English class was Eliza's escape from reality. she got to put her headphones on and block out the world as she studied the literary techniques of her favourite books. Her English research book project of choice was Normal People. she had read the book numerous times and still couldn't get over the characters. The pages had scribbles in the margins and different coloured tabs throughout them.
So, as The Marías played through her headphones, she wrote down numerous notes in her English book. Though her handwriting wasn't the neatest, she still tried to make her notes as aesthetically pleasing as possible.
Just as she had picked up her pastel pink highlighter and took the cap off, her thoughts were interrupted by a muffled voice through her music.
"Eliza," Nick Nelson looked down at her, his hands stained blue. She paused her music, and took the headphones off of one of her ears. "What on earth happened to you?" Her thick British accent questioned as the boy stood in front of her awkwardly.
"My pen kind of.. exploded," He smiled lightly, "Would you be able to open the doors for me? i don't really know anyone else in this class so it would be weird to ask them for help," Nick rambled slightly, his hands still in the air, as if he was trying to avoid making anything else blue. Though by the looks of his white school shirt, he had failed miserably to do so.
Eliza nodded her head, taking her headphones off and placing them down on the desk before standing up. The two walked out of the classroom after telling their teacher about the situation. Liza opened the door for Nick, and he walked past her, mumbling a small thank you.
"I heard that you're friends with Charlie now," The blonde tried to fill the silence as they walked to the bathroom. At her words, Nick's steps faltered a bit. she looked up at him to see that his smile fell slightly.
"Yeah. Yeah we are," He nodded his head before picking his pace back up. Eliza didn't know why he was so unsure of him and Charlie's friendship.
"Well, i just wanted to let you know how important he is to me, and i really hope that you don't screw him over like the other boys in our grade have," The shorter girl's expression stayed completely neutral despite how dark her sentence was. Nick looked down at her as they turned the corner, and he could see in her eyes how much she truely cared for Charlie.
Eliza opened the bathroom door for the boy, and as he walked past her, she could see that the blue ink was all over his uniform.
"i promise i'm nothing like them," Nick walked over to the sink and coats his hands with soap. Eliza leans against the wall as he does so. "Good," she smiled, revealing one dimple on her right cheek.
He was scrubbing at his hands harshly under the water, but to no avail, the ink did not come off. "I'm going to be blue forever!" Nick exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. Eliza walked over to the paper towel dispenser, grabbed a few, and ran them under the water. Without warning, she started to wipe them on Nick's shirt.
"I don't think it's going to come off. you're gonna need to make this the new school fashion," She shrugged her shoulders sarcastically, not taking her eyes off of his shirt as she spoke. Nick cleared his throat slightly, trying to fight the blush that was creeping up his neck.
"I think i'm gonna ask Charlie if he wants to join the rugby team," His words caused Eliza to step away from him with a shocked expression on her face. "Are you serious?" She deadpanned, chucking the blue stained paper towels in the bin. there was no way he was not kidding. Charlie Spring? playing rugby? There was no way in hell he would say yes.
--
"I'm joining the rugby team," Charlie announced to his three friends as they walked out of the gates of Truham Grammar. Eliza stopped in her tracks. "Charlie, no offence, but don't you like, hate sports?" She questioned the boy, but all he did was shrug his shoulders, a lovestruck gaze coming over his face.
"Nick asked me," He smiles widely, "Nick wanted me to join the team." he thought aloud, in disbelief of what actually happened.
Eliza wanted to be happy for him, she so wanted to be happy for him. but with the dickheads like Harry Greene on the rugby team, she couldn't be anything other than nervous for him.
"It's literally just another silly crush," Tao shook his head as they continued walking. Charlie huffed loudly in reply, "It's not a crush! I don't just fall for any guy who's nice to me!" Tao, Isaac, and Eliza stopped walking to give him the same, 'are you kidding?' look.
"And you're sure you want to spend a whole hour with giant, moronic, rugby lads?" Tao asked, which made Liza and Isaac laugh quietly. she wrapped her arm around Taos, reassuring him slightly. she knew how worked up he could get over Charlie making new friends. She knew why he would get worked up over Charlie making new friends.
"Yes, i'm sure," Charlie rolled his eyes, a smile making its way onto his face.
"It's your funeral."
---
kit. as. romeo.
that's it.
