows at me impatiently.

"But, of course," I told her, and hopped into the driver's seat. "Where to?" I asked as I started Morty up.

"Anywhere but here," Clare said, a devilish smile on her face.

We drove around in comfortable silence for a few minutes. I leisurely navigated, having no real destination in mind. Finally Clare found a place that pleased her: a little café across the street from one of the various parks in town. I parallel parked Morty, showing off a little. Parallel parking isn't an easy feat when you're not driving a hearse that's a million feet long. Not that I expected Clare to be impressed, but perhaps I hoped she might be. Strange. I hadn't tried to impress anybody, male or female, since Julia died.

I hopped out of the driver's side, and went to open the door for Clare. "I'm impressed," she said, shocked, "I thought chivalry was dead."

"Chivalry is not dead; it's just hiding from all the assholes in the world," I joked, smiling down at Clare.

"Punny," Clare remarked, laughing. Hearing the sound made me want to join in, which was, again, strange. Clare made me feel…lighter. I really liked the feeling, and I was beginning to really like Clare. 'Don't get ahead of yourself,' I reminded myself mentally. The only problem was it was hard to stay distant and cautious when Clare's personality was so inviting. There was just something different, special, about this girl. I wanted to be her friend- stranger still. Since Julia died I had spent the last year cutting off every last relationship I had, remaining cold and distant. But the need for solitude seemed silly while I was standing next to Clare.

I held open the door to the coffee shop as well, letting Clare go in ahead of me. I was tempted to buy her coffee for her, but I decided I didn't want to come on to strong. Once we both had our coffee, we found a bench outside, and settled down to enjoy the nice day.

"Thank you," Clare said, her eyes closed, soaking in the sun. "I've been stressed a lot lately, and this was just what I needed."

"You needed to skip class?" I asked incredulously, seriously doubting that.

"No," she said, defensive, "I needed to relax."

I nodded. This was relaxing, sitting here with Clare. We were just enjoying each other's company, and no conversation needed to be made; it was just comfortable.

That was, until Clare suggested we get down to business, "You know the assignment we got back yesterday?" she asked me.

"Yeah…" I said, wondering where this was going.

"I want to read yours." She said authoritatively. "And I want you to read mine." She bent down, rifled through her bag, and handed me her paper with a big, red 'C' on the top.

"I thought you wanted to relax," I reminded her, but reached into my backpack for the paper anyway.

"I did relax," she insisted, "but now, I'm done." I shook my head at her, but handed her my paper, and took hers. I started to read. The paper, although not bad, was pretty dull. I could see what Ms. Dawes had meant by impersonal; there was too much structure, and not enough Clare in the paper. Also, there really wasn't much of a point of view.

Suddenly, I thought of something that made me almost laugh out loud. "Wow. This is a first," I started sarcastically, "skipping school to do work." I had skipped school for lots of interesting reasons, but to work on a paper was never one of them.

Clare ignored my remark. "I don't understand how you got an 'A', and I got a 'C'," she said, finishing my paper. Ouch. I felt like that could have been offensive, but Clare just looked so dismal, I decided she didn't mean I wasn't good; she was just used to doing better.

"Simple," I joked with her, trying to make her feel better, "I'm dating Ms. Dawes."

She gave me a pained look, obviously looking for a real explanation. "Look," I started, "you're a good writer, but anyone could have penned this piece. There's no point of view," I repeated the sentiment I had thought to myself earlier.

Clare obviously got easily defensive about her writing easily. "I wrote about gun control," She declared, "I say it's good."

I gave her a skeptical look; she thought that was a point of view? "Wow," I said sarcastically, raising my eyebrows at her, "controversial."

"Okay, fine," Clare said, obviously bothered by my mocking. "What am I supposed to write about?" She cocked her head at me, waiting expectantly.

I considered that for a moment; I wanted to give her good advice, really help her. What made a good paper? Ah, I had it, "Something that pisses you off," I told her.

"Besides my English partner?" She shot at me, giving me a mischievous look.

"Ouch," I replied flirtatiously. Then I grew serious, and looked her straight in the eye. "If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?" I asked her, unremittingly. If she had writers block, questions usually helped to move your writing along. I was also very curious about the answer, hoping it would give me a small glance in her psyche.

Clare considered it only for a moment, "My mom and dad." The response was so certain, and came so quickly, it made me think that it had been on her mind a lot lately. "They're not exactly getting along," she continued. I wondered if that had been the cause of all her stress lately.

"So write about that," I suggested helpfully.

Clare didn't even consider expressing her worry about her parents on paper. "I can't," she sounded surprised that I would even suggest it. "It's personal." Her eyebrows came together in frustration again.

I smirked at her; Ms. Dawes wanted her to get more personal, so I didn't really see the problem. "You care too much about what people think," I accused.

"That is not true," Clare replied, never missing a beat. This girl was defensive.

However, I didn't believe her. And you know what they say, actions speak louder than words. "Then prove it," I challenged Clare. She had headed my last challenge well, and usually people didn't take to kindly to them. I wanted to see if that had been a onetime deal, or if Clare really was different. I looked her right in the eye, daring her with my words and my eyes, "Scream- at the top of your lungs."

Clare looked away from me and glanced around, surveying the amount of people nearby. She then looked back at me as if to ask if I really wanted her to do this. I raised my eyebrows, prompting her. 'Any day now,' I thought to myself. She graced me with a smirk of her own before turning away from me, smoothing her dress, and then she opened her mouth. A look of shock crossed my face; she was really going to do it? Instead of a bloodcurdling cry, though, the most pitiful excuse for a scream escaped her mouth. I was a little disappointed- I really thought she was going to do it.

I scoffed at her. "That's the best you could do?" I asked, seriously doubting that. I rolled my eyes and looked away. Just as I was scolding myself for putting too much faith in someone I hardly knew, Clare stood up. I looked at her, wondering what she was doing. She straightened her dress again, and turned to look at me defiantly, a smug smile on her face. I looked back in confusion and indignant. This outta be good.

And then she screamed, and I mean she really screamed. My face slipped into a mask that was a split between impressed and dumbfounded. The scream went on for a good ten seconds; obviously Clare hadn't let loose in a while, and my surprised expression deepened. I guess I hadn't put too much faith in Clare- she really was different.

I nodded my head, and smiled at some innocent bystanders. Comically, a dog started barking in the distance- Clare had some lung power. I was shocked no one had keeled over from a heart attack. They were, however, hastily leaving the area, shooting annoyed, worried glances at the crazy, screaming girl. I smiled to myself. I couldn't believe Clare had done that. It was official- this girl was definitely worth befriending.

"Okay," she said, turning to me, "your turn."

I gave her a wicked smile. "Yeah," I said, standing as well, "not my style."

"What!" She was shocked that I had made her do something that even I wouldn't attempt. She charged at me, obviously not angry, but feigning it. As she continued coming at me she kept asserting that I had to do it, while I was defending myself.

Then I cornered myself, walking right into a telephone pole. Clare walked right into me, our eyes locked. Her words cut off as we got close enough that I could faintly feel her breath wash across my face. Up close, Clare smelled even more delicious. I had grabbed her small wrists as she got closer, and we just stood there for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. I decided that she was definitely beautiful, not just pretty.

In that moment it was like everything changed. Clare and I just…connected. It would have been easy, natural even, to lean in and plant a soft kiss on her lips. But that was crazy, we hardly knew each other. It was just that Clare made me feel good, genuinely good, for the first time in a long time.

Then with a nervous giggle Clare tugged a little, trying to pull out of my grip. I let go, holding up my hands in surrender, and as an apology. My face turned apologetic as well. Clare walked back to the bench, and turned around looking me in the eye again. I gave her a genuine, embarrassed, small smile; it had been a while since I had smiled at anyone so genuinely and even longer since I had felt embarrassment of any kind. I looked away. This was so weird and new for me, yet familiar at the same time.

Clare sat down on the bench, and I kept my back pressed against the telephone pole. "Well," I began cautiously, "that was interesting."

Clare nodded, and our eyes met again. She gave me a timid smile, and I returned the favor with one of my own. When I looked away my eyes landed on my backpack.

"Oh, shit!" I slipped out.

Clare stood up, alarmed. "What is it?" she asked.

I smacked my palm against my head, "School." I didn't have to say anything else. Clare gave one frantic look down at her watch, and the grabbed her bag. I reached for mine, too, and together we ran for Morty. "What time is it?" I asked her, feeling worse for suggesting she skip English. I was hoping to get her back in time for 3rd period so she was only skipping one class.

"Middle of third," Clare said nervously. Her tone only made me feel worse.

"I'm sorry," I said earnestly.

"Don't be," Clare said, shocked at my apology. "I'm really glad I did that. It was fun." In my peripheral vision I saw her glance up at me through her eyelashes, blushing a bit.

I glanced back for a second, and then redirected my attention to the road. "I had fun, too," I admitted, smiling to myself.

"We should have fun together again sometime," Clare suggested tentatively. I smiled as I pulled into the school's parking lot. I quickly slipped into a space, and put Morty in park, turning him off.

"I'd really like that…partner," I turned to wink at her. "Now, we have to sneak into school unnoticed. Are you ready for this?"

"I am so ready," Clare said back, determined. Was it just me, or did Clare seem to be talking about something completely different than sneaking back into school? This thought made the strangest event of the morning happen- my heart skipped a beat. Awe, man, I was in trouble.

XXX

Later that night, I was bored, and trying to keep my mind off of this morning's excitement. It was just so weird, so out of character for me, that I was kind of scared to get myself in any deeper. Did this mean I was over Julia? The thought made my stomach churn, answering my question with a resounding 'no'. However, when I thought of Clare I wanted nothing more than to see her again right this very moment.

I logged on to the computer, bringing up the same social networking site that Clare and I had talked on earlier. Thankfully she was online.

'More public embarrassment tonight?' I typed to her.

'Is that an invitation?' was Clare's quick reply.

I smiled to myself, and decided to not admit anything at the moment. 'Do you want it to be?' I asked her, hoping for a yes so bad that I hurt. What was happening to me?

I had to wait a bit longer for Clare's response this time. 'Love to hang- but I can't.'

The disappointment was stronger than I expected it to be. Two things were for sure- I was in for a wild ride, but everyday Clare was proving to be worth it.