Clare watched as her mom drove away, leaving her deserted at the Dot. Her mom had insisted that she, (and I quote) "Get her head out of her butt and get a good look at the world around her".

Her choice of words had become very colorful ever since her and Glen married...

And in case you actually speak ENGLISH, that was her way of saying Clare had been cooping herself up in the house lately.
Clare thought back to her and Helen's conversation in the car.

"You're 16 for crying out loud! Go out, hang with your friends!"

Clare was silent.

Helen continued, "Why don't you call Adam or Eli or-"

Her mother paused.

They both knew who she almost suggested calling.

It had been two months, but Alli and Clare were friends for years. It was hard for Helen to exclude the girl's name from her mental list of her daughter's friends...

But Clare hated that her mother couldn't get used to it. Because even at the slightest mention of Alli's name or even just knowing her mom had ALMOST let it slip... It made her get a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The car was then parked in front of the Dot and there was silence.

Clare looked straight ahead, down the still road.

Helen looked at her distraught daughter with love and pity.

"Clare, I-"

She had already opened the door and arose from the passenger seat.

Helen sighed as Clare slammed the door behind her.

Helen knew she had unintentionally hurt her daughter but there was nothing she could do about it accept drive off. She knew she had done the right thing. She couldn't just let her daughter become a hermit, enclosed in a house by four walls.

And now here Clare was, standing alone in front of the popular Degrassi student hang-out. And she had no to call to come hang out with her.

Alli was-...you know...

Eli was her ex. Sure they stayed friends, but he was onto better things these days. He had obtained a large group of friends now that he was becoming more social. And who was Clare to interfere with that?..

And Adam...?
He was Adam. They were close before, but ever since the break-up with Eli (Adam's best friend), it was kind of impossible to hang with Adam one on one. So Clare and Adam had just kind of...grown apart.

Clare debated going inside or not. She didn't feel like being around people right now. People led to drama, drama led to heartbreak which was pain which she did not need any more of.

A cool breeze swept over her and left her with a shiver.

Maybe going inside and having some hot coffee wouldn't be so bad.

She walked throught the door, the warm air being a relief to her chilled face. She sat down in a boothe in a more empty part of the restaurant. When a waiter swung by, she ordered a coffee.

When the waiter replied, "Is that it?", she decided she'd have some fries too.
It was going to be a while before her mom decided to come pick her up.

Once her coffee and fries had arrived at her table, she took a good long sip. Suddenly, the bells on the door sounded, indicating a customer had arrived. Or in this case, make that two customers.

Drew and Adam walked into the Dot and took a seat at a table near Clare's. Neither of them had notice her sitting there until Drew had looked away from his brother, not really caring about the comic he had been going on about for the past hour.

Drew looked up and noticed Clare sitting there, looking down longingly at her now empty cup of coffee. He immediately felt himself smile at the sight. Something about that girl always made him smile. She just seemed so simple-minded.
Well...lately, that is.
He didn't know her very well but he just new he liked this version of her better than the old one. Before, she had seemed like one of those stuck up, judgmental know-it-all kind of people.
Now she seemed more humble, and to herself. She was alone basically every time he saw her in the halls.
What changed?.., he thought.
Oh. Yeah...

And then there was that day a couple of weeks ago.
She must have cried in his arms for about an hour! He remembered that day so clearly. He had just got in a big dispute with his coach. Drew hadn't been showing up for practice a lot lately.
Coach warned to kick him off the team. But Drew had made the mistake of getting all worked up over the statement and started a rant on how he didn't have a life anymore because he had been giving all his time to the team, and how he lived in a sick world, revolving around sports that required putting 100% of your guts into a team of guys who could barely give a crap about you.
The coach was bewildered at his star player's words.
Then, Drew had concluded that if that's what being on a team was about, then sports weren't his thing.
"You don't have to scare me with a warning", he had said, "I'll make things easier for both of us. I quit!"
And with that he had stormed out of the locker room and ran onto the football field toward Alli's memorial stone.

And there, he had met a petite, brown-haired, blue-eyed girl who had coincidentally came to visit Alli in spirit, also.

But after that encounter, they hadn't really connected like one might expect. They'd past each other in the hall a couple of times and exchanged small glances with a slight smile attached to it. But that was about it.
And now, here he was, sitting a few feet away from and smiling at Clare Edwards. Drew broke out of his thoughts, noticing Adam had stopped talking. Drew turned to his brother and said, "Hey, there's your friend", gesturing towards Clare.
"Oh, hey Clare", Adam said with a wave.
Clare looked up from the coffee cup and noticed the two brothers.

Unsure of whom had called her name, she gave a quiet, yet polite "hi" to both of them. Adam's attention was then caught by the sound of beeping from a black hearse outside. "Oh, there's Eli", he announced and looked at his brother while gathering up his sweater and cell phone, "Thanks for the ride here, Drew".
He left.
And then there were two ;)