Not Your Typical Wallflower

 

 Chapter One:

The Day That (almost) Changed Everything

Elijah Dunlevy kissed me in the hallway, during our junior year of high school.

I remember seeing him stomping toward me, eyes dark and determined. His friends leaned against their lockers and called out to him, shouting, "Man, where're you going?" He ignored them and I watched blankly as he zeroed in on me and continued doggedly forward, through the clusters of tittering freshmen and our dumbstruck classmates.

That initial impact was completely unexpected and immediately I combusted. Everything in me burned as the boy who always ignored me crushed his lips against mine and pulled me against his unyielding chest. My eyes closed, instinctively, and the sound of my blood rushing through my ears drowned out the inevitable gasps and murmurs of my peers. After a moment, it all came rushing back. The sounds, the reality of our surroundings, and the impending panic at the fact that his mouth was moving roughly against mine… it crashed down on me just as he pulled away.

"Don't give up," he whispered huskily, hot breath hitting my face. He hovered impossibly close to me, his forehead nearly touching mine. I was breathless, speechless, and spineless in that silent, confused, suspended moment. A teacher, who must have seen Eli maul me, shouted out, "Hey!" and Eli's dark eyes drilled more insistently into mine. He pulled a small leather book from his back pocket, still lingering close, and handed it to me. I accepted my diary with quivering hands, just as the indignant teacher jerked him away from me.

I watched the teacher escort Eli down the hall, a sea of eyes following him. The creeping tendrils of understanding were cold on my skin and I shivered. My mouth was agape as I peered down at the withered old diary and the extent of the situation overwhelmed me.

Eli had read my diary. Holy shit, Eli Dunlevy read my personal diary.

I think I've jumped right into the deep end, so let's just backtrack a bit. Let's just start with my 17th birthday, the day our school welcomed Eli Dunlevy into its loving arms.