As A Friend

30: Friendship Mode Activated

Another short chapter but vital to the plot. Also, I have not been home much lately so I have to edit the next couple of chapters to prepare them for updates.

"So you're asking me for advice about the boy you rejected me for?" Eli asks as we sit across from each other in the dining hall. I grimace slightly and immediately feel stupid. I shouldn't have brought it up no matter how much he insisted I vent to him. "Alright, I'll do my best. Shoot."

"Are you sure?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I'm positive," he insists.

"Okay, uh..." I trail, unsure of where to start. I try to shake off the feeling that I'm being an asshole. "You know I like him. But I, uh.."

"You uh?" he prompts and I feel my face redden.

"I slept with him," I blurt.

"I knew it," he laughs.

"And I love him," I tell Eli, whose eyebrows rise on his forehead.

"I did not know that," he mutters.

"And now we're friends with benefits," I respond, which earns a slow nod in response.

"Somehow, I feel like that's not the best idea," he replies.

"I want to tell him I like him but I don't want him to think I caught feelings for him after sex," I explain my problem.

"Then maybe just say that you liked him before," he suggests with a shrug.

"And what if he rejects me?" I ask nervously.

"You guys have a really weird relationship. You guys are best friends but I'm almost positive that both of you are secretly in love with each other," he complains. I gape at him in shock and he offers me a helpless shrug. "What? You can't tell me that you don't have the slightest inkling that he just may have some feelings for you."

I scramble over my words as I try to explain my trepidation. "Kind of...but what if it's just misinterpretation?" I respond.

"It's not," he retorts with a wave of his hand. "Just tell him and get it over with."

I narrow my eyes at him dismissively. "You're no help," I conclude, which gets a frustrated and confused look from him.

"What do you want me to say?" he retorts.

"I want you to prepare me for rejection!" I clarify. "Everyone is so confident that he likes me and that we'll get married. What if that's not how it goes?"

"You say that because you don't see the way he looks at you," Eli retorts. "As a guy, I pride myself in being able to determine when a guy likes a girl. The way he treats her, the way he treats the competition, the way he carries himself around her- those are all things you notice."

"Okay and?" I reply with crossed arms.

"I can just tell, Nova," he says with a sigh. "Trust me."

"Guys intuition isn't always right," I snap. "Dominic said that the only reason you started texting me again was because you wanted to sleep with me." Eli stares at me for a second with a blank expression on his face. My mouth drops into an 'O' when he purses his lips thoughtfully. "Elias!"

"That wasn't the only reason, okay?" he assures me defensively. "Okay, yes, I thought about it and yes it heavily determined my decision. But I do like being friends with you. I just reconsidered the whole friends with benefits thing and figured I could work with that now if you were still up for it."