The Story of Eli

Chapter II: Pranks and Thievery

Chapter II: Pranks and Thievery

  I walk along the skinny, gravel path leading to my assigned house. Three students are to be assigned to a house in which their dorms are located. Max and I live in the same house, along with Liam, who has recently been withdrawn from the boarding school.

  I stumble along from tiredness along with my heavy school bag weighing me down. On the brick step, I see a sad looking school boy sitting with luggage surrounding him. He rests his head in his hands. The lonely being’s hair look like a black bird nest, sitting on top of his head. I approach the person to soon realize that it’s Eli. I cleared my throat. He looks up with recognition in his eyes. Those caramel eyes. He speaks first:

“Good afternoon, Meg.” He stands up, dusting off  his blazer.

“It looks like I live in the same house as you. I am still waiting for the head master to cut my key

for this lock."

I smile.

"Eli," I start. "nothing is ever locked."

I flash the key in front of his face and place it in the place of his outstretched hand. 

"You can borrow my spare for now. That headmaster never gets anything done in time."

Eli smiles back. His smile is awkward which actually makes him appear to be adorable. 

 I help carry his luggage to Liam's empty, uncanny room. Rugby posters are  plastered to the walls but the room is bare of furniture. A single bed is pushed against the wall accompanied by a small wooden desk where Eli will slave the nights away doing homework and studying. The big flashes his awkward smile again as I closed the door behind me. When one door closes, another opens- with a school-worn Max standing in the doorway. 

 "I'm home!" he wails, flailing his arms in the air, dropping his heavy school bag with a thud. I peer over the overly stuffed couch, taking out one of my earbuds pausing my music.

"Good. Maybe you can get the dishes done before dinner too."

He sticks his tongue out at me while walking up the case of stairs to his room. 

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"Eat it!"

"No! I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Eat the gummy bear! Just one more, Meg."

"Forget the last paragraph."

"Guys, could you not?" Eli pipes up.

 It was just another studying night in the house- and Max was practically stuffing gummy bears down my throat because I would not finish the last few paragraphs of the assigned reading for school. Eli finally started warming up to his surroundings and was talking a lot more than usual. He still doesn't talk as much as the average person but, when he does, its normally an unintentional joke.

 I threw my head back and opened my mouth like a baby bird. Max popped the last green gummy bear into my mouth. I instantly shot out of my seat and ran to the kitchen to wash out the taste of overly sweet gummies.

 It's a week before Easter and in the Catholic church, we call this week Holy Week. It's an Irish tradition during Holy Week for children of all ages to collect eggs for an event called Clúdog. Groups of friends find a nice place in a pasture to build a fire, fry eggs and have a picnic. Even though Max and I are in our last year of high school, we still enjoy carrying out the tradition and wanted to show Eli how fun our heritage is. Every year, Max somehow finds a new addition to add to our Clúdog picnic.

 We all reunite in the living room for Max has some "big news'' to tell us. 

"So," He starts. "Everyone knows that Holy Week is this week, right?"

Eli and I nod our heads in confirmation.

"and," he continues,"everyone knows that Mr.O'Brian keeps beer in his fridge, right?"

Eli shot out of his chair.

"No, no, no! I'm not stealing beer from a teacher!"

I place my hand on his shoulder and slowly lower him back in his chair.

"Relax." I say firmly. Max continues

" I have already created a plan to get him out of his classroom for a short period of time. Just enough for a window of opportunity.I have been very observant these past few months and I have come to the conclusion that Mr. O'Brian might have a big of a "crush", you might say, on Ms. McElhaney."

I snort with amusement. Eli's eyes are wide with disturbance.

"We write a fake love note from Ms. McElhaney to Mr. O'Brian stating-"

"To meet her in the teachers' lounge during his planning period!" I finish.

"Wait," Eli interrupts.

We were all ready for his objection. We were surprised. 

"Well, what type of beer is it?"