Elijah Holt

     My expression dropped as soon as he mentioned my new friends. I wish I could tell him that those weren’t really my new friends at all, and I’d only been talking to them to see if I could get his attention. But I couldn’t say that out loud. “Oh, yeah.”

       I could tell what I said had upset her a little. “But you know that no matter what, we’re still friends and going to hang out. I mean, I’ve only been dating Hannah for three days and you and I are getting breakfast. together.”

     “Probably ‘cause you’ve been too busy with your new gorlfriend~ to hang out with me,” I said, reaching my finger over to play with his chin. I snickered, then plugged my phone into the aux cord. I started playing my new favorite song, The Middle. 

       I laughed and pushed her hand away. “Hey, I haven’t been spending that much time with her,” I said. “I make time to talk to you every night. And besides, you made those new friends that you’ve been sitting with at lunch the past couple days.”

     “Um, no, can’t say I have,” I said, shaking my head as I got into his car. It felt weird sitting in the front seat. “I know you tell me to check it out all the time because of how good it is, but I just haven’t had the time to eat out, I guess.” 

       “Well, then it’s a good thing I came over early today,” I said cheerfully. “You’ve been here for two months and haven’t even been to my favorite place.”

     “Hum, okay, sure,” I said, nodding. I followed after him, trying not to sink my head. I guess I was just expecting him to say something about how I looked, but he had a girlfriend now. Maybe he was extra cautious about those things. 

       We went out the door and got into my car. “Have you ever been to Lily’s before?” I asked, getting settled into the car and buckling up. “I know I’ve mentioned it before, but didn’t know if you tried it.”

     Without another word, I head to my bedroom, trying not to sulk in the fact that I felt terrible for avoiding Eli. What was I doing, anyway? Did any of this even make sense? I hated being unable to understand how I felt about him, because every single day, he was shoved right in my face.

      After showering and getting ready in some weekend wear, I head downstairs, carrying my purse in my hand. “So, um,” I said, walking towards Eli. “Where d’you wanna go to eat breakfast?”

       “I was thinking we could go to Lily’s Diner,” I said, standing up to meet her. “I used to go there all the time with my family, and they make some amazing omelets.”

     “Oh… really?” I lifted my brows, suddenly feeling a little stupid for being so mean to him. “Well… if that’s how you feel, okay then. You can wait downstairs while I get ready.”

       “Alright,” I said, and then I walked back downstairs to the chair I sat in before. I pulled out my phone and was on it for about a half an hour before Momo finally made her way downstairs. “Finally, you had me waiting forever,” I said playfully.

     “Y’mean, you’re gonna wait around for me or something?” I asked, looking down for a second. When our eyes met, I hardened up again. “Aren’t you gonna be hanging out with Hannah today?”

       “No, she has something to do with her family. And I hang out with her all the time, I have to make time for you too.”

     I stood up quickly and looked at him. “Well, it’s too early! I haven’t even showered or eaten breakfast yet. You might as well just go and come back later.”

       “How about you go shower and then we go out and get breakfast together,” I suggested. “My treat.”

     “What?! No, no!” I whisper-yelled at Sebastian, letting go of my stuffed giraffe to flail my arms at him. As soon as I heard footsteps and watched Sebastian head into his room, I knew I was in for trouble. 

     I looked up from where I sat with my back against the wall, big eyes staring up at Eli, who had the guts to come into my house. “Um, hi. What are you doing here?” I asked, picking up my giraffe from the floor and clutching it, remaining sitting down. 

       “Oh you know,” I started, trying to think of an excuse other than ‘to force you into a conversation’, “we always hang out on Saturdays, and I thought I’d get here early this time.”

     As quietly as I could, I pitter-pattered out of my bedroom, not even bothering to shut my door out of fear it’d make noise. I head to the balcony before the staircase, crouching down as to not be seen as I watched the scene unfold between Sebastian and Eli. 

      It appears Ms. Fujoka is “dead.” 

      OH GOD! Sebastian, you nincompoop! Immediately, I hit my palm against my forehead, but realizing that it made noise, I hurled myself away from the balcony and over towards the wall. 

      Well can you just let her know that I wanna talk to her? 

      “Sure, Mr. Holt. I can certainly do that,” I heard Sebastian say downstairs. Please don’t see me, please don’t see me…

       “Oh Ms. Fujioka, it appears that you are alive!” I heard Sebastian say from the balcony before looking at me and winking. I got up off of the chair I was in and jogged up the stairs to see Momo with her face in her palm hiding behind a wall. “Um, hey Momo,” I said.

     Gosh, what the hell happened last night? All of a sudden I started crying in front of Eli and losing my cool. Eli hadn’t seen me cry since we first met that day in the bathroom and he pretty much had to drag me out. Long story short, I hated feeling vulnerable– but even more so, I hated looking vulnerable. 

      I lay in bed, dangling my head off the edge. I was glad today was Saturday, or else I would’ve made up some stupid excuse to skip school. When Sebastian came into my room and told me I had a visitor, I sat up. 

      “Huh? Who is it?” I asked curiously, reaching for my stuffed giraffe and clutching it. 

     “I believe it’s one of your friends… Mr. Holt,” Sebastian said. 

     I gasped, face turning completely red. “No! No way. He canNOT be here. Just tell him I’m, like, dead or something!” 

     Sebastian looked at me for a moment, then turned around. “Very well then.” 

       After about a minute of waiting, I saw Sebastian walking down the stairs, but without Momo. “Is she still asleep?” I asked.

       “I’m sorry to inform you,” Sebastian said, “but it appears that Ms. Fujioka is dead.” As he said dead, he used air quotes, but the fact that she said that to him at all meant that she didn’t want to talk to me.

       “Well can you just let her know that I wanna talk to her?” I said.

       On Saturday morning, I woke up and realized that I had fallen asleep during the movie we were watching. Not only that, but Momo and I were no longer on video chat, so she must’ve gotten off. I had no other plans for the day, so I decided to hop in my car and drive over to her house. I hadn’t gotten a good chance to talk to her since she began acting weird, so confronting her at her house meant she had no choice but to talk.

       I arrived at her front door at around 9:30, so I had to hope she was awake. I knocked and as usual, was greeted by her butler. “Hey there Sebastian,” I said as he let me in. “Is Momoko up?”

       “Have a seat, Eli,” he said, “I’ll go upstairs and check for you.”