A/N: YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! I asked for 120 reviews and got 132! In one night! Here's the chapter, hope you like it! :)

"Can I help you?" I asked. Eli shifted his weight from his right foot to his left, before answering.

"Can I talk to you Clare?" he said rather quietly.

"Why?" I said showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Just come and talk to me, will you?" He said looking at Pete for a second. I pretended to think about it for a moment.

"Fine. I'll be right back, don't miss me too much" I said winking at Pete, just to make sure Eli got the point. I saw Eli rolling his eyes.

"Come on" He said taking my hand as he walked away.

He stopped in a hallway, empty of people. I shook my hand out of his, as I leaned against the wall. He looked down and I raised my eyebrows at him

"So?" I asked. He looked up at me, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Who is he?"

"Who?"

"The guy you were with?"

"Oh, the one I was having a good time with before someone rudely interrupted?" Eli rolled his eyes.

"Yes, that one"

"That's Pete"

"And?"

"And I just met him, and he's amazing"

"What's so amazing about him?" Eli asked bluntly.

"Have you seen him?"

"Umm, yeah?" Eli said. I could see he was a bit uncomfortable.

"He's a great guy Eli. And I enjoy being with him" Eli suddenly spoke in a more angry voice, taking his hands out of his pockets.

"You seemed to be enjoying hanging out with me too! Still that didn't stop you from stabbing my heart several times!" My eyes widened. "I don't get you! What do you want? Is anything even good enough for you? I swear if I didn't know better I'd say you're a stuck up bitch!" Ouch. I opened up my mouth, but didn't get a chance to speak. "Ether that, or you just hate me, and enjoy playing with my emotions" He said, the angry voice replaced with a hurting one. I closed my eyes. He didn't say anything so I opened my eyes again.

"Look Eli-"

"It doesn't matter" he looked away "Have fun with Pete" He started walking away, bu I caught his arm.

"Wait" I said, and he stopped. "Eli I.." I was at a loss of word. How do I reply to that? 'I'm sorry but I thought it would be fun to mess with you, but then I started liking you, so instead of telling you I decided to mess some more with you'? No, that's not how you reply to that. I swallowed hard. I don't know what to say.

"I'll be leaving now" Eli said, turning around.

"No" I said. Say something.

"Ok, look. I know I haven't been the nicest person towards you, but..but you don't treat girls the way you should ether!" I regretted saying that as soon as the words left my lips. Eli turned around, facing me.

"Wow" he said "Being shallow much?"

"How am I the shallow one?"

"Judging me like that!"

"It's true though!" I said. Our voices getting angrier as we spoke.

"I used to do that, yes! But that's in the past!"

"What?" I couldn't believe him "You're out with that blonde chick right now!"

"She's a family friend!"

"Fine, maybe she is, but how about the other girls?"

"What girls?"

"Don't act stupid. I've only been here a couple of weeks, and I've seen you with almost 5 girls already!"

"That's not the same. I don't feel anything toward them"

"So? That doesn't give you the right to treat them like that"

"But-"

"No buts. This is exactly what I'm talking about! You get mad at me for making you think I like you. You feel stupid and used. That's how you make all these girls feel Eli!"

"So you just wanted to teach me a lesson?" His voice cracked at the end.

"Yes" But then I got feelings for you. I wanted to say it, but something made me keep it from him. He looked away, biting his lip.

"This is exactly why.." He mumbled, and I missed the last part.

"What? Exactly why.. what?" He looked at me.

"None of your business" He said. I could hear the sadness in his voice. "It's nobody's business. It's my own shit to bear" He said, his voice cracking again. I looked at him comfused.

"Eli-" I got interrupted.

"Bye Clare. Don't worry. I wont be bothering you anymore. Go have fun with Pete. Try not to make him feel like shit" He walked away, and I was left with a lump in my throat.

I went back to Pete. Trust me when I say Eli's not the only one feeling like shit. I was supposed to make him ask me out again, not make him hate me. Great work Clare. I sat down in my seat and noticed something. Pete wasn't sitting alone. Adam was here too.

"Adam" I sad surprised "what are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, studying" I smiled at him

"At the mall?"

"You're so stupid Clare. I'm here to have some fun. Like everybody else" He smiled.

"Yeah, but why here here? You know Pete?"

"Oh, yeah, I met him yesterday"

"Adam's a cool guy. You know him?" Pete said.

"Yeah, not for long though"

"So what's up?" Adam asked.

"The sky" I answered dully.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"What? Nothing's wrong" I said, avoiding Adams eyes. Even though I've only known him for a short amount of time, I've realized that he can see straight through me. He can read everybody like open books.

"Yeah sure, and the sky is red" I rolled my eyes.

"I don't wanna talk about it" I said glancing at Pete. Adam seemed to get the clue.

"Hey, Pete, can you go gram me something to eat?"

"Yeah sure" He smiled "What do you want?"

"Number 3 combined with number 7. Except I don't want the majo, and be sure to have all the green stuff on top, not in the middle" He said fast.

"Umm, ok?" Pete said laughing as he got up to get Adam's order.

"Eww, are you gonna eat that?" I asked him.

"Yeah, why not?" He shrugged. "Now, talk." I looked at his serious face. It didn't take long before I gave in.

"It's Eli!"

"What did he do to you?" Adam asked.

"Nothing. Or, I don't know! He hates me?"

"Really?" Adam asked raising his eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"What?"

"If he hates you, you must have done some serious stuff. He doesn't usually hate on girls"

"How do you know that?"

"I've known him my entire life! His my best friend" My eyes widened.

"Really? I haven't seen you with him at school"

"We mostly hang out at home. We're neighbors" Adam shrugged.

"Oh" I said.

"So, what happened?"

"He was mad 'couse I 'played with his feelings'. But then I got mad and told him that he treats girls like shit and that he deserved it"

"Ouch" Adam said "That's harsh Clare"

"Yeah, but he does!"

"He has a reason Clare. I'm not saying he has the right to act like he does, but he has his reason" Adam explained calmly.

"What? What kind of reason?"

"I can't tell you that" he smiled weakly "but trust me, what you said, I think it hit him hard. It's a sensitive subject for him" I looked at Adam. Trying to make him continue. He didn't.

"He seemed pretty upset" I said.

"Doesn't surprise me"

"Do you think he'll talk to me again?" I asked looking down at my hands.

"You care about him" Adam said.

"What?"

"You care about Eli" He smiled knwingly.

"No, I'm just wondering!"

"Defensive" He winked at me.

"Adam" I wined.

"Fine, I'll leave it for now" He chuckled "To answer your question, I don't know" I sighted. "He probably will Clare. I'll talk to him tonight and see what's going on in his head" He smiled at me.

"Thank you" I said, smiling. As on clue, Pete showed up.

"They argued a lot with me, thinking I was crazy, but here's your weird food" he said, laying Adams food in front of him.

"Awesome!" Adam said, digging in. I chuckled at him. Then Eli entered my mind, and I felt sad. Maybe I'd stuck my nose in business that wasn't meant for me?

A/N: I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow, so I won't be able to update for a bit more than week! But I'll update the next chapter as soon as I get home, and have around 150 reviews? ;) si? Have a great week everybody! DEGRASSI'S RETURNING!

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