ONCE UPON A TIME ✨

5. Just Friends

The situation was getting a lot weirder than i thought it would be.  Elijah drove us to a nearby restaurant with his car to get brunch. The ride was so freaking silent. He didn't speak a word or look at my side for even once. I am starting to feel guilty. Was i wrong? Is it my fault to not let him do what he meant to do ? I mean, i only knew this guy for 2 days. We are not even friends yet. So, it is not my fault entirely. Right?

I was startled from my thought when Elijah suddenly cleared his throat. "Look Tasha, im really sorry for what happened in my room just now" he said quitely. ugh, finally he talked.

"Uh.. no. Its okay. You no need to be sorry" i told him, giving him a assuring smile.

"No, i feel like i should. It was really inappropriate to try to do that with someone who i just knew. I don't want to scare you away. I don't want to lose a friend. I really had no idea why i try to kiss you" he shooked his head softly. "I thought we had a moment there... Stupid me" he chuckled nervously.

I didn't want him to feel like he is the problem. So, i said "No, you're right... We.. um, did have a moment there. But, listen Elijah. I.. i pushed you because... because i can't do it. I am not ready to be enganged in any kind of emotions right now" i stopped there because i didn't want to give away too many informations about myself to him. I've never really opened up about this to anybody except for my therapist, Dr Aldrin.

I saw Elijah's eyebrows furrowed and nose scrunched. He was clearly finding meaning about what i just said. He opened his mouth to say something, but i stopped him.

"Heyyyy, but we can be good friends, you know. You are a good guy. And i never had any guy friends before this. So, what do u say?".

He grinned widely and said "Sure" with a happily tone.

And then, we went to get our brunch and never talked about this.

***

Elijah's pov :

I was so grateful that Tasha forgave me.  I had no idea what triggered me to try to kiss her. All of that happened in just a second and i still owe an explanation from my brain to make me look stupid in front Tasha. My brain clearly not functioning well since i saw Tasha for the first time.

Yes, i had been having a small crush on Tasha since last year. I like to look at her because her face gave me some sort of peace. Her smile is so beautiful and i love to see that. When she talked about Fault in Our Stars book, i saw her eyes sparkled. Her eyes showed so much more emotions than her heart. She was definitely affected by the connection and love shared by the characters in the book, but i don't understand why she is denying that.  She even said "At least not for me" when she mentioned about love.

And in the car, she told me she is not ready to be in relationships- or something like that- and stopped me when i wanted to ask her what she really meant by that. I was so confused by our conversation in the car and i really do need to be clarified. But, i decided to shut my mouth and go with the flow because i didn't want to ruin more the situation. I don't want to lose her. I don't understand why but my heart kept saying stuffs like that i should hold onto her and never miss her in my life. She is going to be a very important person to me whether as just a friend or more than that. Either way, I should never let her go.

For the first time in my whole life, i actually listened to my heart more than my brain. Because, my brain acted like an idiot whenever im around her. It took me a year of courage to talk to her and i am not going to take this oppurtunity for granted. At that exact moment,i realized that my little crush for Tasha is actually turning into something else.

We stopped for brunch and i enjoyed Tasha's company so much. Later, we went to college, straight to our class. It was 2.45pm and we were running as fast as we could because we were late 15 minutes.

Upon arriving at the lecture hall, all eyes fixed onto us. We were making entrance like a movie star. I heard students whispering to each other. And, i am pretty sure of what they are talking about. I looked at Proffesor Ted with an apology eyes. He nodded to us and we ran to our seats. Tasha went to Clint and Eleanor and i sat at my usual place ,the corner.

***
Tasha's pov :

"Dude, what the hell?" Eleanor screamed to me despite the fact that Professor Ted was teaching at the front. Eleanor and Clint had a very astonished and i-need-an-explanation-for-this face.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "What?" i asked her like an innocent child. I clearly knew what she meant by her 'what the hell'

"What ? You are asking me what? What is going on? " she asked me impatiently.

"Look Elanor. I will explain it to you later. Can we just focus on the class now?" i said with my puppy eyes in hope  she would leave me and stop asking questions.

"Fine. But, im not going to leave this" it sound more like a warning.

I smiled and continued to focus on the class. I glanced once in awhile at Elijah and he looked back at me. He smiled widely and i grinned at him.

First thing after the class, Eleanor pinned me to the wall. "I demand an explanation" she said, looking straight into my eyes.

"Yes, Tasha. Why are you with Elijah?" Clint asked.

I took a deep breath and told them the whole story except for the part where we almost kissed.

"So, it is a date ?" Clint smirked at me.

"No. Its not a date. We just went for brunch" i said, defending myself.

"Tasha, every single creature in the world knows that brunch is a romance thing. Its a date. He asked you out and you didn't even realize it? What a poor girl" Clint was stroking my hair like im a puppy. He always do that to me whenever he feels like i need support. It was kind of comforting but not this time.

I grunted and rolled my eyes. "No, he is not. I helped him and he paid for my food. Thats it" i told them.

"Wait. He paid for you?" Clint raised his eyebrows and smiled like an evil king. "Dude, he likes you" he continued. I scoffed.

"So, wait. Let me make things clear. This guy, Elijah was in our class for a year and you never ever noticed him before. Suddenly, he approached you, talked to you, didn't let you to drive alone, helped you out, bring you to his house tour, brought you and paid for your brunch and spent time with you in the name of 'cleaning' together? Girl, this is so clear. Open your eyes. He likes you. If he don't, why he wanted to talk to you after a year. He can simply not do that. He must been having a crush on you" Eleanor explained like a love expertise. Eleanor is quite good in giving advices and her advices did help me in a lot of situations. But, this time ,it seems crazy. There is no way he had been having crush on me.

"What? No. That is absolutely insane" i tried to deny it. Deep down, my girly emotions was sort of triggered. I mean, a boy likes you. That is crazy for any girls out there. But, my deepest fear won't let me do that.

"Whatever you say. But, don't ever regret it" Eleanor said.

I didn't reply anything to it because im confused right now.

"And WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? GOING TO A PARTY WITH CATHY? AND YOU DIDN'T TOLD US ABOUT THAT? " Eleanor screamed like a angry mom. Oh god. Eleanor looked so scary when she did that. She was going to explode any second now. Even Clint who was standing beside her, jumped back and he almost fell down the stairs.

"Um..um.. I.. i .. am sorry?" i stuttered.

"Yes Tasha. What were you thinking ,huh.  Next time if you decide to go to a party, tell me. I'm delighted to join you" Clint poked his head from Eleanor's back. Eleanor elbowed him in stomach and he yelled in pain.

I laughed looking at both of them. The thought of what they told me crossed my mind . Is it true ? i don't want to develop any feelings to Elijah. Not after we promised to be just friends.