Twenty-six
Eli
I t was passing period and Ricky and I were walking to our next class together. On our way there we spotted Bella and Justin sitting on a bench against the wall. Bella was scrolling her phone and Justin was rummaging through his backpack.
We stopped in front of them and neither noticed us. Ricky plucked Bella in the forehead causing her hand to shoot up and swat at it. She had a scowl on her face, but it softened when she realized who was standing before her.
Ricky grinned. “What are you doing?”
“I made it here early. I didn't want to be the first one to walk in class, so I'm waiting it out,” Bella said as she crossed her legs.
I pursed my lips. “You’re a bit odd, Bell.”
“It’s one of my qualities.”
Justin cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Where's your shadow, Eli?”
I folded my arms to my chest. “Who?”
“The guy you lost the election to…how many times did you guys say? Oh, yeah. Four times.”
“Do you ever get tired of being on my dick?” I snarled.
“Do you ever get tired of losing?” he asked smugly.
Asshat. I wish I knew what his problem was with me because the random strays I would catch from him were unnecessary. I used to think he was jealous, but I didn’t believe that anymore. It seemed he simply disliked me the same way the rest of our classmates did.
Ricky sighed heavily. “Justin, chill.”
Justin didn’t react as he leaned against the wall. “Seriously, though. Where is he?”
I shrugged. "I haven't seen him yet today."
"Well, do you know what time he wants us to get to his place?" Bella asked.
Javi had invited us all to his house after school. Our groups had been more intertwined than usual and everyone wanted to have an official hangout. I had no idea what he had planned for us all to do at his house, but I was excited regardless.
I scratched my forehead. "Whenever you want to show up, I'm pretty sure."
“Such a helpful answer, Eli. Thank you!” Ricky covered his mouth with his hand in a sarcastic manner. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.
Bella pointed down the hallway. "We can ask him right now. He's over there."
I swiftly looked over my shoulder to find Javier. He was a little way down the hall, standing by a locker and out of the way of the flow of students. He seemed to be talking to someone, but I couldn’t tell who it was.
Students were rushing up and down the hallways and obstructing my view, so I stood on my tiptoes to see better. I kept trying until Ricky put his hand on my shoulder and pushed down, causing me to fall off my tiptoes.
"He's talking to Diane," he said slowly.
Justin scoffed and stood up to try and see for himself. "The hell? Why?"
That was a great question. What the hell was he talking to his ex for? What could they possibly have to say to each other?
"Don't jump to conclusions," Ricky warned.
Javi and I were not dating; we were not together. I had no right to be annoyed that he was talking to Diane. He had free will and could do whatever he wanted to.
We messed around a couple of times and while I hoped that it meant something to him, there was a very real possibility that it didn’t.
Him saying that he ‘chooses’ me didn’t mean shit because we were not together.
Him calling me ‘amor,’ and ‘baby’ meant nothing when there was no title for what we were doing.
They were just words—everything was just words.
But that didn't change that I was, in fact, pissed.
There was a break in the traffic of students and I had a better view of the exes.
Their conversation seemed simple and innocent at first glance.
Javier was listening intently to whatever Diane was blabbing about, it must have been important.
I felt the tension in my chest begin to fade once I got to see for my own what was going on.
At least that was what I thought until I watched her put her hands into his. Javier held each of her hands gently as she spoke, and by the look on his face he didn't seem too opposed to what was going on. Then he hugged her. It wasn’t a long hug, but a hug nonetheless.
"I'm jumping to conclusions."
"Me too, honestly." Bella muttered, standing up from the bench. “What do they even have to talk about? Eli’s hands are the ones he should be holding, not Diane’s.”
I turned to Bella with furrowed brows. “What? How did you…”
“...know you and Javier have a thing for each other?” Justin finished my sentence. “Anyone with eyes can see that. He hasn’t been subtle, and you’re just oblivious.”
Bella giggled. “He isn’t wrong, sometimes you don’t see what's right in front of you.”
I rubbed my neck sheepishly. “I wish someone would’ve told me that.”
“Don’t worry, it’s only obvious to us because we’re your friends.” She put a comforting hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. "Anyway, I've got to go before you have me late to class. I'll see you both later."
"See you later,” Ricky waved as he took a step in front of me, blocking my view of Javier and Diane. "We need to go too."
“Are they getting back together?” Justin asked, his hands balled into fists by his sides.
I scoffed. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Justin shot me a mean glare, but it only lasted for a second before it morphed into an unreadable expression. “Hey, man. Jokes aside, I kinda need to talk to you.”
I eyed him, trying to decipher whether or not this was some sort of get-back he was trying to achieve. He didn’t seem to be lying, but I was not in the mood to listen to anything Justin had to say. “Maybe later.”
Tired of breathing the same air as Javier and Diane, I headed to class. Ricky followed closely behind me and his eyes were on me the entire time. It was like he was trying to make sure I didn’t lose my cool.
We got to class and all I could think about was what I had just seen five minutes prior.
I shouldn’t have felt angered by such a small interaction, but I did.
Them talking wasn’t so much the problem, it was the touching and lingering looks.
Maybe I was making it out to be more than what it was, but my mind only knew how to think the worst.
That one moment screwed up my mood for the entire day.
I couldn’t get rid of the scowl on my face the entire lunch period.
Everyone could tell, I knew they could. It wasn’t like I was trying too hard to hide it.
I kept silent the majority of lunch and only talked when I was spoken to.
It was the easiest way to avoid snapping and yelling at everyone.
Since we were all meeting up at Javier’s house it made the most sense for me to ride home with him. He made conversation with me on the way there and I engaged in it as happily as I could force myself to. Sadly, I was not an actor, and I never would be.
I pretended like I wasn’t upset but my stiff movements and short statements said otherwise.
Javier went along with it for a while, but he eventually grew tired of pretending he couldn’t tell I had an attitude.
When he asked me what was wrong, I insisted that I was fine.
I could see his annoyance rise at my unwillingness to cooperate because his grip on the steering wheel tightened.
We rode in silence the rest of the time.
Javi’s mom was in the living room when we made it to her house. She had only met me a couple of times, but she always made a point to greet me warmly.
"Nice to see you again, Eli." Mrs. Cortez was smiling warmly with her purse on her arm and keys in her hands. She was getting ready to leave the house.
I offered her a small wave as Javier gave his mother a hug and a kiss.
She pointed a finger at Javier. "Listen, I do not want to come back to trash all over the living room. Everyone needs to pick up after themselves. Sí?"
"Sí." Javi saluted his mom like they were in the military.
She rolled her eyes at her son's antics and chuckled. She then turned to me with a knowing look. "Same goes for you.”
"Got it." I nodded sharply as my lips spread into a grin.
Once his mom left we were alone in the house. Javier chose tonight to invite the gang because his entire family wouldn’t be back until late. He handed me the remote to find something to watch until the others arrived, clearly not in the mood to talk about what was bothering me.
It didn’t take long for our friends to show up. Most of them only needed to make quick stops at their house before making their way to Javier’s.
We all sat on the floor of the living room in a circle. There was a show playing on the television, but it was just for background noise because no one was paying any attention to it. Kailey was finishing telling the story of how the four of us had met.
"...and Bella and I only met Eli through Ricky. They were best friends, and we were best friends, so it all just kinda fell together after that," she finished explaining happily.
"Wow, most friend groups don’t make it through high school," Paxton tossed a ball in the air and caught it as he spoke. “I know mine sure didn't."
“That sucks.” Kailey frowned. “Gosh, I would be devastated if our friendship didn't make it through high school."
"My friends didn't last through high school either, but that was also because I moved," Javier said as he kicked his legs onto the coffee table.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you didn’t always live here. You moved here,” Bella recalled. “What was that like?"
The four of us had lived in the same exact place our entire lives.
We grew up in a small town where generations of families had all gone to the same grade schools.
There were plenty of teachers who were old enough to have taught students' parents back when they were school-aged.
That was what happened to Ricky. His dad graduated from the school and now his son was attending, so some teachers already knew of Ricky.