To Love A Stranger // Young Love Book 2

XII

"You know, you still have the rest of the coursework to catch up on," I chimed as I plopped down on the all too familiar beanbag chair.

"I'm only one more week behind and then I'm finished with junior year. I'll finish it by Thursday, easy."

I sighed. I had a feeling she would say that; she'd been grovelling the entire time she was allowed to.

"There might be people that don't like Zeke," I offered, point blank.

Eli shrugged, not even glancing up from her notes. "I'm not surprised."

"How come?" I replied with a quiet chuckle.

"It's Zeke, Charlie. If he could piss off a peaceful seventy year old florist, I'm sure he's capable of mildly angering all sorts of temperamental people."

I rolled my eyes, picturing the previously discussed geese hunters. I wondered how he could've possibly crossed them but hardly anything crossed my mind.

"You know, he's so misunderstood, that boy," she added, pausing to peak at me as I twiddled my thumbs.

"I suppose," I sighed.

"People just don't know him like we do. Everyone seems to think he's a total delinquent."

"He did steal two big tubs of ice cream once," I countered wistfully. What an excellent memory.

Eli laughed. "We do have nosy townsfolk."

I snorted. "Lincoln Bay is a suburb, Elouise."

"Yeah but townsfolk sounds way cooler."

I straightened when I hear her say 'cooler'. I stood and fished for the paperback Eli lent me during our week in California. "Here," I said, throwing her the book.

Unfortunately, due to lack of coordination, it hit her smack on the shoulder. "Gee, you couldn't have passed it to me normally, like a regular person?"

I ignored her complaint and said, "So, this book was definitely crap."

"What?!" Eli exclaimed in disdain.

"I don't like it. The guy's a total jerk and the chick was definitely an idiot. Why take him back? He's such a...such a--"

"A delinquent?" Eli offered with a peeved look on her face.

I nodded with caution. "She never shoulda stayed with him. He'd get her killed," I argued, passing her the paperback. "I doubt their happiness will last."

She smiled knowingly, her blue eyes softening. "That's what everyone says."

"Because it's true."

She shrugged, replying with a simple, "That's one way to put it."

"Well," I sighed, "how would you put it then?"

"I think Bethany stayed because Michael was the only one she could trust," Eli explained, her gaze lingering on the novel she'd just loaned me.

"Neither of them were good characters either. I swear that chick was a compulsive liar and Michael--holy--Michael was always involved in some sort of trouble," I interjected, still opposed to how everything had ended in the book.

Eli smiled, a light twinkle in her eyes. "That's the beauty of it," she murmured. "Just two people, both flawed and lost, discovering what it's like to fall in love."

I shook my head. "She needs someone more stable, and so did he. For both their sakes."

"No, they fit well together."