DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi or anything else.

This one isn't quite up to my usual standards, but here you go anyway. Hope you enjoy it!

Twitter: themusiksnob

"The part where they cut the guy's head off with the machete was sick." Adam was practically jumping with excitement as we left Clown Academy 9. "His finger kept waving and the blood was spewing everywhere, it was awesome."

"Uh huh. Next time, I pick the movie," I said. I wasn't really into absurd blockbuster movies but when I made Adam see Black Swan last week, he only enjoyed the sex scenes, so I told him I'd see whatever he wanted.

"Great, another boring, pretentious art film."

"Maybe we should stick to video games on guys' night," I said. "Clare loves pretentious art films and you can bring your brother to Clown Academy 10."

"Sounds like a plan," Adam said.

We made it out to the lobby and I pulled out my phone to turn the ringer back on and check if Clare had called. There was a missed call and a text from my mother.

I need you to stop on the way home and buy me tampons. Your dad took my car and I can't find his keys. EMERGENCY!

"Seriously, Mom?" I muttered. "We need to stop at the pharmacy." I held out my phone to Adam and he shuddered as he read the text.

"You're on your own, man," he said, taking a step back as if he were going to run off in the other direction.

"Dude, I need your help. You're a little more experienced than I am in this area."

"And that's exactly why I'll be waiting for you at Gamestop." He took off and I walked over to the pharmacy and found the right aisle.

There were like ten different brands and six different options for each one and I had no clue what to get. "Dammit, Adam." My parents had their own bathroom so none of the boxes looked familiar. I pulled out my phone to text my mom for more info when I heard a familiar voice.

"Over here."

I practically jumped out of my skin when I heard someone who sounded exactly like Alli. I knew she was hanging out with Clare tonight and while I wasn't the kind of guy who was too embarrassed to buy tampons for his mother, it was still kind of weird. I didn't see them so I figured I had just misheard.

I heard another familiar voice hissing, "Keep your voice down."

Okay, that was definitely Clare. They must be in the next aisle over. I put the box I was looking back on the shelf and started walking around until I realized exactly what section of the pharmacy they must be standing in.

No way.

If I remembered correctly, the next aisle over, directly behind the tampons was the family planning section. And I was certain I was remembering correctly, since I had made a trip there myself just two weeks ago. Clare and I hadn't had sex yet, but we kept getting closer to it, and I wanted to make sure I had some condoms on hand just in case.

She's not… Maybe Alli got back together with Drew or something. There's no way she's thinking about…

"I didn't realize there were so many kinds," Clare said, and I stifled a laugh. If this situation wasn't so odd, I'd walk up to them and ask Clare to pick up some tampons, and I'd pick out the condoms.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else. I don't want anyone from school to see us," she said.

"Well, if you had given me a little more notice, we could have taken the bus across town to do this," Alli said.

"Well, I didn't know my grandma was going to get sick this weekend."

I raised my eyebrows. This weekend? Like tomorrow night? I felt like doing a little jig of happiness but I didn't want to call any extra attention to myself.

Alli sighed so loudly I could hear her in the next aisle. "What?" Clare asked.

"I'm just worried you're rushing into something you're not ready for just because your parents aren't going to be home."

I craned my neck to make sure I could hear Clare's response. "I've been thinking about it for a while. I just want to be prepared. If I'm not 100% certain tomorrow, I won't do it."

Okay, so it's not guaranteed. I can wait. It's no problem. Considering I expected to have to wait until we were in our mid-twenties, waiting a few weeks or months would be a piece of cake.

"Do you remember what kind you used with Johnny?" I raised my eyebrows. I didn't know Alli wasn't a virgin and I had no idea who Johnny was.

"We used whatever Bruce threw at us. I don't remember." What the fuck? I made a mental note to somehow get Clare to tell me this story.

"What is taking so long?" I saw Adam coming towards me, and I moved my finger up to my lips and shushed him. He grabbed a box off the shelf and handed it to me. "Just get these."

"Just shut up," I whispered, and pointed to the next aisle. He gave me a confused look.

"All I know is you should definitely get lubricated ones and I hear the ribbed ones are good too," Alli's voice rang out loud and clear and Adam's eyebrows practically shot off his face.

"Clare?" he mouthed and I nodded.

"Have you even seen his you-know-what yet? Do we need to get the king sized condoms?"

"Alli!" Clare shrieked and I cringed that this is what they were discussing now that Adam was listening in with me.

"He's pretty short so he's probably not that big, but he does have those freakishly long fingers," Alli said.

"We can get the regular ones," Clare said and Adam smirked at me. "From what I can tell, he's average or maybe a little above average."

I rolled my eyes at Adam. A disadvantage to having a transgendered best friend is that I couldn't really make jokes with him about penis size since that was just cruel.

"So you have seen it?" Alli exclaimed.

I guess Clare must have nodded because I didn't hear her respond but the two of them burst into giggles and Adam patted me on the back.

"We should go before they catch us," I hissed to Adam. We walked to the front of the store when I remembered the tampons that were in my hand.

"Crap, I need to pay for these." I got on line and Adam went outside the store so he wouldn't be associated with me.

Of course the woman in front of me was having some sort of trouble with a coupon she wanted to use and only one register was open. I kept glancing back to see if Clare and Alli had made their selection and were planning to pay, but I didn't see them.

The woman got angry and stormed out of the store, and the cashier gave me an apologetic look. "I just need the manager to void this transaction."

I heard a gasp behind me. "Eli!"

I whirled around and I made the mistake of looking directly into Clare's hands instead of her eyes. She thrust the box behind her back and started to back away from me. I grabbed onto her arm. "Clare, it's okay."

Her face fell, but I tugged on her arm until she brought the box around and I could grab it. I placed it on the counter and opened up my wallet, as I waited for the cashier.

"Why are you buying tampons?" Clare asked with an amused look on her face. Alli giggled, and I shot her a dirty look. She laughed and left the store.

"I'm pretty sure what you're buying beats me in the unexpected purchases category." Clare turned purple and turned to follow Alli out of the store. "Clare! I was kidding."

Crap. The manager finally unlocked the register and I paid and hustled after them as fast as I could. Fortunately, there were right outside the door, sitting on a bench with Adam, Clare covering her face with her hands.

I sat down next to her and put my arm around here. "How did you get here?"

Clare didn't respond, so Alli did. "We took the bus."

I nudged Clare. "Come on, I'll give you guys a ride home."

Adam gave me a dirty look because he knew that meant he'd have to crawl into the back, but at least I had started cleaning out some of the stuff in the back so there was a lot more room.

I dropped off Alli and Adam and took Clare back to her house. She hadn't said a word the whole ride home.

Her mother's car wasn't there and the house was dark aside from the porch light so I guess her mother had already left for her grandmother's house. I pulled into the driveway and turned off Morty.

I unbuckled my seatbelt so I could turn to her. "Clare, will you talk to me?"

She was staring out the front window with her arms crossed over her chest. I couldn't tell what she was thinking at all.

"Okay." I couldn't take the silence any longer. "Let me tell you my side of this. I got out of the movie with Adam and I checked my phone and my mom texted me and asked me to buy her some tampons."

Clare snickered a little bit, and I grinned. I hoped that would break the tension between us.

"While I was there, trying to figure out what kind to get, I heard you and Alli in the next aisle." And that was all it took for her smile to drop off her face. "I almost went up to you, but I was curious so I waited to hear what you had to say."

I could practically feel her tensing up next to me. I reached for her hand and she grabbed onto me tightly. "I heard you tell Alli that you were thinking of sleeping with me."

I waited a second in case she wanted to jump in, but of course, she didn't. "I have to say, I was really happy to hear it. Even if you're not quite ready yet or you need more time, the fact that you're thinking about it…" I broke off, trying to figure out what to say to make her comfortable. "Well, I've been thinking about it for a long time, so it's nice to know I'm not the only one."

"You're not," she said simply.

She met my eyes for the first time and she blushed at my smile. "So what's the matter?"

"It's just embarrassing."

I laughed. "Clare, if we're going to do it, we need to be able to talk about it."

She squeezed my hand and looked at me like I was the only person in the world.

"I want you."

Her words hit me like a freight train and I couldn't stop myself from pulling her into my arms and kissing her. There was no hesitation, as she kissed me with a fire behind it I had yet to experience with her.

When she pulled back, she gasped for air as if she was going to pass out. "Should we take this inside?"

I jumped out of Morty as fast as I could and raced around to kiss her again. She giggled and pushed me away. "Not out here," she said as she dragged me by my shirt to the door.

"This from the girl who practically jumped me in the car ten minutes ago."

Clare was so flustered she was having trouble opening the door. She had just gotten it opened when my cell phone rang.

Ugh, not now. I pulled it out to check who is was. "Ah, fuck," I said.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I've got your stuff; I'll be home in a few minutes." She seemed extraordinarily pissed off and hung up on me.

Clare gave me an amused expression. "Um, my mom needs this, so I really have to go home now. Raincheck? Tomorrow night?"

She grabbed my hand. "Could you maybe drop that off and come back tonight?"

"I'll be back in 20 minutes." I grabbed the bag from her but then realized what else it contained. "You keep these. I'll be right back." I handed her the condoms and raced out the door.

As I put Morty in reverse, I saw Clare standing in the doorway, a smile on her face. I pulled onto the street and shook my head. I thought I was going to have to wait years but now twenty minutes seemed way too long.