Hollywood and Mr. Popular (the original)

Chapter 12

"Okay, I know you said I couldn't pick the song but I have the perfect song and I promise it's not by Justin Bieber." Eli sighs, setting the guitar he'd brought from his house in the corner.

"Fine, what is it?" I smile widely, hitting play on my iPod. Eli listens to the instruments in the background, nodding his head along to the beat.

Ah
Hey-ey
Ah, ah
Ah
Hey-ey
Ah, ah

He knows
Dirty secrets that I keep
Does he know it's killing me?
He knows, he knows
D-d-does he know
Another's hands have touched my skin
I won't tell him where I've been
He knows, he knows, he knows

"So, do you like it?" I ask nervously once the song ends. He smiles playfully, wrinkling his nose. "Oh, come on, Eli, it's a good song."

"I never said it wasn't."

"But your face did." He sighs, still smiling.

"You and I clearly don't have the same taste in music."

"The fact that you picked the last song we sang and it was written by the exact same guy kind of contradicts that statement." He chuckles.

"I chose that song because Shawn Mendes is like a tolerable version of Justin Bieber and through the years I've learned that ladies love Bieber." He walks towards the recliner I'm sitting in. "Lucky for you the songs not all that terrible so I'm willing to sing it in public." Without thinking I jump up and pull him into a hug. He tenses up for a second, then hugs me back awkwardly. I pull away, leading him into the backyard and taking a seat in a folding chair. Eli turns his chair towards mine strumming the guitar softly.

I watch him for a few minutes without realizing it. I can tell by the way he holds the guitar that he's been playing for a long time. He looks up, looking slightly surprised though I don't know what for and says,

"So should we start?"

"Um, yeah" I pull the lyrics to 'I know what you did last summer' up and hand the phone to Eli, since I know them by heart. After a few more strums of the guitar, he sits it down.

"I think we're gonna have to use your iPod since I'm unfamiliar with the song." I pull up an instrumental version of the song and we start practicing. Eli's voice is perfect as usual but without his guitar he feels the need to stare at me. So, eventually I start stuttering and Eli's too busy laughing to sing anymore.

"You okay, Angelface?"

"I'm fine, I just, I don't think we should be just standing there."

"What do you think we should be doing?"

"Well the song has a pretty good beat maybe we could dance a little."

"I don't think so." I roll my eyes and pull him out of the chair, putting one of my arms around his waist and intertwining my other hand with his, extending it away from us.

"We can start off with something slow and simple, like a regular slow dance." Eli nods and I notice the palm of his hand is sweaty. He takes a deep breath and begins swaying gently. I giggle and he glares at me.

"I'm sorry," I apoligize quickly, "I've just never seen you so nervous before."

"Yeah, well, dancing was never really in the scripts if you get my gist." I step back, frowning up at him.

"You mean to tell me you don't know how to dance?" He shakes his head, not meeting my eyes. "What the hell? Don't you ever take the girls in your movies to prom?"