Dysphoria

Chapter Thirty Nine

"Good morrow fine ladies." Elliot said with a jolly flourish, plopping a stack of papers onto the table before sliding onto the seat beside me. Maddy, Kat and I were sitting at one of the picnic tables in the quad enjoying the sunshine. I was studying, Maddy was reading a magazine and Kat was playing music on her phone.

"Hey Elliot, what's up?" I lift my sunglasses to smile at him when I realized he wasn't alone. Nate had just finished passing out a stack of similar papers to group sitting at one of the round tables near by us. He was wearing a black adidas sweater with a white stripe down the arm and dark jean, he looked polished and well put together. Elliot looked the exact opposite. He was wearing an oversized baggy hoody and smelled dank.

Maddy refused to look at him instead making a point of just kept reading her magazine.

"Wait, what's this? Are you two boys on a date or something." I ask, making Elliot immediately smile and Nate immediately frown. Kat and Maddy were laughing at him.

"Us? No. Economy class partners." My gigantic neighbor said with all the humor of a corpse before raising his eyebrow at me.
"Why? Are you jealous?"

"No, just curious." I smile up at him, getting further under his skin. I'm

"For now. But the day is still young." Elliot wiggled his eyebrow up and down at him suggestively.

"We're supposed to be handing out these local business surveys." Nate says with an annoyed glance at Elliot who was clearly paying no attention to the task at hand. I could see from the way each one was neatly printed and aligned perfectly that this paperwork was all done by Nate.

"Here. Be a sweetheart and fill these out for me." Elliot says with a wink passing out one to each of us. Maddy just ignores it, pushing it back to him but Kat begrudgingly finds a pen. He was an incorrigible flirt.

I was already revising with my pens and highlighters out so I began filling out the questions and neatly ticking boxes.

"So I hear you're single now hm?" Elliot sidled up beside me, his voice was raspy and honestly the most attractive thing about him.

"Boy, for the millionth type you are not her type." Maddy eyed him up and down harshly, which was the first time she had said a word since they came to our table.

"Whats her type then? Since you know so much." Elliot scoffed easily, nothing seemed to faze him.

Nate cleared his throat, standing stoically a step behind me watching Elliot's every move like a hawk.

"Felons." Kat sniggered and Maddy smiled in agreement.

"Hey. Not full blown felons." I roll my eyes at her.

"Come on be honest." She says smugly.

"Fiiiine, dick on the table I like bad boys I guess. They're my fatal attraction."

"Hmm and what about tattoos?" He said hinting to his obvious face tatts.

"You've got me there. Tattoos on a guy are basically a cheat code for me to fancy you." I admit.

"Yesss so I'm in with a chance." He says smugly looking at me from the corner of his eye. Nate was trying to act like literally the dust on the ceiling was more interesting to him than this conversation.

"Not really. You're not bad guy material. You're like... a playful, emo fuck boy type." Kat says giving him an all knowing judgmental look.

"Oh yeah?" He laughs at her. "And what's yours hmm?

"Virginal gamer boys." I fired back at her, then turned to Maddy.

"And you, you love that trust fund inheritance dick don't you Perez?"