"You know...I thought I was just being a good friend by telling you. But no...I just wanted you for myself right? I didn't care about your feelings?"
Even though he didn't want to admit it, the truth hurt him more than he hurt her.
Elise Gardner is...
Have you ever been so stressed out in your life that you start to sound crazy? At least that's how I think I look by the way Ky is looking at me as I mumble nonsense to myself for my finals. It's not like I can help it. Many people have their own way of studying and the way i study is memorize and saying it out loud to make sure it's in my brain.
I read a few things, look up and mumbled it out loud and look back down at my stack of papers in my hands. I then quickly go over the material that I had a harder time with and made sure I knew everything I think would be on the test.
"You need to relax and give that brain of yours a break"
I look up at Ky and gave him a look. "I cannot do that! That's basically committing suicide". Ky just rolls his eyes in response.
"Once a nerd, always a nerd" he mumbles under his breath.
"We all didn't decide to take easy chill classes senior year" I say.
He lets out a low but soft chuckle. "And who's fault is that?" He asks pointedly.
I roll my eyes and went back to studying.
"I see you and Daniel have been closer" he says.
I scrunch my eyebrows and stopped my studying to look up at him. "Yeah...what about it?" I ask.
He shrugs his shoulders and looks forward. "Nothing more?" He asks quirking one of his eyebrows.
"No...not like that" I say.
Sure I've felt different around him recently, but I don't think it's anything to make a fuss about. Even if I did feel something for him (that I haven't felt in a while), it won't matter because it's not like it's going to happen. I don't know if I should let myself get into something like that with him considering on what happened last time they found out I liked him.
"Why would you ask?" I question.
He shrugs his shoulders. "Well prom in like right around the corner"
I furrow my eyebrows. "Prom is in March, Ky. It's December" I say pointedly.
"Yeah, but you can't go alone" he says.
"I won't be going alone" I say, "I'll go with Willa and Violet".
He lets out a soft chuckle. "You do know they're going with Jayce and James, right?"
"Then...I'll fifth wheel" I counter back.
He shakes his head. "Elise, you need a date to your last high school prom".
I give him a face. "You're the one talking. Who are you going with?" I question.
I already have an idea on who he's going to take, though. He's had an eye on this girl in our AP Chemistry class from last year. I haven't actually seen him talk to her nor do I really know her, but from what I've heard about her, she's pretty nice.
His lips turn upward into a small smile, but he recovers. "I'll tell you when you admit something that you aren't admitting".
The bell rings signaling that it's time for class. He leaves me standing dumbfounded. What does he think I'm hiding from him? Or what I'm hiding from myself?
I intake a breath of air putting those thoughts to the back of my head. I have other pressing matters to be worried about. I head into my first class and sat down into my assigned seat still having the thoughts from before roaming my mind.
Those thoughts eventually lead to the biggest question: do I really want to go with Daniel?
*******
By the end of the day, my head was throbbing. It hurts more than the times I had to take my SAT and ACT. I think I used my brain more than it could stimulate. I put my hand on my temple and tried to massage it.
"You alright?" I hear from beside of me.
"Yeah, I'm fine" I respond, "just overworked my brain".
Daniel chuckles. "Your fault for taking more classes than you actually needed"
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it". Everyone is acting like I'm the only one that has taken advanced classes in our senior year. I'm not the only one.
We fall into the same step heading towards the parking lot.
"So...you going to prom?" He asks unsurely.
I scrunch my eyebrows together at the familiarity of the question. What's up with people today?
"I'm planning it, yeah" I say. "Why?" I decide to ask. Why are so many people asking about prom when it's literally three months away? I wouldn't worry about it till it's like a month away.
"Just wondering" he says shrugging his shoulders.
I inwardly frown at his answer. I don't know why, but I was hoping for something more. I don't want to admit it. Not to him and especially not to myself. Why? Well probably because of a little mental block I have for letting myself feel anything for him again.
But something inside of me tells me otherwise. Something tells me that it's too late to have those kinds of thoughts because there is something I don't want to admit but know it's true.
Ky was right.
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A/N: Hey!
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, or what ever you celebrate this time of year. I don't have much to say in this ai author's note, but I wanted to thank you all for supporting this book. I know it's probably a drag. But thank you!
