I don't want to be your friend anymore

61| Nah, bruh

"Mom, why is your daughter so difficult to deal with sometimes?" he asked, heavily sighing.

He was sitting by Jessica's parents' graves, wondering why the hell she kept distancing herself from him. And not only that, she had now started to rudely comment on stuff Eli would say or do. She'd not look at him most times but, when she did, Eli saw nothing but hateful feelings.

Even a week later, there was an unbearable tension between him and Jessica, and the rest of the group seemed to be over it.

3 days ago, they were all having lunch. River saw something on his phone and turned it to Eli, who softly laughed and said something along the lines of 'he deserved it, he thought he was slick'. Jessica eyed him and mumbled 'like all cheaters think they are' to Payton, who just quirked a brow up, quizzically staring at Jessica.

Then, the day after that, there was a group activity in one of their classes. They were supposed to write down a thought, something that was bothering them lately, without identifying themselves. After they were done, they had to swap their ideas with another group who, based on their general knowledge of their classmates, had to guess who wrote what.

River wrote: I feel insecure about my personality because not everyone likes loud people.

Eli wrote: I made a mistake and I don't know how to fix it. Talking isn't helping and the distance is hurting my feelings.

Payton wrote: I guess my hair been wanting to piss me off, so I chopped off some of it and now I feel worse. I'm stressed.

Nadia wrote: I don't like that my parents worry about me, so I visit them more often to reassure them but I see no difference.

Jessica wrote: I thought trust was meant to be earned and kept, but I found out that some people break promises as a side quest.

The messages the group had written were not so easy to match to them. But, immediately, when Jessica's thought was read out loud, Drew whined and looked exactly at her. Eli saw her pout and nod her head. He hated that, first of fucking all, she had written what she wrote and, second, that she was being all friendly with Drew. Eli then saw the boy walk around the table he was sitting at to hug and peck Jessica's head before going back to his seat.

Jessica kept her gaze away from Eli's glaring eyes. She knew what she was doing and she knew Eli would have reacted had it been a normal day, but he just kept his cool and subtly kissed his teeth.

After that joke class, they were done for the day. They went out to eat and even the food Eli ordered received a hateful comment from Jessica. 'It stinks, like some people's behaviour', she said, and everyone laughed.

Everyone expect Eli. And River.

Why was she acting so....? Eli was confused because there was no need for all that. Today, after their first class, the group went to a student hub to work on their class materials. Just as Eli suggested that they go grab some lunch, Jessica mumbled to herself.

"Go by yourself, nobody's stopping you" she kissed her teeth.

Eli held his breath for some time and almost passed out, just so that he wouldn't open his mouth and say something he'd regret.

"Kat, what the fuck is wrong with you?" River scowled at her and she immediately pouted, hugging his arm. "If you're in a bad mood, just say that. Eli was literally talking to everybody, not just you. Watch that stank attitude of yours, please, and stop being a sour ass bitch..."

Thank you, River. Because now Jessica was just doing too much.

"Perdón, cariño" she whined.

[T: sorry, baby/honey/darling]

"Get off your ass and let's go eat something" River muttered, gathering his stuff.

The whole time, Payton, Nadia and Eli just side eyed Jessica, probably thinking the same as River.

So now, Eli was mad. He wanted to tell Jessica off but he also remembered that he had chosen to keep a distance from her, so he refrained from even walking near her. As he reached his house, he sat on his couch for a little over a minute, and then walked out again to drive to the cemetery.

"I'm trying, guys, but it's hard" Eli continued speaking, looking at the couple's pictures on the white headstone. "I hope you know it really was a mistake, and I should have known better, but I was drunk. I didn't do it on purpose and I've tried to explain myself. She just won't listen to me, she won't give me a chance to make it better for us..."

Eli rubbed his eyes, sighed, grabbed the notepad and pen and flicked through the pages. The last entry, which was from 2 days ago, just ended up pissing him all the way off.

June 3
guys, hear me out
it's one thing to get drunk and kiss somebody
but it's a completely different thing to willingly
have sex with that person
when you're not single
and then lie about it
what else has he lied about, then, y'all know what i'm saying?
what does he think i am?
stupid?
i know you guys must think the same as me
because ain't no way in hell
dad, back me up please

June 5 ~ Eli Spring
mom, dad
with all due respect
y'all child crazy
and she need help
asap

And, with that angry note, he put the notepad and pen back, got up and went home. This back and forth between the couple slowly died down within the next couple of days, mainly because the rest of the group kept telling Jessica off. They kept telling her to just talk to Eli instead of taking daily jabs at him, which she obviously enjoyed a little too much.

For the next week or so, Eli avoided her even more. He didn't talk, he didn't look, he didn't sit or walk near Jessica. He completely detached himself from her to a certain degree.

But, thank fuck, when he then started to steal glances from her, he could see remorse. He could see that a lot of the anger had dissipated from her eyes and all there was left was guilt and apologies.

The soft looks she sent him and the silent pleas to 'hug me, kiss me, love me, make me lose it' were back, and Eli was more than ready to comply.

But not yet.

In the event that Jessica made contact with him first, though, would he be strong enough to play hard to get?

Shit... tighten up, Eli.