Her Hope (On Hold)

[ Chapter Nine ]

"You want me to what?!" I choked on my own water, staring at Christian in absolute disbelief.

"You heard me dead and square, Eleanor. Or must I repeat myself?" He sat at my desk, twirling the chair around so that he was directly facing me.

"I will not toy around with Tristian!" I sprouted, dismissing even the thought of it.

"Oh come on Ellie! This is the perfect opportunity to score some intell on that pitiful mafia so we have leverage! You know how it goes. Plus, you're halfway there!" I quickly sat up, deperately attempting to conceal my internal panick attack.

"W-What are you talking about?" I sheepishly asked, scratching the back of my neck. Christian suspiciously raised his eyebrow, shaking it off to reply.

"He literally looks at you like your the center of his universe. It's so obvious!" I felt my heartbeat quicken, guilt eating me alive. "Lately however, its like he wants to see if you're ok, but that wouldn't make any sense. You two don't even talk!" He chuckled, shaking his head at his own statement.

Wow and there goes my guilty conscious.

I frowned as realization hit me, unsure why I was feeling guilty. Sure, it was a human emotion, but typically, I didn't care.

What's gotten into me lately?

"You're right. That's super weird." I dragged on, playing with the hem on my shirt.

"So, are you in?"

Family comes first.

"I'm in."

• • •

"Heyyy Tristiann!" I chirped in a girly tone, cringing at my reflection in the school bathrooms. "No, ew. Never again." I muttered, scolding myself.

Round #23.

"Hey Tristian! Sorry for ghosting you for the last couple of days! Wanna be f-"

"Oh honey," suddenly a gorgeous, tall blonde came out of one of the cubicles I swore I had checked, a sympathetic smile on her face. "You seem like you're having boy trouble." She washed her hands, turning to me with a soft glint in her eyes.

"You could say that." I huffed in exasperation.

"Little girl to girl advice," she warmly smiled, "Just be yourself. If he's truly the one, he'll absorb what you say and then accept your apology right off the bat. You got this." She encouraged me with another generous smile before leaving the bathroom, her vanilla scent still present.

I should really buy myself some vanilla spray...

Choosing to take her advice, I left the restroom with a new found confidence as I saw him scramaging through his locker in irritation. Thankfully, his locker wasn't too far.

"Hey Tristian." He jumped at the sound of my voice, his eyes connecting with mine as he released a breath.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He snarled in aggravation, returning to his search.

"No hi? Hello?" I asked, waiting for one of his grand replies.

"What? So now I can't ignore you? Just use me whenever its convenient for you though, right? Okay. Oh fucking kay." He slammed his locker shut when he retrieved what he was looking for, getting ready to walk off. My eyes widened, hearing him swear for the first time as I felt my guilt from earlier reappear.