Fifteen #2
I took a sip of the water bottle that they gave us at the beginning of the event. I was about ready to give up and end the torment, but then something hit me in my shin. Javier was looking at me intensely. His elbow was propped on the desk and he tapped his finger to his forehead a few times.
He wanted me to remember.
You and me both, dude.
That was when I started to think about his stupid slideshow. Javier made note of the questions that he felt like I wasn’t retaining and made them into a separate presentation. I was being stubborn and saying that I didn’t need any more help, but he tried to drill it into me anyway.
And guess what topic was on that presentation.
"Sorry," the host said into the microphone. "If you can't answer the question, I have no choice but to—"
"Steam," I blurted and then paused. There was silence again after that.
Javier moved his hand in a circle, urging me to continue because the word 'steam' was simply not enough. The words were coming back to me in fragments.
"Engine. Steam engine. He invented the steam engine."
The pause that our host took before responding immediately convinced me that I was wrong. I was fully prepared to flip over a table. Not really, but I had the urge.
"Correct."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and I noticed Javier did the same. I looked at him apologetically because I had almost messed up everything for us. He didn't seem upset though, not at all.
He seemed...proud?
***
"I can’t believe we got second place," Javier repeated for the third time.
We had left the convention center and were riding in Javier’s car as he drove us back to our town. We did not have to report back to school because it had ended by the time we were dismissed from the competition.
I sighed in defeat. “I know, it really sucks.”
“Sucks? How?”
“Second isn’t first,” I stated.
We sat through two long hours of answering questions just to lose.
I wanted to fall asleep halfway through, but I had kept pushing through believing for a second that we would come up on top.
I knew better than to think that I could finally be the best. Even with Javier by my side it was unachievable.
“Eli, we got second place out of a bunch of the smartest kids in our school district. That's a goddamn accomplishment,” Javier said pridefully. “It was only the first round, so we can try to get first place in the others. But even if we don’t, so what?”
I settled on a shrug. His words were unconvincing, but I did not feel like arguing.
"I’m stopping for ice cream before dropping you at your place. It can be a treat for us doing so well.”
Javier answered every question in under five seconds with ease while I ended up going over the five seconds on a few. I was the reason why we did not get first place, yet he believed that we both did well. The one person who had every right to be mad at me was not, and it made my head spin.
Since I had to go and get ice cream with him regardless of my answer, I agreed. There was an ice cream parlor in town, but it wasn't on the way to my house. Actually, it was really far out of the way.
Once we arrived, we went inside and ordered the ice cream. I got Cookies N’ Cream while he got Mint Chocolate Chip. We sat down at a table on the outside patio and ate because Javier had expressed his worry about getting ice cream on the precious car seats.
"How's the toothpaste?" I asked with a sly smile, trying to fill the quiet.
He rolled his eyes. "Mint Chocolate Chip does not taste like toothpaste."
"Yes, it does and you can't convince me otherwise."
"Have you ever actually tried it?" he asked as he scooped some onto his spoon and put the entire spoonful in his mouth.
I grimaced. “Nope.”
He was smiling as he scooped more onto his spoon and then held it out to me. "Try it."
"Why? I already know what it tastes like."
"Stop being stubborn and just try it."
Maybe it was to shut him up, or maybe it was because I wanted to, but I gave in. I tried to take the spoon from his hand, but me being the clumsy fuck that I was, I almost dropped it in the process. Javier, not wanting me to waste his toothpaste, decided to put the spoon in my mouth himself.
I hesitated at first, not wanting to do such a demeaning thing such as have my rival spoon feed me like a baby being fed by his mommy.
But not only was Javier persistent, he also had a certain demeanor to him that made me feel inclined to listen to him.
If he wanted me to do something, then something inside of me I wanted to comply.
No matter how much my mind screamed ‘Don’t listen to him!
’ and ‘You hate Javier!’ my body wanted to do as he said.
Sort of like an obedient dog. Ew.
So I opened my mouth before my better judgment could kick in and watched as he slid the spoon in.
Once I closed my lips around the spoon he slowly pulled it out.
I tried to focus on the taste of the new flavor in my mouth, but all I could think about was the smirk on my rival's face and the fuzzy feeling in my chest.
After a few seconds he grew impatient of waiting. "So?"
I shrugged.
"Good or bad?"
I looked at the ground, defeated. I hated to admit that it was not as bad as I had made it out to be, that Javi was right. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"It's alright," I mumbled.
"Just alright?"
I nodded once and eyed the cup of ice cream in front of him.
"Well, that's better than you hating it." He let out a breath of air as he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “You thought that you hated Mint Chocolate Chip when you had never even tried it. You didn't even give it a chance, you just assumed that you didn't like it."
I scooped another spoonful of my ice cream. "Your point?"
"You should step out of your comfort zone more often," he said simply.
“I like my little box,” I said quietly, my attention focused on my cup. “Keeps things familiar and easy.”
“Familiarity is good, but change can be good too.”
“Not the wrong kind of change.” The wrong kind of change could make things worse than before. Change meant relearning which could easily create unnecessary stress.
He nodded. “Yes but shutting out all change stops you from finding something good. Am I right or am I right?”
“Wrong,” I said sweetly.
Javier wore a playful smirk. “You think you’re so funny.”
We both chuckled simultaneously. I had to admit that Javier could be a nice person to be around in some moments. When I wasn’t so caught up in my own issues, it was easy to see why everyone adored him. It was easy to see that I was beginning to feel some of those same feelings.