Whose Fault? (Editing)

Chapter Eight

When the end credits to the movie we were watching began to roll up the screen, I got up and made my way to my room to get ready. I pulled out a pair of light wash skinny jeans and a ginger-colored pullover sweater, then made my way to the shower. By the time I was squeaky clean, I had just about an hour before Eli would pick me up.

After throwing on my outfit and some grey booties, I quickly blow-dried and straightened my hair. I grabbed some concealer, liquid liner, and mascara and applied them, then took a step back and studied how I looked. I decided that I wanted to glow a little bit tonight; this lead me to reach for a highlighter and apply it to the high points of my face. When I was finished with that step, I glanced in the mirror again and came to the conclusion that this was as good as it was gonna get.

My first thought was that I looked pretty good, but the more I looked, the more imperfections I found that my head picked apart. Shaking my head, I made my way back into my room to pick up my phone and wallet. I put them in my back pockets and then looked around for my Chapstick, which I was forever losing.

I crawled onto the floor to look under my bed and side tables and smiled triumphantly when I found it. As I reached for it, I heard a knock at the front door. I assumed that it was Eli, so I quickly applied the Chapstick before rushing downstairs to greet him at the door. However, it seemed like someone else had beat me to it.

I hadn't even realized that Max wasn't still sitting upstairs. I was in such a hurry that I totally forgot that he was even here. Such a shitty friend.

I ignored that thought as best as I possibly could and walked up behind Max. I had heard the two of them quietly talking, but when they noticed my presence all conversation stopped. The silence was uncomfortable, as I didn't know what they had been talking about or what to say to them. After about a minute, I realized that introducing them was probably a good idea.

Taking a deep breath of the thick air, and shuffling back and forth on my feet, I began my introductions; "Max, this is Eli. He's my partner for that biology project I've been telling you about, and we study a lot together. Eli, this is Max. He's one of my best friends and like a, sometimes annoying, older brother." I tried to ease the tension a bit by teasing Max.

Eli smiled at me as I made eye contact with him while I spoke then stiffly turned toward Max and held his hand out. With all this awkward tension in the air, it almost seemed like he was trying to call a truce with Max through a handshake. Max reluctantly shook his hand and Eli muttered a "nice to meet you."

I made my way out of the doorway a bit, before I turned back towards Max, "are you going to still be here when I get back or are you heading back home?"

"I'll be leaving shortly, just wanted to see you off," he informed me. As he spoke he hardened his stare towards Eli who was trying to look just about anywhere but at Max. Good. Maybe it will make it easier to push him away.

No, that's wrong.

I rolled my eyes at both myself and Max before scolding him, "leave him alone Maxie." Then I walked up to him and gave him a hug goodbye. Who knew when I would see him next? He wrapped his arms around me and I instructed him to text me when he left.

"Yes, boss." Max said, jokingly. He kissed me at the very top of my head, then let go of me.

I turned towards Eli smiling, and began to walk off with him. Then I waved and said goodbye to Max before sliding into Eli's car. I turned toward him after buckling my seatbelt, then questioned him, "are you going to tell me what we're doing now?"

Eli smirked as he backed out of the driveway and said, "nope." I rolled my eyes, leaned back into my seat, and looked at my surroundings outside my window. After a few minutes of silence, Eli spoke again, "so he's really protective over you, huh?"