| torn up

~ chapter 26 ☁️

It's about eleven-ish that night when I get the scare of my life.

I'm sitting at my desk in my bedroom, doing some last minute homework for tomorrow when I hear a noise through my earphones. Frowning, I pull them off to listen out again for what I thought I had just heard.

It couldn't haven't been my mum, she had gotten home a while ago and was so tired, she had decided to get an early night. I hadn't heard from her since she had retreated into her bedroom about a hour ago.

I jump out of my seat when I hear the noise again. It wasn't really that loud but definitely noisy and out of the blue enough to gain my attention. This time I had successfully located it to be coming from my window and so focus my gaze over to the curtains as I stand wide eyed in the middle of my room.

I hover frozen, unsure what to do and slightly scared to investigate. I didn't want to wake my Mum up over a few small noises just to have it end up being nothing. She'd never let me live that down. Besides it's probably just an animal or something making them. At least that's what I keep telling myself as I hype myself up to walk slowly over to my window, raising my hand to grip my curtains tightly. I quickly open one, harshly tugging it open like you would rip a plaster to get it over and done with. And to say that I'm surprised at what I see is an understatement.

While I expected to see a small animal hopping around on my window ledge, instead the sight I'm greeted with is that of a dark haired, green eyed figure resting casually in the tree on the other side of my window.

Eli Walters stares back at me with a mischievous smirk on his face, lounging casually in it's branches and playing catch with a pebble in the palm of his right hand. A moment of silence passes as he continues peering at me with an indescribable look, repeatedly throwing the rock up and down in his hand in a relaxed way as if he isn't currently sitting in a tree outside my bedroom window at almost midnight on a school night.

It takes me a second of processing the image before me and a raise of his eyebrows before I spring back into action and hastily open my window.

'What are you doing?' I hiss in a hushed pitch, not being able to understand for the life of me what he's playing at now.

'Well, hello to you too, Willow.' He shoots back smugly, completely brushing off my question.

I open my mouth to further probe his presence when he stops me, raising a hand before I can even get a word out.

'Before you start lecturing me, mind moving aside so I can jump in? It's bloody freezing out here.' He comments in disdain, leaning forward from his current position where he's perched on thick branch.

I do what he says but continue to speak, expressing my uncertainty at him doing such a thing.

'Wait, Eli. I don't think you should do that. Seriously that tree is quite old, you shouldn't even be up there any- ELI!' I begin to clarify, ending with an alarmed yelp when he completely disregards me and proceeds to make the jump.

My breath leaves my body for a second, my form unconsciously leaping forward in worry at his action. Luckily he lands safely and I watch, relieved and clutching my chest as he climbs into my window a moment later.

'Do you ever listen?' I nag, sighing as I fix him with a slight scowl.

'Not to you.' He declares arrogantly as if it is something to be proud of, raising a hand to drag it through his messy hair.

Now that I'm not worrying for his immediate safety and now that I've gotten my head around the idea of him standing in my bedroom at 11pm, I suddenly find myself retreating back into my shy and hesitant self.