Ch.3 Schedule Every Minute of Every Day to Keep the Ghosts Away

(DREW)

"So, what did Asher need you so early for?" I ask as I enter Betenkamp's classroom. Clare had texted to say she would meet me for lunch time tutoring Wednesday afternoon.

"Huh? Oh…uh just wanted me to…be at the meeting ," she answers slowly. I think she's lying, and she didn't exactly look okay this morning, despite telling us she was excited about the article. Adam didn't believe her and neither did I. "So, what are we working on today?" Clare questions looking at me and forcing a smile on her lips.

"This is what we went over in class," I tell her, sitting down and showing her my book. She starts looking it over while I get out my lunch. "Where's your lunch? I could have gotten you something," I comment.

"No, I'm not hungry, I already ate," she replies and points to my book as she starts to explain. She seems better than this morning, but still seems distracted or something. We work all through lunch; she helps me with math and physics. She also gives me stuff to work on later. "I'm going back to co-op after school, but if you have any questions on what I gave you, and Adam can't help, you can call me later tonight. Or we can go over it in the morning," Clare tells me as we begin walking to art class.

"Okay, thanks," I nod.

After art class I don't see Clare for the rest of the day. I have football after school and don't think about Clare until I'm home working on homework. I'm looking over what she gave me, thinking about her. Actually, she stays in the back of my mind all night long. Thursday we get to school early, I have football practice, Dallas is meeting with the Ice Hounds coach and Adam is meeting Eli at The Dot to talk about things for the play.

We let Adam out at The Dot and Dallas, and I go to school. Dallas is meeting with the Ice Hounds coach in the office he shares with Armstrong. Which is between the two locker rooms, so Dallas and I are walking together. We approach the Degrassi Daily office and I see movement, and when we get there I see Clare in there. She's moving like a hummingbird but doesn't seem to be working on the paper.

"Hey, do me a favor and tell Armstrong I'll be there in a minute," I say to Dallas.

He was on his phone but looks into the room to see Clare flitting around and he nods. I walk into the room and see Clare tacking index cards to the dry erase board for the paper. She has it sectioned off for each day of the week, only she doesn't seem to be putting up things for articles. Especially since Degrassi Daily isn't published on the weekend. No one else is here this early, she's alone and I'm not even sure how she got in the school.

"What is this?" I ask. Clare shrieks and jumps, whipping around with her hand over her chest. I feel bad for frightening her, but now I'm looking at her chest. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. When did you get here?" I question, stepping further into the room to look at the cards.

"About an hour ago, Miss Dawes let me in," she says, picking up a card. That would mean she got here about 6:30. Her voice is strained and she's very wired, her eyes a little blood shot. If I didn't know her like I do I would think she was on drugs.

"Okay, what are you doing?"

"I had some idle time to fill, this is my schedule," she replies.

I step up to the board to see that not only is every day of the week sectioned but it looks like nearly every day is scheduled out by the hour. It also looks like her schedule starts at four or five every single day, including weekends. She has things until one or two in the morning every day.

"That seems like an awful lot Clare," I remark looking just at what fills tomorrow.

"No, not really, a few dance classes, I've doubled my work on the paper, helping Eli with programs for the play, a couple classes at Centennial," she shrugs, continuing to put cards on the board.

"That's a lot, on top of school and co-op. Do I need to find a new tutor?" I inquire.

"What no, I'll still have plenty of time to tutor you, before school, after, at lunch weekends, see I have it scheduled," she says pointing to a card.

She has it every weekday at lunch, and then she has a few cards that seem to have multiple options. Seems to depend on what's available or what she hasn't done. One card under Saturday 3-4PM says: Tutor Drew or practice dance or homework for Centennial courses or extra credit project for Centennial courses. In other words if I'm not available or don't need tutoring then she has three other options to keep her busy during that hour.

"Clare yo…" I start but we're cut off by Dallas hollering.

"DREW COACH SAYS GET TO PRACTICE," Dallas yells from down the hall.

I look at Clare another few seconds but she's not even looking at me. Coach will have my ass if I'm much later so I leave and run to the locker room. I change and just before I close my locker I send a text to Adam that he needs to keep an eye on Clare.

"Laps Torres, you're late," Coach says as soon as I come out to the field. I run laps and then join the team.

"I saw Dallas when I went to change, what held you up?" Owen inquires when we stop to hydrate.

"Clare was here, she's acting weird. She's been acting weird for a couple of days now," I reply before drinking a lot of water.

"Weird how?" Owen questions.

"Wired, I'd think she was on drugs if I didn't know her so well."

"Are you sure she's not? Anya took coke last year, never thought she'd do that," Owen comments.

"OKay, valid, but despite sleeping with Anya, how well did you really know her? Can you really see straight-laced Clare taking drugs? Anyway, she seems…I don't know, not high, just wired, but like she hasn't slept…almost like she's scared of something or…" I pause. I really don't know what's going on but I am worried. Owen opens his mouth but Armstrong blows the whistle and we have to get back to practice.

(CLARE)

"There, done, not every minute is scheduled Drew I have time for slee…" I'm saying when I look around the room and see that Drew is gone. I wasn't even aware that he left, though I do remember Dallas hollering for him.

I've left myself about four hours for sleeping every night, it's the most I've managed so I was sure that was enough. Of course, I also put options down in case I can't sleep. I tried to make this schedule last night when I couldn't sleep, but doing it on a tiny phone calendar wasn't working. I needed to lay it all out and see it all. So I came to school early and put it all on the dry erase board. Now that it's all laid out and finalized I can get it into my phone. I do that and start taking the cards down and destroying them.

"You're here early," Adam's voice in the doorway startles me. I gasp and turn to him with a scowl on my face.

"What is it with you Torres boys scaring me this morning," I scold Adam. Eli is just behind him, they must have been together.

"I didn't see Jake's truck in the parking lot, when and how did you get here?" Adam questions.

"I walked, got here about an hour ago, little over that I guess," I shrug as I tear up the last of the cards.

"Clare, you shouldn't be walking alone so early in the morning," Eli chastises while giving me a disapproving look. "I could have picked you up," Eli says.

"We could have picked you up," Adam adds.

"Had things to do," I reply, turning away from the boys to get things into my backpack. I didn't sleep at all, not a wink all night, after a couple of showers and pacing my room for the 200th time I began filling my schedule. I'm not about to tell them that however. "I have to get to co-op, promised to be there early. I'm tutoring Drew at lunch, see you in fourth Adam. Talk to you later Eli," I say quickly trying to run from the room but Adam catches my arm.

"Have you eaten?" Adam asks while he and Eli look at me very closely.

"Yeah, went to The Dot first," I nod. I'm just not telling them that I got there right when it opened and only ordered coffee.

"Okay, but I'll take you to co-op, you aren't walking from the bus stop downtown so early," Adam says, still holding my arm. "I can be early for co-op too," he says.

I almost protest, but neither of them is going to let me get away with taking the bus and Jake probably won't be here for another half hour or 45 minutes. So I nod slowly. Adam takes my arm and Eli walks with us part way. He leaves us before we're at the front and Adam takes me out to Drew's car. He gets out his phone, probably to text Drew, and we begin driving.

"So, what did you need to get done so early?" Adam asks after we've been driving in silence a few minutes.

"Had a lot that needed to get done for the paper," I lie. I was in the newspaper room, it's about the only reason to be in there.

"It couldn't wait until the meeting?"

"No, it was for today's edition," I respond.

Adam doesn't look like he entirely believes me, but he doesn't speak again until he's pulling up to the building. "Should I pick you up?"

"No, I can take the bus back, I might be out with Asher on a story anyway," I tell him. I also have to swallow back the bile that rises in my throat when I say Asher's name.

"Okay, I'll see you back at school," Adam says. He's reluctant though, I can see how he doesn't want me to get out of the car.

"I'll see you in fourth, thanks for the ride Adam," I grin and get out of the car.

Adam stays where he is so I actually enter the building and walk toward the elevator. I turn around after a few steps and see that Adam is gone. I leave the building and walk to the bus stop. I'll take the bus back to Riverdale and hang out somewhere close to the school until I can return to school.

After Asher apologized and everything seemed fine I pushed the kiss to the back of my mind. We were both going to pretend it never happened. At least, I thought so. He had asked me to return that afternoon to work with him on an assignment and I agreed. I was even excited, and everything was going great, until he attacked me in his car.

I managed to get out, but I believe he fully intended on raping me. Just as I was leaving his car he caught my arm and told me I'd keep my mouth shut if I knew what was good for me. I didn't sleep a wink, I was up all night thinking about it, especially after he emailed me my time sheets an hour later. They were all filled out and signed, one for every week. The subject of the email was "No Need to Come Back" and he had nothing in the body. I felt like such an idiot for believing him and all I wanted to do was forget.

Easier said than done, even after a shower I could still think. I could remember everything about the kiss the night before, and about Asher assaulting me in his car. Somehow this all brought Adams back to my mind as well. He's still lurking around, though he hasn't approached me again.

I decided if I was busy, not just busy but so much so that I had no idle time, unless I managed to sleep, then I couldn't think. So, I started filling my schedule, every minute of it. I signed up for a couple classes at Centennial, one is online and just started, it still had open spots and I was able to get in. The other is on campus, it's been going for a couple weeks but I wrote to the teacher that I really wanted to take it and high school literature classes simply weren't enough. I sent her my transcripts and assured her that I'd have no problems catching up. I haven't heard back from her yet but I'm hoping she agrees.

As editor of the paper I assigned myself two new sections, I signed up for dance classes which I have every day except Thursdays. When that didn't seem like enough I emailed Eli and told him I'd do the programs for the play. I got everything scheduled out but if something falls through or it isn't enough there's always self-paced online courses I can take. As long as I'm not idle, being idle means I can think.

I thought about going to Asher's boss this morning, but it was a fleeting thought. It will be my word against his, he'll deny it all and they probably would have contacted the school or my parents. I believe I'm better off putting it behind me and not thinking about it.

I haven't slept and haven't eaten since yesterday, but I'm not hungry. I'm not even tired, not really sure what I am at this point. Surviving I guess. I left the house before Jake or my parents were awake. My mom would still think I was sleeping and I left a note on the washroom mirror for Jake that I went early to co-op and Asher was picking me up for a meeting. It almost made me sick writing the words, but I couldn't think of a better excuse. If I'd said Eli had picked me up Jake would have asked Eli at school.

I return to school just before lunch, a few minutes earlier than I would have from co-op but no one notices. I go to Betenkamp's classroom and when it empties at the bell I go in and wait for Drew. He comes in a few minutes later with his lunch, and when he sees I didn't bring lunch he gives me some of his. He even forces me to eat it, I do eat, picking at it slowly, but I'm just not that hungry. I could however use some more coffee. Drew watches me closely while I tutor him and all through art class, he even walks me to biology.

"How was co-op?" Adam asks when I walk in.

"Good," I answer, plastering a smile on my lips.

Adam gives me a look, I'm not sure he believes me. He doesn't press, but does walk me to the Degrassi Daily office after school. No one else is here so when Adam leaves I go to the caf and grab a caffeinated drink. I tell everyone about our two new sections and that I'm writing them. No one says anything, and everyone has their assignments so they leave or start working. I already have my new sections written so Liam and I start working on the layout.

"Okay, now that we have the layout I'm going to go home. I'll walk you out," Liam says when we're done and we're the only two in the Degrassi Daily office.

"That's okay, I'm going to get some more work done here," I reply.

"No Clare, you've done plenty for today, you still have homework, we're going home," Liam insists. He takes my arm, grabs my backpack and pulls me out of the room so I have no choice.

"Hey, you guys need a lift home?" Drew asks. He seems to be coming from the locker room so football practice must have ended recently.

"No, I live just down the street, but take Clare home," Liam says.

Liam releases my arm but then Drew puts his arm around my shoulders. Liam waves to us and Drew takes me to his car. He glances at me a few times on the short drive to my house but never says anything.

"Thanks for the ride Drew," I smile when he parks in front of my house.

"No problem Clare, get some rest," Drew replies.

I smile but I'm sure I won't sleep tonight, just as I didn't sleep last night. I don't tell Drew that though. I simply say I'll see him tomorrow and get out of the car.

(DREW)

"Gather up boys, I need a picture of the three of you in your suits," Mom says.

"Mom, didn't you get enough pictures?" I question while Dallas and Adam stand on either side of me.

It's Saturday and it's homecoming, being on the team I was in the parade earlier. I'm even in the running for homecoming king. The whole family came to watch me in the parade. Dallas was there and Adam dragged Clare along. She came back with us to get ready for the dance. Adam convinced her to go tonight, she'd been with us all day, not that I saw her while I was in the parade. Adam and I both wanted to keep an eye on her, she kept insisting she was fine, and that she was sleeping and eating. She didn't seem like it though, both Adam and I were sure that something was going on.

"Remind me why I'm going to this again Adam?" Clare says coming up the stairs dressed for the dance. She looks amazing, in a dark purple dress, it has thick straps at her shoulders, the neckline dips down just enough for a tantalizing peek at her cleavage. Her hair partially pinned up at one side, the dress goes to her knees and flares out a little so the skirt will sway as she walks. She wears simple black heels, they aren't very high, she's only a couple inches taller. She has light makeup, but her eyes are emphasized and she looks incredible. We let her take the basement to get ready, it wouldn't take us as long and the three of us could be in our washroom together.

"You're coming so that you can have a good time and dance with your friends," Adam replies.

"You four look just incredible, Clare you look beautiful. Get in there with the boys so I can get a picture with all of you. Clare get between Drew and Adam," Mom insists. Clare walks over getting between me and Adam. "Get a little closer, boys put your arms around Clare," Mom asserts. I slip an arm around Clare's waist while Adam puts one around her shoulders. Somewhat instinctively I pull her into me, holding her tight.

After Mom takes what feels like a million pictures she lets us leave. We all go out to my car, Clare is given the front seat and I drive us to the dance. Despite being on the court I didn't have a date. Dallas wanted to dance with all the single girls. Adam was of course going with Jenna, but they were meeting at the dance since she was coming with Alli and Dave.

We give our tickets and go inside, we see Alli, Dave and Jenna near the door. We greet them, Jenna greets Adam with a kiss. Dallas leaves us to find his team, the six of us sit down and Eli finds us. Bianca and K.C. are on the court, along with Julian and me. Katie and Marisol are the other girls on the court. Knowing my luck I'll get elected King but Marisol or Katie will be elected queen and I won't want to dance with them.

Eli leaves the table just before a slow song comes on, almost like he knew. Dave takes Alli to dance. Adam does the same with Jenna. I hold my hand out to Clare, she smiles and takes my hand and I lead her to the dance floor. I put my arms around her waist and she links her hands at the back of my neck as we sway back and forth. We return to our table when the song is over, but the others stay on the dance floor. In the next couple of hours I dance with a few other girls. Clare dances with Dallas, Fitz, Adam and even Connor.

"Could we please have the homecoming court on the stage?" Fiona asks and the lights go up a little. We make our way through the crowd and gather on the stage. I look for Clare, she's standing behind Jake, hardly visible from where I am. "Your homecoming king…K.C. Guthrie, and your queen…Bianca DeSousa."

Everyone cheers, well Katie and Marisol pout. We all look at K.C. and Bianca as they get crowned. They go down the stairs to lead the spotlight dance, Julian and I go into the crowd to find girls to dance with because we don't want to dance with Katie or Marisol. I look for Clare but she seems to have vanished. When I can't find anyone to dance with Katie traps me and I end up dancing with her anyway. I take her hand and barely touch her waist dancing at arm's length.

"I've missed you Drew," she says when the song is almost over.

"I haven't missed you, we never should have been together in the first place. It was by far one of my weakest moments."

Katie's face scrunches in anger and then she slaps me hard. Everyone looks over, a few laugh, I'm just glad not to be dancing with her any longer. I go to the refreshments and get some water, I'm hoping to see Clare, but I don't. She's not sitting at the table either, actually, I don't see her purse anymore.

"What was that about?" Eli asks. Adam, Dave, Alli, Jenna, Owen and Dallas are all just behind him. I guess they all want to know what that was about.

"Basically, she wanted to get back together and I said no. So, she slapped me," I shrug.

"That bitch is nuts," Owen rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, if I hadn't been in the place I was in I wouldn't have been with her. Have you guys seen Clare?" I question.

"She was talking with Jake before the homecoming court," Adam says looking around.

"Her purse is gone," I point out.

"Washroom," Alli and Jenna say at the same time and then giggle.

"We'll go check," Alli comments.

"We'll check outside, maybe she just wanted some air," Eli offers. Adam nods and they walk towards the exit.

"Dude, you're way too worried, she's not your date," Dallas remarks.

"Alli and Jenna are right, she probably went to the washroom," Owen says.

"That's what I'm saying, let's go dance," Dallas says, smacking Owen's arm.

"Let's circle the dance floor, maybe she's dancing with Fitz or someone again," Dave remarks.

I nod and we split up to look over the dance floor, we go all over meeting back at the table. Adam and Eli return and tell us they didn't see her outside. Alli and Jenna return and say they checked every single washroom. Now we're all worried so Adam calls her.

"Where are you?" Adam asks. Whatever her answer he twists his face at it. "You should have said something Clare, one of us would have taken you home," Adam scolds her. Well we know she went home at least. "Okay, I'll call you tomorrow, get some rest," Adam says hanging up. "She wasn't feeling well and she walked home," he informs us.

"Let's go enjoy what's left of the dance. We can censure Clare tomorrow for walking home alone," Eli says.

I nod, but I have this bad almost foreboding feeling. It's a fast song, Adam takes my arm pulling me to dance with them. We dance as a group to a couple of fast songs, but when the slow one begins Eli and I go to the refreshments table. We get some water, chatting a few minutes and then Eli goes off to use the washroom.

"Hey Drew," Fitz calls, coming over to me. "Just got a text from an old buddy at the ravine, he says Clare is there and she's drunk," Fitz tells me.

"Fuck, she told Adam she walked home because she wasn't feeling well. I don't want to worry Adam," I remark looking around for Jake but I don't see him. "I don't see Jake and I don't want to wait, can you get me there?"

"Yeah, come on," Fitz nods, and I follow him out of the dance.

You're not really supposed to leave the dance but they let us out to get to the washrooms and we can get outside. I follow Fitz through the football field and a hole in the fence to the ravine. I've been here once, with Bianca, but I was on shrooms and we had come from the other direction. When we're close enough I can hear the crackling of the bonfire and the low mumbling of voices. I hear a voice rise above them all, but that could be because I hear Clare's name and my ears perk up.

"Clare, stay out here with me," a male voice is saying. I don't recognize the voice, it's half demanding, half pleading.

"Shut up dude she wants to go to the van with us," some other guy says. He's demanding, and his voice is dripping with just enough lust that I'm going to punch him. Fitz and I look at each other and start running the short distance we come through the trees as the first boy is talking, clearly trying to pull Clare back to him. Guy number two is trying to pull her into the van.

"She's drunk, she doesn't know what the fuck she wants," the first boy says. He's tall and lean with a square jaw, dark hair and eyes. He obviously knows Clare and seems fairly worried. I have a feeling he's the friend that alerted Fitz to the fact that Clare was at the ravine drinking.

Clare's in the middle of the tug-of-war, the one boy trying to keep her out of the dirty van. The other boy, shorter, but bulkier with light blonde hair and light eyes is trying to pull her into the van. Another boy standing behind the light haired one, this one with dark red hair and dark green eyes has a grip on Clare's dress and is also trying to get her into the van. Clare is giggling, her eyes glossy, she's completely drunk and seems to find the whole thing amusing. This isn't like her at all, normally she'd be kicking the two trying to get her in the van and calling them pigs or something.

Fitz and I run over, I go after the one that has a grip on her dress. I kick the back of his leg and when he turns to look at me I punch his face. He falls and releases her dress, meanwhile Fitz has punched the other one. So hard that the boy fell back into the van, he glares at Fitz and starts to get up. The dark haired boy that was trying to keep Clare out of the van has pulled her away and is holding her upright.

"Stay the fuck down Jonas," Fitz growls menacingly as he clenches his fists. "You move and I'll break your arm."

Jonas eyes Fitz, his eyes narrowed, for a moment he seems to be debating if he should risk it. He then looks at me and the dark haired boy currently holding Clare, back at Fitz, who looks incredibly menacing right now, and he gives up. He crawls into the van and shuts the door.

"Youuuuu always wanted me in your armssss Reeeesssse," Clare giggles. Well, now I know his name. She's so drunk she's dragging out and hissing most of her words, but I gathered Reese was his name. She tries to bat her eyelashes and reaches up like she's going to caress Reese and then she goes unconscious.

"Whoa," Reese exclaims, struggling to hold her up as she becomes dead weight. I rush over, grab her and haul her into my arms.

"She can't go home like this, even if we find Jake to take her Helen would hit the roof! We can't take her to our place either. Mom will hit the roof and then call Clare's mom who'll hit the roof," I remark.

"I'll take her to my apartment, she can sleep in my room and I'll sleep on the sofa. B and I have had plenty of experience dealing with drunk people. I was leaving soon anyway since I have work in the morning. Bianca can look after her tomorrow and K.C. may come over," Fitz offers. He and Bianca were able to move out of their homes and get a small two bedroom apartment together over the summer. My parents even helped, agreeing that it was better for both of them to be away from their homes.

"Yeah, thanks Fitz, I'll tell Jake where she is and he can cover for her. Pretty sure Alli and Jenna will cover if he tells Clare's mom she went to one of their houses," I nod. I want to watch her and make sure she's okay, but we can't take her to my house. I doubt I'll be able to spend the night at Fitz's and if I go Adam will want to know why.

"You need help getting her in? I only live a couple buildings from you, I can walk from your place," Reese offers.

"Yeah, probably a good idea, thanks Reese," Fitz nods and then looks at me. "Drew this is Reese, Reese this is Drew Torres. He and his brother Adam came last year. Thanks for the call Reese."

"No problem, good to meet you Drew," Reese nods.

"You too, I'll get Clare to your car and go into the dance to find Jake," I comment.

We all walk to Fitz's car, he only has a two-door so he puts the passenger seat back as far as it will go and Reese helps me get Clare in and buckled. She makes a few noises but she's entirely dead to the world. I wave to them and head back into the dance. It takes me a few minutes to find Jake and I have to pull him out to the hall so we can talk without being overheard.

"Clare was drinking in the ravine, Fitz's buddy warned him and he told me. He and Reese, the guy that told Fitz Clare was drinking, took her to Fitz's apartment. She'll stay the night there, we knew she couldn't go home drunk."

"Thanks, I'll tell Helen she's sleeping at Alli's," he says. He looks at least as worried as I feel.

We return to the dance, but neither of us is much in the mood for the dance any longer. Jake sits at the table with me before deciding to go home. I would go home too except I'm Dallas and Adam's ride home. I sit at the table on my phone until it's time to leave.

The whole way home I'm thinking about Clare, wondering why she left the dance and why she was drinking. I barely sleep because I lie awake worried over Clare. I know something is wrong, but she insists to everyone that everything is fine. When I do it's filled with disturbing dreams about Clare. I'm woken from one of the disturbing dreams by my phone ringing. I groan and reach for it, Bianca is calling and it's barely eight on a Sunday morning, this can't be good.

"B?" I yawn, hardly able to get the one letter to come from my tired brain.

"Clare's gone," she says, and her voice is just slightly oscillating with worry.

"What?" I question sitting up and entirely awake now.

"When I got home last night Fitz was watching TV with Reese and they told me everything. Clare was totally passed out, we both figured she'd stay that way for twelve or so hours. Unless she woke up vomiting and hungover, in which case she'd likely want to sleep most of the day. Fitz was out at five, he told me he was leaving, and Clare was still sound asleep in his room. I got up a little after six to use the washroom and Clare was still out. I just went to check on her and she's just vanished. I didn't even hear her leave Drew," Bianca says. Her voice picking up more of a panic the more she talks.

"Okay, relax she probably woke up and walked home. I'll call her," I tell Bianca.

"Okay, let me know please. I should have come out to the living room when Fitz left a…"

"Bianca, relax I'm sure she's fine. I'll call Clare and call you back." I hang up with Bianca and call Clare, I call her three times and she doesn't answer. I give up and call Jake, waking him up. "Jake it's Drew, is Clare home?"

"I don't think so, hang on," he yawns. I hear him getting up and opening his door. I hear him knocking softly on a door. He waits a moment, and it creaks open. "No, Clare isn't here, her bed hasn't been slept in. Our parents are home though, what's going on? I thought she was sleeping at Fitz's," Jake says going back into his room and closing the door.

"She did, she left early this morning and she's not answering her phone. She might be walking home," I reply. I'm really hoping that's what's going on.

"Helen and Dad should be leaving soon, if she's not home soon after they leave, I'll go looking for her. I'll try calling her too, she'll answer if she thinks I'm trying to get a hold of her because of her mom."

"Good, let me know if she comes home," I request.

"Yeah, will do," Jake says and we hang up.

After hanging up with Jake I text Clare about a half dozen times. I try calling her another half dozen times. I'm about ready to get in my car and start looking when I finally hear from her just before nine.

Clare: Sorry, phone died. Had to let it charge. At dance class I'm fine. I called Jake.

I'm still convinced something is wrong, but she says she's okay. Jake even texts to say he heard from her. So, hoping that she is okay and at dance class I call Bianca.

"I was just about to call you. Fitz called, Clare showed up at The Dot, he gave her some coffee and let her borrow his phone charger. He used his break to take her to dance class. Said she was a bit hungover and tired but otherwise seemed okay. He tried to convince her to go home but she was absolutely insistent on going to dance class," Bianca tells me.

"Yeah, she texted me. Thanks Bianca, talk to you later."

I hang up with Bianca feeling somewhat better. I know she's at dance class now and given her recent behavior it does make sense that she would insist on going to dance instead of going home. I'm awake now and go downstairs to get some coffee. While I feel better about where Clare is right now, I still want to know why Clare was drinking last night.