Elliana X Jason

Two, Reading Material

 Jason stared at the wall. He had scaled it too many times to count. So why did it seem so hard to do it now? Maybe because it was the night after Elliana's birthday. Maybe he was afraid she would take his breath away again. Except he wasn't. He desperately wanted to see her. He'd talked to her only the day before, and yet the goodbye kiss Elliana had given him at the end of her party left him needing to see her again. Maybe that was why it seemed so scary. But he still climbed it, even though his limbs seemed almost numb.

When he entered Elliana's room through her window, she was sitting on a chair in the corner of her room. Her nose was in a book, but it was something else that caught his attention.

Elliana was singing.

Jason hadn't heard her sing since his birthday. The memory had been lost through everything else that had happened that night, but it was forcefully dredged up. He remembered her beautiful voice as she sang that beautiful lullaby. This time, her voice sounded almost better. The song she was singing hardly seemed like a song. The lyrics were all jumbled and slightly contradictory. He got closer, and realized she was wearing headphones. Her cell phone was propped up next to her, reading the lyrics she was singing. Also on the screen were five characters. Two girls, three boys. The lyrics were given to random characters. He could see two of the characters who were on the screen on the cover of the book that she was reading. Suddenly, she stopped singing. She jumped up triumphantly.

"Yes! Yes, yes, YES! I knew it! The best couple ever-" She stopped when she noticed Jason.

Jason began to laugh at her reaction.

"Sorry." Elliana said. "But they're the best ship."

"They're boats?" Jason asked.

Elliana's jaw dropped. She proceeded to thoroughly explain that a ship was two people who either were or could be a couple. Different people shipped different characters, and ships didn't even have to be fictional.

"Like for example, Alex and Ian." Elliana finished.

"Okay... so who's this best ship in the series?" Jason asked.

Elliana pointed to the girl in the middle of the screen and then the boy all the way on the left. Jason couldn't help gazing at the character. He looked slightly cartoonish, but the character was actually oddly attractive. And then he realized Elliana was staring at him too. Almost like she was admiring him.

"Is he a good character?" Jason asked.

"Oh yeah. To be honest, I'm kind of crushing on him." Elliana said.

Jason flinched. He looked at her, slightly aghast.

"I mean, fictional boys are just better than real boys. Everyone knows that." Elliana said.

Jason proceeded to count the grooves on Elliana's hardwood floor. He felt a slight tickle on the side of his face. He looked up to see Elliana with her hand cupped around his cheek.

"But none of them have anything on you." She said.

"Thanks." He mumbled, not knowing how to reply.

She began to laugh, a smirk creeping along her lips. "You know the crush was a joke, right?" She said.

They stood like that for a long time. Jason wanted to move, but he found himself unable to look away from Elliana's eyes.

"Elliana. You're beautiful." Jason said.

Her cheeks turned red.

"And when I say you're beautiful, I don't just mean you look pretty. I mean, you do, but you're also amazing, and compassionate, and smart, and kind, and funny."