chelioproclitic (adj.)
being attracted to a person's lips or mouth
* * *
AFTER school, Eli made good on his promise and drove me to his house. We usually hung out at Delaney's, so it was my first time going to his house.
I was weirdly excited to see it—especially his room. Would it be sports-themed or have no theme at all? Would it be messy or super organized? I wasn't sure and wanted to know every little detail about him.
He gave me a brief tour of his house, starting with the living room. Unsurprisingly, his room was decorated with sports posters and trophies. And, as his mom hinted at Thanksgiving, it was messy. No, messy wasn't even the correct word to use. With all the clothes and food wrappers on the carpeted floor, it was more like a pigsty.
I didn't say anything because I knew for a fact that Ethan's room was in a similar state. It must have been a teenage boy thing.
We concluded the tour in his kitchen.
"Do you want anything to drink?" Eli asked as he pulled out a package of chocolate Oreos.
"No thanks."
"Oreo?" He held out a cookie.
I took it and started to put it in my mouth.
"No, not yet."
"What?" I said as I chewed the Oreo.
"You forgot the jelly," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He grabbed a jar of raspberry jelly out of the fridge and set it on the counter.
"You actually do that? I thought you were kidding."
He furrowed his eyebrows, adorably scrunching his nose in the process. "Why would I kid about Oreos and jelly? It's the best thing ever."
"Okay. Suit yourself." I started to put another cookie into my mouth, but he swatted my hand. "What?"
"I said I was going to get you hooked on it... Well, it's time." With a lopsided grin on his face, he offered me an Oreo coated in jelly.
"No. That's disgusting."
"Try it."
"No."
He took a step toward me. "Try it or I'll make you."
"No," I said, trying and failing to keep a straight face. As soon as my lips curled into a smile, he grabbed my chin and dangled the cookie in my face.
"C'mon, Charlotte." He traced my lips with his finger, trying to pry them open. "Open sesame."
I wiggled out of his grip. "Ugh, fine." I snatched the Oreo from his hand and unceremoniously plopped it into my mouth.
"Do you like it?"
I started laughing at the insanely hopeful look on his face.
"What?" he asked, grin broadening.
"Don't look at me like that," I mumbled. "It's hard to focus with you staring."
"Fine." he dramatically crossed his arms and turned his back to me. "You better be done chewing by the time I turn around."
I thoughtfully chewed the cookie, paying attention to the texture and flavor. The combination didn't taste as bad as I thought it would. It actually tasted similar to a chocolate raspberry candy.
"I'm done."
He whipped around. "How was it? Good, I know."
"Arrogant much?" I retorted. "It was alright. I'd give it a five out of ten." I'd really rate it a seven out of ten, but that would be bad for Eli's already inflated ego. Someone had to knock him down a few pegs.
"Just a five?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes—" No, a seven. "—It's just a cookie and jelly. It doesn't really matter."
"Doesn't matter? You'll see."
"Was that a threat, Cameron?"
"Yes, yes it was, Hanson," he smirked mischievously.
"Well, you'd better start on my apology cookies before you need to add another batch onto it."
He bowed grandiosely. "Alright, your Highness."
"Oh, shut up. If anyone's the Drama Queen, it's you," I snickered.
"No."
"Yes, Mr. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
He looked at me like I had finally gone crazy. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember Thanksgiving?"
"Not really. Everything after lunch was a blur."
I snickered. Oh, this was good. "Well, just ask Ella. She'd be delighted to show you the videos." She had a whole collection, last time I checked. I was told that she's waiting until after Christmas to make a compilation.
"Alright," he said, still looking utterly confused.
"All in good time... Just watch your back. We have some great blackmail."
"You have to tell me now," he begged.
"No, it would ruin the surprise."
"Fine." He lightly stomped his foot like a child.
"Now make me cookies, you peasant."
"Hey, it's Queen to you."
I hopped up on the counter and watched him scramble to get all the ingredients and materials out. He successfully melted the butter and stirred in the sugar, but was having trouble measuring the flour.
"Need help?"
"I got it," he said, trying to pour the five-pound bag of flour into the tiny cup.
"You sure?" I asked when a puff of flour fell onto the floor.
He tried again and spilled it all over his shirt. "I give up. I suck at this."
I hopped off the counter and took the measuring cup from him. "It's not that hard. You just put the cup inside the bag, then dump it into the bowl."
"Oh. I guess that makes more sense." He took the full measuring cup out of my hand. While walking over to the bowl, his elbow whacked into the flour bag, flinging the contents up into the air.
Flour fell like snow and coated everything in a four-foot radius.
"Fuck. My mom's gonna kill me." He dropped to the floor and started sweeping it with his bare hands. All that did was make handprints in the powder.
I grabbed a broom from the pantry and started helping him wipe it up. After a few minutes, the room was almost spotless—except for the flour continuously falling off our bodies onto the floor.
"You, uh, you have some in your hair," he said.
"Really? You don't say," I laughed.
He hesitantly reached his hand out to sweep the flour out of my hair. "May I?"
I swallowed thickly and nodded.
His calloused hand tenderly wiped the flour out of my hair, brushing it onto the floor. My stomach fluttered as if there were a whole zoo of butterflies trapped inside.
Looking directly into my eyes, he wiped the powder off my nose and forehead before his gaze darted to my lips.
They parted expectantly as he leaned down, his mesmerized eyes still locked on my lips. I shut my eyes as I felt his warm breath on my lips. I naturally leaned forward, seeking out his lips, but the slamming of a screen door made me halt.
"I'm home!"
"Mads," he groaned, leaning his forehead against mine. The simple touch was electrifying, sending tingles throughout my whole body.
Eli's little sister, Maddie, came running into the kitchen. He let go of me and stepped away.
I tried my best to keep the disappointment off my face, and a quick glance at Eli told me he was doing the same thing too.
She took one look at us and wrinkled her nose, turning it upwards. "Why do you guys look like clowns?"
"He spilled flour everywhere."
"Typical," she scoffed. "Are you Eli's girlfriend?"
"Um, no."
Her face contorted. "Aren't you Charlotte? My mommy said that Eli is i—"
"Mads, please shut up," Eli shouted, face bright red.
No, please don't shut up. I wanted to hear what mommy dearest said.
"Daddy! Ellie told me to shut up!" she shouted, clenching her fists and stomping her left foot.
"Ellie, huh?" I whispered to him, earning a glare.
Eli's father came into the kitchen. I vaguely recognized him from Thanksgiving, but hadn't spoken to him yet. He took one look at us—me, specifically—and sighed, "Mads, how 'bout you go upstairs."
"Is Ellie going to get in trouble?"
"Yes," he smiled placatingly. "I'll punish him."
"Real bad?"
"Real bad."
Maddie's eyes glittered triumphantly as she stuck her tongue out at Eli. She ran upstairs, making up a song about how happy she felt.
"Charlotte, right?" Mr. Cameron said gruffly.
"Um, yeah. It's nice to meet you."
"You too." He turned to Eli and motioned around the room. "Just clean this up before your mom gets home... And, son, don't get too distracted from football." He paused and glanced at me. "Remember your scholarship isn't going to maintain itself." He walked away without another word, leaving us in a tense silence.
"I'm sorry," he said, running his fingers through his flour-covered hair. "That was not how I planned for this to go."
"Don't be. It's fine," I responded, trying to keep the despondency out of my voice.
"Well," he let out a prolonged breath, "wanna finish the cookies?"
"Sure." I helped him combine the rest of the ingredients and scoop out cookie dough balls. After sticking them in the oven, we sat at the kitchen table.
Eli grabbed one of the letters on the table and tore it open. "Sick."
"What's that?"
"Revere invited me and a few other rising freshmen to practices during winter break," he said as he skimmed it. "We'll meet the team, practice with them, and sit on the sidelines at a game."
"That's awesome! How's football going, by the way? Is it easier knowing your college plans?"
He shrugged. "It's definitely less stressful, but some guys on the team are being assholes about it."
I sat down next to him. "How come?"
"They're just jealous that I got a full ride and they didn't get any offers," he scoffed. "It's getting in the way during games. We're supposed to be focusing on playoffs, but instead, we're all arguing like middle school girls."
"I'm sorry."
"It's nothing really. I'm just glad that I don't have to stress about scouts and applications."
"Tell me about it." I blew out a harsh breath. "I have a few decisions coming out at the end of January. Just thinking about it makes me nauseated."
"Where'd you end up applying?"
"Copley, Revere, Bay State, MassU, and... That's it actually."
I almost mentioned SGSU but decided against it. With a whopping seven percent acceptance rate, the chances of me getting accepted were very slim—practically nonexistent. Starting drama about it wouldn't even be worth it until I knew if I got in.
Yes, I was making excuses, but I was doing everyone a favor in the long run.
* * *
After we finished baking the cookies, Mads made a reappearance. She was outraged by Eli's lack of punishment and guilt-tripped us into playing Barbies with her. I received a very detailed tour of her Barbie Dreamhouse, cruise ship, and private jet. Just when I thought it was all over, she showed me her fifty-two Barbies and told me all of their names.
Eli, Mads, and I spent two hours playing before I got a text asking me to come home for dinner. Since I didn't have my car with me, Eli eagerly offered to drive me home.
When we pulled into the driveway, I made no move to get out of the car.
"Well, I should probably go inside," I said after a few minutes, voice lacking conviction.
He nodded, a small frown on his face. "Lemme walk you to the door."
We got out of the car and walked up the driveway at a snail's pace. Eli suddenly froze in his tracks, grabbing my freezing hand with his clammy one.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said. "I, uh... I don't want you to go yet."
"Me neither," I whispered.
His grey eyes snapped to mine before languidly moving down my face. I watched as he scanned my features before coming to a stop on my lips. His tongue unconsciously darted out to moisten his lips and his eyes flew back to mine.
His grey eyes were swirling with emotion, seemingly debating something.
After a moment, he almost imperceptibly shook his head and leaned down.
Time slowed.
Nobody was around to interrupt us.
I stood up on my tip-toes and our lips met in the middle in a tender, closed-mouth kiss. He applied more pressure, causing my breath to hitch. Taking the opportunity, he gently swept his tongue along my lips.
It was tentative, like he was testing the waters.
My lips parted, giving permission for his tongue to explore my mouth. It dove in, leaving no corner of my mouth unexplored. I copied his movements, letting him take control of the kiss.
Way too soon for my liking, his warmth vanished. It was replaced by the biting December air, chilling the traces of saliva on my swollen lips. I felt extremely unsatisfied; Something was awoken in me, and all I wanted to do was keep kissing Eli.
"That was... unexpected," I said breathlessly.
In a millisecond, the elation faded from his face.
"A good unexpected," I rushed out "I meant to say it was nice. A good kiss in my book."
He visibly brightened. "I thought so, too."
"Good," I exhaled.
"Yeah." A puff of air flew out of his mouth.
I chuckled, "This is going to make things awkward, right?"
"Maybe," he said, cheeks turning bright pink. "Uh..."
"How 'bout we forget it happened?" I suggested.
Clenching his jaw, he eventually nodded, looking pained.
What happened? Did I do something? Oh—
"Shit. I'm always saying the wrong thing." I squeezed my eyes shut. "I didn't mean it like that. Let's just forget the awkwardness and try to be friends."
"Uh, I was actually—"
"I don't wanna forget the kiss," I continued. "I really liked the kiss and like our friendship too. It's good—they're good... Sorry, what were you going to say?
He swallowed thickly. "Yeah, that's what I was gonna say too," he said with the tiniest hint of dejection in his voice. "It's probably for the best anyway. I'm about to be really busy with football."
"Good," I smiled.
He smiled right back at me, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Good."
Crisis averted. Staying friends was the right thing to do. If I made a move (like everyone was begging me to), he would undoubtedly reject me. I mean, why would Eli want to date boring, old Charlotte when shiny, new Aliyah was out there?
My heart wouldn't be able to handle the rejection and the inevitable awkwardness. I was doing myself a favor.
"Well, I should probably go inside."
He nodded again.
"Okay, well, bye."
"Bye," he said, still frozen in his spot.
I slowly started to walk the rest of the way to the door.
"Hey, Char," he called out when I was halfway there.
I turned around. "Hmm?"
"Pinky promise that we won't let this ruin our... friendship?" he asked, voice wavering at the end.
"I pinky promise," I said earnestly. "Nothing's gonna come between us. Ever."
We shared another grin before I opened the door and walked inside.
I was instantly greeted by a smirking Ella. She opened her mouth, but I held my hand up to silence her.
"Zip it."
"Oh, c'mon," she whined. "Can you at least tell me if you're dating?"
"We're just us... Not that it's any of your business."
Shouting erupted from the kitchen before she could make a witty comeback. "No, you are most certainly not welcome here!" my mother screamed.
"What's going on?" I jerked my head towards the kitchen.
Ella shrugged. "I dunno. She's been on the phone for a while... My mom shooed me when I went in there."
"Oh, okay. It's probably not a big deal... Well, I'm gonna go downstairs."
"You might wanna wipe the smudged lip gloss," she snickered. "And while you're at it, fix that dopey smile."
I ignored her and hurried downstairs. As I closed my bedroom door, it struck me that in less than a week, I had my first kiss and kissed two different guys.
Who would have thought?
* * *
A/N: Annnnnd Eli is friend zoned... At least it's progress???
Thanks for reading chapter 21! Leave a vote and comment if you liked the chapter! I love how this one turned out, even though I was cringing in second-hand embarrassment the whole time. 💚
QOTC: What's a fun fact about yourself?
My Answer: Not sure if this counts, but my name actually isn't Gemma lol