Amidst The Reverie (boyxboy)

Chapter 23 : Fucking Boomerang

With a resounding smack, Olivia practically throws her tray on the table. Half of the cafeteria looked in their direction much to Eli's chagrin.

He glanced up at his best friend as she glared at him, the maliciousness behind her eyes was enough to make Eli involuntary shiver. 

Okay! So maybe Eli had been avoiding her for the past 4 days. Is it rude? Maybe. But it's completely necessary for everyone's sanity. And it's not like Eli is actively avoiding her, it's more like Eli's actively avoiding EVERYONE. 

This is actually the first time he ate lunch at the cafeteria this week. The last few days had been eating his sandwich behind the school, in the abandoned benches staring at graffities on the wall. 

"This needs to stop, Eli." 

"What?"

"You've been avoiding me." Olivia said, plopping herself in front of Eli. 

Sucking in his lower lip, he thought of an excuse. He was busy? Tired? His head hurts?

The last one always got him out of P.E.  after his accident maybe it'll get him out of this situation too. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

He opted to be in denial. Shrugging his shoulders and avoiding eye contact with Olivia. 

"Bullshit. You know what I'm talking about." 

She crossed her arms and glares, after a moment her eyes soften. "Is it about Mateo?" 

This caught Eli's attention, allowing his eyes to look up at Olivia. He furrowed his eyebrows to feign confusion. 

Of course, it's about Mateo! When hasn't it been about Mateo? 

"Liv. I  honestly don't know what you're talking about." He lied, giving his best friend a confused look.

Hopefully he's a convincing actor. 

She rolled her shadowed eyes at him and flicked her blonde hair out of her face. Then proceeded to look at him guiltily. "Whatever it is. I'm sorry." 

Olivia puts her elbows above the table and crossed her fingers, pleading for forgiveness. She exaggeratedly pouted her pink-glittered lips and her eyes reminded Eli of a kicked puppy.

"Please forgive me, Oh great, Elijah Thompson. I can't fully function without you." 

Eli rolled his eyes but ultimately chuckled at this. "You're a menace." 

"You love me."

"As long as you don't act crazy again." 

"So it is about the Mateo thing?" Olivia quirked her eyebrow at Eli. He nodded, biting into his sandwich. He took a calculating gaze at Olivia, waiting for her reaction. She just nodded. 

"I did act crazy, didn't I?" 

"A little bit." Eli agreed, smiling. 

"Well. I promise never to do that again." She said, moving her pointer finger on her chest as a 'cross my heart' sign.  "And besides, I don't think you'll be worrying about me and Mateo anymore." 

"What do you mean?" Eli furrowed his brows. Olivia shrugged and pushed the green peas out of her plate.

She responded not looking at him.  "We've been talking and well, maybe I'm not really the relationship type, you know?" 

Eli's heart was beating 100 times per second. The anticipation is killing him. He knows how bad this is.

Here's his bestfriend looking down and sad because of a failing relationship and Eli's heart cant help but to dance in excitement. He knows how fucking atrocious this whole thing is, but he can't help it. He can't help but to pray for it.

And that is truly fucked up. 

"Did you broke up?" Eli hides the enthusiasm bubbling in the surface.

He cannot believe how stupid and over all selfish he is. Christ, he's a bad friend. 

"Not really. I mean maybe... I don't know." 

Eli reached out his hand and squeezed Olivia's own. A small smile stretched in her face and Eli could see that she was faking it. 

So he forced a small smile back. 

                                                                                                 -----------

Eli could never be used to the chaos in the narrow hallways of their school every time the school bell signals the end of class.

People pushing and shoving other students to get out of the building. He never understood the reason for this. 

He decided to stood back, leaning on a wall as he watched his schoolmates pressed against each other trying to weave through. 

"Hey." 

Mateo stood beside him, shoulders leaning on the wall. His bag haphazardly on his shoulder and a smile on his face.

His tanned skin peaking out of his letterman jacket, hair perfectly atop his head and his golden brown eyes burns as he looks at Eli. He literally looks like he stepped out of a magazine

Jesus. This guy will be the death of him. 

"Hey."  Eli replied back, kicking off of the wall and started walking away.

Mateo followed his steps and walked beside him. From their distance Eli could smell the faint smell of Mateo's perfume and it fills Eli's head. Mint. 

"So when are we gonna finish our project?" Shit. Eli forget about that.

With everything happening, he totally let his studies deteriorate. It was easy passing with other subjects because of his accident. He'd just play the 'I just got out of an accident' card and his teachers are giving him worried glances and practically gives him an A right then and there. 

But this is different. This is a project. With MATEO. As much as he didn't care for his grades at the moment, it's unfair to Mateo. 

"Oh um... Yeah. Just tell me when you're free so we could finish it." Eli awkwardly mumbled his way out of the school and into the parking lot. 

Outside their school, students were hanging out by their cars. Eli used to drive himself to school using his father's worn out jeep but after the accident he can't seem to do it.

His hands always froze, his skin turns ice cold and his heart hammered like there's no tomorrow whenever he even thinks of driving. 

There was a stoned walkway towards where the school buses are. With his feet crunching the pavement he stared blankly down as he could still feel Mateo following him. 

"How about now?" 

Eli looked at Mateo with a slight fear playing within them. "Now?"

"Yeah." Mateo runs his hand on his hair and it flops right back, Eli watched it slightly amazed at how overwhelmingly easy it is for Mateo to be so goddamn attractive. 

Eli only nodded. His words lodged in his throat. He finds himself speechless by merely Mateo's existence. 

It's something that he doesn't even understand, cannot even begin to comprehend.

It feels like there's this pull within him that's tying him up with Mateo and whatever he do, however he tries to stop it, to deny it. It will all still end up with Mateo. Everything goes back to him.  

...... like a fucking boomerang