Chapter eight | A very bad approach

Chapter eight | A very bad approach

I clipped the seat belt on as he did the same. Once again, he was the one driving us to school.

Resisting the urge  to say something, the events from last night flashed through my eyes.

I could still feel his burning gaze as he looked down at me last night. I remember that my breath hitched when his eyes met mine. Those blue eyes were darker, matching the inky sky above him. They held an odd glint in them, which I couldn't decipher.

That didn't sit well with me, putting me on edge. I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind at that moment.

I gasped as I heard Eli calling my name. With my eyes wide, I turned towards him.

With eyebrows scrunched together, he looked at me with confusion. "Are you ok?" he asked, looking at me with concern.

Before I could reply, the car behind us honked, reminding us that the light was now green.

"I am great, Eli," I said with a forced smile.

"It is Elias, not Eli," he grumbled in response. His statement made me smile. He looked cute when annoyed.

"I will call you Eli as long as you call me Cynthia instead of Cyn. Understood, Eli?" I stated, mocking him at the end.

He just gave an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. I turned my eyes away from him, towards the window but not before noticing him glancing at me.

Trying to dissipate the silence between us, I once again turned towards him. "I don't remember buying this shirt for you," I remarked, looking at his checkered shirt.

The red shirt looked comfortable, with the arms rolled up near his elbows. He looked great in it and at total ease.

"I bought it last year," he said as he parked the car in the school parking lot. I hummed in response and unbuckled my seat belt. Getting out of the car, I slung my bag over my both shoulders and turned my body towards him.

"I have cheer practice today, so you can leave without me," I informed him as he walked closer to me.

"Then how will you return home later?" he asked with brows once again furrowing in concern.

Clearing my throat, I averted my eyes. A slight blush warmed my skin, but thankfully my makeup concealed it. Why am I acting like this?

"I will be fine. I could always take a ride with someone else or maybe take a cab," I offered it as an answer.

He shook his head at my response. I couldn't help but notice the way his hair moved and flopped in front of his eyes as he did that.

"I will drive you back. I can wait for an hour or two after school." His tone held finality, leaving no room for argument.

"You don't have to do that," He narrowed his eyes. "But thank you."

He gave a single quick nod in response and made his way towards the school building. Soon he disappeared in the hoards of students, away from my vision.

Before I could react, a feminine arm hooked around the crook of my arm.

"Oh, my God! You missed the best party of the senior year," Fern commented as she bounced in her spot. With her perfect blond hair pulled back in an intricate hairstyle that I silently admired, she looked down at me with glimmering green eyes.

"Uh, huh," I said as I made my way inside. She kept up with my quick pace. The click of her heels matching mine.

"It was so fun! Like seriously, it was crazy. Amy Crawford skinny-dipped for a dare.," she started recalling all the event party events as I rummaged through my locker.

"Hello, Cyn, are you listening to me?" Her voice was sassy as she clicked her fingers in front of my eyes, breaking me out of my stupor. I blinked, moving my eyes away from the locker.

"Yeah, sorry. I was a bit spaced out." She huffed at my response and rolled her eyes. Her makeup did well to hide the purple bags and the exhausted skin after hours-long party.

"Where were you last night?" she suddenly asked, hungry for some details.

"I was with a friend," I replied curtly, not disclosing too much. I knew feeding her information was going to result in rumors all around. The news of Eli and I carpooling had barely calmed down, adding something new to it wasn't going to help.

She gave a dramatic gasp at my answer and leaned forward.

"Was it Ian or maybe, Simon? Oh, it must be Aaron for sure!" She started guessing, naming various guys from our school. Involuntarily my eyes turned towards Eli.

He was next to his friends talking animatedly about something. The way he was laughing made me wish I was there too. I so wanted to know what they were talking about.

Following my gaze, her eyes landed on him. She gave a choked groan. "You fucked the nerd. I mean, he is not bad looking, but Cyn honey, you can do so much better," she said, sounding exasperated. "I mean, seriously, it is not like there is a lack of popular guys after you!"

My fists clenched as continued sprouting words. "You are already ruining your repo by carpooling with but spending time with him. Just... ew. Tha-"

I pointed a heated glare her way, clenching my teeth together. "He is way better than those 'hot' guys, and FYI, we just spent our time together. We didn't fuck each other," I hissed, cutting off her shit.

A bit scared, she backed away from me. Knowing that I was bitch enough to ruin her remaining school life, she didn't say anything else.

"My little lady calm down," I heard an amused melodious voice behind me. As Andrea rubbed my back soothingly, I felt my anger dissipate a little.

Fern left with a squeak as soon as I moved my eyes away from hers.

"What did she say?" Andrea asked, trying to understand the situation.

I groaned and shook my head. Leaning my head against her shoulder, both of us trudged towards the classroom.

Settling in our back seats, Andrea turned towards me. Giving me a questioning look, she waited for me to say something.

"Where were you last night?" she inquired, gauging my reaction. "I remember you said you were going out to take a breath."

I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

The class turned silent momentarily as the teacher came in, but soon the chatter resumed.

"I was with Eli," I said and shrugged my shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant.

An enormous smile overtook her face, and she nodded. "I approve," she said with an ear-splitting grin spread on her face.

Giving her a confused look, I tilted my head to the side. "Approve what?"

"You and Elias silly! You guys will make an amazing couple."

My eyes grew wide, and I produced a dying choked groan from the back of my throat. "No, it is not like that."

Giving me a look that said she didn't believe me, she shook her head. "Elias is a great guy, so don't worry about it."

I groaned lowly, gaining attention from a few people around us. Even the teacher shot us a look, making me duck my head.

"Elias and I, both of us, have nothing going on between us. It is just that we are helping each other," I tried to explain, emphasizing my point by pointing towards me.

"Helping? How... Oh! Friends with benefits kind of thing?" she said with a look of realization dawning on her face. "I never gauged him to be into such things, but I can't jud-"

"No! Nothing of that sort," I tried to explain. "It is just that he will tutor me in Organic Chemistry while I help him with his crush." Who is coincidentally you.

Suddenly interested, she leaned in. "Elias likes someone? Who? And why does he need your help?" Curiosity making her fidget in her seat. She was excited to learn more about the topic.

What should I tell you? Hey, you are the girl that guy likes. And since, you for some awful reason, have a knack for bad boys, he needed my help in becoming a bad boy.

No, that didn't seem right.

"Uh-h, he likes this girl. So, h-he needs my help in impressing her-r," I stuttered out, crossing my finger at my back. I hoped that she bought my lie.

She gave a thoughtful hum. "What is the name of this girl?"

Andrea Lawson

But I shook my head and pursed my lips. "Secret," I muttered.

She gave me an adorable pout and tried to coax me into speaking as the teacher cleared his throat.

"Something you would like to share, Ms. Lawson?"

Bending her head down in mortification of being called out, Andrea shook her head. "No, sir."

I thanked my lucky stars above for the intervention and silently thanked my teacher, too.

Andrea didn't bother me about it the whole day, even when we sat down for lunch with Eli. She most probably had forgotten about the silly delusion.

I stepped out of the gym room dressed in our cheerleading dress. The full sleeves of the dress were irritating against my skin in the warm weather of August.

Andrea walked out in the same dress, which had our school's initials written right over our boobs. Why? The world would never know.

We got into the field right next to the football ground. The team was already practicing wearing their gears in the colors of green and white.

Looking at the bleachers, I squinted and spotted his figure. Eli was hunched over the book in his hand, ignorant of the world around. At the sight of Eli waiting for me, even though he said he would, warmed my heart. Unaware of me, a smile had lit up on my face.

"Are you sure he doesn't like you?" Andrea asked as she came up next to me. I sighed and gave her a bland stare.

"Hundred and ten percent sure," I said, rolling my eyes. I couldn't help but act like a bitch because come on! It was all over his face he liked her!

"But you like him," Andrea stated. I turned my eyes away from him and looked at her flabbergasted.

"No, not at all," I spluttered. "You are speaking nonsense."

Andrea bit her lips and nodded. I knew she wanted to say something, but she kept the words in.

After an hour of vigorous practice, we stopped for drinks break. I gulped the water greedily as sweat stuck on my skin.

My eye drifted towards the bleachers, expecting him to be engrossed in his book. To my utter surprise and irritation, he was talking to Jacob. I don't know why, but suddenly I felt scared.

It took everything in me to not march down there and drag Eli far away from Jacob.

Shaking my head, I decided to ignore it for now. I could always ask Eli what Jacob said to him.

After the practice, I quickly rushed into the locker room, wanting to get out of these sweaty clothes as quickly as possible.

I sighed as I made my way towards the parking lot. Leaning against his gray car, Eli stood rigidly, staring off into space. Noticing my approaching figure, he unlocked the car and pulled the door open for me.

His hands were tightly clutching the steering wheel throughout the drive back home. The tension in the air was suffocating, making it impossible to start a conversation.

As he parked his car in the driveway, I hesitated for a second. "Come over to my place for tutoring?" I offered in a meek voice. Giving me a stiff nod, he quickly unbuckled and got out of the car. With a loud slam, he closed the door behind him.

What happened to him?