ELI'S P.O.V.
They say that you'll never forget your first love. And with Clare around, I was finding it hard to find truth in that statement. Of course I would never forget Julia, and I would never forget how much she meant to me, or how much I loved her- but I was beginning to wonder why I had loved her in the first place. She was beautiful, I had to admit. She had long brown hair, with piercing blue eyes. She laughed loud, and had an incredible smile. I had always wondered why she'd loved me, and obviously that night she was wondering the same. I couldn't let go of her, that night, even though she'd try to break it off with me. I said things, nasty things, before letting her go. That night she died I swore I never loved again. People around us could see we were in love, don't get me wrong. But if Julia wasn't feeling the same way, even if just at the end, was this pain worth it?
I parked in front of my house, and got out of my car, slamming the door loudly behind me. I ran up the front steps, only to pummeled by my little brother, Pete.
"Elijah! Guess what?"
"What, little guy?" I asked, picking him up. Pete wasn't technically my brother, but I considered him part of the family. His father was in jail, and his mother deceased, and my step-mom was his Godmother. So, because Pete had no aunts or uncles to take him in, Vanessa, my step-mother, took him in. And when Vanessa and my father tied the knot, Pete became part of the family.
Pete enlightened me with a tale of what had happened in first grade that day, while I absentmindedly painted my fingernails black. Soon after, my father came home, and Pete sprinted off to him, to tell him the story he'd just entertained me with.
My dad came into the living room then, Pete on his shoulders. "Nice nails, son. Vanessa do them for you?" He darted at me.
I shot him a look, grabbed my bag, and went upstairs. It wasn't that my father and I didn't get along, even though we didn't. My dad simply didn't see me as the perfect son that fit in to his perfect family. And if that was the way he wanted it, I was more than happy to stay out of his way, as long as he kept putting money in my hand to 'entertain myself'.
I stalked upstairs to complete my homework, but ended up thinking about Clare. Was this for real? Was this going to last? I thought. It seemed like everything that was supposed to last forever, families, love, and a mix of the two, never did. I never got my hopes up. But with this, it was hard not to.