don't blame me [eli "hawk" moskowitz]

TWELVE. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

CHAPTER TWELVE: PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
❝ esqueleto ❞

     MONDAY morning rolled around slower than normal, mainly because Molly hadn't talked to Eli or Demetri since Saturday. That night she had ended up falling asleep on Marjorie's couch after crying so much she almost made herself sick. She hadn't allowed herself to cry since before school started and it all just came pouring out of her.

Miguel had managed to get her to let him in on Sunday afternoon, climbing through her bedroom window to hang out with her. They didn't speak about what had happened the day prior, instead, the boy helped Molly finish the heart of photos on her wall. He smiled when he saw that she had a few of him printed out to add to it.

Molly and Miguel got to school early on Monday per the girl's request. She wanted to apologize to Eli for snapping at him and then not messaging him to apologize for the rest of the weekend. Miguel went off to the pair's first period where he told her that he would wait for her while she spoke with Eli.

The second the girl saw him walking toward the entrance of the school, she straightened up. She pulled the sleeves of the flannel that was buttoned up halfway over her hands as she met the boy halfway.

"Hey, can we talk?" Molly asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she stopped in front of the boy.

Eli didn't answer verbally, instead just nodding his head. The ends of Molly's lips turned upward ever so slightly as the two of them walked side by side into the building. She was worried that he would once again question her about what happened at the mall and she really didn't want to talk about it. She would though if he asked her too.

"I'm sorry about the other day," Molly apologized once they were standing in a quiet hallway. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"Why did you get mad at me for just trying to help?" Eli asked as he stared at his feet.

"I don't know. I guess I just pushed you away because it meant I wouldn't have to talk about it," Molly answered, her shoulders hunching as she attempted to make herself smaller. "I'm going to work on it, I promise. I don't want to push you away when I'm upset."

"You're always the one telling me to stand up for myself so I'm going to now. It wasn't fair of you to yell at me. You don't get to just push me away because something upsets you. You do this all the time. It's not fair to me," Eli shook his head as he looked up to look her in the eyes.

"I know that. I just said I'm going to work on that," Molly scoffed lightly. "You know what, I'll see you later. I got to get to class."

Molly shook her head as she walked away from the boy. Both of them knew that it was a lie and she didn't need to get to class. They still had at least ten minutes before school even started but Molly didn't want to talk anymore. She felt hypocritical saying that she was going to work on not pushing the boy away when she was upset just to walk away from the conversation when he said something that upset her. God, she felt like her father when he got upset with her for just trying to help him.

She took her seat next to Miguel when she walked into the classroom, sighing as she leaned forward onto the desk. She ran a hand through her hair to push it out of her eyes, using her other hand to rest her chin on.

"How did it go?" Miguel asked as he turned in his chair to face the girl. "You worked everything out, right?"

Molly looked over at him, her eyes void of any happiness and Miguel knew that they hadn't worked it out. He had really hoped that Eli had thought about what he had told him the day before. When Miguel found out that Molly had gone over to Marjorie's in tears about whatever happened at the mall, he found Eli's Instagram and messaged him about it. He was worried that something had happened between the pair, only to be informed that Eli had no idea what had occurred other than Molly getting upset with him.