Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, or Hero by Sterling Knight.

I'll put my trust in fate, that you will come my way, and if it's right, it's undeniable, yeah, I'll be your hero

Eli

I left Clare alone for the rest of the weekend. I was too afraid to talk to her. I thought she needed space, to maybe think about our almost kiss. I don't want to rush her into anything. Hell, I'm not even sure if she likes me back. I would be so disappointed if she didn't. It was getting increasingly difficult to be her friend when I liked her so much.

I wasn't sure what to do. My thoughts had so much to do with Clare that I could hardly focus on anything else. My dreams were filled with her beauty. I dreamed of the color of her eyes. I dreamed of running my fingers through her hair. I liked her so much; I thought I was going crazy.

I know there is a chance that she might not feel the same, so I will be careful not to give anything away. But if the opportune moment arises, I will take it. I will be there for her no matter what. I hope we have one of those loves that never fades; the kind you see in movies or read about in books.

Speaking of books, I recently read Looking for Alaska by John Green, and I can relate to what Miles was feeling. The feeling that you loved someone so much that you weren't sure what to do. You just cherished everything and didn't think of the consequences. They made you feel free; like you were finally able to feel the thing that everyone is always talking about: love. Even in its simplest sense, love is more powerful than any other feeling in the world. It's that feeling you get in your chest; your heartbeat picks up and pounds at such a fast pace that you feel that it will explode. Your brain blocks out thinking of anything else besides that person, and in the end, you would do anything to protect them, and in Mile's case, be with them. I won't spoil the ending for you, but I will quote Mr. Green on this:

If people were rain, I was a drizzle, and she was a hurricane.

Clare is my hurricane. She is so radiant and beautiful, strong-willed yet timid, smart yet naïve and the one thing I have come to want in the world is her. But I am a drizzle. I am boring, although open-minded, negative, and I am so easily swept into the forceful winds that are – dare I say it – my love for Clare Edwards.

Clare

I didn't contact Eli all weekend, nor did he contact me. The memory of our almost kiss was fire in my mind – burning everything else, because it wasn't important. I went home calmly, and surprisingly, didn't cry again until I was safely tucked in bed. This time, I wasn't entirely sure why I was crying. I think it was just the disappointment of not being able to kiss Eli. Or it was just built up tears from the night of homecoming, where I was so shattered that I couldn't dance with Eli; where I lost the opportunity to tell him how I felt, and now I wasn't sure if I could ever tell him. My self esteem has plummeted to a new all time low. My confidence is shot. It would take weeks for me to tell Eli how I felt in stride. I fought the want to just text him and tell him, but that was cowardly. If I couldn't tell Eli to his face, it really didn't mean that much. I thought about broadcasting it on the internet, but again, that is cowardly, for the same reason as texting him. But I didn't have the guts to just spit it out.

God, I am such a bloody coward.

I dreaded seeing him on Monday. It would be awkward and angsty and I wasn't sure if I was up to face the world in just my jeans and a t-shirt. I felt like I had to put on a superhero costume in order to perform the great deeds that my future would ensue. My great deed right now was to get the courage to tell Eli I liked him.

I know that sounds lame, but to me, it is the greatest deed that I could ever accomplish in my sixteen years of life thus far, and the worst part was, I didn't have the superhero costume to do it in.

Much to my chagrin, Monday did come soon enough. I did promise Eli to tail Imogen after school, and I intended on keeping said promise. I wasn't sure why, but those 6 hours were the longest of my entire existence. Every minute was an hour, and an hour was a day. I found my classes to be more boring than usual and I lacked my usual work ethic. My leg bounced nervously throughout the whole class, so much so that when I would get up to leave, my leg would be shaky under me because I made it do another action other than bouncing up and down. I almost fell down the stairs twice and walked into at least four people.

I was just not myself today.

As he had promised, Eli was standing outside of the school on the front steps as he usually is. His head was bent down and he was reading Invisible Monsters for probably the millionth time. His long, raven hair hid his face, but I could spot the outline of his strong jaw from under the black curtain. His leg also bounced with anticipation, and a part of me wondered if he was feeling the same thing I was. It was mid-October, and he wore a regular grey v-neck with black skinnies and signature leather jacket. As much as I wanted to avoid him right now, he looked extremely attractive and my heart did flips. I walked with shaky knees, before sitting down beside him. He looked up from his book, tilting his head to the side, and smirked at the sight of my arrival. His eyes were twinkling, and my breathing hitched a little.

"Hello, Mrs. Edwards, ready to take on the world of mischief?" he asked me, jumping up and stretching out a hand to help me stand. I took it, and relished the feeling of his skin against mine. His hands were callused yet warm, and I liked the cool contrast of his warm hands and cool rings. I stood up, and didn't want to let his hand go, and after about another second, in realization that I held his hand for way too long to be platonic, I dropped his hand, feeling the cold October wind it my palms once again.

"Only if it entails snacks, school lunches have drastically declined in quality and frankly, taste a little like cardboard," I said. Eli chuckled at this, reaching down once again to pick up his belongings, and without another word, we walked to his car together. We walked dangerously close to one another, and I was fighting the desire to reach out and touch his hand. But I didn't want to live with the bitter rejection.

"I was thinking we could tail her at the Dot like normal, and then go in ourselves for some of those snacks you so much desire," Eli said, glancing in my direction and smirking. I blushed wildly, hoping he didn't see it. Don't think of it like a date, Clare, I thought, don't get your hopes up. My blush faded and we continued to walk until the black shining hood of Morty came into view.

We got into the car in silence, and Eli turned on the radio but set it low so we could still hear each other if we started talking. "That's odd," Eli said, "Imogen is going in the opposite direction of the Dot."

"What are you waiting for? Follow her!" I exclaimed, and Eli rushed to put the car in reverse, backed up, and drove off. Imogen was driving somewhere else today, and even though we were about four cars behind her, I could tell that she was alone.

She drove on some side roads, and as the area became more and more desolate, Eli literally had to drive at a snail's pace so we were far enough behind her so she didn't see us. We went into a forested area, and then Imogen turned into a rich community. It had a huge front gate with a touch pad to enter a password to open the gate. Eli and I decided to ditch Morty and parked on the side of the road, continuing our pursuit on foot. The sun was starting to set, so we were able to be masked by darkness.

"Watch it, Clare," Eli said, holding a hand out in front of me, pointing to the top of the gate, "There are security cameras. We can't jump the gate here." He said that like it was easy. Scoping around for more cameras, Eli led me to a well-manicured tree surrounded by bushes, against a white concrete wall that was on the outside of the residential area.

"Here's the deal. I'm going to go over first. Prop me up and get me over the wall. It isn't that high, so when I'm over, you climb up too, and I'll catch you on the way down," he said.

"Since when did we become super spies?" I asked.

"Since we decided to be total and complete badasses." He responded, climbing the tree and clearing the wall with ease. For me, it was a little more difficult. I was a good 4 inches shorter than Eli, and had to climb into the thinner branches in order to get close to the wall. I was afraid that the branches would crack and I would fall to my doom 5 feet below me. But I managed to grasp the wall tightly when I went up on my tip-toes. I could hear the branches groan with unrest as they started to break under my weight. I quickly grabbed hold of the wall with both hands, and using what little ground I could, jumped to get my upper half over the wall.

The branches snapped, and I felt my stomach drop as my feet touched air and there was nothing under me to stop me from falling. I used my inner strength to heave myself over the wall, and after I was on the wall, which was barely a foot in diameter, I peered down at Eli, 6 feet down and safely on the ground. He was smirking at me and reached his hands out to me, "Come on, Clare, I won't drop you," he said softly. My heart swooned at these words. When I fall, he won't drop me. How reassuring. If only he meant it in the way that I wanted him too.

I eased myself off of the wall, and two strong arms encircled my waist as my feet hit the ground. But Eli was struck a little off balance, and fell forwards, knocking my back against the wall and him against me. His hands were still at my hips when he looked at me. The sunset behind his head made his hair glow, and his eyes were sparkling with his forever sense of mischief and sarcasm. His lips were partially open, and he glanced down at my lips momentarily before letting me go.

"Let's find out where our victim went," he said, after a moment of awkwardness. My cheeks were on fire, and my body was burning with the desire to just grab his face and kiss him. Eli led the way, pausing only to listen for running car engines. Upon hearing none, and the fact that we had no idea where we were going, made us wander around aimlessly for about twenty minutes, before Eli spotted Imogen's car. She was parked in front of one of the nicest places in the neighborhood.

"Uh, Eli, that's Jake's truck." I pointed out, and sure enough, Jake's red truck was also sitting in the same driveway.

"Why would Imogen go to Jake's house?" Eli wondered outloud.

There were a few bushes in front of the Martins' house, as well as a few big trees that we could hide behind. A second story window was illuminated with light, and as we got closer, I could see the outline of Jake Martin stride into the room, and after him, a figure with side pigtails walked in.

"Jake and Imogen are in a room alone together," I whispered. Eli nodded.

The figures were talking, and then all of a sudden got really close. Then Imogen places her arms around Jake's neck and kisses him, and he picks her up at her waist and her legs wrapped around his torso. Jake bent down, and then the couple was out of sight. I assume he placed her on the bed.

"Did I just see what I think I just saw?" Eli asked, puzzled.

"Imogen is sleeping with Jake?" I asked.

"…and that's why she's gotten all the lead parts in the play!" Eli exclaimed, pointing at me.

I jumped up too, in realization, and at the same time as Eli, "That's why I didn't get the part of Hazel!"

"And that's why Imogen got away with pelting you with eggs!" Eli said.

"Let's not return to that," I said seriously, holding an accusatory finger in his direction. He chuckled.

"The only way to get Imogen back is to expose this secret to the school. Beat her at her own game." Eli said, cocking his head to the side, thinking.

"And how do you believe that we are going to do that, Poindexter?" I asked.

"I have a few ideas," Eli answered, rubbing his hands together and chuckling like a madman for effect. I giggled and slapped him in the arm.

And thus, we planned.

End of Chapter