I Told You, Eli Oxley

Chapter Twenty-One

 "Guys, I need your advice," I said to JT, Brett and David. I wasn't exactly comfortable talking to people I'd only known for a few weeks, and I didn't know how helpful they would be, especially David, but I needed to talk to somebody. I couldn't go to my dad – I hadn't talk-talked with him in ages and had been avoiding him since hacking him – and Al, for obvious reasons, couldn't be on my short-list of confidants about this particular problem. Which left the 14:21 crew.

"What's up, Eli?" Brett said.

"There's these two girls that––"

"Woah, two girls at once?" JT said. "David – earmuffs. Your virgin ears can't hear this."

"Funny," David said. "I've seen more action than you've ever gotten."

"Key word there being 'seen'. Porn doesn't count," Brett said.

"It's nothing like that," I said. "I mean, it might be . . . or, not really . . . I don't know what it is, but it's definitely not that."

"Calm down, Eli. It's okay," Brett said. "Just tell us what's up."

"One girl I've known forever and have always had a crush on. We finally started going out just a few days ago."

"So, like your soulmate or something?" JT asked.

"I think so," I said, nodding my head confidently.

"But . . ." Brett said.

"But there's this other girl. She's hot. I mean, really hot."

"Just another crush, Eli. Stick to the first one," Brett said with finality, like it was already settled.

"It's not that simple. She's . . . well . . . I think she wants me."

"How do you know?" David said.

"Oh, I know."

"C'mon – details, man," David said.

"Don't listen to him," Brett said. "He just wants to live vicariously through anyone who's ever seen a vagina. Being John Malkovich is his favorite movie."

"Wait, I want details, too," JT said.

"Okay, she's sexted me twice and shamelessly rubbed my thigh and made me rub hers during class."

"There's three things I want to address here," JT said. "First off, what do you mean, she 'made' you rub her thigh?"

"Well, she didn't make me make me, but she helped me as I rubbed."

"Which brings me to my second question: How far up did you go? Did you rub her off? Earmuffs, David."

"Shut up!" David said.

"No. Nothing like that . . . at least, I don't think it was."

"Did she moan for you?" JT asked.

"This was a mistake, coming to you," I said. JT was out of control.

"No, hold on," Brett said. "JT, David – cut it out and let the man talk."

"But I didn't get to my third question."

"Deal with it," Brett said.

"So, you have a thing for these two girls, and they have a thing for you," Brett said. "What about the first one? Is she as . . . sexual as the thigh girl?"

"No. We've kissed, but just once."

"Do you want to be physical with her?" Brett said.

"I do, but I don't. Something seems wrong about it. It would be really weird to do stuff with her, I think, but at the same time, I do want to."