The weeks that followed the whole bathroom escapade, went without any further incident. Of course that didn't stop Claire from feeling on edge when Kaylie was around. She winced every time Kaylie popped up from behind or showed up to sit with them at lunch. Claire figured things had gotten way too quiet and it was only a matter of time before Kaylie snapped again.

It also bothered her to keep all of this a secret from Eli. She was never one for secret keeping and normally wouldn't have kept this from him for so long, but every time she tried to confront him about it, Kaylie's terrified face flashed before her eyes and she couldn't go through with it. Unfortunately for her, she found herself trapped in that exact situation after first period Monday morning.

"Morning sunshine."

Eli's voice came out of nowhere from over Claire's shoulder, making her leap about three feet in the air.

"Whoa, easy tiger. Don't be so tense." Eli said as Kaylie appeared beside him.

"You two really need to learn to approach people from the front." Claire panted.

"I'll be sure to put that on my to do list," Eli joked, "But I have to warn you, my list is already filled with things I have to do."

"Yeah, like what?"

"This." Said Eli, ad he backed Claire into the lockers, kissing her smoothly. When they finally broke apart, Claire looked at Kaylie flustered.

"Don't mind me." Kaylie teased, "I have to go anyway. I have an English report to present next period, so I should get going. See you guys later." Then she disappeared into the crowd.

"Now where were we?" Eli asked, closing in for another kiss but Claire swerved to the side and pushed him away gently.

"Oh, cold woman." He whimpered.

"I'm sorry, there's just something I've been meaning to tell you."

Picking up on the seriousness in Claire's voice, Eli backed off, "Okay."

Claire Inhaled, "Well...I..." But she was cut off by the sharp buzz of the bell. All the remaining students in the hall piled into the nearest classroom so Claire said, "You know what it's nothing. I don't want to make us late."

Eli's raised his eyebrows doubtfully as he uttered, "...Alright."

Kaylie fiddled with her thumbs as she anxiously waited to present her English report in front of the class. She read and reread her paper over twenty times the previous night and now it was stacked in a neat stack on her desk. She stared down at the words on the page. They swam before her eyes and became fuzzy.

Calm, she told herself, relax.

She concentrated hard on the sentence in front of her, mouthing the words as she read them. Gripping them in her brain. Everything had to be perfect. She couldn't mess up.

She was just getting confident with herself when a hand swept across her desk, sending her papers flying into the air.

"Oops." Said a very unsympathetic Fitz as he passed.

Kaylie gasped and scavenged the floor for her report.

Fitz took his seat behind Kaylie, "You missed one." He said, snatching up one of the stray papers from under him.

When Kaylie went to grab it Fitz tossed it behind him, "Oops again."

Kaylie frown as she went and fetched it.

The English teacher Mrs. Bates stood up, "Alright, there's no time to waste today. We have far too many reports to hear so let's start. Kaylie you go first."

When Kaylie didn't move Fitz kicked the back of her chair, "Are you deaf?" he sneered.

She got up and started walking to the front of the room. Her legs got more and more wobbly with every step up to the point where she tripped over her own foot. The class laughed as she stabilized herself against a chair.

By the time she got up to the front, everyone was already anticipating her to screw up. All their eyes were staring at her, boring into her skull like hot knives.

Mrs. Bates tapped her watch, "Whenever you're ready."

Kaylie chewed her lip, beads of sweat formed on her neck and around her scalp and her hands trembled violently. She could feel every nerve in her body pulsate against her skin and she heard every painstaking tick of the clock. Everything was waiting for her. Watching her. Knowing she was going to make a fool of herself.

She looked down at her paper but couldn't make out the words, "Uh...um..." She stuttered.

"Wow, right when I thought the Goldsworthy family couldn't get any dumber, they go and bring in this idiot." Fitz taunted.

The class roared with amusement. Mrs. Bates tried to speak over them but it was no use. They were too loud. There was so many of them.

Suddenly the room seemed to be shrinking and Kaylie's heart was beating rapidly. "I have to go." She said and let her papers drop to the floor. She had to get out. She couldn't breath.

Meanwhile, in another English class just a few rooms over, Eli and Claire were busy arguing over what they would do for their class project when suddenly Eli clutched his stomach with his hands and doubled over into the isle.

"Eli! Are you okay?" Claire cried, bending down next to him.

Eli nodded, his breath coming in choppy gulps. "I'm fine, "He looked up at Claire, "But I don't think Kaylie is."

Back in the hallway, Kaylie (as Eli predicted) was far from fine. She sprinted through the hall until she came to her locker. Her chest heaved as she reached to the top shelf, fumbling around for a small bottle containing a bunch of red pills. Her hands were so shaky that it took her several tries before she got a good enough grip to open the lid. She popped two pills in her mouth and swallowed.

Her throat was extremely dry. Standing on the tips of her toes she reached for the water bottle when...

"Boo!" Fitz yelled behind her.

Kaylie screamed. Her hand slipped from her water bottle causing it to fall over and spill on her head.

"Wow, what a retard." Fitz spat.

Kaylie, now dripping wet, felt a rush of anger, than the anger turned to embarrassment, which turned into sadness until she was flooded with so many emotions at once that there was only one thing she could do.

Scream.

And she did, from the top of her lungs, right there in the middle of the hall. Stopping only when her face went purple.

Teachers rushed out of their classrooms to see the cause of the commotion an a few curious students poked there heads out from the doorways.

Eli knew who it was right away and he and Claire ran out of class to look for Kaylie.

By the time they got to her she was huddled in a ball against the wall, rocking slightly. Fitz was standing over her in shock.

"What the hell did you do?" Eli hollered at him.

Fitz took a step back, "I didn't even touch her. She just started screaming. Your sisters a total freak man!"

"Don't call her that!" Eli shoved Fitz back, "You don't know anything about her! You have no idea!"

Fitz cursed at him under his breath but Eli was already done with him and was now crouched down in front of Kaylie. "Kaylie," He whispered, but she hid her face in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "Kaylie... its okay...just look at me..."

Slowly, she raised her head. Her eyes were puffy and red, filled with tears.

Eli sighed, he looked over at Claire who was watching them from a safe distance than he said, "Come on Kaylie. Let's get you out of here." He scooped her up in his arms, lifting her with ease. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shirt. He carried her all the way out the door.

No one even tried to stop them.

A/N: Earlier in this chapter when Eli falls over, it's because of his connection with Kaylie. Since she was so upset, it made him feel her pain. Let me know if I didn't make that clear in this chapter and I'll change it. Thanks! I'll try to post the next chapter soon.

Please comment