Clare kicked a rock with her foot and she and K.C. walked to The Dot. K.C. continued to talk about basketball and Clare continued to try to act interested. With every sentence K.C. uttered, Clare heard Eli mumble a sarcastic. She admitted that all of Eli's comments were funny, but then again they were rude. When K.C. looked away from Clare to check if any cars were coming before they crossed the street, Clare shot a quick "knock it off" look towards Eli.

Eli rolled his eyes, mockingly. "Come on Clare, this guy is obsessed with himself." He said.

Clare arched her eyebrows and gave him a "whatever" look.

"I'm serious; he hasn't stopped talking about himself since we left Degrassi. Some boyfriend you got there, Edwards." Eli scoffed.

Clare glared at him and Eli shot his hands up and waved them in mock surrender. "Joking, just joking. I know shaggy head isn't your boyfriend."

Clare turned her head back around when K.C. said that there were no cars coming. As they started to walk across the street, K.C. gently took Clare's hand into his own. Eli groaned.

Clare looked down at their hands. She was taken aback by K.C's gesture. She didn't want him to get a wrong idea about the two of them going to lunch together, so she slowly pulled her hands away from K.C.'s. K.C. blushed with embarrassment and Eli mumbled "That's my girl" under his breath.

Clare blushed slightly when Eli called her "his girl."

"So" K.C. cleared his throat and opened the door to a small restaurant. "This is The Dot." Clare walked in and K.C. walked in after her. Eli on the other hand opted to walk through the wall.

K.C. walked towards a group of people and Clare immediately recognized the boy. He was Drew Torres, Adam's older brother. Clare sighed in relief. She was going to know at least one person at the table.

A blonde girl smiled and waved at K.C., she motioned for him to sit next to her, but he chose a seat next to Drew instead. Clare slid into the seat next to the blonde girl. Drew smiled and gave Clare a small wave. Clare waved back.

"You guys know each other?" K.C. asked.

Drew nodded his head. "Yeah, Clare's friends with Adam. She had pizza with us the other night." Drew gave Clare a little smirk and then wrapped his arms around the dark skinned girl sitting next to him. The girl reached out a cross the table and Clare shook her hand.

" I'm Alli." She said while shaking her hand.

"Clare."

"Oh my gosh! I love your bracelet." Alli shrieked. She grabbed Clare's wrist and looked over the tiny sliver bracelet that Clare was wearing.

Clare laughed. "Thank you. My mom gave it to me for my 13th birthday."

"Well it's, beautiful." Alli said. Drew placed his hand on Alli's and pried it off of Clare's wrist.

"Why don't we let Clare breath for a second Al, before you jump down her throat?" Drew said. Alli rolled her eyes and looked back at Clare.

"We didn't know what the two of you wanted so I just ordered you two a ham sandwich." She said, referring to Clare and K.C.

Clare nodded her head. "That's fine."

Clare later found out the blonde's name that was sitting at the table, was Jenna. And by the looks of it, she had a thing for K.C. She was always trying to get him to pay attention to her. She would push around her blonde hair and bat her eyelashes at him. But K.C. continued to focus on Clare.

Jenna pursed her lips and then looked at Clare. "So, is it true that you live at that old mansion?" Jenna asked.

Clare nodded her head and cleaned the crumbs off of her mouth that the sandwich had left. "Yes, I do actually."

"Hmm. Isn't it like all gross and old inside?" Jenna placed her chin in her hands.

"No, it's not. Goldsworthy Manor is most gorgeous house I've ever seen." Clare said honestly.

"Oh don't be such a suck up, Clare." Clare jumped a little when she heard Eli's voice. She had forgotten that he was sitting on the ground next to her chair.

"Seriously? It's like pretty inside? From the outside it looks like… I don't know, disgusting." Jenna wrinkled her nose.

Clare had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at Jenna. "No, it's not digusting."

"Well, is it really haunted? Like people say there is this evil spirit that haunts it." Jenna arched an eyebrow.

Clare smirked. "No there is no evil spirit."

Clare wasn't lying. There was no evil spirit. Eli Goldsworthy was the farthest thing from evil.

"Really, because I heard that kid, whose family owned the house, haunts it. What was his name? Ernie, Elliot, Edward…" Jenna scratched that back of her head while she thought

"Don't hurt yourself." Clare mumbled. Drew and K.C. snickered and Alli smirked at Clare's comment. "His name was Elijah." Clare finally said after a few moments of watching Jenna struggle to remember the name.

"Yeah that's it! Elijah." Jenna smiled.

Drew took a sip of his soda and then placed the cup on the table. "I heard the kid was suicidal or something. He had issues."

Clare stiffened in her seat and glanced down at Eli, who had also stiffened his posture.

K.C. nodded his head. "I heard that too. They don't know exactly what happened. But from what my grandfather told me, the kid was pretty messed."

"What do you mean?" Drew asked.

"Well, my Grandpa Tyler, he knew that Goldsworthy kid. He said that he was really weird and freaky. He wore all black and wrote in a notebook all day. He said that Elijah tried to kiss his sister, against her will."

Drew tightened an arm around Alli. "Wow, what a creep." He said.

Clare cleared her throat. "Well, I don't think he was that bad."

Jenna snickered. "I don't know, from the sounds of it I would watch my back Clare. That Edward kid might try to rape you."

"That fucking-"

"Um, well thanks for lunch. It was fun. See you guys around." Clare stood up from the table quickly and placed her bag on her shoulder. K.C. stood up.

"What me to walk with you back to school?" He asked.

Clare shook her head. "No that's okay. Thanks for paying for me." Clare waved and walked quickly to the front door and out into the street.

Clare looked to her side to make sure Eli was with her. He was walking next to her, his arms were at his sides and his hands were curled into tight fists. Clare stayed silent and decided to let Eli calm down a bit. What Jenna had said really upset him, he could tell. She knew he would never do anything like that.

"Well I was right." Clare heard Eli say. He voice was low and soft.

"About what?" Clare asked.

"K.C. being related to Tyler. Did you hear him he said Grandpa Tyler." Eli's fists tightened again.

"Oh yeah I did hear that." Clare whispered.

"I didn't try to kiss Julia, and or force myself on her. If you're thinking about what K.C. said…" Eli looked at Clare.

Clare looked at him. "I know that! I would never- I know you wouldn't do something like that Eli."

"Good. That…Jenna girl, she got to me…I guess." Eli's fits loosened and his shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I'm sorry you had you hear that Eli. If I know they were going to be talking about you…I wouldn't have gone." Clare said.

"It's not your fault Clare. It's okay. I'm used to people talking about me, spreading rumors. Just when she said that thing about me…hurting you…" Eli let out a small growl.

"You would never do that to me, and I know it's not just because you actually can't touch me. I know you care about me, a lot." Clare looked down at Eli's hands that were stuffed in his pockets. Clare wished she could hold them in hers.

"I do Clare. I care about you…so much." Eli said. His voice sent a shiver down Clare's spine. His voice was full of an emotion that Clare couldn't figure out.

"And I can about you, Eli." She said. She looked up at Eli's eyes. His emerald ones burned into her blue ones. That same emotion that his voice held clouded around his eyes. Clare bit her lip when she finally realized what emotion it was. It was love. He loved her.

.

.

.

Eli and Clare didn't talk that much the rest of the day. Eli decided to let Clare concentrate on her school work. He still followed her around and sat in on all her classes, but he didn't talk. He simply watched her and her surroundings.

As Eli watched her work on his school work, he began to notice little things about her. Like when she would start to get bored in class, she would absentmindedly start tapping her foot against the chair in front of her. Or when she was trying to figure out a question, she would bit her bottom lip. Which Eli found extremely attractive.

He tried his best not to fall for Clare. But the girl made it so damn hard. She was pretty, and funny and caring. Eli thought back to what she had told him the other night. About how people used to pick on her. Looking at the Clare Edwards that was sitting in front of him, Eli couldn't believe anyone would pick on someone as beautiful as Clare.

He never knew a person who was such a good listener. Felicity, she listened to him and cared for him, but she was always busy. So she was never always there when he needed her. But Clare, he felt as though he could talk to her about anything. Now that she knew about the night he died, he felt as though a bunch a weight had been lifted off his chest. Clare was his friend, his secret keep, his own little therapist.

In Eli's eyes, Clare Edwards was perfect.