Tragic

Chapter Forty-Three: Fearless

Elliot

Sitting across the counter from Oliver, I watch as he smears an obscene amount of peanut butter on a piece of bread. My face scrunches up in disgust when he tops it with an equally thick layer of marshmallow fluff.

"That's gross."

He takes an extra-large bite, and speaks with his mouth full. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Did you say delicious?"

I roll my eyes. "If I ate like that, I'd have an ass the size of a barn."

He rubs his perfectly toned stomach. "I guess I got the good genes." He motions between us. "Obviously."

When I don't smile, he sighs. "You're going to have to tell me what happened between you and Hunter. If I don't have a good enough reason for murder, my defense will be shit." He pats his face this time. "With looks like this, I wouldn't last long in prison."

"I can't argue there." I continue to mindlessly pull my paper napkin into tiny pieces. "I don't want to talk to you about Hunter either."

He shoots me a look, causing a large drop of peanut butter to fall out of his sandwich. He swipes his finger across the counter and places it in his mouth.

"Okay, I'm seriously going to puke."

He scoffs. "Come on, you know Mom cleans really well." He takes another bite. "Any way, do you really expect me to believe you want to go to Cornell with Judah?"

He gives a pointed look to the stuffed bear wearing a Cornell sweatshirt I'm holding. I found it when I was cleaning out my closet earlier. Judah bought it for me when he went for his college visit last year. He held out hope I would eventually go with him until the very end.

I shrug. "Why not?"

"You don't even love him."

"Of course I do," I say defensively, sitting up straighter.

He cocks his head to me. "You're not in love with him."

"Love is overrated. What does it mean anyway? Two people go out of their way to constantly declare their undying devotion to one another while in the end all they manage to accomplish is destroying each other."

Oliver shoves the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. "You're preaching to the choir sister."

"I don't want to be sad anymore. Judah doesn't make me sad."

Oliver's face softens, and he mirrors my position. "That's because you don't care what he does. If you did, he would make you sad, too."

"I applied to Cornell before he left. I guess I thought I would end up there anyway. My relationship with Judah defined me in a way. Without him, I'm not sure who I am."

Oliver laughs. "That relationship didn't define you. You like how it felt to be his girlfriend. It's comfortable for you."

I cross my arms, suddenly angry. "What are you trying to do?"

He sighs, dusting his hands off on a towel. "Elliot, don't you think it's kind of strange both of you are going out your way to be as far away from each other as possible?"

I shake my head, and he rolls his eyes.

"You can fool a lot of people, but you can't fool me. Running away from this won't bring it to an end. It will just make both of you regret what you could have had."