Chapter 1

Damaged Goods

Clare's POV:

Clare Edwards had found that she was waking up to her alarm less and less these days. She was starting to debate whether she even needed it anymore, considering her parent's arguments were coming on like clockwork nowadays. Here it was, ten minutes before her alarm was even set to go off, and the rise of shouting voices was pounding through the house, waking Clare from her dreams.

Well, time to get up, she thinks to herself as she grudgingly pulls the covers back and flips her feet over the side of the mattress. She makes quick work of making her way to the bathroom, the voices briefly more pounding as she passes her parent's bedroom. However once she is inside of her bathroom, she quickly flips on the shower valve and the pounding of the water quickly drowns out all other noise in the house.

Was it sad that her shower was her favorite time of the day lately? It was just that it was the only time when every trouble could just disappear, even if only for a few minutes. It was just so cleansing, and not just in the literal sense. She could feel her problems rolling off of her chest and washing down the drain with the stream of water. She always made a point of dragging out her shower as long as possible. But it could never last before her brief bliss would be interrupted.

And of course there is a pounding on the door, soon followed by a voice from the other end. The strained and irritated voice of her mother… "Clare Edwards, you save some hot water for the rest of us."

Well, it was good while it lasted. She shut off the water with a sigh, stepping out and rapidly getting along with getting ready for her day. She spent the rest of her morning at home eating her oatmeal and listening to her parents exchanging snarky comments back and forth. They were never so forwards as to fight right in front of her, but it was as if they couldn't resist a bitter retort whenever they could slip one in.

The car ride to school with her mother really wasn't any better. It was tense, and silent except for the dull sounds of talk radio from her mother's favorite Christian station. No questions of how school was going, or about church fundraisers… just painstaking silence. The only words exchanged are the brief goodbyes as she steps out of the car.

Lord help me through this day, she silently prays as she hitches her backpack over her shoulder, hoping that today school would prove itself a solace from her home life rather than adding more unnecessary stress. However school was proving to be just as stressful as her house. Where would she have to go to find some peace in her life?

Eli's POV:

Another day at Degrassi, another adventure. Hopefully, at least. Eli couldn't stand another boring day of the same classes and the same happenings. His one beacon of shining hope was that Clare was very rarely absent, and it always seemed to brighten his day if he managed to annoy her at least once. His friendship with Clare was quickly becoming one of his more interesting interactions.

And of course as he sat there inside ole' Morty with Dead Hand blaring on the radio, he could see Clare getting out of her mom's car. A crooked smirk played at his lips as he pulled the key from the ignition and rushed to catch up with her as she walked through the front doors.

"Mornin' sunshine." He piped up with false buoyancy as he caught up with her. However it was easy to see that she wasn't feeling so sunny this morning.

"Morning, Eli." She replied with an entire lack of enthusiasm. She was obviously feeling pretty down this particular morning. It seemed to be like that a lot these days. He could only assume it had to do with her parents. But considering that as of late she has been opening up less and less about that, Eli really couldn't know how bad the situation was. All he could know was the affect it was having on Clare.

Up until they parted ways, their entire conversation was filled with lack luster fluff. Eli couldn't stand to have Clare like this, seeing as it took all of the fun of being his sarcastic and charming self. He knew he was going to have to do something to get her out of this rut. However his exact plans were a little unsure right now.

But Eli had no worries, he had the entire day of not paying attention through classes to figure out his exact plan of attack…

Better yet, why go to his classes at all? Eli could feel and idea striking him, but if he was going to pull it off he really couldn't do so from a classroom. Just before reaching his first class, he swerved his way back through the crowd and rushed his way back to Morty.

He would have to work fast if he was going to get back in time for lunch. Sure, he would probably just ditch back out after only to make it back in time for English with Clare. If he didn't want her catching on that something was up, he would at least make sure he was where he was everywhere that she was expecting him to be.

Okay everyone, so this is my first fan fiction on this site so any and all comments would be helpful! :)