Not That Bad #Wattys2018

Chapter Six

"Whatever." 

I slowly bend toward the floor,"I'm going to pick up the scissors now." I say. Standing in front of Eli, I reach out and pull his shoulder toward me and make a little snip on his shirt. Eli jerks away.

"Stay still!" I shout trying to make another snip but he pushes my hand away.

"What are you doing!"

"You're coming with me, so I'm making you look presentable." I say, like it should be obvious. Eli doesn't ask me where we're going like I thought he would. He only looks me in the eye and makes a sad face.

"But this is my favorite shirt." he whines.

"Why were you wearing your favorite shirt to my house, in the first place?" I ask, genuinely curious.

He doesn't answer, but he steadies himself and I make a bigger snip and then rip the rest of the sleeve off to give it a nice rough edge. I do the same to the other sleeve and then unbutton two other buttons, revealing more of Eli chest which is surprisingly very nice and toned. I

'm still wearing my helmet, so Eli can't see my surprised and slightly impressed face. I tell him to run his hand through his hair but he's not doing it properly so I do it myself. 

"There." I say, looking at my handy work. Eli looks tough and cool now. I would never tell him that though. Eli sighs deeply and shoves the pieces of cloth that were once the sleeves of his shirt, into his pocket.

"If I go wherever you're going, will you promise to go to a class on Monday?" Eli asks.

I study him carefully. His face is expressionless except for one arched eyebrow. He was really dedicated to this tutoring stuff. Like, he really planned on bringing me up to A standards. That wasn't going to happen. I don't know why Eli didn't see that. He was supposed to be smart and logical.

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." I say dismissively, stuffing a pack of cigarettes into my pocket just before we head out.

"Smoking kills." Eli says.

***

I keep my motorbike at CaVe because I bought it with Dad's credit card without his permission. He would have said no if I asked anyway. I have to call Gabe to bring it out for me because there was no way in hell that I was going to go inside of that place to face Margot and the unmentionable J. 

But then, while we're waiting in Eli's truck and he starts going on and on about right angles, I decide that unmentionable J wasn't going to keep me out of my own dad's place. It was basically my property.  

I stomp out of the car and and barge through the door and smack into Gabe. He's holding my bike over his head just to show off how strong he is. Gabe breaks into a grin when he sees me.

"Rori!" he says, holding the bike in one hand now. "Sup?"

"Hey Gabe." I say getting on my tip toes to see if I can spot unmentionable J, so I can walk right in front of him and show him that I've moved on with my life. "Can you just put the bike in the back of that truck outside?"

"Yes ma'am." Gabe salutes me and marches outside like an idiot.

Margot's skirt is neon yellow today and Jaq is laughing with her, like we hadn't both agreed that she was a bitch. But I guess when you break up, you go back on all the promises that you made and all the topics you agreed on and all the opinions you formed of other people.

I kick a metal wrench off a table and it clatters to the floor, the sound echoing through the building and making my entrance a spectacular one. He looks at me and blinks, eyes skimming over my body, just like Eli had done only moments ago.

"Hey Margot!" I say like she's my best friend. I ignore him completely,"Is there another bike that I can use? For my friend."

Margot snorts at me like a freaking pig."You look ridiculous with that helmet on your head." she says.

"Aw." I say to her back as she shuffles off to find a bike.

It's just him and me now at the desk and I have to say, it's AWKWARD. He taps his pencil against the counter distractedly. The door leading to the upstairs apartment opens and out walks Imogen. He smiles at her and my jaw drops. Thank you handy helmet for concealing my shock.

"C'mon Jaq." 

Unmentionable J lets Imogen tug on his shirt even though I know he hates that, "Chemistry is not going to teach itself. Let's go.Upstairs." 

She places emphasis on the words 'upstairs' and I frown, glad no one can see my expression. I had to play it cool.

I can only stare. I knew Imogen was tutoring him, I just didn't expect her to be dressed like that. In a super short floral dress with a low front. And the girl has boobs. For days. She notices me there and she  conceals her shock and sudden nervousness with a smirk.

"Rori. You know Jaq right?" Imogen pulls at her dress.

"It's not going to get any longer." I say, ignoring her question,"What? Did you run out of cloth?"

"You're one to talk." she flips her hair over her shoulder. 

Enter Eli. He spins around looking at the red walls and the cars and tires and greasy tools. Then he sees the three of us and his eyes go huge.

"Gen?" he says to Imogen staring at her legs and then getting lost in her cleavage before looking at her face. Her eyes move over him, taking in his ripped shirt and ruffled hair.

"You look different." they say together and the unmentionable J laughs.

Trust an idiot to laugh in a completely serious and tense situation. Eli bends to kiss her but she turns and his lips touch her cheek instead. But barely. Nothing like what they were doing only a few days ago at my house.

"There." Margot reappears and points to a motorbike behind her,"Jaq can carry it for you 'cause there's no way I'm going to."

Jaq slowly shuffles toward the bike and the frown on his face says he doesn't want to help me. My pride kicks in and I'm about to say something when Eli picks up the bike like nothing and walks out the door, not bothering to say anything to Imogen. I follow him and turn to have one last look before I walk out the door. Unmentionable J was following Imogen up the stairs and peeking up her dress. 

Imogen was playing with the wrong girl. 

Jaq and I may not be together, but he was mine until the day I died.