Can't Catch Me Now || Eli Moskowitz

002 What's In Your Head?

"Holy shit, they weren't kidding when they said she was fast," Sensei Lawrence commented, watching her run the track. As she turned, he turned to watch her, almost twisting himself around, but stopped and straightened himself back up and forward. "Wish she'd join. No one would stand a chance against her."

Moon smiled kindly and nodded as she watched KT too. Then she put her eyes back on the guys in front of her and said, "I meant my other ex. She's a great athlete, though maybe not as great as KT, and she's not afraid to get into a fight."

"Sounds like the badass babe we've been looking for," Johnny said.

That gave Moon pause as she realized who the creep was on the field earlier, but brushed past that in order to offer them the help they needed. At the end of the day, Sensei Lawrence wasn't a creep. He was just out of touch, as Miguel had said at one time or another. "You might want to try a different approach with her. I can give you some pointers."

Miguel nodded immediately, smiling thankfully.

As they talked through those pointers, KT continued to sweat.

She ran for as long as cheer practice went on. She only stopped when Moon came to get her so they could go home, clean up, and do some at-home spa treatments. It was their usual routine now that track and cheer were practicing so close together.

As they walked to Moon's car, KT all but swallowed her water bottle whole as she drank the cool refresher. When she wasn't downing the liquid, she was panting hard. She tossed her gym bag in the back with Moon's pom-poms and took residence in the passenger seat. As soon as Moon started the SUV, upbeat pop music started playing and she set something down on the middle console.

KT picked up the piece of paper and scoffed. It was a flier for Eagle Fang Karate. "What's this all about?"

"Didn't you hear?" Moon asked, buckling her seat belt. "The All Valley made a new girls division. Miguel and his sensei are trying to get some girls to join to further their cause. They wanted me to join but you know me. It's a bit too violent for my taste."

"But you still took their flier," KT said, tossing it into the backseats.

Moon smiled. "I was being nice. I might not like it but someone else might. You never know."

"Yeah, you're right," KT sighed.

"I also pointed them toward Piper."

"Your ex, Piper?"

"Yeah, she'd really like something like that."

KT thought about it for a moment. She didn't not like Piper, they'd hung out a few times when Moon dated her, but they hadn't seen a lot of each other since then. They were on okay terms, but it wasn't as if they were the best of friends. She nodded. "You're right."

Moon put the car in drive and got them out of the school parking lot. "I know. But let's not talk about karate, you need to do something about your hair."

KT laughed, touching her head. Her hair was soaked with sweat and felt icky. "I know! You did not have to point that out!"

Moon laughed with her, happy to hear the jovial tone in her voice. "I'm sorry! I'm trying to help!"

They laughed the entire way to Moon's house, having the best of time joking with each other and singing along to Moon's after-workout playlist. It was nice and let KT forget about the karate war for a while. It was fun. It was what she needed.

~

KT💍
How r u?

Eli
Fine hru

KT💍
I'm ok
I miss u

Eli
I'm sorry

KT💍
Don't b
Ik it's hard rn
I shouldn't of said anything

Eli
We're having a conversation, say whatever you want
That's how they work right?

KT💍
Yes but I still shouldn't have said that

Eli stared at the text, feeling bad. There was a hunk of lead in his stomach keeping him in one place. He'd just gotten out of the shower, needing time to himself to think. Demetri had paid him a visit and said a lot, as usual, and left him with a lot to think about. A shower helped with that but as he texted KT, he wondered what the right thing to do was.

He drafted a text, his thumbs moving on their own, then he deleted the whole thing to start over, but only after he got dressed. He didn't want his mom to come get him for dinner and find him standing around in his boxers. She had enough to deal with as it was, the last thing he needed her to worry about was his state of mind.

So he tossed his phone on his bed for the time being and got himself dressed. I'm putting her through Hell. I should just end it before things get worse.

As that thought crossed his mind, tears welled up in his eyes. He used his shirt to wipe them away before they could fall. He couldn't cry over this again. He didn't want to cry anymore, no matter the reason. He was sick of it.

Once dressed, he grabbed his phone, only to see a text from KT.

KT💍
I just love you so much. I want to do right by you Eli but I just don't know how. So please don't take it the wrong way. Please don't be upset or feel guilty about it. I want you to be able to tell me how you feel and I feel like that means I should be just as open with you. I miss you. I love you. All I want is for you to be okay and I want to help. Please let me do that

He read it over and over again. The tears fell anyway as his heart swelled, taking up the entirety of his chest cavity. He missed her too, he just didn't know how to tell her that. At one point, he found it so easy to talk to her, now he didn't know which words to use. So he said the first thing that came to mind...

Eli
Do u want to come over for dinner?

~~~

This was a bit of a heartbreaker of a chapter for me. Poor Eli, I hate when he's so down 😭 and is KT over exercising again? What do you think will happen next???

Thoughts? Feelings? Concerns?