Best-Case Scenario

Chapter Nineteen

The Thanksgiving holidays go by quick. I manage to make it through the embarrassing extended family dinner at my grandma's where my mom announces I have a boyfriend over the table. I get through their questions and leave relatively unscathed.

Saturday comes and I'm relaxing when I get a text from Imari. Seth and I are bored. Want to come hang out?

Kali is with Matea and Finn won't be back until tomorrow. I text back that I'll be there in fifteen and drive out.

Seth and Imari are camped out in Imari's living room. They're watching videos on the tv and when I sit in between them, Imari clicks the tv off. Seth throws an arm around me and I lean against him. Imari stares at his knees. Typically, he's the cuddler.

"What are you guys up to?" I ask to break the silence.

"Nothing," Imari sighs.

Seth squeezes my shoulder. "Imari is lying. He's ready to spill," he says.

A small smile creeps on Imari's face but he still doesn't look up. I nudge him with my toes. "About what?" I ask.

I watch his ears turn red and when he looks up, he's chewing on his bottom lip.

Seth kicks Imari when my nudge doesn't work. "Ouch!" he yells and turns to us. "Okay, okay. I'm telling her."

His dark eyes are shining now and there's no hint of a smile, but a full grin. "I did something crazy."

"Tell me more," I urge. This does not seem like a cuddle conversation, more like a giggly one. I scoot close to Imari.

"It worked out."

From behind me, Seth flicks Imari's ear. "I'm going to tell her if you don't. Not everything needs to be a production."

Imari shoots a glare at him but doesn't drop his smile. "It's my story. I can tell it anyway I want." He stares at Seth until Seth rolls his eyes again and looks away.

"Fine," he mumbles. "You tell it: dramatics and all."

I shake Imari's shoulder and Imari grins wider. He loves an eager audience.

"So last week- "

"This happened a week ago and you didn't tell me!" I gasp.

"Hey I needed to be sure before spilling. You're lucky I'm spilling at all. I definitely shouldn't," he says.

"But you should. Teagan has great advice when it comes to keeping secrets" Seth adds.

I whip around and stare at him. He raises his eyebrows, but he doesn't look angry, just curious. He nods to Imari.

"Wait, what?" I open my mouth, but Imari waves me off. "No. We'll get to that later."

Thank god.

He takes a deep breath and launches into the story. "Last week I stayed late after school. I had studying to do and the custodian like me so he let me hang out after school hours. When I left the library, hockey practice was also letting out. I stopped and of course watched them all file out. I'm not blind. I noticed Elliot was missing but I knew he was on the team because I saw him go in earlier.

"Well of course my crush took over and I wanted to know if he was around. When I went outside, I saw someone up on the track. When I walked up, Elliot was running."

I could picture Imari hanging out by the fence sending vibes towards Elliot jogging the track. What I couldn't picture, is Elliot not just leaving when he saw someone watching. "He didn't think that was weird?"