Title: Abstract Vivacity

Characters: Eli Goldsworthy and Clare Edwards.

Brief Summary: Eli has been growing up surrounded by a difficult life. When his life has finally spun out of control, who will save him? Not Clare. This is not a Damsel in Distress "save me" story. This is realistic. Who will save Clare when her life starts going from great to horrid? Not Eli. Again, not a Damsel in Distress "save me" story. But maybe instead of saving each other, they can find a way to get through the drama… possibly together.

Eli's POV.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

I wake up to the sound of my alarm's consistency. I groan softly, before hitting the alarm off. I lay there for a few minutes, capturing just a little more warmth from my bed, before getting up to get ready for school.

I first walk to the bathroom… to do some business, as does everyone in the morning, and then get dressed for my first day of Degrassi Community High School. Excited? No. Nervous? Yes. Who isn't nervous their first day of high school?

Most people thrive to make an impression for their first day. Not me. I'm going to wear what I always wear: all black. I'm not going for a label; I just like the color. Black: the color is simple, but becomes complex if you give time to think about it.

I throw on a black v-neck shirt that hugs my torso, along with black skinny jeans. I brush through my hair, and then add a tiny bit of eye-liner around my eyes. No, I'm not gay. I just like how it makes my eyes stand out a little more.

I put on my socks and boots quietly, not wanting to wake up my little sister who I share a room with, and throw my book bag over my shoulder. I then walk to the kitchen, only taking a second, because the door to my room is in the kitchen.

The trailer I live in shakes slightly. My dad is awake. I guess I'll prepare breakfast for us this morning since I'm awake first. My dad and I are the "chefs" of the family. I live in a small trailer with my dad and my younger sister, who is 13 - almost 14 - years old. I recently have turned 16.

As I make pancakes, my sister walks into the kitchen. Her eyes are dark, obviously tired. She couldn't sleep last night. She has been excited for school to come around for weeks. Our personalities differ in many ways when it comes to our emotions and feelings, but are almost exactly alike when it's down to tastes in music, clothing, etc.

"Pancakes!" My sister exclaims, a smile instantly covering half of her face. I roll my eyes, and then smile.

"Cristina, must you scream "Pancakes" every time you see me making them?" I ask, using a spatula to remove the pancakes from the frying pan onto a plate. I place the plate of pancakes on the table, and then wash my hands. My sister skips washing her hands, and immediately puts four pancakes onto her plate.

"Fat ass." I laughed, before sitting across from her at the table and putting two pancakes on my plate.

"Shut up!" She says through laughter, layering her pancakes with syrup, and then stuffing a big chunk of pancakes into her mouth. "I'm not a fat ass!" She muffles, food in her mouth. We start laughing, as my dad walks into the living/dining room.

"Pancakes? Again? Damn… At this point I'm going to eat leftover chicken for breakfast." My dad says, as he makes his way to the fridge. He puts the leftover chicken from last nights' dinner in the microwave, and then gives it 30 seconds to warm up. The microwave dings, and then he places some pieces of chicken onto a plate and sits at the table with my sister and I.

"So you kids excited for school? I wish I could've got y'all some new supplies this year…" My dad says, taking a bite of chicken.

"Dad, we're fine with what we have." My sister replies, for the both of us. He always beat himself up for not being able to "supply us enough." It's not like we're living on the streets. It's not like he's the reason my mom abandoned us three years ago…

"Thank the lord I raised such easy-to-please kids." Dad says, smiling. The smile is contagious throughout the three of us, and we finish breakfast. I say good-bye to Cristina and my dad, and then leave the house for school around 6:30 AM. School starts at 7:30 AM, and I like to be early, so I leave the house before anyone.

I threw my book bag in the passenger seat of my hearse, and took off to school. Yes, my car is a hearse. And I know what you're asking: Why would I drive a hearse?

Why wouldn't I drive a hearse.

After about ten minutes, I approach the parking lot of the school. I see a parking space near the entrance, and park in it easily. I throw my book bag over my shoulder, and hop out of the car.

I walk up the steps, and walk through the glass doors. Some people are here early, too.

Ugh. I'm not much of a people person. I'm not anti-social or anything, but I just don't like the feeling of being judged, which I am everywhere I go. The nicknames "Trailer Trash" and "Emo Boy" spread around, you know.

I take the paper out of my pocket that everyone received from the school in the mail. It gave us our schedule for the day, and our locker number and combination. The paper also displayed a map.

My locker, thank goodness, is right by the school entrance doors. I take a few steps over, and find locker 107.

Crap. I have never used a locker in my life, and now I have no clue how to put in the combination for one.

I try going straight to each number, and pressing down on each. I try opening it.

Nothing.

I try different ways of opening it, and after about 10 minutes of trying, I finally kick the locker next to mine in anger.

"Thanks for leaving a dent in my locker." Someone says behind me. I turn to see a girl with red-brown hair, and blue eyes. She wore a green v-neck shirt, and a white, ruffled skirt. I moved aside a little, so she could get to her locker.

"Sorry…" I apologize. Good job, Eli. Pissing people off, already.

"It's okay." She says. She puts in her combination, and her locker opens in her first try.

I swear, my jaw dropped. She turned to look at me, and she smiled.

"What?" she asked.

"How did you do that?"

"Well… You see, on this little piece of paper," she lifts the paper from her hand, "it says three numbers. Those three numbers are called our locker combinat-"

"I'm not that much of a dumbass." I smirked. We laughed, and she took the paper from me. She then put the combination into my lock, and then opened my locker.

"Ta-da!" She smiled, as she began to put her books into her locker.

"Thanks…" I pause, not knowing her name.

"Clare." She smiled. I smiled back at her.

"Eli." I say, shaking her hand. She chuckled, and then closed her locker shut before walking away.

Wow… Someone who didn't judge me. Maybe I can finally have a friend?

Who am I kidding. It's not too long before she finds out facts and rumors about my family and where I live.

The first four periods of the day flew by; World History, Geometry Honors, Biology 1 Honors, and AP Biology. I took two Biology courses, because I loved the subject. Science, although I would never consider it a career path, always interested me. I took almost all advanced/honors courses, too. I'm pretty smart, if I do say so myself. Someone has to be the first one to go to college in my family.

Now, it's time for lunch. I had brought an apple… My favorite fruit. I didn't eat that much, just because I didn't feel like eating often. I walk outside to the picnic benches, and look around at the crowded area. I see Clare sitting by herself at a bench. I was pretty surprised to see her not surrounded by a bunch of people. She seemed like someone who would have a countless number of friends.

I continue to look around, until I hear my name being called. "Eli! Over here!" I turn my head, and see Clare calling me over to sit with her. Really? It was probably a joke.

I walk over to her, and give her a glare. She looks at me, confused.

"You don't have to sit here if you don't want to." she asks, seeming completely clueless as to why I was glaring at her. Maybe she wasn't joking…

"No, no, no… I'm sorry, I'm just use to people jerking me around." I say, sitting across from her. She takes a sandwich out of her brown paper bag.

"Don't be sorry… If you're use to the worst, you're going to expect the worst, right?" She says, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"I guess…" I say, taking a bite of my apple. After a moment of silence, some skater-looking guy approaches the table.

"Hey, Clare." He says. She gives him a glare that could kill. He then looks to the ground, his smile fallen, and walks away.

"Damn." Was all I could say. She chuckled, and then swallowed some water before responding.

"What?"

"That was cold… What'd he do?" I ask, curiosity getting the best of me. She sighs.

"That's my ex-boyfriend. He cheated on me with…" she pauses, pointing to a blonde cheerleader that was giggling with other cheerleaders in the middle of the picnic area, "her."

"Wow… He cheated on you with that?" I reply, honestly. Clare was… well, as any person in the right mind could see, naturally beautiful. That girl was… Barbie-looking.

"Yup. But, I don't really care anymore. I didn't like him much, to begin with." I nodded, as I continued eating my apple. After some silence, she starts to talk.

"So, what about you? Any of your ex-girlfriends go here?"

"Never had a girlfriend." I answer, honestly. She nearly chokes on her water.

"Really?" She asks, surprise thick in her voice.

"Yeah… I don't see how that's so surprising to you." I say, with half a laugh.

"Well… Saying this, as a friend: You're very good-looking." I laughed a little, then smiled. She called me a friend.

"It's not really a matter of looks… Its me, and what's heard about me." I say.

"Well… What is heard about you?" She asks. My smile falls. Bye-bye, friend.

"Not really rumors… Most of it's true. To sum it all up: I'm trailer trash." I look from my apple to her eyes, and wait for her to walk away. There was a long pause, and she didn't budge.

"Um… And?" She asks. Huh?

"What do you mean "And?" I'm poor. And live in a small trailer with my dad and sister. My family is filled with truckers and gamblers." I say, a part of me wanting her to walk away, just so she wouldn't have to be embarrassed of being my "friend."

"So, let me get this straight: You've never had any girlfriends or many friends because people were pompous jerks?" She asks, her face serious. A smile spreads on my face. She didn't judge me.

"I guess… Thanks." I say, finishing my apple.

"For what?"

"For not judging me." We exchange smiles, and then share some talk about the school. The bell rings for next period, and we part our separate ways.

Throughout the whole next period, all I could think about was Clare. Not in a romantic way, just in a "Yay! New friend!" sort of way. I liked spending time with her… She was different than everyone, and I was interested in knowing more about her.

The bell rang for the last period of the day, where I had Advanced English 1. I walked into the class, and to my surprise, Clare was there! A smile instantly stretched out on my face, and I took the seat in front of hers.

"Eli?" I hear her say, softly. I turn around in my seat.

"I believe that's my name." I smirked. She rolled her eyes, and then smiled. I turn around in my seat for the start of English class.

A/N: Okay guys! Hope you liked the first chapter. I love reviews! Leave 'em, please! =)