By Design

The Unspoken Promise of a Thousand Treasures

Turns out that ping-pong was not my forté.

Absolutely not.

'How can you be so bad at this?' Elliot laughed. He twirled the paddle smoothly in his hand just as mine slipped from my fingers.
'I don't know,' I said, frustrated. 'I really don't know. Why is this so hard?'

'It really isn't. You just have to focus, but that's not something you're great at anyway,' he said, beginning his serve.

'What's that supposed to mean?' I frowned as I slammed the paddle through the air and missed the ball completely.

'You always space out. You need to really focus on your timing, your position, your-'

'Oh, but that's far too many things to focus on at once!' I complained, retrieving another ball. Elliot rolled his eyes at me and gestured for me to serve. And surprisingly, I succeeded.

'See? I told yo- never mind,' he sighed when I missed his hit again. I sighed as well and placed my paddle on the table.

'I guess sports just aren't my thing,' I said irritably, seating myself on the floor next to Elliot's table. He held his stance of disapproval for a few seconds (basically placing his hands on his hips exactly like my mother would) before he came around to my side and sat down next to me.
'Teresa, this is the first time you've played ping-pong. You're not going to be instantly good at it. It's normal for beginners to be completely shit,' he said, wrapping his arms around his knees. I glanced at him with a hint of a smile on my lips.

'Yes, but this is supposed to be your therapy for me. Shouldn't I be enjoying it at least?' I pointed out to him.

'Didn't I give you enough therapy last night?' The grin that accompanied his comment made my cheeks glow in embarrassment upon remembering the events of last night. I'd fallen asleep in his arms and when I woke up, he behaved so sweetly to me, fussing with an elaborate breakfast etcetera, that it was unreal.

However, that sweetness slowly soured into an irritating sort of smugness throughout the course of the day. It still didn't stop me from accepting his invitation to his place again after school, and although he was annoying me a little, I couldn't help but feel a warm affection for him when he smiled so brightly at me.

Which leads us here.

To this supposed therapeutic session.

'Teresa, you're doing it again.' I tilted my head towards him.

'Doing what?'

'The spacing.' Then he draped his arm over my shouder.

'Stop doing that,' I said, flicking his hand. He withdrew it, chuckling.

'It's fun to piss you off though,' he spread his legs out and leaned back on his arms.

'Well I don't like it.'

'You didn't mind it so much last-'

'Stop talking about that,' I snapped at him unintentionally. My eyes widened at the sharpness of my tone and his did the same. 'I'm sorry.'

'No no, I'm sorry,' Elliot said quickly. 'I was being really insensitive. That was a real dick move from me.'

'It's fine,' I said quietly and patted his arm to reassure him. 'Really, it's fine. I've never...never done that with anyone. And I'm not really used to...skinship.' He smiled warmly at me, even in the awkward tension that I was trying not create, but did so anyway.

'Friends hug each other sometimes,' he remarked, sitting up and twisting his body to face me properly. 'I'm not really a touchy kind of guy myself, but I guess we can both step out of our comfort zones and try it out some time, right?' I considered this carefully.