Dancing in the Rain | ✓

Chapter 19: Walking Towards the Monster

With a great surprise came the fact that Eli was kind of eager to come home for Christmas. He knew it still would be difficult to sit with his parents at the table and talk about their lives but with all that had been going on with Sophia, Eli was ready to get away and at least for a few days be detached from all the drama.

For the past few weeks Sophia had been rarely home and even if she was, the girl would usually lock herself in her bedroom and spend there the whole day leaving Eli to fend for himself. He hoped that she would come around eventually, but he wasn't so sure of it anymore.

They didn't talk much but if they did it would just consist of short few-worded sentences most of the time. Eli kept trying to talk some sense into her and get her to do something with him but it seemed unachievable. His heart was breaking and if it wasn't for Avery he would have surely fallen apart by then.

Without Sophia it was difficult to get by, especially when Avery had to work and couldn't spend time with her boyfriend. Knocking on Sophia's door had long become unsuccessful but on some level Eli did understand her and he hoped that time would heal her wounds and show her that she could just simply be friends with him.

Three days before Eli's flight to Denver his duffel bag was already packed and waiting for him to pick it up. The prospect of spending hours on plane from New York to Denver and then another hour on the flight to Aspen wasn't very appealing but Eli was more than ready to revisit his hometown and see familiar places. Maybe he would even get to see a few friends from high school.

He didn't really know what plans regarding Christmas Sophia had but apparently the girl didn't want to share them with Eli. The boy didn't even know if they would end up on the same flight. He hoped that the magic surrounding Christmas would do its wonders and make them talk to each other again. That somehow Sophia would get over him and they would be able to put all of that behind them and move forward.

But Eli knew that it would not be as simple as that. Their picture standing on the coffee table in the living room with their grinning faces taken right after graduation seemed to be mocking him and reminding what he had lost, possibly forever.

While eating late dinner he kept glancing at the photo every once in a while, even though it wasn't doing him any good. The soup he was sipping slowly seemed to be tasteless, just like most of the things these days. When he was done, Eli put the bowl next to the picture and leaned his back against the sofa cushions hoping to relax for a moment.

Just when he did so, Eli felt his cell phone start buzzing in his pants pocket. He took it out and pushed the answer call button after seeing that it was his mother. "Hi, mom." Eli greeted her, actually happy to be able to hear her voice.

"Hello, sweetheart." She said but her voice lacked the usual cheerfulness.

"Is something wrong?" Eli asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, no. Everything's perfectly fine. You have nothing to worry about." Clarissa quickly assured her son.

"Then what is it? You sound weird." Eli pointed out, still not quite sure if his mother was telling the truth or if there was something going on.

"I just called to let you know that we will have guests for Christmas." She said, somehow sounding even more distressed.

"Who?" Eli asked.

"Your grandparents...and Henry."

Eli's eyes widened and his heart started pounding loudly in his chest, as if trying to escape his body. "What?"

"I know it will be hard for you, it will be hard for all of us." Clarissa said softly. "But Henry has been asking for months to join us. He wants to apologize to you."