Family Portrait

Part Two

Eli leaned against his shiny black hearse as he waited for Clare to come outside. When he'd last seen her, she was talking to a friend of her's and he figured it might be a few minutes. There'd been a blank look on her face as she'd talked to her friend, but Eli could've sworn that he'd seen a flicker of pain run across her face when the other girl had mentioned her parents. He'd wondered what it was about and why this girl, who was Clare's friend for a substantially long time, hadn't taken notice.

Biting his lower lip, he stuck his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans as he saw her come out of the school, stopping to hug her three friends goodbye. He watched as her bright blue eyes landed on him and as she began to head closer, torwards him.

"Hey." She said breathlessly, giving him a rather shy smile as her eyes travelled over to his car. "Is this your car?" She asked curiously, turning to look at him, pale cheeks flushed, short hair slightly messy, and eyes bright.

Eli doesn't say anything for a few moments, too busy looking her over.

"Eli?" She inquired.

He smiled at her sweetly and pulled away from his car. "Hey. You ready to go?"

Clare nodded and moved forward and Eli opened up the car door quickly, letting Clare slide inside, put her bookbag and laptop case on the ground beside her feet and put her seatbelt on, before he shut it.

Eli slid in to the drivers seat, fastening his seatbelt and putting his hands on the wheel. "So how long have you lived here?" He asked, trying to make conversation.

She turned slightly in her seat to smile politely at him. "I've lived here all my life, but before I went to Degrassi, my older sister and I went to a private school. I decided to go to Degrassi for the gifted program."

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a quick glance, while trying to concentrate on his driving. "You're in the gifted program?" He asked of her curiously. He knew that she was a sophmore and was only in his English class because she was so great at it, but he'd had no idea that she was part of the gifted program too.

Clare grinned at the interest she heard in his voice and nodded. "Yeah, I am. It's really great. My old school had nothing like that. It's where I met my best friends and my-" She trailed off and her smile disappeared from her lips rather quickly.

Eli frowned at that and questioned, "Your what?"

She let out a huff of nervous breath and squeezed her eyes shut, leaning farther back into her seat. "I was going to say my first boyfriend but he was my friend first. And it's not even like, I like him anymore, you know? I just hate how much he has changed to fit in with his jock friends and his cheerleader girlfriend."

He didn't say anything as he stopped the car infront of a small house and took the keys out of the ignition. "Well he really doesn't seem worth it, then." He finally said, looking at her from the corners of his green eyes.

Clare threw her head back and laughed at that. "You sound just like my best friend, Alli!" She commented lightly, eyes lighting up impishly.

About ten minutes later, Clare and Eli are sitting close together at the kitchen table, heads bent over the book, when a woman came in with her arms full of grocery bags. Clare watched as Eli jumped up to help the woman, that she assumed to be his mom place the bags on the counter.

The woman turned moments later and her eyes landed on Clare who gave her a smile. "Oh, Elijah. You didn't tell me that we had company!" She said accusingly, walking closer to the table and holding her hand out to Clare. "I'm his mother, Abigail." She gave her a wide grin as she shook the teenaged girl's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Goldsworty. I'm Clare Edwards. I'm his partner for an English assignment." The tiny brunette said, blue eyes sparkling as she pulled her hand away from the older woman's.

Abigail leans against the counter. "Please, call me Abigail. And what exactly is your's and Elijah's assignment?" She asked her curiously as her sixteen year old son went to sit down beside Clare once more.

"Well, we've got to read this book, perform a scene from it, and then write and a short essay on what the story is about." Clare replied, sticking her thumb in place and closing the book just enough for Abigail to see the cover.

"That's a good book." She commented with a smile. "I've read it before."

"Mom." Eli hissed under his breath, as he indicated for her to leave them be.

Abigail smiled fondly at her son as she nodded slightly. "Well, I should be going. I've got to get to work pretty soon and I need to get ready." She runs her hand through her son's sleek black hair. "I've already prepared some chicken for your dinner, all you really need to do is heat it up."

"Your mom seems nice." Clare told him, as she looked down, fingers tracing invisible patterns onto the kitchen table.

Eli watched her closely, noting the sad expression once again on her face. He usually didn't care so much, usually didn't let himself care so much, but he just couldn't seem to help it where this girl was concerned. He'd just met her and already he was worried for her. He knew what the feeling was like, to think that no one cared. When his mother had still been with his father, he'd felt that way. His father had constantly ridiculed him for the way that he dressed and the fascination that he had with death, and the fact that from the time that he'd been thirteen, he'd wanted a hearse when he was finally old enough to drive. He'd known from the time that he was very young, that his father wanted the perfect son. The one who dressed "normal" and was the captain for every school sport or team. He'd never been able to please his father, unlike his older brother, Matthew who was God knows where. Matthew had disappeared years before his father left and hadn't even tried to keep in contact with his family. He was going to figure her out and he was going to help her, that much he was certain of. He was going to make her trust him enough to be able to tell him what was going on with her. She needed someone to talk to, and he wanted to be that person.

To be continued: Another fight between her parents, Clare confides in Eli.