I don't own Degrassi.
Comfortable in her cushion of blankets young Clare Diane Edwards opened up her chapter book and read the first words out loud to her stuff animal audience. All one could see is auburn hair surrounded by fluffy inanimate objects.
"Little Mary picked up every yellow daisy she could get her stubby little hands on."
Clare silently applauded herself with finally arriving to chapter three. For her six and a half years of life, it was an accomplishment. Her mommy would be so proud of her.
Then a loud slam came and Clare jumped in surprise.
Darcy Edwards stomped into their adjoined room and her angry face softened as she saw her kid sister. Darcy had just entered her first public school, Degrassi Junior High to be exact. Let's just say it was different than her all girl's Catholic Elementary School.
"Hey Clare-bear. Reading to the crowd again?" Darcy asked as she sat in her black computer chair, getting several books out of her Hollister backpack.
"Yup! I think Boogie likes the new book!" Clare chimed in glee as she nodded her head in the direction of a blue teddy bear.
Darcy nodded in agreement, "I'm sure he does. How about Peanut-cup?" she asked as she held a little penguin with a red bowtie.
Clare's small button nose wrinkled, "Oh no, Peanut-cup only likes my Scooby Doo books." Clare told her older sister wisely, shaking her head for emphasis.
"Ohh really? I didn't know that." Darcy humored her baby sister.
"Yeah he real de-desect-iv!" Clare exclaimed her little girl tongue mispronouncing detective. Her head stirred with each attempt of saying the world.
Darcy laughed like bell chimes, "He sure is."
As Clare put her stuff animals where they belonged and her book back on her two foot bookshelf she asked, "School?"
Darcy let out a sigh of relief, "FINALLY! Someone who asks how I am! Well first of all my teachers are real stinky poos-"
Clare giggled. Hey, Darcy may be complaining about her life, but she knew the boundaries of talking about it with her six year old sister.
"-they all gave us homework on our first day of school!" Darcy waved her hands to show how strongly she indeed felt, "But I did meet some cool people. Like this girl Manny, she's nice enough, a bit of a drama queen though. And her boyfriend Gavin, though he likes to be called Spinner, is so cute!" Darcy squealed as she giggled into her hand, "But this other guy, Peter, is even cuter!"
"What's a boyfriend?" naïve Clare asked her eleven year old sister.
Darcy quickly face palmed herself. Okay, so maybe she wasn't as slick with her words as she thought…
"A uh, boyfriend is a-uhm," Darcy scratched her head nervously, trying to piece a lie together, "a…really good friend…WHO'S A BOY! That…you like to be with…? You have…stuff you both like and, he holds your hand, makes you feel special…" Darcy snapped out of her love spur of thoughts, "yeah…that…"
"Really?" Clare innocently asked as she stepped closer to Darcy holding Boogie.
"Yeah…Clare just ask one of your little friends, kay?" Darcy told her before swiveling to her desk and getting started on her homework.
"Okay so Mesopotamia…"
Clare overly exaggeratedly huffed in annoyance of being ignored.
She silently stuck her tongue out at her older sister, who promptly ignored her.
Sighing, Clare put her beloved teddy bear on her twin bed, plucked her book back, and made her way to her bedroom door. Making sure to not make any noise Clare snuck into her kitchen to snatch a freshly baked chocolate cupcake. Protecting it with her dear little girl life, Clare pranced to her neighbor shared backyard.
For as long as she could remember, their yard had been like that. A year ago curiosity got the best of her and she asked her father why. He explained to her that their neighbor had some strange accident with a lawn mower and a flame thrower…or was it a miniature rocket? Whatever it was she was still too young to question the insanity of it all. She nodded to her daddy as thanks.
She skipped to the big oak tree that she loved and sat in the cool shade, putting her thick yellow powdered book beside her. Admiring the chocolate cupcake with bright pink frosting, she licked her lips. Smiling, she opened up her awaiting mouth to meet sweet chocolaty goodness, only for her ears to pick up a faint, "Blue Eyes!"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Eli."
"I'm-" but the girl couldn't finish her sentence because she tripped on her own two feet, bring big fat tears to her blue eyes.
'Eli' chuckled, "Pretty eyes shouldn't cry, that's what my mommy tells me. You eyes are too blue and pretty to cry."
The little girl's face leaked red, "Since you no say you're name, you're Blue Eyes!" the little boy cheered as he helped her up.
"B-but my name's Clare!"
The boy only shrugged.
"Hi Eli!" the girl cheered as she watched a boy around her age approach her, his dark brown shaggy hair getting into his eyes.
For nine years the Edwards family and the Goldsworthys had been neighbors. The Edwards family consisted of Randal and Helen Edwards, their eleven year old daughter Darcy, and their six year old daughter Clare. The Goldswothys consisted of Bullfrog and CeCe Goldsworthy, little seven year old Elijah, and a wild fish named Morty. They neighbors had great differences but hey, they didn't kill each other at least!
"Watcha got there?" Eli asked her as he sat down next to her.
"A cupcake! Want some?" Clare offered.
Eli nodded vigorously and shoved half of the cupcake into his mouth. After some much chewing and swallowing, pink frosting stained mouthed Eli asked, "I wasn't talking about the cupcake though, I meant your book."
That's something both Eli and Clare had some to love, together: literature. Whenever the other learned something new, read something new, they would report to the other.
"It's a book mommy bought Darcy last year. She never read it so I thought I should…" she trailed off as she realized something at the mention of Darcy's name.
"A really good friend who's a boy that you like to be with. You have stuff you both like."
Her cheeks burned red. She liked being with Eli, right? And they both liked books…
Did that make Eli, something…like well, a boyfriend?
"You okay there Blue Eyes?" he asked grabbing her hand and putting his other hand against her forehead. Was she sick? She looked…out of it…
"He holds your hand, and makes you feel special…"
She quickly nodded her head and detangled herself from his grasp.
"Eli…do you know what a boyfriend is?" she asked him quietly, batting her baby blues at him.
Now it was his turn to blush, "Uhm, why?" he asked as he hurriedly wiped his sweaty palms on his black pants.
"Well, Darcy told me…that someone like you…is my boyfriend…" she told him, twisting her fingers around.
He gulped. His little second grader mind knew what a boyfriend was. It was someone girls shared ther cooties with…in a kiss…
"ME?" he squeaked.
She nodded her head.
"Ha…ha…you sure she didn't mean another Eli?" he nervously asked his cute neighbor.
Did he just think she was cute?
He hadn't even called Julia Jones cute yet!
Clare played with the pages of her yellow book.
"Do you think Darcy was right?" Clare cocked her head in curiosity. Eli's opinion mattered a lot to her.
He rubbed his arm, "I dunno…" he mumbled, tasting pink frosting every time his lips touched.
Bullfrog and CeCe always said he spent a lot of time with Clare…
"Maybe…" he trailed off.
"So…you are my boyfriend…or no?" Clare asked him. She was so beyond confused at the moment, like Darcy would say. She nervously started to nibble on her half of the cupcake.
"Well…" he mumbled as he picked at some of the grass surrounding him.
She abruptly stood up and dusted herself off, her face also smeared with pink frosting.
He found it adorable.
"Forget I said anything Eli. I was being silly. Probably another person Darcy was talking about."
She grabbed her book ad stuffed in under her little dainty armpit, walking back to her house.
"Wait…Clare hold on!" Eli yelled after her.
She stopped.
"Y-you called me Clare!" she gasped.
"Yeah…"
"You've never called me Clare before…"
"Really? Wow…Wait! Uhm, stay!"
"Why?" she mumbled as she looked to the ground, "I need to find someone that Darcy said is my boyfriend. She says they make you feel special…"
He blushed; did that mean that he made her feel special?
"I ugh…don't want you to go…I wanna be with you." He whispered so low she couldn't make out a word.
"Whaaaaa?" she asked him, using her kid manner to ask the question.
"Oh for Dr. Sues!" he angrily yelled as he dropped her book.
"MEANIE! Why'd you do that?" she stomped her foot.
"Because I want you to stay!" he whined.
"…why?"
"Because…you make me feel special?" he guessed what would be a good answer.
Man, he'd be a good boyfriend.
Wait a minute…
"I'm your boyfriend." He told her firmly.
She glanced up from her intense staring of her new sandals, "What?" she gasped.
"I'm…your boyfriend."
She smiled, pink frosting smearing everywhere.
"Wait…what do we do now?"
He smirked, pink frosting on him still too, "Well…I don't know…"
Then he did what his second grader mind told him to do, he pecked her lips with his own, pink frosting dabbing together.
"I think I like having a boyfriend." Clare blushed.
"Kids? What are you two doing out there? Come here; let me clean you guys up." CeCe Goldsworthy yelled at them from her sliding door.
Eli smiled at her and grabbed her hand, both of them running to his house.