DIFFERENT -Eli Moskowitz-

11.0

written from Kay's perspective

It turns out that Aisha and I have second period together too. So when the bell rang after first period, we walked to second period together. We ended up doing partner work in English class so we partnered up. The bell rang ending second period, and interrupting Aisha and me laughing. We had finished the work early, so we just chatted for the last twenty minutes or so of class. The topic ended up on boys, so I obviously brought up Eli, and she gave me some pretty good advice. She told me that I should spend a little more time with him, and if the butterflies continue, then maybe try something a little further, like flirting or a little romance. If it felt wrong then I would know that I didn't like him, and if it felt right, then I knew I did. It was actually quite good advice coming from her, considering she told me she had never had a boyfriend. Anyways, her and I went opposite ways once we left the class seeing as our lockers were on different sides of the school. As I walked towards mine, I could see someone standing in front of it, and as I got closer I could tell it was Demetri. I was not in the mood to see him, but I knew I couldn't avoid him forever. I stopped for a second debating whether it was worth it for me to go over, worried it might turn into another fight again, but my stomach grumbled and I knew I needed to go to my locker to get a snack. I took a deep breath and started walking again towards my locker.

"Kay, good, I was starting to get worried that you wouldn't come to your locker." Demetri said, as if everything was normal between us. I just looked at him, with daggers shooting from my eyes so he knew I was still mad at him. "Right, I'm in the way." He said as he stepped out from directly in front of my locker, so I tore my glare away from him, towards my lock so I could unlock my locker and get my snack out. Demetri stood there silently and awkwardly as I got my snack before closing and locking my locker again, before turning to look at him, unamused.

"I'm sorry." He said finally, looking at my eyes for a second before looking down at his feet trying to avoid the awkwardness of my eye contact.

"Why?" I asked him. I knew why he should be apologizing, but I wanted to hear what he thought he should be apologizing for, just to make sure he was sincere.

"What?" He asked, looking up at me confused.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked him genuinely, keeping my face stone cold, in hopes to intimidate him.

"Umm- well earlier in the library, I said some things I shouldn't have, and made some assumptions I should have not made. I just wanted to say I really am sorry for that." He said letting out a huff of air. I could tell he didn't apologize much, because that seemed terribly hard for him.

"I accept your apology," I told him with a small smile, and he gave one back, "but-" his smile dropped, "you need to know I got mad more so because I didn't want you saying that stuff in front of Eli. I know you guys are best friends and everything, but I could see on his face you were making him upset. You want to make rude comments to me, I don't care, but don't do it in front of him." I said, and his face dropped even more.

"Shit! I didn't even think about how that might have hurt Eli when I said it, I was just worried about losing my best friend in all honesty. I already explained that to him though, and he said he was okay." Demetri told me.

"Listen, can you keep a secret?" I asked him, not knowing if what I was about to do would be a good decision or not.

"I- yeah, I can try." Demetri told me back, not very convincingly.

"I really like being around Eli, and he acts a little more confident around me, and I want to help bring that confidence out of him. You saying things like you did earlier are not helping him grow his confidence. I think I might like him, but he needs to be confident enough in himself before he can be confident in a relationship, you know?" I whispered to Demetri so no one else would be able to hear me. The look on Demetri's face after I said I might like Eli was priceless, and even made me let out a little laugh.