Clare's POV
We drove in the car and met up with the guys. We went to this really french restaurant that no one could really pronounce. Becky and Eli sat together on 1 side of the table with Jenna beside them. Jake and Adam sat together on the other side and I sat beside Adam. Becky and Eli just sat there and made cute faces, while Jake and Adam held up their own conversation. Me and Jenna sat there quiet as ever like always. After we all ate, we all went back to the house. As soon as we walked in, Becky suggested we all get changed and go down to the beach. "That is a great idea honey," Eli replied. We all ran upstairs and put on our bathing suits. I put on my Black bathing suit with the pink polka dots. Its sexy enough to were I can show off without looking like a nun, but preserved enough to were it doesn't look like I am flirting with anyone... especially Eli. I threw on my white bathing suit coverup and ran downstairs with my towel and sunglasses at hand. "Lets grab the sun chairs out of the garage first Eli." "Sure hun, I will grab everyone one and meet you all down at the beach in 5." "Thanks." Becky gave Eli a quick peck on the cheek and ran off with the rest of us down the beach.
Eli soon joined us and handed out the beach chairs. "Adam, Jake, Becky *kiss*,Jenna and Clare..." Everyone set up their chairs and headed down to the beach except for Eli and I. We set up our beach chairs with Becky's in between ours and lied there. "So... Clare..." I raised my sunglasses and met Eli's gaze.
"Yeah?"
"How has your life been since high school? We haven't talked much since you have arrived." I looked at the beach a bit before responding.
"Good, I am the head coordinator of articles at the Toronto Interpreter!" Eli looked disproving.
"Clare, you work there now? You can't! Does Asher still work there?" I smiled, not thinking Eli remember the whole "Asher" thing. He was there through it all to support me. I just smiled at him.
"I didn't think you remembered the whole "Asher" thing..." He looked away blushing, bringing back old memories was not a good thing to do.
"Well, I did. I was there to help you through it all."
"Well, we didn't go to trial until a couple months after high school, but Asher was found not guilty..." I looked away about to cry.
"I am so sorry Clare. I shouldn't have said anything." I started to tear up a bit and pulled my sunglasses back down.
"It's okay Eli. Um... Asher was fired though. So there was a spot opened on the board and I sent in a application and I got the job."
"Good for you, at least you never gave up on your dream." It fell quiet between us. Thinking back to Eli's words when we broke up.
"Clare, I love you, but now that I am going off to NYU I don't think that it would be safe for us to continue dating. We would just be fooling each other." "But... Eli-" "Clare, I know it will hurt now, but if we keep holding on to this, we won't ever be happy and it will hurt even more then." My eyes started to tear up. "Just promises me something Clare... Never give up on your dreams of being a journalist!"
"Yeah, I never gave up. Just like you asked." Silence fell between us again. I then pulled of my sunglasses, cleaned up my tears and took of my cover up. I ran over to the beach and got in the water with Becky and Jenna. We played and laughed around a bit. I looked back at Eli and he still held my gaze. I just stared at him for a couple seconds and he got up and went back inside. I looked back at Becky who hadn't even noticed. "Becky, why is Eli going inside?" "I don't know, but don't let him ruin our fun!" My and Jenna and Becky kept playing until it grew dark. I checked my watch as we all came back to the shore, it was 11:03pm. We all laughed and cut up on the way back up to the house. Eli was fast asleep when we came home. His door wide open as we walked past it.
It was about 3am when I woke up. I keep having the same occurring dream about Eli and I. As I walked downstairs, I heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen. I snuck down slowly and then seen Eli standing in the kitchen. He was bent over the counter seeming to be crying. I ran up to him quietly. "Are you okay?" He sat up and I saw his eyes all watery. "I am fine... I just... couldn't sleep." His eyes dried with a matter of 2 wipes across his face. "So, you couldn't sleep either?" He laughed and grabbed some juice out of the fridge and some Oreos out of the cabinet. "Yeah, I left the beach earlier to get some sleep after a long day... only intended to take a 5 or 6 minute nap and ended up sleeping all day. Now I can't sleep." He grabbed 2 glasses out of the cabinet and poured us some orange juice.
"You still remember my favorite midnight snack..." Eli smiled as he handed me some Oreos and juice. "Yeah... well every time we spent the night, we had this snack." I smiled trying to avoid the the awkwardness of what he just said. We sat there in quiet and he sat beside me. When we were done he put both of our glasses in the sink. I started walking upstairs but Eli caught me hand. "Clare... Do you... do you think I am making a mistake... with Becky?" I said nothing but rather went upstairs and went back to sleep. Eli stopped me once again by my door, "Eli, I cant answer that-" He kissed me. It was a passionate kiss that had feeling all wrapping up in it. He put his hands around me waist and I put my hands around his neck. When we broke the kiss Eli laughed. "I am sorry-" "No I am sorry Clare. That was my fault... Well, um... goodnight." I walked in my room and locked the door. I smiled and lied back in bed. I kept smiling and not wanting to sleep. I didn't want this to all have been a dream. But little did either of us know... Adam had seen the kiss.