Shrinking Violet

chapter eight (1/3)

"And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many."
-J. R. R. Tolkien

***

It was a miracle. Our boys' basketball team had made it into the quarterfinals, and this was a huge cause for celebration. Most seasons we were lucky to win a single game. Tonight, win or lose, Thomas Harvey, co-captain of the team was throwing a huge party at his family's farmhouse to celebrate.

"Woooo!" I cheered as Thomas got the ball again. My voice was almost hoarse from screaming. Most of my closest male friends at school were on the basketball team, so it was fun seeing them play even though I didn't know a thing about basketball and even though most of the time, my friends were on the bench, since we were all sophomores. I was also drunk, which made the game a lot more fun.

"Eli and Violet are here!" Sam said. I saw them walk in with a couple of their friends, and we excitedly waved.  They sat next to us on the bleachers with the four of us bridging the gap between our respective friend groups.

"I'm surprised you came!" I said to Eli, trying to make myself heard over the commotion.

"Well it's not everyday that our basketball team has a winning streak!" Eli replied.

"I'll drink to that!" Gigi cheered. She took a sip from the slushee cup and passed it to me. I offered it to Eli.

"Want some?"

"What is it?" Eli asked, looking dubious.

"Cherry slushee and vodka!" Eli made a face, but he took a big gulp anyway.

"Violet?" I offered. She took the cup from me and also took a sip. Before long we had finished it. Thankfully we had made several. We all watched the game, enraptured and pleasantly drunk. It was almost a clean sweep, we won by a landslide.

Everyone was cheering and singing victory songs, and when the game ended, everyone hugged each other. Eli picked me up and spun me around. I was irritated. Eli was being so touchy lately, and I felt like we were being annoying.

"Hey can I talk to you?" I asked Eli while everyone went to congratulate the players. We walked out of the gym and sat against the walk right outside.

"Eli I like you so much."

"I like you too Lulu... this doesn't sound good."

"What does?"

"Well you just sound like you have a 'but'," he said. He wasn't wrong, but I didn't want him to think it was anything super serious.

"And everyone says my ass is small!"

"Lulu you know I love wordplay, but what did you want to talk to me about? Please just tell me so I don't go insane," He said. I took his hands.

"Eli it's not serious I promise! I just wanted to talk about some things that have been on my mind. I like you a lot, and this is all so new and wonderful. I'm just worried about all the PDA."

"What do you mean by 'all the PDA'?"

"I mean things like the hug just now and kissing me in front of Sam and Coach Perez."

"And?"

"Well I just think it's weird, you know? I don't like PDA."

"You're making it sound like I'm grinding on you in public. Do you want to keep our relationship a secret Lulu?"

"Would that be so bad? At least in the beginning," I asked. Eli frowned and let go of my hands, which he had been holding this whole time.

"Are you embarrassed of me?" He asked.

"Eli of course not!"

"I'm an idiot. Of course you are, which is why you're so uncomfortable by the idea of people seeing that I'm showing you any sort of affection."

"Eli you're being crazy!"

"Am I? You don't want me to hug you in public. Lulu everyone was hugging! We won for Christ's sake!"

"I'm sorry okay? I was really just talking about the kiss. I overreacted about the hug," I said. A middle schooler walked out of the gym towards the bathroom and saw us having a serious discussion. People slowly started trickling out. Eli sighed.

"Fine it's okay. We probably shouldn't argue in public, that's worse than PDA. Do you want a ride to Thomas's?"

"I didn't know you were coming! All my stuff is in Gigi's car, but I'll see you there!" I said.

"Unbelievable," said Eli, and he got up and walked away angrily at the same time that Isa, Gigi, and Vivian walked out. Sam was going to meet us at Thomas's. She had to go to dinner with her family first, because her brother was a senior on the basketball team.

"What was that about?" Isa asked.

"I'm just an idiot," I replied. I felt horrible. Everything I had said came out wrong, and now Eli hated me. Isa offered me a hand up.

"No you're not. You're a genius. Do we have to beat Eli up?" Vivian asked. I laughed, trying not to cry as we walked to Gigi's car.

"If anything you should beat me up. Eli thinks I'm embarrassed of him, and it's because I said things that would make him think that."

"Are you embarrassed of him?" Gigi asked.

"No! Not at all."

"Good you shouldn't be. He's scrawny and weird, but he's still cute. Timothée Chalamet is scrawny and weird too," said Vivian.

"Don't insult Timothée Chalamet!" Gigi said.

"That wasn't an insult Geeg, calm down," Vivian replied. Isa hugged me before we got into Gigi's car.

"Lulu you look really sad," Isa said.

"I'm just worried I messed things up with Eli for good, and now he thinks I'm shallow and crazy."

"If he thinks that, then he's the idiot. Besides if anyone of us is shallow it's Sam. That girl can't stop staring at herself," said Vivian as a light jab.

She was kidding, but Vivian and Sam could really go at it sometimes. The main source of drama in our friend group was their feuds. Vivian's boyfriend, Phillip, used to like Sam, and Sam liked him. They texted all the time, and the texts seemed really suggestive from the screenshots that Sam sent me. Even after Vivian started dating Phillip, they stayed close. Phillip told Sam, after she coaxed it out of him,  that he'd want to hook up with her if not for Vivian. Vivian never really forgave her for it.

("I can't stand Vivian.")

"Sam's not shallow," I said defensively.

"I kid! But seriously Lulu, don't worry about Eli. He'll forgive you. You're so out of his league, so he's probably just happy you're paying attention to him at all," Vivian said.

"Viv shut up. Not helpful," said Isa. She was sitting in the front seat and turned back to me. "Lulu, just talk to Eli okay? Explain that you're not embarrassed of him and that you like him a lot. And apologize for whatever you said. He'll forgive you, because he likes you."

"How is that different from what I said?" Vivian asked. I rolled my eyes and exchanged a look with Isa.

"Look Sam's not here, someone has to be the asshole!" said Vivian.

"You need to drink more Viv. You're nicer when you're drunk," said Gigi. We all laughed. For the rest of the car ride, we (except for Gigi who was driving) worked on finishing the slushees. I still felt bad about Eli, but more than anything I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to text him, but I refrained, knowing it'd be better to talk to him in person.

***

Author's note: what do you guys think about introducing three new characters? I really want to keep the focus of the story tight, but I also wanted you to get an impression of Lulu's other friends. Also decided to split this chapter into three, so sorry it ends like this! I realized this is a big night...