Nine #2
With my eyes focused on the ground, I could hear footsteps coming toward us.
Then I felt someone nudge me in the shoulder.
It was Bella trying to gain my attention.
I looked at her with my eyes narrowed, silently asking her what it was that she wanted.
She then nodded her head in the direction of the door.
When I finally turned, I regretted doing so.
"Richardson?" Javier called, a smug grin on his face.
I internally groaned. What were the odds?
"How is it that I keep running into you?" Javier asked with a scoff as he moved closer to me. "You must be stalking me."
Ignoring him, I leaned over and whispered to Bella. "Is he actually here or am I dreaming?"
“You dream about me?” he teased.
“You wish.” I held a hard glare his way.
Alex looked between the three of us, shifting in his seat and biting his fingernail. I guess he could sense the tension between Javier and I.
Alex's eyes lit up as he gasped. "Wait, is this who you were just talking about?"
Javier leaned against the wall. "You were talking about me?"
"I was not," I quickly denied.
“He was,” I overheard Bella whisper to Alex, causing him to chuckle. I didn’t know what exactly he thought was so funny about it. It wasn't funny, it was terrible. It felt like the universe was punishing me for some unknown reason.
That was when Killian came back into the room with a hot pink shirt in his hand. On the shirt in big bold letters it read, ' Not bossy, just aggressively helpful .’
He handed it over to Javier who grimaced when he read the shirt.
"Aw, you'll look so cute in that shirt Javier!" Bella joked.
Javier shrugged as he held up the shirt to his chest. He scratched his head as he viewed it and then said sarcastically, "Thanks, I’ve been dying for a shirt like this."
"We know," I responded blandly.
Javier grinned widely, amused with the conversation. After a moment, he shrugged nonchalantly. "The shirt is for my mom, obviously. My mom said thanks, Killian."
I later found out that Killian's mom owned her own small business making custom shirts, and Javier’s mom sometimes purchased those shirts from her.
Alex’s parents were friends with Javier’s parents.
Through that, they met Killian and found out about his mother’s business.
Now, when the Cortez’s would place an order, Javier would come pick it up.
"You know my mom loves doing it," Killian said as plopped down on the couch right next to Alex. He glanced at me, then Javier. "You two know each other?"
Javier and I spoke at the same time.
"Unfortunately."
"Surprisingly."
Javier and I maintained eye contact with each other for a couple of seconds before I broke it.
Bella mumbled sarcastically, "Eli and Javier are best friends.”
Alex gave me a look, but I didn’t understand the meaning behind it. He raised an eyebrow as he eyed me, and I gave an unsure shrug in response.
After a few moments of silence and some more weird stares, Javier stood up and grabbed his keys off the counter that he had set them on. "Well, I've got to go. Diane and I have plans."
I rolled my eyes at the mention of his girlfriend. I hated when people would mention their partner like I gave a damn. Unwarranted talk of other people's love lives pissed me off, even more so when Javier did it. I didn’t need to be reminded of the fact that he was not single.
I was man enough to admit that part of my annoyance was jealousy. Jealousy of people in happy relationships, not of Javier and his relationship specifically. That was what I was telling myself, anyway.
With a few goodbyes and waves, Javier left. Once the door shut behind him, Alex and Killian's eyes immediately met mine.
"Eli," Killian said in a sing-song tone. It was the most emotion I had seen out of him yet.
I threw my hands out to the side and shrugged. "What?"
Killian and Alex shared another look before laughing. It must have been an inside joke between the both of them, that was the only explanation I could come up with. I ignored their weird gestures and un-paused the game. All I wanted to do was forget about the pain in my ass that was Javier Cortez.
After another hour of playing, it was time for Bella and I to leave. Alex made sure to give us both his phone number so that we could keep in contact. We had forgotten to do so last time, so it was lucky that we came across each other again.
We were outside of the apartment, walking along the sidewalk to Bella’s mom’s car. That was when Bella nudged me with her shoulder. Me being as clumsy as I was, I almost ate the concrete.
Bella caught me by my arm, just in time for me to regain my balance. I gripped her arm tightly as I shouted, “You almost made me fall!”
Ignoring my loud shouting, Bella changed the subject. "I really like Alex and Killian."
"Yeah, they're pretty cool," I agreed as I adjusted my shirt.
We continued walking. Bella's mom decided to park on the far side of the parking lot to pick us up, so it was taking a minute to reach her car. As we walked in silence, Bella parted her lips as if she was going to speak. Then, she closed her mouth and looked away, a lopsided grin painting her face.
"What?" I asked impatiently. She clearly had something to say.
Bella sucked in a hopeful breath, her tone of voice higher than normal as she asked, "Do you think Killian is single?"
I watched as Bella kicked a rock on the ground, her hands in her pockets. I then shrugged. "Maybe. Why?"
"He's kinda cute,” she admitted quietly.
"He is." The words came out before I could stop them.
Her head swiftly turned to me. "What?"
"What?"
"Did you just—"
"Hey, look, it's your mom.” I pointed in the direction of her mom’s white sedan as I began to jog toward it.
We both got into the backseat of the vehicle since the front seat was occupied by Bella’s younger sister. Mrs. Rita—Bella’s mom—had her music blasting as she usually did each time I rode with them. It was good for us because we did not want other ears listening to our conversation, anyway.
"I spent the night at Javier's place a few nights ago," I blurted loud enough for Bella to hear me over the music.
It took a moment for her to register my words, but once she did, Bella's mouth gaped wide. She struggled to get her words out. "Come again? I could've sworn you just said you spent the night at your mortal enemy's house."
When I didn’t give her a verbal response and instead stared at her blankly, she smacked me on my shoulder multiple times. I tried to swat her hand away, but she wouldn’t let up.
Bella put her hands on her head in confusion, still attempting to comprehend the words I had just said to her. "Why the hell would you spend the night there?"
"I got into a fight with Easton and Emerson, and it got pretty heated. I was alone and he…he found me." I shortened the story because I did not want to go into full details of the events of that night. The memories were not fun.
Bella's astonishment turned into sympathy. Her expression morphed into a frown as her eyes softened. "The night of the election?"
When I nodded, Bella let out a depressing sigh. "You should have called one of us, we would have been there for you."
"It was late at night, Bell. I didn't want to bother you guys," I explained. “Plus, I didn’t have my phone.”
What was it that Bella could have done, anyway?
Tell her mom to come get me in the middle of the night?
I believed that Mrs. Rita would come for me, but that would be too much of a hassle.
Plus, I would have to explain what happened and that would be unnecessary worry for them.
Besides, who's to say that any of my friends would have answered the phone in the first place? They were probably asleep at the time.
Did I want to stay at Javier's? No. That was the last way I expected that night to end. I only agreed because I was vulnerable and wasn't thinking straight. I would have been alright spending the night alone.
Bella was unconvinced by my answer, but she let it go. "Well, how was it staying there? Is it ten stories tall like I imagine it to be?"
I laughed. "No, not ten stories. It was pretty big, though."
Bella scoffed. "I knew it! I was going to ask if this meant that you guys were friends now, but from the interaction earlier I think the answer is no."
"Yeah, I still hate him."
Bella pressed her lips together in an expression of disapproval. I shrugged, not understanding why she was making that face. Her hands found mine and she gripped them gently, her facial expression serious.
"Listen, Eli, the fact that he took you to his house that night even with how much of an asshole you've been to him these past few years shows that he's probably a pretty cool person.
I feel like your hate is misdirected," she explained.
"I mean, let's think about this. What has he truly done to you that was so bad?
Yeah, he's beaten you in your petty competitions, but has he ever done anything to you unprovoked? Or was it always when you started it?"
"He mocks and teases me without me starting it," I defended myself.
"Yes, because you created that relationship with him. Javier doesn't even seem to dislike you. If anything, he's always oddly staring at you. Like, lowkey admiring you."
I didn't want to admit it, but Bella had a point. I thought back to all of the interactions I had with Javier, and every one I can think of has been because I had created this hostile rivalry between us. Was I the problem?
No, I couldn't be the problem. Yes, Javier only seemed to respond to my insults, not start them.
I also created a feud between us. However, he was still constantly trying to be better than me.
No matter what I would do, Javier would try to do it better, and he usually would succeed.
He got joy out of seeing me fail. He walked around the school with his chest poked out in pride because he knew he was the smartest one there.
I leaned my head against the window and kept my mouth shut for the remainder of the ride.
I was upset because I was thinking about how my entire reason for hating him was because he was better than me.
Thinking about it made me realize how pathetic it was.
He was just good at shit, and there I was hating on him for it.
I spent the entirety of my life striving to be good at something—anything.
I needed to be the best at the very least, one thing.
It gave me a sense of belonging. If that something wasn’t academics, then it was nothing else.
I wasn’t good at anything else. And all Javier continued to do was show the world that academics was another thing I wasn’t good at, just like everyone already fucking knew but wouldn’t flat out say.
For that, I was retaliating in the only way I knew how: being a dick to him.
Being behind Javier meant that I wasn’t the best. So, no matter how difficult it was, no matter how long it took, I would accomplish something greater.
Small things like tests didn’t count anymore, they didn’t hold enough impact.
Seeing as I lost the class election, it had to be valedictorian.
It was a chance I had to prove that I was worth something, and then maybe things could change.
Until then, life needed to continue as was.
I was going to be valedictorian no matter what it took.