Five Weeks to Forever [BxB] (WILL NEVER BE FINISHED)

Chapter 13.

"Alright, here's the plan.... I don't have one."

I looked up from where I was sitting, perched on the edge of my bed, my phone in a dangerous balancing game, leaning across the narrow gap between my bed frame and wall. On it, Eloise was standing far too close to the camera, so all I could see was the brightly painted makeup that covered his face. In the background, the sound of laughter and singers belting out musical numbers combined to create a symphony of chaotic-ness that I was sure Eloise was thriving in, but would've given me a stroke to be around.

"Is that the only reason you called me?" I responded dryly, glancing back down to the thick poster board that was laying on its back in front of me. Armed with a sharpie, an entire stack of notes that was about three inches thick, and all the information Wikipedia could provide, I was busy scribbling down antidotes and fun facts beneath the pictures and paintings that had been plastered on over the past couple of days.

Matthew and I's midterm literature project was due tomorrow, and as I had suspected at the beginning of it, I had ended up doing the majority of the work. Matthew hadn't been much of a help to begin with, but the current animosity between us only made him less inclined to participate. Whenever I had asked him to spend some free time to do his part, he had made up some excuse. Usually something about football practice or hanging out with 'the guys'.

Which I'd learned translated into 'the people that bullied you relentlessly for years, yet I still choose to hangout with, despite claiming you're also my friend.'

It was annoying, having to do pretty much everything myself, but at the very least I knew I would get a good grade. If there was one thing I was good at, it was nerd stuff, literature projects included.

"No," Came Eloise's miffed comment. He'd finally leaned back from his phone, allowing me to fully see the top part of his elaborately done costume. The play the theater department was putting on was something called "The West Side Story". I wasn't entirely sure what it was about, but Eloise promised me it was sort of a mix between Romeo and Juliet and The Great Gatsby.

Great, I thought. Just what I need to see. A tragic love story where a bunch of people die in the end.

"Don't give me that look," Eloise said, must've seeing the scowl I had on my face. "Listen, I've been trying to think of one, but it's been crazy over here. We've been rehearsing 'till eleven thirty every night. My brain is fried, all I got goin' on up in there is Jets and Sharks."

"I have no idea what either of those are."

"You will Saturday!" Eloise said in a sing-song voice, a grin splitting his face. "You pre-ordered the tickets, right? Front row? You need to be up close to see me in all my glory, Ell."

"Of course I did."

Because seriously, how could I forget? Since the theater department announced their winter play at the beginning of the year, Eloise had been hounding me morning, noon and night about making sure I got tickets in time before they sold out. Not that he needed to remind me, I wouldn't miss any of his performances for the world.

Despite being a total geek, Eloise was an incredibly gifted singer and actor. Not just at a highschool level, local broadway scouts that had traveled to our school to watch one of the plays had marveled at his talent, a couple even offering him spots to audition in their next play.

"I'd love to accept," He'd always say, his face aglow with the pride of being noticed and praised, "but my focus is on school right now."

I had no doubt in my mind that Eloise would one day make it to the big leagues. I knew that was his dream, too.

"Speaking of plays," I hummed, frowning as my sharpie left a bleeding smear as I pressed it down onto the cardboard, "How have things been with your parents?"

Despite his obvious talent in the area, Eloise's parents had no intention of supporting him through college if he planned on pursuing a musical theater degree. That was the problem with having parents with money, if you didn't plan on doing what they wanted, then there was no chance they'd share that wealth with you- and lord knows FAFSA would be no help in that regard.

"Still trying to convince them," He sighed wistfully. "They still want me to pursue a doctorate, the prudes. Seriously, who wants to run around a hospital all day, listening to people whine about their problems to you? Sounds like a major drag."

I tried to imagine Eloise as a doctor, with the traditional white coat and blue scrubs, his goofy personality swapped to one of authority and distance. The image in my head was so far from the boy I knew, so different from who he was, it would've been funny if it wasn't so horrifying to think about.

No, Eloise wasn't meant to be a doctor. Knowing him, he'd probably end up talking a patient's ear off about the lyrical genius of The Fiddler on the Roof when he was supposed to be prescribing them medication for their anxiety.

"They're just looking out for you," I said eventually. "Doctoring is secure, you can find a job anywhere, and you'll make enough money to live comfortably pretty much anywhere."

"Maybe," Eloise hummed dryly, his eyes narrowed. "But what's the point of going through life and only playing it safe? Life isn't meant to just be 'comfortable'. It's meant to be explored, enjoyed. You'll never really live if you don't take risks every once in a while, otherwise, you'll just turn out to be a mindless drone."

"Have you explained that yet to your parents?" I asked.