Chasing Possibility

T W E N T Y E I G H T ~ Lana Clarke

 Before I knew it, the doorbell rang, making my heart jump in shock. 

 Peeking from the window, the view didn't reveal much, but it was enough to see a familiar black car parked by the curb of our front lawn. Eli Wesley was here. Grabbing my bag and a beige colored coat in case it got chilly outside, I made my way downstairs and picked up my sandals along the way. 

 Taking a deep breath, I reached for the doorknob and opened the door.

 Don't be afraid, I told myself.

 The sun blinded me for a moment which resulted into me squinting my eyes. That must have been presentable. 

 Once my eyes adjusted, Eli stood before me with a sideways grins on his face. Eli just witnessed my struggle against the sun. What surprised me was when I noticed he was wearing a dark red shirt under his charcoal colored jacket and dark washed jeans. We matched colors again. Recalling back to Haley's birthday party, we both wore blue that even Haley Jones caught that. 

 Shaking those memories away, I apologized, "Hey, sorry for the wait."

 Eli shook his head and grinned. The dimple on his cheek appeared.

 "No worries. Your hair looks pretty, by the way," he complimented.

 Remembering that Eli only saw me in a bright red wig yesterday, this was the first time Eli saw me without the princess gear. Thanking him, Eli then wondered if Landon was around. 

 Mentioning that Landon left a while ago for work, Eli nodded before his brown eyes landed on the necklace that hung around my neck. It was the one Eli gave me on my birthday. Until this day, I couldn't go on without wearing it. The heart locket bought memories of mom and even of Eli — whether good or bad. He didn't comment about it, but I could have sworn he was hiding a sad smile. 

 Eli broke the silence by suggesting that we should head out. Gazing up at Eli's tall stature, I had no clue with what I was getting myself into, but I ended up nodding. As we walked together, the familiar cologne of Eli's wafted to my nose. The scent felt relieving like I actually missed it. Eli politely opened my door, and I returned with a smile in thanks. 

 During the beginning of the ride, Eli kept things casual by asking how my day was going. The conversation didn't last very long. For the most part, the drive was quiet with the radio playing the current hits in the background. Eli focused on driving, and I caught him tapping his fingers along with the music. However, I was feeling anxious.

 Driving to who knows where, I finally summoned enough courage to ask, "What… are we doing today?"

 Keeping his eyes on the road, Eli slowly braked when the light ahead was indicating to stop. Once the light turned red, he turned his attention to me. Eli's expression was unreadable even though his brown eyes appeared cheerful.

 "It's actually a surprise."

 There was something different about Eli. He was more confident than yesterday which may be a good thing because, at least, he wasn't making our situation awkward. Yet, it could be a bad thing because I wasn't sure if I should be worried about Eli's sudden confidence boost. 

 Catching my look of doubt, Eli sensed that I was freaking out a little. Even though I assured myself I would stay collective, my emotions were betraying me. There was a part of me that was still scared to trust Eli. Before the light turned green, Eli looked at me with an encouraging smile. 

 "If you give me the chance, I'm going to make things right, Lana."

                                                     ☽        ☽        ☽