Dancing in the Rain | ✓

Chapter 17: Party Monsters

For the next few days Sophia still acted a little distant towards Eli but she was mostly back to her usual cheerful self which made Eli glad. Maybe if she was really in love with him she was actually starting to get over him. Eli really hoped it was the case.

The day before Sophia's birthday Eli went shopping with Avery on a quest to find the perfect gift for her. They couldn't really settle on anything since nothing seemed good enough so finally Eli bought a necklace with his own initials engraved on it hoping that it would satisfy her.

"How romantic." Avery pointed out as they exited the shop.

Eli glanced over at her shoving the small box into his pocket. "You know it's not like that." He said. "We're best friends. She's important to me and yes, I do love her so can you blame me for wanting her to carry a piece of me with her at all times?" As soon as the words left Eli's mouth he realized how stupid he sounded.

To his surprise though Avery held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, I get it. I guess." She said zipping up her black jacket. "I've never had a real best friend so what do I know?"

Eli sighed glancing at his girlfriend's flushed cheeks. "Since I don't know what will happen to Sophia and me I just...I want to remind her that we can get through everything together. I know it's a simple gesture but I hope it will do."

"I'm sure it will." Avery reassured him softly slipping her hand into Eli's. "But I'm still not sure if me coming to Sophia's party is such a good idea. I don't want to set her into a rage mode or something."

Eli smiled slightly letting go of his girlfriend's hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders seeing as if it was getting colder and colder witch each passing day while Avery's jacket was a bit too thin for Eli's liking. "Don't worry about it." Eli said softly. "As childish as Sophia can be I'm sure she is mature enough to realize that I'm happy with you."

Avery looked up at him, her dark eyes full of doubts. "She's not a little girl, obviously but given your recent discovery do you really think she would want me there?" The girl looked straight ahead, still clearly not convinced that Sophia could ever tolerate her. Eli didn't know if Sophia would come around either, but he still was optimistic about it. "I want her to enjoy her birthday."

"You're worrying about it way too much." Eli said pulling his girlfriend even closer to his body as they walked down the sidewalk among other people. "Sophia's a social butterfly. She has tons of friends even though I don't know most of them. But you surely do. They're from your division from what I gathered. They'll keep her company."

"Yeah." Avery agreed. "But as you know we are not in the same social circles. Sophia hangs out with pretty much everyone while I tend to..."

"Shut yourself out from other people." Eli said, only half-joking.

"You could say that." The girl agreed. "But I have you and my roommates. That's way more than enough for me." She turned her head up towards Eli and gave him a sweet smile.

"That's horribly flattering." Eli said chucking. "What would you say to a coffee date? It's cold and I'm really would love something warm to drink."

Avery's smile got even wider. "I'd like that."

----@@@@---

"Wow, I didn't know you could bake." Eli said looking down at a deliciously looking chocolate cake.

Avery smirked decorating the cake with white frosting. "As they say: the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Eli raised his eyebrows at her. "I can see all sorts of problems with this sentence."