Whose Fault? (Editing)

Chapter Two ✔

As I pulled into the driveway, I saw someone open the front door and walk towards one of the parked cars. They grabbed something out of the back seat and leaned on the hood of the car. I quickly realized that it was Eli waiting for me to park and exit the car. Once I was in front of him, he smiled and asked, "hey, ready to go?"

I only nodded, then followed his lead by getting in the passenger seat of his car so we could pick up the last of the materials we needed for the project. If I was being honest with myself, I didn't trust myself to speak. I was worried I would say something stupid about how much I really wanted to go back home, run upstairs to throw myself on my bed, and sob and scream into my pillow. But that didn't seem like it would be received well, so I stayed quiet.

The unit we were now working on was Thermodynamics; we had chosen to build a working Stirling engine model and study the thermodynamic cycles and energy conversion. We had most of the materials and started building it already, we just needed to grab our materials for the piston, connecting rod, and crankshaft.

Eli turned some music on, then pulled out of the driveway to head to the hardware store. At first I didn't pay attention to what was playing, but I started to recognize the beat and the lyrics. "You like this band?" I asked him, not realizing we had similar music taste.

He smirked a little bit, "actually I didn't know who they were until I started recognizing the songs from when you listen to them."

"Oh," I commented, thinking about when and how often I had listened to twenty one pilots when he was around. Maybe it was in my headphones or from the times we took my car to get supplies for our projects, but even then I didn't think it was too much. Even so, I didn't think he would pay that much attention.

"Yeah, it seems like they relax you. Y'know, get you out of your head a bit." I hummed in response, deciding to listen to the music. A few of their songs played before a Panic! at the Disco song came on. "I love this song!" Eli started singing along and turned the volume up a few notches. I smiled at his reaction and sang along in my head.

As the song continues, Eli started singing louder and eventually started doing silly hand gestures and dance moves while still maintaining control of the car. I laughed to myself as he continued making exaggerated movements and singing loudly until we pulled into a parking spot.

We stayed in the car until the song that was playing ended. By that point, I was giggling like an idiot at Eli's actions. Before either of us started heading into the store, Eli said "I'm glad that made you laugh. It seemed like you needed some cheering up."

I tried to cover up my shock with a smile and by telling him "thanks."

Eli and I walked around the store, looking for the items that we needed and discussing which would be the best option for our project. As we did so, I couldn't help but try to make sense of what Eli had said and done in the car. On one hand it was very sweet of him to try to cheer me up, but I didn't understand why he would want to do that. Yes, I was quiet but I didn't think that was a bad thing. It was better than saying something completely stupid and have it turn out to be something I deeply regretted doing, which was, unfortunately, a common occurrence. Maybe Eli was like Chloe in that he couldn't stand silence and was uncomfortable driving and quietly listening to music; but that still didn't take into consideration that he played music by my favorite band to get me out of my head.

It was weird that he knew that. Why did he pay that much attention? I didn't even pay that much attention; I just knew that their music made me feel better. I guess I was affecting his mood, that would explain why he did it, if he didn't want to be in a bad mood. But still, why pay that much attention?

I thought it over for several minutes as we grabbed the last of our items, but still couldn't figure it out. The farthest I got was thinking that he was probably going to use it against me at some point during this stint of being partners. Though he didn't seem like the type, you never really know.