happy birthday, sweetheart

the food, part two

PART TWO OF THE FOOD

it was difficult for eleanna to think of wil in a way other than attractive, charming, hilarious, or even becoming. he was something, that was for sure. all the way to the restaurant (chinese--how'd he guess she liked that stuff?), he sang along to the christmas songs on the radio. every single one. he would switch voices, alternating between normal, really high pitched, and really low-toned. his voice was already kind of low, so this kind of made her want to swoon. she wasn't sure why she trusted this guy, but he couldn't be too terrible. he offered to pay for their meal and everything.

even when he saw the pile she had on her plate.

"hungry?" he grinned, taking a sly sip of his pepsi.

"are you judging me? look at your own plate," she scoffed, smiling as he did, indeed, glance down at his food.

wil shrugged, swirling his noodles with his fork theatrically. "can you blame me? that girl didn't know her guests at all. did you know i was invited just because i was in one of her classes? i could've been a serial killer on the prowl, and she welcomed me into her home." he chewed on his chinese before adding, "plus, it's only good hostess skills to provide food for every type of person."

"and we're not every type of person," eleanna concluded, staring down at her soup with a bitter smile. "she's my friend--or, was--, and she still didn't provide suitable food."

her dinner buddy lowered his brows in sympathy. "was?"

"i don't know," eleanna laughed half-heartedly, taking a small sip of the soup. "this was sort of the last straw."

wil licked his top lip, nodding his head in understanding. "i getcha. but, hey, you've got a nice ol' stranger who bought you some dinner."

eleanna smiled. "if you were trying to cheer me up, i'll have you know the only thing that did the trick was the accidental rhyme in your statement."

"ah, of course. not the kindness of a guy who shares the same health dysfunctions as you."

she made a face before laughing. "health dysfunctions? okay. is that what they call allergies these days?"

wil sighed woefully, shaking his head in fake sadness. "when they're as bad as we got, kid."

eleanna highly doubted he was that much older than her, so calling her "kid" was probably not accurate, but this got her wondering. "so..." she paused, digging into her platter of yumminess. "how old are you, anyway?"

while she chewed, he finished up his second helping. he was a fast eater, she'll give him that. "twenty-three. and you?"

not too bad, she thought. "twenty." why would she think it wasn't too bad, though? oh gosh, was she interested in him? she didn't have time for romance--she needed to focus on making enough money to live, not going on dates and having the time of her life.

but, oh, she wanted it. she had to at least admit that.

"when we're done, did ya want to go back to the party?" wil asked, cracking his knuckles. it looked like a habit, and a nervous one at that. the girl sitting across from him thought it was cute.

"um...no? did you?" eleanna winced, smiling apologetically at him.

wil grinned a little too quickly, but covered it up with a cough. "not really. but what, oh what shall we do with the evening?"

after he paid and complained to eleanna about his fortune cookie ("i can't believe you got a cool one and mine's completely lame"), they hopped back into the freezing car with clear minds and full tummies. one look at each other and, for some reason, they burst out laughing.

"this is weird," wil said under his breath, his lips still upturned.

"yeah," eleanna agreed.

neither was quite sure what was weird, but it just was. because of that, they just drove until they spotted something they wanted to do. the night was filled with trying to get into a chuck e cheese but failing, ignoring calls from multiple people described as "no one important" when the other asked about it, finding an abandoned arcade that they couldn't find a way into, and stopping by a starbucks for some hot cocoa. wil and eleanna were now walking back to his car, which was a few blocks over from where they were.

it was, more or less, terribly cold.

"what time is it?" eleanna asked, looking around them with a permanent smile.

wil hummed, pushing up his sleeve to gander at his watch. "uh, around nine-thirty."

"i don't know why, but i thought it'd be later."

"me, too."

they walked closer together without realizing, their bodies apparently searching for warmth. bumping against each other as they walked, their conversation began to dwindle.

then they reached the car, and a question had to be asked.

"will we do this again, or was it a one-time-thing?" eleanna wondered aloud.

wil smiled fondly down at her, opening the passenger side door wide. "why? do you want to do this again?"

she climbed into the jeep, staring at the man she couldn't help but already have a massive, unreasonable crush on. infatuation was what she boiled it down to, yet maybe...maybe it could be something more. if they had time. "yes."

wil only nodded, closing the door before going over to his side. they were off, towards jade's house to retrieve the things they had left haphazardly in the rush of adventure. 

"before we start this whole friend thing, i'd like to tell you my name's not actually wil."

eleanna snapped her head in his direction. "what?"

"it's wilbur." he flinched, flicking his eyes over to her in worry.

she laughed, small at first, but it soon bubbled into a full-blown cackle fest. "really? like, orville and wilbur wright?"

"yeah, yeah, laugh it up." wil shook his head, trying not to smile.

"no, i like it," eleanna grinned, leaning her head back on the seat. "i just expected something else, that's all."

he sighed. "everyone does."

"so we're friends?"

"starting now."

eleanna leaned over and pecked his cheek, liking how he jumped at the touch of her lips. "sounds good to me."

THE END

[i really hope you like it, i adore this guy and i just made him up. i want him for myself. ugh]

[love you and merry christmas!!!!]