Perfectly Average

Chapter 4

After returning Lucas's cleaned jacket and towel, Elijah thought that would be the end of it. He didn't expect a sticky note in his locker reading:

"Have lunch with me, we'll go off campus so you don't have to worry about spectators.

PS. I won't take no for an answer.

PPS Meet me at my car after the lunch bell rings."

Elijah rolled his eyes. What would Lucas do if he just didn't show up? He sighed, right now the other boy was respecting his desire to not be the center of attention. Who knows, if he ignored the invite he might make a spectacle of it. With yet another sigh, he resigned himself to lunch with Lucas Taylor.

*****

Lucas

He knew he should leave well enough alone, but Mr. Jacobson wanted him to try to be Eli's friend, and to be honest, after spending some time with him, he actually liked the idea of breaking through the other boy's shell. He found that he really wanted Eli to see him as a friend and confide in him. He found himself thinking of those stunning blue eyes. It seemed like such a waste that the boy hid them behind such ugly glasses.

He was pleasantly surprised when five minutes after the lunch bell rang, Eli appeared in the parking lot looking around for his car. Lucas honked once and Eli jumped and then turned towards the sound. Upon seeing Lucas's car, he strode purposely towards it. Lucas hit the unlock button and Eli opened the door and slipped inside.

"Sticky notes are a bit old school aren't they?" Eli prodded teasingly.

"Well, give me your number and I won't have to resort to such archaic methods." Lucas teased back.

Eli turned to stare at him as if trying to determine if he was serious.

"Come on, if you don't want me to draw attention to you, being able to text you would definitely help."

After weighing his options for a few minutes, Eli finally picked up Lucas's phone from the middle console. Of course the phone was locked, he held it towards Lucas who waved him off, "The passcode is 122401." When he noticed that Eli didn't move he grinned, "Go ahead, I trust you."

Elijah seemed completely stunned that he had been trusted with the phone's passcode. When he finally shook himself out of his daze and unlocked the phone, he opened the contacts and added his number.

Setting the phone down, he seemed to be trying to think of something to say. Finally he asked, "Is that your birthday? December 24, 2001?"

Lucas turned to stare at him, "How did you know?"

Eli rolled his eyes gesturing for him to look at the road, "It's not hard to guess. You should consider using a more secure passcode." Then after a moment's thought he added, "You were born on Christmas Eve?"

Lucas nodded with a frown. He hated Christmas and his birthday. Before he realized it, a tear had welled up and fallen from the corner of his eye.

"What's wrong?" Eli pressed, his voice concerned.

"My birthday isn't exactly a happy occasion. There were some complications with my birth and my mom died the next day, on Christmas day."

Elijah stared at him with immense sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry. That's awful."

"It is. And my dad has never failed to remind me that my birth destroyed Christmas and our family."

"That's not fair. How can an innocent baby be blamed for something like that?"

"It's not logical, but that's how he felt. He loved my mom so much and he hated me for taking her from him. When he drank, he forgot to filter his thoughts and I heard all about it. When he got tired of seeing my face, he'd lock me in the pantry. Which is why I'm so claustrophobic."