Eternal Symphony

12. Heart of Darkness

It was difficult for Alice to pretend the situation wasn't awkward: it would have been better if Lia wasn't there. However, Elijah didn't seem to mind; the two used James' study as their refuge, sharing what Alice had missed in class that day with the notes he had brought.

As Lia went through the spice cabinet, she ran to the opened door and asked Elijah, "I don't think you're allergic to anything, are you?"

Alice bit her bottom lip, anticipating an answer. Elijah noticed her quizzical expression and smirked when he realized he was walking into a trap she had unintentionally laid out. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and said, "Just no garlic, please. It makes my throat swell."

While Lia thought nothing of it and mindlessly obliged, Alice wanted to jump up and shout that she knew it, but she settled for snickering. However, she caught Elijah studying her behavior. Wondering if her manners were vexing, she was surprised to hear him laugh, sharing in her amusement but not commenting on the matter. Alice bit her bottom lip to the point of almost drawing blood as her eyes fixated on him.

He now knows I know.

Once dinner was served, Alice keenly watched Elijah as he ate. She had never seen him eat before, and for some reason, she thought the experience of it would be a bit more refined: he was apathetic as he mechanically took a bite. She was thankful their parents weren't home as dinner started, but Alice wanted to hide when Lia began telling stories of her younger years. Elijah was amused, but he held her hand under the table to ease her worries, massaging her palm with his thumb. His ears perked up, however, when Lia mentioned Alice's previous partner from the tenth grade, but Alice heavily reminded her sister that "we were never together."

"I saw the way he followed you around. It was kind of obvious that he had a thing for you." Lia laughed. Elijah chuckled too, but his eyes narrowed upon Alice. "It was a shame that you turned him down, though. What was his name again? Oh, that's right—Ryan Allen."

Apparently, this news came as quite a shock even for Alice. "Huh?"

Curious, Elijah asked, "Why are you so surprised?"

She looked at him glumly. "I had no idea that he did."

The entertained Lia added, "I thought he was about to ask you out before graduation, but I guess he never did. You were always off in your own little world. That wasn't the first time, either. There were plenty of guys who would have loved dating you, but you were never interested." It was Lia's turn to study the oddity that was her sister. "Elijah must have been pretty special to catch your eye."

Alice glared at her sister, now regretting asking Elijah to stay over for dinner. "Maybe it was because I wasn't interested in the others." Though Elijah looked at ease and enjoyed the stories, he squeezed her hand, and Alice wondered if he was jealous.

It took much of Alice's strength to endure the awkward dinner, but she sighed in relief when Lia finally excused herself from the table to clean the kitchen and put away the leftovers for when their parents came home. The sun had already set, and Elijah asked Alice to join him for a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood, an umbrella tucked under his arm. When the two ventured outside, Alice's eyes immediately caught an electric car parked on the curb by her house—a black and white Tesla—that she assumed belonged to Elijah.

While she admired his car, he paused before the rose garden. "This is lovely. Did you or—?"

"My mother," Alice said, joining his side after breaking her trance. "She planted these shortly after I was born."

Elijah smiled. "Is that where your middle name came from?"

How did he know? Unsure whether she had told him about her full name, Alice agreed. "And my first name was inspired by the character from Lewis Carroll's story."