Louise's Junior Year

It was not.

Elliot continued to be invited to sit with the group for the next week, eventually feeling confident enough to sit down without being asked. As time passed, he tried to spend more and more time with the gang, especially Louise. Even paying a kid in chemistry to trade partners so he could see her outside of school for their midterm project, having the other boy claim it would be easier to switch because Elliot's partner was his neighbor.

"So, when should I be over?"

Louise laid back with her head right by Elliot's leg on the concrete steps. "Eh, I don't care. After school the living room is free till closing. Although, a couple night a week or so my parents close early so we can all eat together."

"Must be cool having your family own a restaurant."

"I guess. Always eat good food. Plus I get a decent job. Pays minimum wage, but still. Can't complain." Louise then spotted Rudy walking home. "Hey! Rudy! Get over here! The step's hurting my head!" The redheaded boy obeyed, awkwardly squeezing in by Elliot so Louise could lay her head in his lap. "Much better. You know, for a skinny kid, you're pretty comfortable." She looked up and noticed both boys faces. "What's up with you guys?"

"Nothing." They answered in unison.

"Okay..." Louise continued to watch the two. Rudy's pink cheeks weren't anything too new, but Elliot's expression surprised her. He seemed on edge.

Clearing his throat before speaking, Elliot tried to sound casual, "How about we start today?"

Louise shrugged, "Sure. Why not? Sooner we get started the sooner we get done." 

"Get what done?" Louise filled Rudy in. "Oh, yeah! I already started on mine. I'm hoping to recrate that bridge, you know, the one from elementary school? Only this time I plan on making a serious explosion." Rudy placed his hands together then motioned them apart, making his own sound effects as he did.

Louise let out a chuckle, reaching up and patting Rudy's face. A thought then crossed her mind. "Oh! Shit! What day is it?" The second Rudy pulled out his phone, she snatched it away. Louise then tossed it back as she got up and grabbed her backpack. As she took off, Louise called back, "Gonna have to rain check! Gotta get home!"

"Man, she really misses him." He said under his breath as he gathered his own things.

"Who?"

"Logan."

"Who?" Elliot arched an eyebrow. He knew of a couple of Logan's from their school, but none that seemed like guys Louise would get that excite about.

"You know, the Logan." Seeing the blank stare on his friend's face, Rudy realized Elliot had no idea who he was talking about. "Logan was Louise's boyfriend. They dated from, I think it was half way through freshmen year, until this summer. He's a couple years older than us and had to leave for college. They broke it off, but still call each other regularly. If you ask me, I think they'll end up getting back together."

"Why do you say that?"

Rudy shrugged, "I don't know. Just felt like they really made sense. I mean, when we were younger they hated each other, but at some point something changed. They became friends then show up one day to school attached at the hip." He smiled, "It was kind of nice seeing her so happy like that."

"She isn't happy now?"

Shaking his head, Rudy went on, "That's not what I meant. Just feels...different? Like, she's still Louise, but sometimes she's just going through the motions until it's time to talk to him again. Maybe she just needs more time. Louise is really something special. You know?"

"Yeah." Elliot eyed Rudy. Feeling a bit like he was being challenged. "Maybe she just needs a new boyfriend."

Rudy winced. "I don't..." He then stopped himself, seeing he wasn't being listened to anyways.

The next day, Louise walked Elliot to her place. She had already let her family know they would be taking over the living room and that no one was to touch their project or poster. Giving her mom an extra warning to not try to add glitter to it in the night.

"Wow. It smells great over here. Do you think we could grab a bite to eat?"

Louise shook her head. "Later." Elliot was disappointed, but followed Louise up the stairs and into the apartment. "What the hell is this?"

"Oh, hey Louise!" Gene greeted his sister with a large grin. He sat at the couch with Courtney Wheeler and her dad standing in front of him. Dough Wheeler had one of his keyboards set up and a microphone was propped up in front of Courtney. "We're recording a new jiggle! I wrote the lyrics and Dough made the sound. Wanna hear?"

"No, I do not 'wanna hear!' Gene! I told you yesterday that I needed the living room! Where are we supposed to go?"

Gene shrugged, "I dunno. Down stairs?"

"Oh, right. Right. I'll just go downstairs and work on a slime project with our MOM down there! We all know how well that'll go. She'll go nuts! She'll try to add too many things to it! She'll make it explode and get it everywhere then Dad will have a stroke! Is that what you want, Gene? Dad to have a stroke?"

"Uh..." Gene looked back and forth between his sister and the Wheelers. "I don't know what to do!"

Elliot chimed in, "Why don't we just work on it in your room?" Looking around at the faces now staring at him, Elliot felt like he had said something wrong. "Or...is that not okay?"

Louise let out a loud groan. "Fine!" She pulled the brunet by the front of his shirt. Just before opening her door, Louise took a breath. "Don't touch anything, okay?"

Elliot nodded. He began pulling out the ingredients he had brought while Louise left to grab a poster board. When she came back, Elliot was looking around the room. "A lot of Kuchi Kopie in this room..."

"Yup." She sat dwon on the ground and began writing. Looking back up at Elliot a few times to keep an eye on him.

Lifting up a picture that sat at Louise's bedside table, Elliot asked, "Who's this?"

Louise jumped up and yanked the photo out of his hand, "I said no touching!"

"Sorry..." Elliot felt like he was taking steps back. Trying to forget it, he sat down and began mixing things together, taking a few glances around the room. "So, uh, I like your bed frame. Looks...rustic."

Louise let out a snort, "I guess that's a nice way of putting it. It's made from the left over pieces from my old frame." She smiled a bit. Only a little, but it felt like enough to light up the small room. "After that one broke."

"How did that happen?"

"It was one of those studio beds. You know, with the desk underneath?" Elliot nodded, "You know that guy in the photo you were looking at?"

"Yeah..."

"That's Logan. Freshmen year we thought it would be a smart idea to jump on it with my brother and sister." Louise thought back to the look on parents faces when they came running in her room after hearing the crash. "It was not."