Gage Cilleti has just begun his junior year of high school, and is becoming more and more involved in his school's activities, considering he'd been playing baseball since he was just seven-years-old.
Elijah McCay has just dropped out of school, du...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
That next week is heavenly. Rick seems happier, happier than he's been since his father began dating a twenty-two-year-old from Florida, with less brains than anyone could've anticipated. But he says she's kind to both him and his father—and that he wouldn't mind if she were to stick around.
This makes me happy, too. Knowing that things are getting easier for him. Especially after the lousy last few months he's had.
And as for me, the last few days couldn't have gone any better. After Elijah and I's dinner, he seems a bit more comfortable around me. And after realizing this, it was impossible to wipe my stupid smile off of my face,
Elijah and I made small talk here and there, and while Coach Witherspoon explains that our team needs to be strengthened in teamwork, he asks him to pick someone to demonstrate with—and he picks me.
I don't have much time to be surprised, because Rick is pushing me forward, a knowing glint in his sparkling blue eyes. I can feel Elijah's eyes on me as I make my way over to him. And I stop and think—does this mean that we're friends?
I discard the thought, and observe the course coach had set up for the team. There's a line of cones gathered up in a lopsided line, as thought we were expected to walk through it.
"You will all be partnering up, and one of the two will be putting on a blindfold, while the other guides you to the opposite cone. This team exercise demonstrates absolute trust within the team. Because we are nothing without it." Coach claps both hands together, "alright, Gage and Elijah will show you all how it's done, and then we can all participate."
Once Elijah's palm latches onto my elbow, and pulls, my cheeks almost instantly heat. Coach continues on with his instructions, and I can practically feel the heat of Elijah's body rubbing off on mine. The demonstration seems as though if Elijah and I were any other pairing, it'd absolutely work.
But when his fingers slide the blindfold over my eyes, I know it won't. I've never really given much thought into trusting Elijah, seeing as I didn't know much about him. Only that he had a younger brother and from what he told me at the restaurant.
He grabs onto my waist with one hand, the other latching onto my forearm. "Just walk straight ahead until I tell you, alright?" He speaks softly, me nodding at the command.
"I feel like you're leading me out of the line," I chuckle, my insides twisting—in a good way, at the low bellow of a laugh he sends me.
He suddenly stops me from walking any further, clearing his throat loudly. "Now just turn slightly to the left, but not too much. We're almost there."
The walk seems to go on for forever, and when my ankles get twisted into a weed dug far into the ground on the field, Elijah holds me upright, my heart stuttering in my chest.
Then suddenly, he pulls away from me, clearing his throat once more. During the duration of his awkwardness, I peel off the blindfold, trying my best to recover from his hands on my waist.
"Alright, everyone—I think you get the picture. Just get your partner to the end of the course without letting them fall." With that, he leaves the field, and let's himself into coach's office.
Rick stands from his bench, and sends me a non-verbal confirmation that we're partnering up for the course.
I slip the blindfold into his hand, as he frowns as though he's confused about something. "Is Elijah acting weird or is it just me?"
Knowing that Rick is right—and it is definitely not just him, I disagree anyway. "No, I think it's just you."
The rest of the day passes pretty quickly, with me staring directly up at the clock, or down at my cellphone for the time. Once the bell rings, I'm slipping on my backpack, and walking through the swarm of both juniors and seniors. Most of them I had never spoken to, but they seem to have no problem running into me a million miles per hour.
I can't find Rick, and I assume he's gone home already, or is stuck in his last period, which just happens to be one of the most least-accommodating teacher in our entire school.
The first option is confirmed when I feel my cellphone buzz in my back pocket. I left before last period, didn't feel like dealing with Mrs. Wilk, but I can swing by and give you a ride home if you want?
I send back a short, no, I'm alright.
I could always call my mother, who's usually home from work around this time, considering she'd began to cut back on her hours, due to too much stress.
But then, my eyes catch Elijah locking up coach's office with a concentrated sort of look, as if having trouble with the lock. I'd assumed we were friends now, especially after the other night—and hopefully many other nights to come.
Without a second thought, my feet were alright halfway toward him. And the look in his eyes when he saw me coming had me almost halting. It was a look of surprise, but a good one.
My lips curled at the sight of his restless expressions. "Hey."
He never stopped walking, "hey."
My fingers fidget with my t-shirt, working up the courage to speak further. "S-So, where are you headed?"
He chuckles, finally stopping, and turning to look at me. "Why?"
"O-Oh, I don't know, I was just asking because Rick left early, a-and I figured we're getting along pretty well—"
"Gage!" He loudly interrupts, his lips curling into a sly smile, "what's going on?"
I take a deep breath, hooking my fingers into the loops of my backpack, licking my lips eagerly. I want to be his friend. I'd like the two of us to hang out. Because I know that he could never see me the way I see him—but I'd be fine just being his friend. Someone he could turn to. Whether it was for something large, or just to talk.
I wanted to build the sort of friendship that Terrance and I had, before we ruined it and began dating.
"C-Could you give me a ride home?" I know that I could walk or call my mother. But still, I ask him.
Elijah raises an eyebrow, getting just a bit closer. "That's what you're being so weird about?"
I nod like a fool, my breathing getting heavier. "Yeah, sorry for being awkward, I just didn't want to freak you out—"
"You're not," he interrupts again, which is not helping my gathering anxiety. "And yeah, I'll give you a ride home. For like the millionth time now." I laugh at his attempt to joke with me—like really laugh. So loudly that the lingering students in the hallway send me concerned glances.
Elijah notices this, and tried to suppress a grin. "Let's just get you home."
