Graffiti Boy

Chapter 8 - The Birthday Incident

Six days had passed since the fortune cookie message.

No more messages from Xavier and no more rumours. People were still pretty shocked about Eli and I "dating" but the commotion had relatively died down.

My stitches had dissolved and I could finally shove Eli -he'd given me plenty of reasons to do so. We had told Dad about the message in the fortune cookie and he told us that on that day it was best if we just stayed home. There wasn't exactly much we could work with. I was still worried though.

If Xavier had warned us about June 25th, wouldn't he be expecting us to be hiding at home? Wouldn't that be where he would attack first?

"Come on Val, you can kick better than that!"

Eli and I had started training, the minute my stitches started to dissolve. Dad had said that it was important for me to learn how to defend myself better and attack someone should the need arise. I thought it would have been Dad teaching me, but it was Eli.

Let's just say Eli was very happy about it.

He made it his goal to throw in sexist comments like, "Girls can't fight" and "Wow, you should probably just stick to shopping". Unfortunately for him, those comments had fuelled my anger and he ended up getting a couple of smacks to the back of his head.

We had been sparring for the past hour and though I'd never admit it aloud, I was exhausted.

Eli threw another jab out of nowhere and I only just managed to deflect it. I threw a weak punch towards his chest but he grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. I kicked his shin from behind, hearing him inhale a sharp breath.

Before I could get too cocky, I found my lips pressing against,

kissing,

the softest,

absolutely lush,

matted,

ground.

"Get off of me," I grumbled.

Eli got up and offered me a hand which I happily declined, pushing myself up off of the ground, dusting off the invisible dust particles.

He took a swig from his water bottle, "Buttercup, you're actually doing amazing."

"Really?" I asked, his words before weren't exactly encouraging.

"Yes! If you were going to fight a Care Bear!"

I snarled at him, "Punch me."

"Gladly."

We continued training for another hour. I had been tackled to the floor many times, my body was bound to bruise the next day. I did, however, manage to give Eli a fairly red cheek. That was satisfying enough for me.

"See ya at school, babe," Eli called before leaving our makeshift gym. It was just my basement with a couple of yoga mats.

"We're at home, you can cut the act," I snapped, "I'm not your babe."

"Oh, but you are my babe, babe."

➸

I regretted waking up the next morning. My body was aching, breathing too hard was a struggle. I would never walk again. I ended up having to get up in order to get some Advil from the kitchen.

I found a cake with my name on a stickie note beside it, on our breakfast bar. I stared at it in confusion but then realized. With the whole havoc of the past couple of days, I had completely forgotten.