Better With You | EDITING

Chapter 17

Elijah's POV

"Tori. Aren't you ready yet? We're going to be late for school."I knocked on the bathroom door for the third time. She's been in there for 20 minutes. I've never understood why girls needed so much time to get ready.
"I'm coming!" That's been her response everytime.
"That's what you said last time."I called back.
When I was about to walk away and sit on the bed, the door opened and out came Tori, dressed in a black tank top, a pair of white ripped jeans and some black vans.
She put her hair in a high ponytail today.
"I think it's best if you wear a sweatshirt today, winter's approaching."I said this to her after I had finished scrutinizing her outfit.
"I said the exact same thing to myself, but I checked and I didn't pack one."I saw her wrap her arms around herself and shivered.
"Unfortunately, I didn't get to pack anything suitable for winter because I was rushing."
"Are you cold now?"I asked her even though I partially knew the answer. The nod of her head confirmed what I already knew and that led me to walk over to her, wrap my arms around her waist and hug her.
"Elijah, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm providing you with warmth."I smiled when I felt her smile and wrap her arms back around me. I pulled away slightly, leaving my hands on her waist to look her in the eyes.
"I can't provide you with warmth for the whole day so I'll let you borrow one of my sweatshirts."
"Really?"her smile brightened at the thought of wearing my sweatshirt.
"Yeah, really."
"Thank you."she stood on her tippy toes and kissed me on the cheek. I smiled again for probably the 10th in the last 5 minutes.
"Come on, we're going to be late for school."I took her hand in mine and led her downstairs.
"Good morning mom."
"Good morning Margaret."
We both passed my mom in the living room drinking her morning coffee and watching the news.
"Good morning darlings."she gave us a quick glance before she focused back at the TV.
"Bye mom."
"Bye Margaret."
We didn't have time to stop so we just headed out the door and went to my car. When we both got in and buckled up, I drove off.
We fell into a comfortable silence with the radio playing softly as background noise. We stayed like that for awhile until,
"Elijah?"
"Yeah?"I gave Tori a quick glance before I focused back on the road.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Only if you want the answer. What's it about?"
"It's about us."
This caused me to pull to an uncalled for stop. The cars behind blew their horns loudly causing me to flip them the bird and start driving again.
"What about us?"I was starting to get nervous.

Why would she want to talk about us?

"Last night, when we, um, kissed, we weren't thinking. We momentarily forgot about Cleo. I'm still with him remember."she gave me a quick glance before she focused her gaze outside the window.
"So, you didn't enjoy the kiss?"
"Ofcourse I did. I enjoyed it more than anything, but, I feel kind of bad for cheating on Cleo."I could hear the sadness in her voice. I placed a supporting hand on her knee.
"Look, Tori, I like you. And by like you, I mean really like you. If Cleo liked you as much as I did, he would understand that people's feelings change. He'll forgive you."
I made sure she could hear the sincerity in my voice.
"You think so?"she looked hopeful.
"I know so."
"Thanks Elijah, I needed that."
"Your welcome."
We didn't talk for the rest of the ride until we were in the school's parking lot. Tori mumbled a quick 'bye' before she got out of the car and headed towards the school's entrance. I just watched as she bounced with every step she took, thinking if what I said about Cleo understanding would be true.

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Tori's POV

"Hey babe."I shut my locker to find Cleo standing there with red roses in his right hand and chocolate in his left.
"Cleo, hey. Who are these for?"I was surprised when he put them in my hands.
"You silly. Who else would I be calling babe?"
"Me?"
"Yeah."his smile was so bright, it hurt me just to look at it. I felt even worse.