The Boy From Everywhere

Ch. 9: The Reason

Dinner went along as smoothly as it could get.

I could say I was lucky. My aunt definitely did catch me talking to Eli on her way back in, but when I returned to our table, I hid it under the guise of asking bell peppers to be removed from my order (though, I technically did ask for that).

She didn't say much in response other than to call me a picky eater.

On the other hand, I couldn't help but notice how Eli's eyes always seemed to sparkle whenever he was talking to someone.

How adorable.

However, as I watched him, and pondered on our meeting today once again, it slowly dawned on me that, after this, I might not even have a reason to see him again.

I also saw that coworker of his that teased me last time. This time, they told me they were definitely now sure Eli had  crush on me when I went to pay.

I brushed it off. Maybe they just loved teasing each other.

"Come again!" Eli had greeted me and my aunt as we left, and I felt his eyes lingered on me longer as I hung around a bit behind my aunt.

I returned a small smile and a nod, before walking out.

Well. Now that that's over...

I wonder if he'll still approach me if we ever see each other again.

~•~

"This is getting boring. Ugh, I wanna sleep," I groaned as I frowned at the book lying open in front of me, before I dropped my head onto its pages.

It had been four days since I last saw Eli. I probably should have expected that since it's not like we were planning to meet everyday, but I must have gotten used due to the frequency at which I saw him since our first meeting.

I don't know why I cared, though. Surely, he was just gonna be another person who would spend a few days in my life, and eventually disappear when he stops to matter. And to be fair, with the amount of knowledge about him that I have (which is close to none), he might as well still pretty much be a stranger to me. In short, someone I shouldn't care so much about.

... It was fun while he was around, though, I'll have to admit.

A sigh deeper than I had initially intended came out of me and onto the pages of the book I was resting my head on. I felt my eyelids getting heavy, and my body beginning to calm as sleep started to look too tempting. However, as soon as I felt rest falling onto my shoulders, my ears noted the sound of light footsteps approaching. Something about their presence seemed too familiar, and when I finally realized why, my eyes opened wide, and I lifted my head just in time to see a purple paper tulip placed on the side of the book I was supposed to be reading. I turned my head next and, well, who else was I even supposed to see?

"E-Eli??"

"Hey," he whispered back, still smiling brightly as he always did. All I could do was just blink as he proceeded to take the seat beside me, and then I noticed all the purple and green construction papers he placed onto the table in front of him. "Mind if I joined you?"

"N-no... Not at all."

Why was I stammering?

My eyes soon landed back on the paper tulip he had placed near me, wondering if he really just placed it there becauss he was finished with making it, or...

"Why aren't you taking it?" Eli asked all of a sudden, and I looked back at him with my brows raised cluelessly. He then picked up the tulip he had placed, and then held it towards me, its "petals" facing me as he smiled right behind it. "It's yours."

I guess now I had a good reason to be stammering.

"W-w-what... H-huh?"

Then again, what was this for exactly?

"W-what would I need this for?" I pushed myself to ask, to somehow regain my composure and not make myself look like an idiot in this situation.

Eli just tilted his head at me, still holding the tulip out, still waiting for me to take it. "I figured you needed a little something to help you stay motivated... Here's my attempt at helping!"

At this point, it wasn't just Eli staring at and waiting for me to move. This little purple tulip was doing it, too. But as I looked at it, I couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity from it.

It was just like that umbrella Eli left me on the day we first met. It was the same color.

I took it in the end, looking at it as Eli continued his work. A smile was forming on my face before I realized it, and soon enough, I was back to doing my homework.

As it usually went, I finished it in less than an hour. By the time I did, I had turned to check on Eli's progress, too, and then noted that he had finished making almost twenty paper tulips of different colors.

Now that I think about it...

"What are those tulips for, anyway?" I ended up asking, my curiosity getting the best of me. Not that I usually let it, but Eli seems to be the best kind of person to set it free with.

"Hmm?" He remained smiling as he finished making yet another paper tulip, and he looked at it before turning to me with his smile turning just a little bit brighter. "They're supposed to be decorations as part of the library's Mother's Day celebration. We've made quite a lot in the past few days already, so I'm kinda making the last batch already."

"Oh..." My head tilted as I thought about the response he gave me, and then my expression turned into that of realization. "Wait, then that tulip you gave me-" I quickly turned to it and picked it up, aiming to return it to Eli after realizing that him and his colleagues must have put so much effort into them, but he quickly held his hand out to stop me.

"No, no, no, you shouldn't give back a gift that was given to you," he argued, but I only argued back as I tried my best to give the tulip back to him, too.

"But you put so much effort into these! How could I just take one of it?"

"No, seriously, its' fine," he continued to argue, all while staying just as stubborn in keeping me from returning the paper tulip. At one point, however, he suddenly curled his fingers around my hand, and safe to say, that definitely stopped me as I froze and looked towards both our hands wrapped around the paper tulip. Eli smiled yet again as he continued speaking. "It suits you, too. Purple could be your color."

In a moment, I felt my hand go limp in his, but really, it was all because I didn't really know what to feel about this whole situation. Why does he keep acting like I'm the kind of person that deserves kindness? "... It's not even my favorite color."

"Really? Then what is?" I felt his curious gaze on me in the next second, and I looked even further away from him, feeling uncomfortable, until my eyes landed on my bag, sitting behind me, leaning on the backrest of the chair I'm sitting on.

One more second, and I slipped my hand out of Eli's hand and turned to my bag, taking my journal out and presenting it to him and, all of a sudden, feeling bashful. "It's green."

Eli looked at me, now looking the most clueless I've ever seen him. However, in a few seconds, his smile returned, and so did the purple tulip in my hand as he remained smiling at me. "Well, then, how about we say you have two favorite colors? And purple just happened to be one of them?"

It might as well, after this incident. Not to mention, I think I've found my reason to keep looking for his company. I just hope I'm right that he enjoys mine, too.