*Edited*
"What the hell?" I burst out, shoving Elijah away from me. "Why me?!"
He took a step back and sat down at the edge of my bed with his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. He shrugged and said, "I want to know what it feels like to actually be in love."
"So figure it out. I'm not gonna help you," I said, swiveling my chair around so I was no longer faced towards him. Ugh, he made me so mad. He could easily find any other girl, like seriously, I was no one special.
Plus, he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would say something like that. He moved on from girls faster than I could binge watch an entire series on Netflix. And I could do that pretty fast, mind you.
Elijah made an aggravated noise as he said, "Fine. If you don't make me fall in love with you by the end of summer, then..."
I swirled around so fast in my chair that it almost tipped over. I leaned forward on my knees, mimicking his stature as I raised my eyebrows and asked, "Are you threatening me? What, are you a child?"
"Then I'll just have to make you fall in love with me."
I rolled my eyes. "That's impossible. I hate your guts."
He thoughtfully tapped his chin and locked his electric green eyes on mine. "Hmm, I have an idea."
I groaned. "Great, what?"
"Whoever gets the other person to fall in love first wins."
I swear my heart stopped beating for a second. He couldn't be serious. "Uh, can I set you up with someone?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No. If I get you to fall in love with me first, then I'm taking that poster," he said, pointing at my favorite poster hanging on the ceiling above his head.
"You wouldn't," I gasped.
"But, if you get me to fall in love with you first, I'll give you my car."
My ears perked up at that. My car was so old and ugly that I was embarrassed to drive it. Elijah's car, on the other hand, was sleek and sexy.
I hitched an eyebrow, rubbing my hands together eagerly as I said, "Deal."
He smirked and stood up, going over to my window. He got up on the ledge and turned his head around, saying, "By the way, I never lose." Then he jumped across the small space into his own room.
Little did he know that I never lost either. I vowed that I wouldn't fall in love with Elijah and that I'd somehow defy all natural laws by getting him to love me.
"Game on!" I yelled out my window as I imagined myself cruising in Elijah's sports car.
As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I was screwed. How the hell was I going to get my freaking enemy to fall in love with me? I knew I wouldn't fall in love with him, so I didn't have to worry about losing my poster...at least that's what I thought.
I dropped my head in my hands and let out a frustrated groan. This was going to suck.
***********
"Honey! Can you come downstairs and help me carry out the gardening tools?" My mother yelled from downstairs the next morning. I sighed and exited out of the internet browser before heading downstairs to help her.
I found her in the kitchen all decked out in her gardening clothes. I'd told her once that she looked like a farmer and she scolded me, so I knew not to make comments about her outfit anymore.
She tugged on her overalls and slipped on a pair of rubber gloves as she knotted her hair on the top of her head. She smiled at me, handing me a tiny shovel that fit in my hand and a watering can.
She clapped her hands happily. "Let's do this," she said with huge grin.
I pointed the shovel at myself with an eyebrow raised. "Wait, you want me to help you garden?" I clarified because for a second there I had thought that she was asking me for help.
Let me make this clear. I wasn't a fan of flowers or plants or dirt. I hated being dirty and worms were disgusting. This was something my mother liked to do, not me. I've never even gardened before so how was I supposed to know what to do?
But then she nodded. "Yes! This will be so much fun!" She announced as she practically skipped out the front door.
"Totally," I grumbled sarcastically as I followed her outside.
We dumped the tools beside the small, bare spot of dirt right next to our porch. My mom looked at our supplies and gasped.
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot to buy the tulip seeds!" She answered all dramatic.
"Okay...do we really need them?"
She put her hands on her hips, giving me a stern look. "Of course. It's a Fray tradition."
Since when? I knew I'd get in trouble if I asked so I didn't bother.
"Veronica, can you start smoothing out the dirt while I quickly run to the store to pick up the seeds?" She asked, folding her hands together as she pleaded with me.
I kneeled down in front of the patch of dirt and agreed to smooth it out or whatever. She bent down, gave me a quick squeeze, and hurried off to the store to grab some flower seeds.
It wasn't that hard to use the small, hand held shovel to move the dirt around, spreading it evenly in the space. I easily got the hang of it and was so concentrated on the task at hand that I hadn't heard anyone approach.
"Whatcha doing?"
Startled, I fell backwards on my ass and landed right in the dirt that I had just finished smoothing out.
"Jesus!" I yelled, placing a hand over my pounding heart.
"Nope, I'm Elijah," my obnoxious neighbor said as he reached a hand down to me. I swatted it away as I got up on my own and dusted myself off.
"Look what you did!" I accused, pointing a finger at the dirt that now had my butt print on it.
"Uh, hate to burst your bubble, but that's your ass in the dirt; not mine," he replied, drily.
"For the love of-"
Elijah swiftly took the shovel out of my hand and bent down, placing his knees in front of the garden as he began to spread the dirt around until it was perfectly flat.
"How's that?" He asked, flicking his head at the ground.
"Why are you here?" I demanded, placing my hands on my hips.
He looked up at me and gave me a brilliant smile as his eyes sparkled. "To win."
"Win what?"
"Your heart...and the bet."
I rolled my eyes. I knew he wasn't here out of the kindness of his heart. He was just trying to get me to fall in love with him which he just so happened to be failing miserably at.
"You know, it would be better if you weren't so honest. You should've just said that you wanted to help me; not win me." I tapped my foot on the ground and huffed a breath of annoyance.
"Hm, okay let me start all over again," he said, standing up and handing me the shovel just as my mother pulled in the driveway with two packets of tulip seeds in her hands. Elijah walked over to her and politely held his hand out.
"Let me take those for you, Mrs. Fray."
My mom's eyes widened as she shot me a look over Elijah's shoulder. I could've sworn she was crushing on him in that instant as she handed over the seeds. "Do you like to garden?" She asked him.
He nodded. "I have a garden in my backyard, actually."
Oh right. I had been surprised when I saw the garden yesterday at Uriah's graduation party. So, apparently the bad boy enjoyed gardening.
"Oh, how lovely!" My mother gushed. Yep, if she didn't like him before, she definitely did now.
"I would be honored to plant these for you," Elijah offered.
From behind Elijah's back, I waved my hands all around, trying to get her attention as I sliced a hand across my throat. I did not want him to help me with this. My mother caught my eye and winked as she said, "That would be great. Thanks, Elijah."
Once Elijah turned back around to face me, my mother fanned herself with her hand and walked inside the house. Traitor. I thought planting the tulips was a Fray tradition; not a Fray-Reed tradition.
Elijah cleared his throat and gave me the seeds. When my hands slipped over his to grab the packets, he clasped my hands tightly in his, trapping me. I raised my eyes suspiciously to his as he bowed his head, looking straight in my eyes.
"How about we put my two lips together with your two lips," he said, suggestively.
I didn't get what he meant at first, but I immediately felt my face heat up once I got the pun. Two lips--tulips. Very punny.
I yanked my hands away and stepped on his foot because I was so mature. "You're dirty," I said, disgusted, "No pun intended."
Well, at least I was a good actress. I wasn't actually grossed out by what he had said. Don't tell anyone this, but I had kind of found it cute and I had almost wanted to...put our two lips together. He didn't have to know that, though.
"Okay, then how about a poem?" Elijah asked with a grin.
"No thanks-"
"Roses are red, Lilies are white," he continued anyway, "We'd make a great couple, You know I'm right."
I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing at his cheesy poem. A giggle escaped as I tried to say, "Take your lame pickup lines and plant them somewhere else." I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for that quick one-liner.
Elijah smirked in appreciation of my comeback. "We could do this all day, Ronnie, or we could get down and dirty-"
I held up a hand. "TMI, Eli."
He chuckled and got to work on the garden. Before I knew it, he had planted the seeds as well as the already grown flowers my mother had bought in pots. I counted the flowers that were already grown out loud, pointing at each one as I did so.
"Wow," I said. This garden was already breathtaking and not all of the flowers had even grown in yet. "I can already see eleven beautiful flowers."
Elijah's intense gaze on me made me lift my eyes to his. "I see twelve," he said.
***********
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