Pro Guardian - (B.M.)

Chapter 13

To Mentor or Not to Mentor?

Billy was certain of one thing at the time: no one would ever love him as much as he loved her. He wasn't right for her, or perhaps she was never his in the first place.

In a handful of minutes, the room's temperature dropped. Elianne glanced at him, her eyes filled with remorse. She had no idea when or how things between the two started to change. In her opinion, it was only for the best.

Billy stood still, showing an interest in his old sneakers for the first time since he received them as a birthday gift a few months ago. He wasn't sure what to say, or if it was even appropriate to say anything. Tomorrow they would leave and everything would go back to normal. Where they pass each other in the halls as if they never even spoke. Tomorrow, Elianne thought.

"Did you study for your Gatsby test yet?" she asked loud enough for him to hear. "It's tomorrow, you know."

"I know," he said, "Forgot to."

Elianne regarded him with interest, despite the fact that she knew he wouldn't. Billy trailed behind her as she returned to the room. She took a thick textbook from her backpack and set it on the bed after closing the balcony doors.

Billy didn't notice her until she patted the spot beside her on the bed, and then he looked up. She motioned for him to take a seat near her, but he only stared at her, perplexed.

"Why are you⸺"

"Just because we can't be together doesn't mean I can't help you pass the test," Elianne said in a matter-of-fact tone. "As friends. Nothing more, nothing less."

Billy shook his head, but after a few moments, he sat beside her. She immediately opened a textbook and sought to teach him all of the main facts about "The Great Gatsby," while simultaneously attempting to avoid spoiling any test questions.

Despite the fact that Billy listened to her constantly, he found himself staring at her lovely face and wondering how the hell he got so lucky to meet her. Even though he couldn't be with her, knowing she was there and sitting next to him was enough. 

***

"Okay, the last one," Elianne said and quickly flipped through her English textbook. "You ready?"

Billy stuffed his face into a pillow and let out a loud groan. "I think I've learned enough about Gatsby, Eli. I would rather die than spend another minute learning about that."

"Come on, please?" She tugged on his arm and when he didn't budge, she laid her head down on the same pillow and looked into his warm brown eyes. Anyone would have been silly not to notice that he had the most stunning eyes.

"Are you sure it's the last one?" he asked softly, their faces were mere inches apart.

"Yes."

Billy took a deep breath and sat up normally again. He took his blue blazer off quickly and threw it on the floor, and also unbuttoned the top two buttons of his white dress shirt. "Now I'm ready."

Elianne chuckled lightly and then skimmed through the textbook for a few seconds until she spotted the page she was looking for. "So, next⸺"

"You seem more nervous than me," Billy interrupted with a sly smirk plastered on his face.

"Not true."

"True," he stated.

She gave him a fleeting glance with wrinkled brows before shaking her head and returning to the textbook she had grown to adore.

"Do you remember who Daisy is?"

"Yes, teacher!" Billy sighed, visibly irritated. He was becoming tired of studying the same source over and over again, which made him feel a little guilty for not doing so earlier.

"Not teacher," Elianne paused his retort. "I'm your guardian. Friend. Guardian friend?"

"Well, you're sure acting like a teacher right now."

"Fine. You might just as well refer to me as your Pro Guardian. You know how I'm pretty good at "The Great Gatsby" and I'm also like your friend, so I'm your guardian?" 

She smiled to herself, pleased with her word choice. She might grow accustomed to being referred to as that. It wasn't as sophisticated as 'mentor,' but it wasn't as insignificant as a friend either. Right in the middle, exactly how she liked it.

"Okay, Professor," Billy teased, earning a playful smack on his shoulder from her. He couldn't help but want to make her annoyed. There was something about making someone short angry.

***

Elianne awoke weary the next morning as a result of her lack of sleep. She had spent the night before studying with Billy, which would not have taken as long if he had read the novel in the first place. With Elianne's occasional notes from when she took the test, the two spent their time browsing through websites online that would help annotate "The Great Gatsby." She last remembered falling asleep on his shoulder while he read one of the novel's chapters out loud.

She looked around the room and didn't see him anywhere. He must've left, she thought.

Margot was blissfully sleeping on the bed next to her, with faint snores exiting her mouth. It was only then that Elianne realised it was the day they were meant to return to school.

Which meant that there were only a few days remaining before she left for another country.