Five Weeks to Forever [BxB]

Chapter 5.

"You're lying. Tell me you're lying!"

As soon as the bell had rung I had skedaddled out of the school building, weaving in and out of the crowd, a few students flashing me strange looks as I babbled on the phone with Eloise like an overly excited toddler. I had to walk home today since I didn't have anyone to drive me home, but I found that strangely, I didn't mind. It gave me time to spill everything.

"Nope! And then I asked him if he would join us for our movie night on Sunday! And guess what he said, Eloise! Guess!" I paused only for a second, not waiting for a response. "He said yes!"

I giggled like a schoolgirl, twirling around a bit. At this point, I was past the point of caring what people thought of me. I was way too happy to be bothered by the usual stares I got from people out on the town.

And there were a decent amount of people, for a Monday afternoon, anyways. I couldn't blame them, it was a pleasant day. The sun was out in full, shining brightly down, providing warmth for one of the last half decent fall days before December's winter took hold. Already its icey grips could be felt, frost forming on car windows and biting chills from winds that've been plaguing the air the past few days.

But not today.

Today was rather perfect. A perfect day for walking home, and a perfect day to gossip on the phone after a perfect school day.

Everything about today has been just so perfect.

I don't think anything could put a damper on my mood.

"Wait," I heard a crackle on the other end, indicating Eloise was finally getting ready for the day. "So he'll come to our movie night next Sunday?"

"Yea!" I grinned, even though Eloise couldn't see it. As I made my way downtown towards the suburbs, I slowed to peek into the shops that lined the streets curiously. Our city had a big tourist appeal, apparently some big-shot Netflix show was filmed here a couple years back, so a lot of the stores were souvenir and cheesy-tchotchke type things. T-shirts with quotes and slogans, overpriced food designed after food in the show. Things like that.

One shop in particular, though, had always caught my eye. It was gothic themed, neon vampire bats illuminated around the sign, and it had loads of wannabe halloween decor inside. I'd never been into it, there were rumors it was haunted by demonic spirits, but I always liked to look through the windows.

I made the sign of the cross as I passed, a zombie animatronic lunging at me with a ghoulish laugh, before Eloise responded over the phone.

"Oh." Is all he said. He sounded more deflated than usual, causing me to frown. I slowed down at a stop sign, glancing both ways and crossing the street.

"What's wrong? I thought this was a good thing."

"It is, it is." Eloise was quick to backtrack. "I'm happy for you Elli, really, I am. It's just.." He trailed off.

"Just what?" I raised an eyebrow, my stomach gurgling loudly as I strode past a cafe. I laid a hand on it in a vain attempt to sooth it, silently promising it all the food it could manage as soon as I got home.

"Nothing." He said at last with a small sigh. I furrowed my eyebrows, lowering my phone from my ear to give it a weird look.

Who the hell was I talking to right now? This wasn't Eloise. Eloise didn't stumble over his words and lie straight to my face. He spoke what was on his mind, unapologetically. It's one of the many things I loved about him, about our friendship.

"Eloise, you and I both know that's not true." I accused him, the noise volume dropping considerably as I finally turned onto a quieter street that led towards my neighborhood. "C'mon. We've been friends for.. How long now? Four years? You can tell me anything."

"You'll think I'm childish." He said, or, at least, he tried too. He was obviously in the middle of brushing his teeth because his words came out sounding more like 'yum thim im chimism.'

"Will not. Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Okay, now saying that is childish."

"Shut up and tell me what's wrong."

Another long, drawn out sigh. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts judging by the long stretch of silence that ticked by for a few seconds. Either that or he was peeing, I wasn't too sure.

"It's.. well. Sunday movies are our thing, Elli." He paused again. "I just don't want someone else to come in and ruin it."

I stopped walking, a thoughtful frown pulling at my lips. I hadn't even thought of that, of asking Elosie if he was okay with me inviting Matthew over. But, at the same time.. Hadn't he been the one encouraging me to start making moves towards Matthew? Why was he upset about this? This is what he wanted, right?