The Pond Of Flowers

Six, Thanksgiving

"Thanksgiving!" Emily said. She walked into Elliana's apartment wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"For someone so excited about Thanksgiving, you could at least put on a dress." Elliana said.

Emily laughed. "As if. I can count on one hand the occasions worthy of a dress, and this isn't one of them."

"Plus you'd get food on it." Elliana joked.

Emily laughed harder. "That too." She said.

They hung out for another few hours, when they decided to leave. They had planned to go to Stacy's at three, but after some delays, they had hung out and were going to Stacy's at five, when the dinner started. So after two hours of what they like to call the three Gs (giggles, gossip and games), they finally prepared to go to Stacy's house.

"Where are they?" Elliana mumbled.

"What? Who?" Emily asked.

"Well... I may or may not have invited Jason to the dinner." Elliana said sheepishly.

"What! You invited him! First off, he's just some creep you barely know, and second off, you waltz around telling me to have manners, while you invite someone to a party without the permission of the hostess? In all seriousness though, what do you know about this guy?"

"He's caring, funny, and in a bad situation. I'm sure they'll understand."

Emily sighed in frustration. "You're right. They will understand. And you have a crush on him."

Emily walked to the other room to collect her stuff, leaving Elliana in confusion. Was Emily right? Could she have a crush on Jason? She decided that she didn't as her and Emily walked out the door.

When Elliana opened the door, the sight of Jason and Alex made her jump. Upon seeing him, her resolution dissolved, and she realized that she did in fact have a crush on Jason.

"Hi. Sorry we're late. Jason wanted to leave immediately, but I told him about our water thing so we could be safe. At least it gave Mr. Sharp more time to get dressed up." Alex joked.

Emily snorted. "Loser." She said. Alex held his hand up and they high-fived.

Elliana couldn't speak. Did she really have a crush? How was this possible? Was she too young? Was she too stupid? She definately looked stupid, standing there like an idiot.

Alex was right, Jason certainly did look sharp. He was wearing a slightly oversized plaid button down shirt and a pair of gray pants. The outfit was covered with dirt, but it was sort of charming to her. He was fidgeting with his collar and giving an awkward smile.

"Hi. Thanks for inviting me." He said.

Elliana smiled uncomfortably and did nothing like some kind of creep. She chastised herself for being stupid, and simply nodded her head at Jason. Emily led the procession to the elevator as Elliana stuck to the back in fear of talking to Jason.

"Thanks again for letting us come. We don't always have that much to eat." Jason said.

"Well, the more the merrier, right?" Elliana said.

"I guess. Thanks for everything." Jason said.

"Yeah, you said that."

He took her hands into his. "I mean it. Even a little help would have gone a long way, but between you and your friends, you've been a huge help. Thank you. You really don't know how much it means." Jason said.

Elliana's face went ablaze. She didn't know how to reply to such a statement, especially as her heart raced a mile a minute.

"Happy to help." Was all she could muster.