Blair, Boys and Butterflies

7.

      I clutch my bag, entering school. Edie isn't here now. She got sick and left me alone. I don't have my bodyguard anymore so I feel exposed. Very exposed.
     "Hey" I spot Abby shuffling in her locker.
     "Hey. What's up" she asks, putting some books in it.
     I lean on the locker "Aren't you feeling strange?" I cross my arms.
     "No... Why?" she turns towards me.
     "The Ellits are not coming for me" I say, craning my neck to look around.
     "Maybe they haven't seen you yet" she heads towards the classroom.
     "They know my every move. I'm sure they must've seen me by now" I follow her, still clutching my books.
     We take our usual seats, the third row, next to the windows.
     "Who knows? Maybe they've stopped tormenting you" she suggests, putting her books on the table. I have my doubts about that.
     "Oh, I wish" I say as Elliot walks in.
     He sits behind us. Huh. That's strange. He usually sits at the opposite seat from us, at the corner of the classroom. We brush that thought off and go back to our conversation.
     "I hope they're over you. They're really too much sometimes"
     "Yeah, no shit. They're like obsessive crazy fans. They'll do anything to hurt me" I slump back on my chair, crossing my arms.
     Elliot plays with his pen while listening. An amusing expression fills his face, almost like a smile. I've never seen him smile. He starts drawing and I turn around. Huh, his drawings are pretty good.
     He snaps his head up and stares at me while tapping the pen on his notebook in annoyance. I get uncomfortable and shift in my seat, getting back to my original position facing the board.                
       Yikes. That was awkward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     "You have no idea what happened at school" I sit on Edie's bed, cross-legged.
     "What? Did the Elites attack you? What happened??" Edie asks surprised, coming to sit next to me. She is still in her pajamas. Her hair is a bird's nest and she has tissues in both of her nose holes.
     "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That's what happened"
     "What? Nothing. Are you sure? Did they hit you on the head and you had short term memory loss?" she asks, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.
     I glare at her and grab her hands "Ah yes, I totally forgot how I don't have any bruises or that I didn't even go to the nurses' office" I say, the sarcasm flowing out of my mouth.
     "That's strange" she says as she gets a notification on her phone.
     "Yeah, no shit. It was like someone did something to them" I chuckle.
     She widens her eyes "Oh, someone did do something"
     She shoves her phone in my face. There is a picture of one of the Elites with Elliot, smiling. Elliot was smiling. I repeat, smiling. The most boring and stoic person that ever personed on this planet was smiling. I have to admit, he looks cute. Cuter than when he's frowning all the time.
     I do the universal "what the fuck" gesture and look at Edie. She's as surprised as me.
     "Um... I have no words" I press my lips together and shake my head.
     "Yeah same" she retreats her phone.
     We both sit in silence for as it seems like an eternity before Abby comes crushing through the door.
     "DID YOU GUYS SEE???????" she shoves her phone in our faces.
     "Elliot smiling? Yes, we saw" Edie sighs.
     "Look at how good he looks" Abby coos, stroking the picture.
     "I thought you got over him after what he did to you" I ask, turning to her.
     "Yeah, well..." she sat on the bed, forming a circle with us "...he smiled?"
     "Just a smile? That was all it took for you to like him again? Did you forget that he left you in pain at the party or did you have a short term memory loss like Blair?" Edie asks, trying to bring some sense into Abby.
     "But guys! Look at how good he looks. I can't not like him" she slumps her hands in her lap "I really can't"
     "Abby, look at me" I grab her shoulders and turn her so she faces me "He's the biggest asshole in school. It's like he has no emotions. He's an emotionless monster." I breathe in "Yes, he might be hot and cute but It's not everything in looks. You have to see the bigger picture here. He is a rude jerk"
     "Yeah, listen to her. She's right" Edie says, pointing at me. I look at her and smile.
     "Yeah, I know. I'll try to stop" Abby does a half-smile.
     "No, you must stop, not try" I add.
     "Okay, I must stop" she chuckles and all three of us hug. 

      It's the moments like these that I'm grateful to have them as my friends. So I can teach them a lesson.