Its double chapter Friday! Woo hoo. Here is chapter 9 Enjoy!

Snowballs Chance in Hell

Ch.9: Aftermath

Clare's POV

It was freezing outside as I sat on the picnic table that was once used as the stage for our "Romeo and Juliet" project. Looking back on it now that was one of the best days of my young life. I remember wanting so bad for Eli to admit that he was feeling the same attraction that I was. When we kissed it was like lightning on fire. I had never felt something so passionate… ever. When we pulled apart it was like trying to keep magnets from gravitating toward each other, we both wanted to continue kissing even though Eli wouldn't admit it at the time. I smiled even though I shivered in the cold. Why did I leave school without grabbing a jacket? It had begun to snow softly and the light flakes that trickled to the ground seemed to put me in a trance. I continued to think about Eli and how it took us such a long time to get to that good place we were in a few short days ago. We had been through so much together he was my north the one true thing I could count on through my parent's rocky divorce; and I knew I was just as important to him as he dealt with his hoarding issues and getting over Julia. I looked down at my bare arms, the hairs on them were standing up and I could see goose bumps rise. I debated heading back to school but I couldn't let anyone see me with puffy eyes, so I pulled my knees to my chest and continued to sit there chilled to the bone.

"Here put this on your going to freeze to death" I heard him say from behind me. I turned my head to see Eli standing there holding a jacket out towards me. I took the jacket quietly and slipped my arms into the sleeves. Ah, warmth, I thought to myself.

"Thanks" I whispered.

"Your welcome" he replied. His face looked so tired. His eyes were as puffy as mine; I could tell he had been crying. He had a scratch on his left cheek and a little bit of dried blood by his lip. If I hadn't known better I would have thought he had been attacked by savage beasts.

"What happened?" I asked softly, raising my hand to touch his lip but, before my hand reached his face he pulled away angrily. I understood. If I were him I wouldn't want to be touched by me either. I pulled my arm back and slid my hand into the pocket. I wanted to cry but I had no right to be upset with him, I was the one who was in the wrong; even if I did have the best intentions at heart.

"Elliot and I got into a little fight, I really don't want to talk about it" he stated flatly. We sat there in silence for a few minutes. I watched as he traced patterns in the snow that covered the top of the picnic table.

"Why?" he asked finally breaking the silence between us.

"I doubt you would believe me if I told you" I replied.

"Try me" he demanded.

"Well yesterday I was at the Dot, I had to get out of my house, and my parents were driving me insane…" Eli shot me a look that screamed…. "GET TO THE POINT CLARE!"

"… anyway I was sitting there reading a book when Elliot walked in. We started talking and I asked him to put a stop to the childish game you two have going on… you know the one where you try and get the best of each other. The past few days you haven't been the same Eli that I have known. You weren't the Eli I fell in LOVE with. I wanted him back and I was sick of feeling like the rope in your little tug of war. So when I asked him to back off a bit he told me that he would but on one condition…" I stopped for a moment to gather my thoughts, tears were beginning to form and roll down my cheeks.

"And the "condition" was what I witnessed in the cafeteria?" he asked his voice sounded angry.

I nodded my head. "He said if I kissed him in front of you that…" I couldn't finish the rest I was so humiliated and angry with myself. I threw away a great thing when all I wanted to do was make it better.

"You do realize that you were just a pawn in his little game" he said now his tone was softer. He looked at me with his big green eyes and all I wanted to do was erase today and start fresh.

"He used you to hurt me… he used the one thing that I care about more then anything to crush me. Clare seeing you kiss him broke my heart." He was now crying as well.

"So what does this mean for us?" I asked through sobs.

"It means we're over" he said blankly as he stared off into the distance. "I would like my ring back please" he continued.

I looked down at the skull ring that covered most of my thumb. I hadn't taken it off since the day he had given it to me. He held his hand out on the table waiting for me to hand it back. As soon as the ring was safely back in his possession he stood up and walked away. I watched as his figure disappeared into the white nothingness that was in front of me. Eventually he was completely out of sight and I began to sob even more heavily then before. I curled up into the fetal position on the bench and slowly rubbed the smooth spot on my thumb that was once hidden by a ring. "It means we're over" I kept replaying his words in my head as I laid there numb.

Hope you all love the story so far… look for another chapter later this weekend!

Oh and review (good or bad) are always welcomed and appreciated!

Much love -Kj