Daniel had finally let me leave the house after keeping me indoors for two whole days with none other than Elliot being the only visitor who showed up. It really sucked but he wasn't all that bad company.
"Dude, it's good to finally have you back in the flesh," Neil said from behind me and then I felt his arm wrap around my shoulder. "How are you feeling? Tell me it's good news because we seriously need you back. Nothing is going as planned and no one wants to do the work assigned to them."
"Don't you mean yourself?" came Patience's voice as she fell in step with us.
I removed Neil's arm and slang it over her shoulders instead, making sure to pull her close to me and inhale her. I really missed having her around, it made everything better. It made all the doubts leave, she was my safe haven, my person.
Neil rolled her eyes,"please. I was the most helpful of them all."
Patience threw him a dirty look, "you were always on your phone, never there or came up with some lame excuse about how you couldn't do anything," she said and then sighed as she glanced at me for a second and then wrapped her arms around my waist."I really missed you."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Neil said as we entered our homeroom class."It's your word against mine."
Patience wanted to say something but I tugged on her shirt sleeve and she sighed in annoyance but didn't say anything after. We followed Neil and took our usual seats right in the middle. Homeroom was a must every Friday and if you missed it, you risked having your parents or guardian being called in and you getting detention for the weekend. So, everyone made sure to show up. After all, it was only 30 minutes and then we could go to our normal classes.
I unintentionally found myself looking around for Elliot. I don't know why I was doing it, but since we spent so much time together the last two days, I didn't want him to get into trouble. And I secretly hoped he would show up and tell me one of his stories about his childhood. I grabbed my phone from my backpack and texted him under the table.
"Where are you? You can't miss homeroom if you want to graduate."
I sent it and then regretted it immediately afterwards. Why was I so concerned about him failing or not? It wasn't any of my business and I really shouldn't let Daniel's words get to me and try to be friends with him.
I stuffed my phone in my back pocket and turned to face the front where the new homeroom teacher was talking about something that I hadn't heard.
A few minutes later, my phone vibrated against my pocket and I cursed under my breath. I looked around to see if anyone was looking at me but it didn't seem so. So, I grabbed it from my pocket and unlocked it.
"Aww, you're worried about me. That's cute but I'll graduate, don't worry."
I clenched my teeth and tried hard not to curse out loud. That bloody bastard, what was up with him and always getting under my skin? All I did was try to be a good Student Council President and ensure that everyone graduated but nope, he just had to make it seem as if I was flirting with him.
"I have a girlfriend."
It didn't take long this time because I received another text from Elliot.
"I always get what I want, girlfriend or no girlfriend."
Before I could respond, I felt everyone's eyes on me and I slowly hid my phone and turned to face the homeroom teacher who was looking at me with a smiling face. Did I miss something? I wanted to ask but the rational part of me knew not to seem as if I really wasn't paying attention and that I was on my phone when I should have been paying attention.
I smiled back at her and that seemed to do the trick. I never really liked using my looks to get out of doing things but today felt different, I didn't feel anything, rather, all I wanted to do was leave this room and hit the basketball court to get all my frustrations out.
"All right students, remember to always show up and fill in the attendance form before leaving it with Luke for submission to the guidance counsellor," she said beaming but there was a hint of warning laced in her words. "This will determine whether you graduate or not, and trust me, you don't want to find me again."
Murmurs erupted around the class and the Miss waved a dismissive hand showing that she was done with us. I tossed my bag on my shoulder and joined everyone to leave but she stopped me.
"Luke, may I have a word with you?" her voice came out cool and collected with no hint of any emotion.
I looked around me wondering if she had noticed me using my phone and my palms hot clammy. I couldn't be caught doing something wrong, dad would flip if he found out. I felt Patience gently squeeze my hand and I turned to face her.
"I'll see you later," she mouthed before she left, leaving me alone.
Taking a much needed deep breath, I plastered a smile on my face and walked over to her desk. "Yes miss, is there anything you want me to do?"
Ms, Olivia, still had no idea what her surname was because she never used it, clasped her fingers together. "I know this is a lot to ask, but it has come to my attention that Elliot hasn't been in school for a few days and I'm worried he won't get the chance to graduate. His grades are exceptional and I wouldn't like to see him being held back because of that." I already knew what she was going to say and I clutched my backpack straps harder.
Why was everyone and everything trying to have me stuck with him? I had my own life and now it felt as though it wasn't mine to even begin with.
"I'm assigning you as his peer mentor for the rest of the school year until I see a change."
My body froze, I should have seen this coming but somehow I had thought that just maybe someone was going to cut me some slack. After what felt like forever, I nodded and was then dismissed.
I left the homeroom class, eager to get to class and forget everything that just happened and had happened in the past few days. My feet glided over the floor without so much thought of what I was doing, the hallways empty as everyone was already in class until I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and cover my mouth. My heart was beating so fast that I was afraid it would leave my chest.
Was this how everything ended?
I tried squirming out of the grasp of whoever had kidnapped me but their hold was tight. The person dragged me out the back of the school.
"I'm going to let go of your mouth and you're not going to make a commotion, got it?" The voice was so familiar that all my struggle left my body as realisation dawned on me.
The hand slowly left my mouth and then I was spun around to stare into the baby blues that somehow had started haunting my every breath. Elliot was grinning as he winked at me, hands still on my waist holding me closer to his body where I could feel his defined body under his thin school shirt.
"What are you doing here?"
The grin on Elliot's face grew wider and then turned into a smirk. "I'm here to learn, isn't that why we show up at this hellhole?" his head gestured to the building behind me.
"That's not what I meant, I mean why are we here, outside?"
Elliot's hands left my waist and he quickly pushed me against the wall and caged me in. His face moved closer to mine and I could feel his breath fanning my face, I could smell his mint scented breath hitting my face. "I have better things to do." His eyes darted to my lips and stayed there for a minute. "Why don't you and I get out of here and do something fun?"
My eyes narrowed at him as I pushed him away from me but he didn't budge, "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'll not ditch classes with the class reject." The words left my mouth before I could take them back and Elliot's face went dark but he didn't budge. "I didn't mean that."
Elliot pushed back, grabbed my hand and dragged me to the parking lot, past my car and then stopped at a motorcycle that was at the furthest corner. He didn't say anything as he lifted me from the ground effortlessly and placed me on the motorcycle, put a helmet on my head and then hopped on himself before wrapping my arms around his waist.
I don't know why I went along with him but I felt bad for what I had said. We revved out of the parking lot and onto the road. We rode in silence as I wrapped my hands tighter around him and leaned into his black leather jacket, breathing him in.
Was I going crazy or did Elliot smell really good and I was only noticing it now?
I watched as we passed the town shops, the library, the filling station and then left town entirely. I'd only left town by car a few times but mostly mum would get us plane tickets to wherever it was she needed us to be. The road narrowed as the buildings behind us got smaller and smaller and the trees got thicker and thicker.
Was I stupid for trusting Elliot when I hardly knew anything about him and all I knew were the rumours everyone spread around? Yes, most likely but there was no turning back now. I was already way over my head with what I thought I knew and didn't know.
Elliot took a sharp turn into the woods and continued on driving while I held tighter and tighter as morning sun became hidden by the trees. A gnawing feeling was crawling inside me but I pushed it out. If this was what Daniel meant by living, then I sure as hell wasn't going to bail now.
Finally, Elliot pulled to a stop away from what looked like a large clearing where a large maple tree sat, looking out to the world. Elliot hopped off and removed his helmet before turning to face me, that blank expression still on his face. He didn't say anything as he took my helmet off and lifted me off the motorcycle as if I weighed nothing and then he started walking away, past the maple tree to what looked like a cliff over the edge.
I was still rooted in my place, watching him go and finally take a seat by a huge rock that overlooked something. Taking a deep breath, I followed after him, inching slowly, afraid I might break the balance and piss off again. When I was close enough, I could see a bright blue lake below surrounded by gorgeous looking flowers, his head was slightly tipped back, not really looking at anything in particular. But when I sat down next to him, his head tilted to the side to look at me which made some of his hair fall into his eyes.
"I'm not all that bad," his voice was softer and quiet as he spoke, looking intensely at me as if he was studying everything about me before he looked away. "But I guess everyone has their own ideas about the new kid."
My mouth opened and closed a few times but no words came out. I didn't know what to say to him, so instead, I held his hand and entwined our pinkies. I felt my heart race as Elliot looked down at our entwined pinkies but didn't say anything.
We just sat like that, letting the silence wash over us while my thoughts were racing a mile per second and my heart beating faster. What was happening to me? It felt so wrong yet so right at the same time I didn't know what to think anymore until Elliot broke the silence.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked quietly. "Just one kiss to help me forget the first time I kissed you and you practically ran away."
His words were innocent but then why did I feel giddy all of a sudden. Why did I look at his lips and want to kiss him too? Why did the mention of the first time make my cheeks feel warm and my heart clench?
"One kiss and then you'll leave me alone?" the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could take them back.
Elliot's blue eyes held a smile as he nodded and then began to slowly lean in. My eyes automatically closed, waiting but instead feeling his hand cup my cheek and then the softness of his lips on mine. It was so innocent and slow at first but then he was kissing me harder, kneading his fingers through my hair while mine found his collar and pulled him closer to me. I wanted to feel him as close to me as inhumanely possible, wanted to breath him in and forget everything as our tongues fought for control. I'd never felt so at peace before, here in his arms, kissing him as if he was the oxygen I needed to keep me alive.
Elliot slowly pulled away from our kiss and touched his forehead to mine, then used the hand that stIll had our pinkies entwined to place my hand on his chest which was beating so fast. "Do you feel that? I don't think I can ever get you out of my system now."
I felt the same way, but I'd told myself one kiss and then that was it. This shouldn't have happened in the first place. I pulled my hand away from his chest and moved back. "One kiss, that was our deal."
A crestfallen expression washed over Elliot's face as he gently nodded, making his now messy hair fall into his eyes. But then why did it feel as if I was the one whose heart was breaking?