Author's note: I'm sorry I keep taking so long. I hope you guys like this new chapter. It's different then anything else I've done so far. If you do read this: I'd really love some feedback.
As always, thanks to JustMe for taking the time to review. Chapter 7: Here. We. Go!
The drive to Clare's was quiet. Eli reached for the radio knob twice but stopped himself. I have a sneaking suspicion that Clare would prefer silence, he thought.
"It can't be that bad, can it Clare?" asked Adam. "They're still your parents. They still love you and I'm sure if you just tell them the whole truth there won't be any problems."
"They may be my parents and they may love me but I don't think that will stop them from yelling at me if they're mad enough about this." Clare frowned.
As Eli pulled into the Edwards driveway, the trio heard the loud crash of a chair being hurled through the front window of the house. Clare's eyes went wide. "M-maybe you guys should circle the block or something."
"And maybe we should call the cops for backup," suggested Adam. "It doesn't look welcoming enough for you to go in alone, Clare." Clare gave him a look. "What? Living in a house that could explode or implode at any given moment gives me the right to make comments like that."
"This isn't about you, Adam. Show some respect," suggested Eli.
Adam frowned. "I'm sorry Clare. Just trying to lighten the situation, in my own odd way. Honesty isn't always hurtful, right?" No response. "Right. Uhm...keep your head up. I'm sure everything will work itself out. No need to fret."
Clare knew that Adam might be right. Possibly on many counts. Her parents did have tempers when it came to the well-being of their kids but she didn't want to admit it because that would mean admitting that there might be something wrong with her family. Besides: her mother had explained why she was calling Clare and telling her to come home. I'll just tell her the truth before the Bhandari's get here and everything will be fine. She gulped as she got out of the car. She closed the door quietly and slowly walked towards her front door. Just as she was taking her house keys out of her bag, the front door was unlocked and her mother stood there glaring at her.
"Clare Diana Edwards get in this house immediately." She pointed into the house.
Clare – who had never received any sort of reprimand from her parents ever – looked completely crushed. She lowered her head as she walked past her mother's outstretched arm, not daring to look at Adam or Eli. Mrs. Edwards gave the boys an evil glare and then slammed the door.
"What do you want to do, Eli? Do we wait?" asked Adam, nervously.
Eli glared at the Edwards house. "If we sit here, her parents might call the cops on us out of spite. If we drive around the block, it'll be a bit less conspicuous when Clare calls us to pick her up." He put the car in reverse and stepped on the gas.
Adam spun in his seat, staring at Clare's house as it shrunk in the distance. He turned to face the front and frowned. "I hope she'll be alright in there." Eli nudged Adam. "What? I don't want her to get in trouble or anything."
"I don't either but there's not much we can do for her from inside my car. If she needs us: she'll call. Otherwise I guess we can go back to my place and figure out what we're going to do with ourselves for the next five days." Adam and Eli laughed. "Unless you have some sort of bright idea you'd like to share."
Adam stopped laughing and blushed slightly. "Well I have ideas but you wouldn't be interested..."
Eli arched an eyebrow and grinned. Adam – who looked more embarrassed than Eli had ever seen him – looked at the floor of the car and shut his mouth. Eli put his hand on Adam's shoulder. "Adam, relax. You can make off-hand comments, it's ok. Do I look like Fitz?" Adam looked up and opened his mouth to respond. "If you say yes, I will have to hit you." They both laughed. "Seriously though, I'm not going to bite your head off for speaking your mind or making a joke."
"I know but...I don't want to make you uncomfortable. You were uncomfortable, right? I mean you came back and didn't try to finish our conversation so I figured you weren't actually ok."
"What is this 'figuring me out' you speak of? Clearly: I am an enigma wrapped up in a riddle. And as for being ok...you're staying over at my house, we're sitting in a car together within close proximity of one another. If I wasn't ok with you do you think I would still be nice to you? Enough with the speculation. Just accept that nothing is wrong and let's move on, alright?" Eli asked. Adam nodded. "So since I don't feel like sitting around on the couch or attempting to do homework, I think we should drive around and go sit in a park."
"Won't your parents get worried and wonder where you are?" asked Adam.
"I drive a hearse." Eli deadpanned.
Adam opened his mouth and attempted to formulate a response but found himself smiling uncontrollably instead and completely incapable of saying anything.
"What are you smiling about? Asked Eli. When Adam still couldn't manage an answer, Eli rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Good idea? Bad idea? Mediocre idea? Help me out here, Adam, I can't read your mind."
Adam smiled. "Sounds fine to me."
"What do you mean you're making me change schools? I like Degrassi. I have friends there, I'm happy there. Doesn't that matter to you two?" Clare couldn't believe her ears. Could Alli really have gotten to them this badly? She wondered.
Clare, Darcy, Helen and Randall Edwards were all sitting in a circle on chairs in their dinning room. Mrs. Edwards sighed. "Clare, don't speak to your family like that. You brought this upon yourself, you know."
"Right. I intentionally got into a physical altercation with Alli so that we would both have some time off from school because I hate it there. And that was just the tip of the iceberg! The real goal was for my parents to be forced to blow money on therapy, a new wardrobe and a new school so that I can 'start over' and get a 'second chance' to 'get my life in order.' Apparently you two have decided that you know more about me than I do. Am I right or did I forget something?" Clare was fuming.
"Clare Bear you can't just jump to outrageous conclusions like that. Your mother and I have good reason for suggesting this life-changing proposition for you." Her dad shuffled his chair closer to hers to try to console her but she shrugged him off.
"So it's just meant to be a suggestion? It isn't mandatory?" her parents looked at one another and shrugged. "Well then why are you making it sound mandatory? I feel like you've already made up your minds and the only reason you're bothering to tell me is because it happens to be my life." Clare stopped speaking and looked at her feet.
"Clare it isn't just the fighting that's been bothering us. Besides, we're your parents. We know what's best for you." Mr. Edwards folded his hands in his lap.
Staring at her father with her infamous irate look wasn't getting her anywhere, so Clare decided to make a real statement: she stood up and knocked her chair backwards. "I think you all have more than enough of your own problems to work on that you don't need to bother trying to fix my non-existent ones."
Mrs. Edwards was getting impatient. "And you wonder why on earth we would think that Degrassi is not a good fit for you. Just look at you! You've never behaved this way in your life, Clare. Getting in fights, getting suspended. I wouldn't be surprised if we got a phone call telling us that you were flunking out on top of all this."
"Mother? Wake UP! I'm 15 years old. I don't need you to hold my hand, make my bed, choose my clothes, fix my hair or check up on my homework. I haven't needed you for ages. The only reason you thought I did was because you and dad decided that you didn't want to end up with another screw up for a daughter." Clare's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth.
Her parents were flabbergasted and utterly silent. They gawked at Clare with identical looks of horror plastered across their faces.
The only person in the room who seemed surprisingly unaffected by Clare's words was the intended venom-victim herself: Darcy. "Mom, Dad, it's fine. Her words don't bother me. We all know what's really going on here. Aren't you going to tell her what else we found out today? Or should I tell her for you?"
Clare gave Darcy a weird look. "What is she talking about? I thought this was about my suspension."
Darcy winked at Clare, the slightest hint of pity flickered in her eyes.
Clare frowned and looked at her parents and then Darcy. "I'm not going to shiver with anticipation if that's what you're waiting for." Clare's aggravation didn't motivate any of her family members to volunteer the information she was now vehemently seeking. "Would somebody please just tell me already?"
They found a park next to some water about ten minutes later. Eli put Morty into park and got out. "Nice sunset." He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to a nearby picnic table. He sat on the table part and waited for Adam to join him. Adam's hesitance was painted on his face and Eli felt bad. Trying his best to sound encouraging as opposed to annoyed, Eli said: "once again: not going to bite you."
Adam sighed and walked over to the table slowly. "Sorry." Adam sat down next to Eli and sighed. "The sky is a neat color, isn't it?"
"Neat? Adam I didn't know that word was in your vocabulary. Are you sure you're going to be ok?"
Trying his best not to get upset, Adam took a deep breath and frowned at Eli. "Why do you keep asking me that? Do you want me to not be ok? Do you want me to lie so you can make me feel better? I'm fine. I'm upset, annoyed, worried, confused...I'm a whole jumble of things right now. I'm not trying to take it out on you but there's only so many times you can ask me the same question and I'm going to respond nicely before I get frustrated and blow up at you."
Eli didn't know what to say. And then he thought about it. I suppose I would be annoyed if I kept being asked the same question over and over, but I don't know what else to do. He looks like a lost puppy dog that's been kicked too many times and won't stand up for himself. He opened his mouth to say something witty but one look from Adam told him that now really wasn't the time for humour.
"I appreciate you caring about me and allowing me to crash at your place for the time being, but my emotions really shouldn't be of any concern to you. There just isn't any point in both of us getting all worked up over my stupid issues. Besides: it isn't as though you could do anything to fix anything anyway.
"While I completely understand where you are coming from? I still think you should just relax. And hold the phone: am I not a master of my art? I'm the type of guy that can make happen things that you didn't even think of. You just have to tell me what's bothering you the most right now –
"Besides you, right?" Adam interjected.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." Eli continued, his feelings somewhat hurt. "Alright fine, what do you want me to say? Want me to say I'm sorry that I don't return your romantic feelings? Is that what's bothering you the most right now? If it is, tell me now and we'll resolve it once and for all."
This wasn't what Adam wanted. In fact, that comment wasn't even in the ballpark of the conversation that they were engaged in. "I've moved on from that already, Eli. That didn't bother me a few hours ago and it certainly isn't bothering me right now. Why can't you just leave things alone?"
Eli frowned and looked away. Now Adam was the one feeling bad. "Whatever, Adam."
That stung. Adam had recently found himself constantly hoping for alone-time with Eli, and here he was ruining it by being overly emotional. These retarded feelings definitely come from Gracie. He thought. Ok Eli, here's the truth: I don't know how to be around you now that you know how I feel. I thought speaking my mind would help but from my perspective it has just made things ten times worse. I still care about you deeply but maybe... "...we should stop seeing each other." Adam mumbled.
"What was that?" asked Eli.
"I think that...maybe we're not the best thing for each other. I'm all muddled up. For fear of making us sound like some kind of lame couple, I'm just going to say that I think the best thing for our friendship right now is for it to be put on the backburner. I think that the current state of our friendship is more of a strain and a pain than anything else and I don't want it to go down and out in a ball of flame. If we stop it now, maybe we can pick it up again once I've unmuddled myself." Adam turned away from Eli.
"You're allowed to be muddled up –
"Thanks for that." Adam interjected sarcastically.
Eli continued: "there's nothing wrong with being muddled up, Adam. I wish I could give you some sort of answer or make things clearer for you but until you give me details, all I can do is sit here and listen to you think. While I'm sure you haven't forgotten. I just want to reiterate the fact that I want to remain your friend no matter what. Just for fun, let's try not to bring up any controversial or negative topics for one whole day. Deal?"
Adam sighed and shook Eli's extended hand. "That's probably going to be harder then it sounds, but I'm willing to try if you are."
Eli smiled. "Do you want to be a little bit adventurous?" he asked grinning as he got to his feet.
"What do you mean adventurous?" Adam arched an eyebrow. Before he knew it, Eli was down to his boxers. Adam gasped.
"The water is perfectly good and I don't get any actual exercise in PE so I figure while we're here: why not?"
"You don't have to play innocent and dumb anymore Clare. Nobody here is mad at you; we just want to get you the help that you need. Oddly enough, one of the people included on that list is your friend Alli. She doesn't want to see you self-destruct anymore than we do." Darcy stood and walked around to be behind Clare. "All you have to do is tell the truth and we can help you fix this problem."
"Darcy I don't know what you're talking about. What problem?" Clare was bewildered and felt more alone now than ever.
"See mom? It's just like I told you: first she'll deny it, then we'll have to 'remind her' what she did, tell her we love her and we can't stand seeing her kill herself and then we'll all share a tearful goodbye as she promises to get help and come home clean."
Clare's jaw dropped. Mr. And Mrs. Edwards nodded. "Clare? Sweetie? The drugs. We found them in your desk."
"Drugs? I don't know what you're...you went through my stuff. You went through my stuff? How could you, mom? Don't you trust me?" Clare started to cry.
Mrs. Edwards looked at Mr. Edwards for support and he reluctantly placed his arm around Clare's shoulders. "Clare, we're mad but we still love you. We just want to get you the help you need so that you can get past this and become a stronger you."
"Dad you don't get it. Whatever you found: it isn't mine. I've never touched any kind of narcotic. Ask anyone I know!" Clare was getting worried. Why was this suddenly happening? Suddenly she got an idea. "What am I doing? Inhaling? Shooting up? Look," she rolled up her sleeves, "zero track marks. And my nose? No power. My eyes aren't red, I'm not going to the bathroom every five seconds and I have a healthy appetite. Have you found dirty needles stashed in the closet? No you haven't because I am not a drug addict."
Her mother looked at Darcy, who nodded. "Clare, Darcy warned us this would happen. We did a lot of research on people who are heroin addicts before you got home. We know there are other places you can inject yourself. We know there are other ways for the heroin to get in your body. We also know that addicts are good at hiding their tracks. By continuing your usual food regimen, nothing seems amiss. You can control your urges and cravings right now but they will catch up to you eventually and they will most probably be extremely overpowering. That's why we have to nip this in the bud now before it's too late."
"I cannot believe this. So because Darcy told you I do drugs, you just believe her?"
"There were a lot of signs, Clare. They didn't just take my word for it" said Darcy.
Clare looked at her parents, who nodded. "It's true Clare. The baggie wasn't the only indication that something has been off about you. And just because you've been caught doesn't mean that you can get angry and blame the bad things you've chosen to do in your life on your sister." Mrs. Edwards smiled weakly and put her hand out towards Clare's. Clare refused the gesture and Mrs. Edwards frowned.
"You get to throw chairs through windows, don't you?" Clare asked sarcastically.
"Clare do not be such a child. That was...for something entirely different. Don't forget that we are still your family. We still love and care for you."
That was the last straw. Clare moved quickly away from Darcy and out of the circle and then began pacing around the kitchen. Her parents and sister followed her. "I'm sure you already know what I'm going to say but I'm so frustrated right now that I don't mind being redundant: I would really like it if you all just left me alone."
Mr. Edwards shook his head. "We can't do that Clare. We want to help you and we're going to do it whether it takes all night or the next week."
Clare's pacing speed was beginning to increase. Think Clare, think. Where could this have come from? Why would they suddenly think you do heroin? What has changed in the past...she looked at her sister who was sitting on the kitchen counter staring at her nails.
She thought back to the conversation she and Darcy had had earlier in the day when they'd gone for lunch together.
"So do mom and dad know you're like...two or three days early?" Clare asked.
Darcy shook her head. "I got involved with some stuff I wasn't prepared for, so I took off early. It works out though because I was hoping to see you before I could surprise them."
Clare thought that answer was strange, but not as strange as the marks in the crook of Darcy's elbow. "Is your arm ok, Darc? It looks painful."
Darcy looked down at her exposed flesh and quickly pulled her sweater sleeves down. "It's only painful when I try to sleep. The sheets rub against it and it hurts. My skin never really got used to the dry Kenya weather I guess. But enough about me, what's new with you? I noticed you have a boyfriend. He's pretty cute."
Clare blushed. "Well actually I'm not dating either of those guys. They're just really good friends for now."
"For now, eh?" Darcy winked at the younger Edwards sister. "You're sounding more like me every minute. Well, not entirely like me I hope." She laughed.
Clare knitted her eyebrows together. What else did she say? She said something about...
"So was Kenya all sunshine and rainbows like you were expecting?"
Darcy's smile disappeared. "It wasn't what I was expecting at all. We...I don't really want to get into it, Clare, but there were a lot of bad people there. A lot."
Clare frowned. "So how come you didn't leave sooner? And why didn't you call home?"
"What were mom and dad going to do from all the way over here? If they knew...they'd hop the first flight over there and stir up a lot more trouble then I did. Trust me: I got out at a good time and I don't think anybody is going to follow me here." Darcy didn't sound entirely sure of herself but she smiled at Clare anyways. "I one-upped them, Clare. I have something they probably want and if they ever want to see it again: they'll have to leave me alone."
"I really wish you wouldn't be so cryptic and secretive. I'm your sister, Darc. I'm on your side. Don't you trust me?" Clare looked hurt.
"It's not that I don't trust you...you'd do anything for me, right?" Darcy asked. Clare nodded immediately. "No questions asked and no matter what?" Clare raised an eyebrow and nodded again. "When I need you, I'll let you know what's going on, I promise." Darcy looked back at her ice cream and picked up the spoon.
Clare looked at hers and suddenly didn't feel like finishing her cold treat. She desperately hoped that Darcy wasn't in over her head.
That was the answer: the drugs had to belong to Darcy. But Darcy had made it next to impossible for Clare to prove that to her parents. She watched her conniving sister become more and more fidgety. Two can play this game. If you think you're going to screw me out of the good life I've earned for myself: you're dead wrong, sister. Clare thought, grinning. She composed herself and walked calmly over to Darcy, who merely stared at her. "I find it really interesting that you two don't think anything is odd about Darcy's premature visit. Didn't it dawn on you that her being three days early might mean that something might be wrong? I guess not. Good parenting."
Clare lifted the back of her hand towards Darcy's forehead. "What are you doing Clare?" She batted Clare away. As she tried again, Darcy jumped off the counter. "She's really freaking me out, mom. Aren't you doing to do something?"
"Oh I'm so sorry. I'm freaking you out? Poor thing, now you know how it feels. Feel her forehead, mom. I'd be willing to bet that she's sweaty yet chilly at the same time."
"Clare, that just means she has a fever." Her mother arched an eyebrow, confused as to what Clare might be getting at.
That didn't seem to deter Clare at all. "Are you anxious, Darcy? Having trouble sleeping? Have you been vomiting, cramping and aching? Been feeling depressed recently?" The girls parents looked at Clare and then at Darcy.
"Darcy are you keeping something from us?" Mrs. Edwards asked.
For the first time since Clare got home: Darcy looked and felt extremely worried.
"You planned this, didn't you?" Asked Adam.
Eli frowned. "No, it was more of a spur-of-the-moment type of idea. Was it a bad one?"
Adam – while amused – didn't understand where this newfound spontaneity was coming from. He shook his head no to Eli's question and continued his train of though. Eli: conservative, withdrawn, quiet, introverted…it was hard to believe he so readily shed all his clothing and was trying to convince Adam to do the same (especially after what had happened between them earlier in the day).
Eli walked to the edge of the water and stuck his feet in one at a time. The water was slightly colder then he expected and he quickly regretted his decision to go swimming. One look at Adam told him that he was going to have to go through with it. He took a deep breath and ran in. Once he had submerged his entire body he came to the conclusion that the sudden change in temperature was slightly more refreshing than repulsing. "Adam! Get in here, the water is…not so bad." He called.
Adam laughed. "Do you think I'm completely dumb, Eli? I can see your lips turning blue from over here."
"Do you want me to answer that question honestly or do you want me to just arch an eyebrow and continue swimming." Eli laughed at his own comment. "Come on, don't leave me in here by myself." He didn't know what more he could say to convince Adam to join him. Luckily that last sentence seemed to do the trick. When Eli looked back at him Adam was down to a T-shirt and boxers. "If you wear your shirt in the water you're not going to have much in the way of warmth to put on when we get out."
Adam sighed. "Remember when I have the body of a female? I can't run wily nilly like you can."
Eli almost laughed but stifled it before Adam could notice. After Adam blurted out his deep dark secret, Eli pretty much forget he'd even mentioned it. "Look I'm sorry, I forgot. Keep your shirt on. I have a blanket in the back of my car that you can wrap around you for the ride home. I'd like to point out that: I've been in here by myself for 20 minutes by myself and you're still dry as a bone."
Rolling his eyes, Adam walked over to the water and got it quickly. He smiled. "It really isn't that bad once you're in."
"You know what else isn't that bad?" asked Eli as he swam over to Adam. "Me pushing your head underwater." Before Adam could react he was completely submerged. He was stunned at Eli's strength, although it didn't take much to make Adam's skin bruise. When he popped back up to the surface, Eli was grinning. "As we are both mature young adults, I'm sure you're not planning on trying to get me back."
"Oh of course not." Adam said sarcastically. He took one look at the water and a second later splashed as much of it in Eli's face as he could manage.
"Oh you're dead meat now." Eli swam menacingly towards Adam who ducked underwater.
This went on for about ten minutes.
"Alright alright, I give, I'm tired." Said Eli.
Adam did two quick whip kicks to put just a little more distance between himself and Eli. "Well that was entertaining."
"It certainly was girls. What's the matter with you two? Don't you have any concept of public indecency?"
Adam and Eli whipped their heads towards the shore and saw Fitz and Owen standing by the picnic table, gawking at them. "What do we do?" Asked Adam quietly.
"Move along kids: show's over. Wouldn't want mom and dad calling the cops and telling them that the two of you have gone missing now, would we?" said Eli.
"One of these days you are going to learn how to keep your mouth shut, Goldsworthy. In the mean time: this'll teach you to leave your clothes unattended." Owen said as he picked up Adam and Elis' clothes and threw them into the lake. "Hope you didn't leave anything valuable in your pockets." He and Fitz high fived and walked back towards their car.
Fitz looked at Morty, picked up a rock and threw it at the drivers' side window. "Shame about your car, Eli."
Eli splashed the water with his fists. "I'm going to kill them. I swear to whomever, one day: I am going to kill them."
"You are such a little shit!" Darcy screamed and threw a notebook in Clare's direction. She reached along the counter for a spatchula to chuck at Clare as well but her father grabbed her.
"Darcy calm down!" He roared in her ear as she tried to push off the counter with her feet to knock him off balance.
"NO!" Darcy's shrill voice echoed around the room. "What do you want Clare?"
A smug Clare walked up to Darcy and looked her right in the eye. "What I want is for you to tell them the truth. The drugs aren't mine."
"I don't have to say that." Darcy glared at Clare.
"I bet if I made a phone call you would be willing to say it." Clare's tone was threatening.
Darcy looked at her parents and took a deep breath. "The drugs aren't Clare's," she mumbled.
"Sorry, what was that big sister? I couldn't quite catch what it was that you were saying."
"Bite me" said Darcy in a low voice that she knew only Clare could hear.
"You can let go of her dad. I think we're all done here." Clare rubbed her hands against each other as though she was getting some imaginary dirt off of them. She turned to leave the kitchen. "Oh wait, no we're not." She turned to face her family again. "You all owe me a huge apology."
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards looked back and forth between their daughters and sighed in unison. "We're sorry Clare." They apologized accordingly.
"You are still in trouble, though" Mrs. Edwards reminded her.
"I think a three-day suspension for fighting is enough of a punishment, considering I thrive off of academics. How about we deal with the matter at hand, mother? Father? Why don't you ask Darcy where that baggie of heroin really came from?"
Clare and Mrs. Edwards walked towards Darcy. Mr. Edwards, who had let go of her, blocked the kitchen doorway from any kind of escape attempt. "What, do you want to hear me tell you that they're mine? They aren't. I was holding them for a friend from Kenya. They serve as a painkiller." Darcy knew the lie sounded pathetic, but the looks on her parents' faces told her that it actually sounded plausible to them. "He's flying here some time within the next week to take it back."
"How conveniently sweet of you to hold hard drugs for a supposed friend, Darcy. We're not buying what you're selling." Clare grinned at her sister as she crossed her arms.
"Darcy if this is true then why did you try to pin the blame on Clare? She didn't do anything to you." Mrs. Edwards sounded hurt that her daughters had become so unfeeling towards each other.
"I'm gonna be honest here, mom. I just wanted to see how far you two would take it if I planted the drugs and told you they were hers. I got pretty lucky when you got the call from the school about her suspension. I had no idea that you would fall for it so fast." She started to laugh. "Sorry, it's really not that funny. Only mildly. Any who, now that we've sorted this whole mess out and had a few good chuckles, I think we should move on to the actual issue of Clare being suspended and what you two are going to do about it."
The Edwards parents looked at each other and shrugged. "Clare is right. Three days off of school will make it tough for her to catch up. Besides, she sounds repentant. I don't think any further punishment is required. Now do you two think you can get along for an hour or two? Your dad and I have a dinner date we have to get ready for." Mrs. Edwards looked at her girls who nodded. "That's my girls. We'll be back around 8." With that, she and Mr. Edwards went upstairs to their bedroom.
"You have ten seconds to explain what your problem is." Clare lifted both hands with all ten fingers extended. "Ten. Nine…"
"Who says I'm going to tell you anything? You don't scare me, Clare. In fact, you make me laugh. Since when have you become Little Miss Tough Stuff, hmm? You certainly weren't like this when I left." Darcy crossed her arms and waited for an answer.
Clare opened her mouth but closed it just as quickly when she heard her parents coming down the stairs. "Bye girls!" They called as they shut the front door.
"So what happened? What did I miss?" Asked Darcy.
"I don't think you deserve an answer. You think you just get to come home and treat me like crap and then we can pretend like everything is fine and dandy? Forget it. Tell me why you're really here and why you really pinned your drugs on me and maybe I'll reciprocate."
Darcy shrugged and sighed. "I wasn't lying when I said I got into some stuff I couldn't handle. The drugs were just the tip of the iceberg and they are the least of my worries at the moment. When I realized nobody in Kenya could help me, I decided it was time to come home."
"Ok but what made you decide that ruining my life would be a good way to entertain yourself? I didn't do anything to you."
"Clare don't you get it? I had to find a way to cover up. I was looking for the pillow I gave you in your closet and then thought that it might be somewhere else in your room like on your bed. I got it from your bed and the drugs must've fallen out of my pocket. Then phone rang and dad got it. Principal Simpson told him about your suspension. Mom was cleaning upstairs when he yelled to her about it. She didn't respond right away though. About 10 minutes after the phone call, I could hear mom shrieking about a baggie she found in your room. That's when I decided to see how far it I could take it." Darcy laughed. "I really didn't mean any harm by it, Clare."
Clare scoffed. "That's great, Darc, but I don't think you understand what you just did. Mom and dad adore you, they worship you. They were totally devastated with everything that happened to you before you left and they thought Kenya would be a good way to start over. They were so excited about you coming home and now…" she trailed off.
"Now what? Why wouldn't they be excited anymore?"
"That's not the point! You are so selfish sometimes! Even though you admitted that it was a joke and the drugs aren't yours mom and dad won't get mad at you. You're the perfect child and I'm just their youngest who doubles as a scapegoat. They're so happy to have you back they'll do anything for you if it means keeping you around longer." Clare was starting to tear up. "Sometimes I really feel like they don't love me. Like they wish I wasn't around."
Darcy flipped her hair out of her face. "I don't know what you want me to say. I'm not going to say sorry for something I didn't do and I'm not going to leave because you want them to pay attention to you. If you want something done about this: do it yourself and leave me out of it."
"Look Eli, it's ok. Our clothes will dry, I'll help pay for the window, we'll sort this out no problem." Said Adam, smiling as he tried to put his hand on Eli's shoulder.
Eli shrugged him off. "It's not ok, Adam. They don't get to just keep getting away with this. One of these days I'm going to make them pay. I don't care if it gets me thrown in jail and kicked out of school. I am done with their bull-shit."
So that's the end of the chapter. Bit of a different spin from what I usually do. I hope you all enjoyed it. As always, please R&R and hopefully a new chapter will be up soon :)