When The Heartache Ends -davidturnerx
The words that Eli had just spoken stung Clare in the heart. There was no reaction she had except a blank stare of curiosity and confusion. He said they needed a break and she was unsure on what he meant by break because ‘break’ and ‘break up’ are two different things. A ‘break’ consists of still talking and flirting but backing off a little while a ‘break up’ means it’s actually over between the two. All she could do is stand there and stare at him with that expressionless face while he seemed like he was going to blow a gasket or have a manic episode. There was no telling to what Eli would do though because of his bipolar disorder but to her surprise, all he did was walk away afterwards and left her alone, standing there in the greenhouse, still completely speechless.
The two had been on rocky waters the past couple of weeks. Once he found Cam’s body, Eli refused to talk, about anything. Even if Clare would try to make a simple conversation, he refused or just gave her one word answers. It’s almost like they had lost their spark. Even when she would try and kiss him, she would feel nothing, and in return all she would get was a simple peck, not even a full kiss. The kiss made her feel empty, unwanted, and unloved. Their relationship definitely had taken a downward spiral of which she couldn’t even begin to explain it. She had even watched him have a couple of manic episodes where he screamed in her face and left her terrified. She didn’t know how haunting it could be finding a dead body and with everything Eli had been through, she knew it would be much worse. If she knew it would have been this horrid then she whished that she could have found the body.
Clare kept trying to think of this ‘break’ as a good thing. It had been a couple of days and the two had barely spoken so it really felt like a break up instead of a break. It was definitely a challenge not to call him. She wanted to be the one that he would call when he was ready and she kept looking at her phone over and over for the past 48 hours for a phone call or text that never came. Even in classes she would glance at her phone for the hope of seeing the little message symbol on the home screen but there was still nothing. She let out a sigh as the teacher called her name and she immediately looked up while faking a smile. “Um… Yeah, I don’t know this one.” She managed to mumble out to where it was barely audible.
Luckily for her the bell rang before the teacher could respond and she got right up to exit the class as fast as she could. But before she could she was stopped by Ms.Oh, “Clare… you’re not yourself, are you okay?” She asked the girl. Clare cleared her throat, “Yeah, couldn’t be better, I just didn’t get enough sleep, that’s all.” She said and had a fake smile before walking away out into the hallway and to her locker exchanging her books. She felt a tear roll down her face, “Keep it together, you’re fine.” She tried whispering to herself and rolling her tongue over her lips so she couldn’t cry but just shut her locker and walked over to the window by the memorial gardens and laid her head against the wall trying to keep herself from crying and hoped that no one was coming around. She knew it was locker and class change but lucky for her she had one of the empty hallways for her locker.
Dave swung his backpack over his shoulder and slammed his car door shut. He pushed to lock button on his keys and put his hand on the top of the car. He just had a terrible weekend of just staying home and listening to all sorts of depressing music and didn't want to be back to school on this Monday morning. The news of Cam's death was not helping him live life and he was preparing himself to enter the school where everyone would be in mourning. Dave didn't like to deal with all sorts of people wanting attention for someone they barely knew. Dave and Cam weren't friends at all but the pain stemmed from Eli. Eli, his close friend, saw Cam's lifeless body and Dave felt terrible for him. That's the only reason why the death was killing him too.
He banged his fist on the car and took in a deep breath, readying himself for an obvious day of sorrow at Degrassi. Dave clenched the strap of his bag and shuffled his feet. Cars were entering the parking lot and he nodded a greeting to some. As he walked into the building, Dave held the door open for a few friends, including Alli. She and Dave were broken up so it was a bit awkward. He shrugged it off while passing rows of lockers and into Ms. Oh's room for class a bit late. She shook her head and Dave opened his mouth to give out a lame excuse but she cut him off. "Sit down, David and don't say anything." He didn't care at this point but he sat in the very back row in the last possible seat. He wrote notes occasionally while glancing around the room, looking at the kids and how they were doing. All he saw were the backs of peoples' heads. Dave stared at the board until the bell rang twenty minutes later.
Everyone rose and Dave slowly packed away his bag and he was the last person to leave. Well, no, Clare Edwards was stopped by Ms. Oh and Dave was curious as to what was going on. He slipped his arms into his backpack and journeyed over to the door. Suddenly his curiosity changed; he was more worried than curious. Dave saw Edwards looking emotional and as she left, he stayed back a bit and waited until she was far away and then began to follow her footsteps. He saw that she stopped at her locker. It was just her in the hallway and Dave casually walked closer.
"Hey Clare," Dave said, trying not to just say the obvious "Are you okay?" He sighed and looked into her eyes, seeing incredible pain and his heart hurt. Dave never liked seeing people upset. He didn't know what to do so he just, without thinking, leaned in for a hug and whispered, "It's okay." Dave hoped Clare wouldn't be irritated by his good intentions.
