Love, Eliot

Don't You Look At Me Like That

"Cassie, wait," Drew called after me as I made my way through the familiar layout of his dorm. I moved quickly with my bag in tow but he stayed on my heels.

Storming out was never our style.

My hair whipped behind me as I turned, "Well?"

Drew reeled from the sudden stop. A strained noise left him before attempting to smooth over the issue, "I never meant for this to happen,"

I fought the urge to scoff and began to resent his attempts to placate me with tired lines. "I..." My fingers curled into a tight fist before I forced myself to let go, "I trusted you." I scolded myself for falling back on the same overused words.

"I get that," He held up his hands as if shielding himself from my unfounded fury, "but I didn't know it was you. Not until it was too late."

My eyes widened, "You think-" I sucked in a harsh breath, "You should have-" Drew watched me combust into a flurry of emotions. Embarrassment stung my cheeks at the memory of what we said under the guise of being anonymous.

"If you think about it, nothing has to change," He continued, "We made a mistake."

"A mistake," A bitter tone took hold of my once shaky voice.

He rubbed his neck, "Cassie, if I would have known I would have never-"

"Right." I cut him off before he could finish the sentence I didn't know I had been avoiding for years. He never would have. I was in too deep, I always had been. "I just thought I would never end up like one of your-" Wall ornaments.

Drew recoiled at the insinuation, "I said I'm sorry. I don't know what else you want from me." His apologetic gaze shifted into a defensive glare.

Was I being too harsh? My shoulders dropped at the thought. "I know you didn't realize it was me at first," I swallowed down the remaining venom in the back of my throat, "but then you did," I raised my eyes to meet his, "and you were going to let me wonder."

He shook his head, "Better than blowing up our relationships,"

"Is it?" I snapped.

"Yes." Drew stepped forward, "I really like Rosemary and I wasn't going to throw that away for-" Me.

I pinched my lips together while Drew showed little remorse. Maybe he didn't know what he said, I hoped, but the harsh look on his face pointed elsewhere.

I nodded in spite of the relentless curse words scrolling through my mind. They were partnered with all the memories I had of Eliot. Then, before my eyes, they morphed in front of me.

All the times Drew would text and I would see another message from Eliot. The near-misses when he dropped off a package. The review.

The venom returned with a vengeance and pooled at the back of my throat.

"Rosemary knows," I spat, "She knows that you're Eliot." And now so do I. Drew seemed most concerned with the latter.

"She, what?" He backed away as if I had caused the hardships in his life, "How did that happen?"

"The birthmark."

Drew's head fell back from the realization, "Shit." A flurry more swears and the news sunk in.

"You showed her that?" He refocused on me, "Who does that?"

My jaw went slack, "I needed someone to talk to,"

He shook his head as if I had just said the single-most ridiculous thing he heard in his young life. "Whatever, Cassie."

I scoffed.