~~~ Monday
Elias had barely gotten any sleep the last few days. He was exhausted and full of regret. He walked up to the stairs, tightly gripping onto the straps of his backpack. He and Asher hadn't spoke since the kiss. When he made it to the stairs, Derek and Jake were there, but no Asher.
"Hey, guys." Elias said and sat down feeling like his eyes would shut any moment.
"What happened between you and Asher?" Jake asked which woke Elias up completely. He didn't tell them, did he?
"What are you talking about?" Elias asked in a raspy voice, rubbing his eyes and trying not to act like he was hiding something.
Jake shook his head. "We can tell theres something going on between you two. He said he wasn't gonna be with us at lunch for the next few days, something about getting in a fight with you?"
Elias knitted his eyebrows together, "A fight? Nothing even happened- it was barely an argument..."
"Well, what was it about?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. Elias looked at them with his lips slightly parted. He tried thinking of something to say, but luckily, he didn't have to.
"Elias." A voice called from below the stairs.
Elias looked up to see Alex. He didn't know why Alex was approaching him, but he didn't really mind. "Uh, yes?"
"Walk with me." He demanded, his hands stuffed firmly in his pockets. Derek and Jake exchanged looks.
Elias looked at his friend and sucked in a sharp breath. "I'll see you guys at lunch?" He said, sounding more like a question than a statement.
The guys just shrugged and Elias left with Alex. They began walking silently beside each other, Elias was confused but somehow comforted. He followed Alex wherever he was going and occasionally looked up at him.
"Where are we going?" Elias asked.
"Just taking the long way to class." Alex said quietly and low.
"Um... why?"
"You know, you need to learn to not ask so many questions." Alex said, a small laugh escaping his lips. "Just go with it." He wouldn't admit it- at least not yet, but the real reason is just simply because Alex wanted to walk with Elias.
Later when they got into class, Asher arrived just before the bell rang. Like literally, just before. He was trying to avoid contact with Elias as much as possible, but that wouldn't be a problem because Elias was doing the same in a way.
Even with that, Elias still couldn't help looking over at him every once in awhile. Deep down he hoped Asher would look over and meet his eyes, but he never did. He just had this bored expression, not angry, sad, not nervous. There were no signs that he even felt a little bit uncomfortable. He just looked like he usually did in class, and for some reason, that bothered Elias.
"What are you staring at?" Alex asked, causing Elias to flinch and snap out of his trance. "Your friend?"
"No," Elias lied and looked straightforward again. "I zoned out. Wasn't looking at anything specific." Elias wasn't very good at hiding his emotions, and the hurt was clear in his tone.
Alex was quiet, noticing the change in attitude immediately compared to when they were walking together. "Are you okay?" He asked a bit uneasy. He had gone so long trying not to show interest or care in the boy, but he couldn't help it this time. Not with Elias' tone, the tone that Alex so wish he could change.
"I am. Thanks." Elias responded quickly and barely audible.
~~~ After school
Elias was feeling down the entire day. He went to his locker, the way he walked was slow and unmotivated- anyone could tell he was upset about something. It took a few attempts to open his locker because he kept messing up the code and it just seemed like everything was getting on his nerves.
Once he finally got it open, he noticed a note sitting on top of his school books. It was the first time it hadn't fallen it. He grabbed the paper and opened it.
This time it was something a little different. There was a little drawing of what looked to be Elias, and next to the drawing of him, there was a message with an arrow pointing at him to clarify his assumption.
"<— Elias Jones. I cant get you off my mind. -S.A" Said the letter in its usual red lettering. Elias just looked at it intensely, not able to stop reading it and looking at the drawing.
"Eli!" An all too familiar voice called from behind him.
He quickly shoved the paper away and turned around to see Alyssa walking towards him. He forced a smile, "Hey."
"You didn't text me all weekend." She whined and pouted her lip like a baby. She threw her arms around him and her fingers played with his brown hair.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It was kind of.. hectic." He said, not wanting to tell her about what happened with Asher.
"Is everything okay?" She asked, tilting her head in concern.
"Of course." Elias said and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "Why don't you come over next weekend and you can finally meet my aunt and uncle?"
Alyssa grinned widely, "Finally! I've been waiting for you to say that." She said and kissed him a couple times again.
The strange thing about Elias and Alyssa's relationship is that thought they might've seemed happy together, Alyssa really barely knew who Elias really was. They barely knew each other's likes and dislikes, favorites of this and that, the relationship was mainly built off of affection and drinking.
Now, Elias was so hurt about what happened with Asher that he was now going to Alyssa to numb his problems. Whatever it was, alcohol, smoking, sex, Alyssa had it all and his want for that to numb his feelings was mistaken for love. He really thought he did truly like her but he was lying to himself (as usual). He just couldn't accept the fact that he liked guys, and for that reason he wanted Alyssa more than anything.
