Deva: Living Outside The Ladder (Complete Story)

Act 10 Scene 2

(Throughout the next few weeks, Deva bumps into Elli. He has tried multiple times to greet her. However, she's turned cold from him every single time. He would also ask her to hang out with him. However, Elli coldly dismisses him or makes up an excuse. But Deva could write off that things were over between him and Elli had it not been for Elli staring at Deva when he wasn't looking and continuing to text him. Some days, Elli tries walking away from Deva after seeing him, on other days, when Deva was hanging out with his friend. Elli would secretly watch him from afar, even while smoking. Deva decides to call Janice.)

Janice: Are you sure about this?

Deva: I'm positive. She keeps looking away from me and is dismissive of me every time I talk to her, but at the same time, she's looking at me when I'm not looking at her and she has no problem texting me. I even catch her looking at me whenever I'm doing something. It's like one minute she's hot, next minute she's cold. Like I don't know how I should feel about this.

Janice: I know what you're going through. And believe me, shit like this is always tricky. But it sounds like she's very conflicted. It's like she wants to talk to you, but something is holding her back. Maybe she has trust issues. She did tell you about her ex-boyfriend.

Deva: Yea she did. Even then I don't know. She did have a friend who once dated my douchebag brother. I have a good idea that he might've done something to her. Even then that's still ambiguous to me.

Janice: But can I ask you a question.

Deva: Yeah?

Janice: Do you like her?

Deva: I guess.

Janice: You can't just guess in these situations, Dev. Do you really like her?

Deva: I think so. And I'm not saying that to be ambiguous, I've been thinking about it for a while actually.

Janice: When did it start?

Deva: Well, after a month of not talking to her I've been thinking about the time we've spent together. Like in detention, we ended up talking about a lot of things. Then there was the junkyard, we had a lot of fun there. And I got to know about her too. She's smart, funny, she's also crass and a little crazy. Like not borderline obsessive crazy or any type of crazy that just creates unnecessary drama, but crazy in a way that she has her fun and ropes me into her world. To me, it's actually what makes her unique. We actually shared a lot of deep stuff. I've also told her things I never really told many people.

Janice: That sounds pretty deep. I think you are in love with her.

Deva: Yeah. It's been going on in my mind. I never had these conversations with anyone else, not even Yasmine. Even with the other girls I've dated, I felt like I had to ask them questions and mostly keep the conversation going. I didn't have to do that with Elli, which is why this stood out to me. But now it feels like she's just playing with my emotions. Do you think she just wants my attention?

Janice: If she's just using you for attention, she'd stick around when you try to talk to her. But she runs out on you every time. But she still notices you, I think she's just shy.

Deva: Shy? She's practically the bold one out of the both of us, what does she have to be shy about?

Janice: Deva, not everyone is as transparent as you are. Girls like Elli like to act tough, but I can tell from what you're telling me, she has trouble expressing herself. Emotions aren't always easy to deal with. I think she really likes you but doesn't want to admit it for some reason.