A Timeless Place

Chapter 5 - Part II

Wes scowled, "Yes, him too. Which is why I warn you to stay away from him. He's nothing but trouble." 

"Says the one who landed me in detention!" I exclaimed. 

"That's not the kind of trouble I'm referring to," Wes said, darkly. 

"Anyway, so how does Matt know Eli?" Jordan asked, impatiently going back to the main topic. 

"He was a customer at Chance and gave her his number when he came by once," I replied, exasperated from arguing with Wes. 

"Where was I?!" Jordan exclaimed. 

"It's not like you have the exact same shifts every time, you know," I said reasonably.  

"Oh," Jordan said. 

"Okay, so what do we do now?" I asked, looking around.  

"There's a pool table upstairs," Wes suggested. 

"Sounds good," Jordan replied, glancing in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll just go grab us something to drink. I'll meet you two upstairs." 

Wes and I shared an exasperated look as Jordan walked toward the kitchen. He was at the doorway when he stood still, frozen and looking into the kitchen. 

I looked into the kitchen, seeing Dracula and Eli making out passionately on the counter top. She was sitting on top the counter with Dracula standing in between her legs. I tore my gaze away, giving my best friend some privacy. I put a hand gently on Jordan's upper arm, pulling him away. 

"Come on, I didn't want a drink anyway," I said, softly.  

Jordan and I followed Wes upstairs and into one of the rooms. The room was rectangular, with a pool table at the far end of the room next to the window looking out onto the street. There were couches against both sides of the room, a few people scattered around. There were a few bottles of drinks on a table at the far left corner of the room, next to the pool table. 

Wes filled three cups with soda, handing Jordan and I one. Jordan, not so subtly, added alcohol to his before downing it down.

"Woah, take it easy there," I said. 

"Are they serious about each other? How long has it been going on?" Jordan demanded, ignoring my comment. 

I sighed. "Look, Jordan. Eli isn't serious about any guy. She'll forget about Dracula in a few days," I tried to reason with him. 

"Maybe she just hasn't found the right guy yet," Jordan said confidently. 

I glanced at Wes, who was giving me a pointed look. I sighed, unable to bring myself to tell Jordan about Eli's trust issues with guys. "Maybe she hasn't." 

Jordan reached to refill his cup, but I quickly grabbed it off him while Wes force-steered him to the couch, the pool table already forgotten. 

"I'm guessing you didn't tell him what we talked about?" I asked Wes in a low voice. 

"Nope," he replied. "No point, either. He'll keep pining for her." 

"Huh," I said. "He really loves her." 

"Too much for his own good," Wes replied. "I swear, it'll be his downfall. Just like Gatsby." 

I raised an eyebrow at him, "I didn't know you read literature." 

"There're many things about me that'd shock you," he winked at me. 

I rolled my eyes at him, "So you're saying that love will lead to an inevitable downfall."