Until I Met Her

Chapter 5 (Edited)

I invited Eleanor to the park.

After our little... encounter at the library, we'd been avoiding each other, but that was all water under the bridge now.

Honestly, I found her company quite amusing. She was funny to be around.

Also, my mum forced me to do it.

I had no other choice.

Before Mum told me to invite Eleanor out, I was planning to go to the skate park, so I decided to take her with me, whether she liked it or not.

It happened like this: Mum and I had just gotten home from church. Matias had a football game and Dad was an atheist. I was in the living room with my dad watching Embarrassing Bodies like we always did on Sundays after church when the phone rang. Mum answered.

"Ptss! Ptssss!" Dad and I looked at each other, frowning.

"Tyler!" Mum whisper-yelled. Dad and I turned to look at her.

"Since when do we whisper?" Dad whispered. Mum glared at him. Her curly hair was up in a bun, her light brown skin sweaty from cleaning. She always cleaned on Sundays after church. Her cleaning music was on but lower than usual — really old Vallenatos she played whenever she wanted to feel closer to home.

"Hazme un favor, I need you to go out with Eleanor this afternoon," she whispered, more an order than a favour. I shook my head. She nodded back, eyes saying try me. She looked so much like Abuelita right then.

"But I'm meeting Freddie later, you know that, you were there when I told her at church that I—"

"Tyler." Mum's eyes got slightly bigger.

"Mum, it's Eleanor." I whined. Dad shook his head, laughing, and turned back to the TV.

I thought I'd won, but you never really win an argument with your mother. She lifted the phone back to her ear and, with a fake smile, said, "Yes, Adele, Tyler can do it, she'll be there later."

And that was how it happened. That was why I was sitting in Mum's car thinking of ways to get Eleanor to come with me without telling her where we were going, because if she knew, she definitely wouldn't come.

In the end, I decided to wing it.

I knocked on their front door once. No answer. Twice. Nothing. Then I knocked repeatedly, fast and annoying, until a frowning Eleanor yanked the door open.

Awkwardness tried to climb up my throat, but I pushed away her last words to me and smiled.

Water under the bridge or whatever.

"Hi, Eleanor," I said quickly, not letting her speak. "Look at you all dressed up and stuff. So pretty. Anyway, as a peace offering I'm taking you out." I grabbed her hand and dragged her out to Mum's car. I opened the passenger door and sat her down, even did her seatbelt, ignoring her confused look.

I sprinted around to the driver's side and, before she could open the door, I locked the car and drove off.

I sighed in relief.

I just kidnapped her. Cool.

I didn't want to comment on the fact that she allowed herself to be kidnapped but... whatever.

"Kohen, you're so fucking weird..." She didn't sound surprised, which made me wonder if she knew her mum had talked to mine.

"Why aren't you surprised or pissed off?"

"Because as weird or stupid as this is, it does seem like something you'd do. Something that would make sense to you," she said simply. I didn't know if I should feel insulted.