backpfeifengesicht (n.)
a person who needs to be slapped; a german word literally translating to "a face badly in need of a fist."
* * *
THE next day, Elliot still remained pissed at me. I tried to talk to him multiple times, but he couldn't even stand to be in close proximity to me.
I couldn't even talk to him long enough to figure out what I did.
When I approached him in the hallway between classes, he huffed and walked in the opposite direction. I tried ambushing him again as he walked out of the bathroom, but he acted like I was invisible. He even switched seats in Environmental Science. I was forced to do a lab with someone who didn't seem to know what deodorant was.
By the middle of the day, I was exhausted from trying to figure out what was wrong with him.
Quite frankly, he was acting like a baby, and it wasn't cute. His attitude even resembled my father's during one of his infamous tantrums (minus the drinking). If Elliot wanted to pout and be childish, it was fine by me.
Call me constipated, but I didn't give a shit.
Well, that's what I kept trying to convince myself. It was only partially working. With each unanswered text and Snapchat I sent, the knots in my stomach worsened. The entire morning, I felt like I was on a rollercoaster that was ever-so-slowly climbing the first hill.
I arrived late to lunch after spending too much time calming myself down in the bathroom. As soon as I walked into the cafe, I noticed that the only available seat at our table was next to Elliot. Lucky me.
I considered eating lunch in the library, but Delaney saw me before I could run away. Everyone's heads turned around as she called out to me; Four were smiling and one was glaring at me. Guess who?
I put on my brightest smile and walked over. I made sure to move slowly as if I was approaching a wild animal that could lash out at any second.
As I got closer, he scooted his chair as far away from me as humanly possible.
In hindsight, I should have seen that coming. Elliot didn't do anything half-assed. That included being mad.
Huffing, I sat down and angled my body so my back was slightly facing him.
Take that, Elliot.
Aubrey raised her eyebrows and glanced back and forth between Elliot and me. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
Now was not the time to get into a petty fight with him.
"Did you guys do the Calc homework yet? I couldn't get a few of them," I asked the girls, trying to steer the conversation away from the obvious.
"Yeah, I'll send pics of my answers," Aubrey said, taking her notebook out.
Elliot made a loud huffing sound.
"Eli, what got your panties in a bunch?" Ben said, ruining my plans for a relatively civil lunch.
I had the sudden urge to punch him in the face. I mean, how hard was it for him to read the room?
He must have been doing it on purpose. This was probably just his halftime show in the Super Bowl game that was the school day.
Elliot made another sound of contempt and glanced at me. He didn't explicitly call me out, but just looking at me was like flashing a sign, and letting the whole world know that Charlotte Hanson pissed Elliot Cameron off.
"Okay," I said, slamming my phone down on the table. "What the fuck did I do to you?"
I couldn't take it anymore. I just had to know, even if the inevitable fight would ruin things between us.
He merely scoffed.
"Seriously, Elliot. You're acting like a two-year-old... Look, I'm sorry if I offended you or something, but how am I supposed to apologize if you're acting like this? Grow up for fuck's sake."
"Don't worry about me," he said bitterly. "Just go cuddle up next to your boyfriend."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"You and Ben." He accusingly drew a line between us with his fork.
Ben laughed so hard, he fell out of his chair. "Dude... You need to chill," he wheezed.
Elliot rolled his eyes so forcefully, I thought they were going to pop out of his head.
"Noth—" I started, but Ben shut me up as he yanked my chair next to his.
Suddenly, his arms grabbed me and set me down in his lap. I squirmed, trying to get away, but his caging arms would not budge.
"Yeah, we're together. So what?" he said triumphantly. His idiotic plan suddenly became crystal clear: he wanted to get Elliot all riled up. And sadly, it was working. "Are you jealous?"
Everyone's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads.
"No," Elliot said resolutely before standing up. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go meet someone. See ya later." He walked away without sparing me a second glance.
As soon as Ben's arms loosened, I smacked him in the chest. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Benjamin?"
He loosened his grip. I took the opportunity to scramble away as if I just touched a hot stovetop.
"What the fuck is wrong with me? Shouldn't you be asking Eli that? He's the one acting like a jealous prick."
"No. We're talking about you right now... Please, enlighten me, Benjamin. What were you trying to do?"
"Don't talk to me like that. You're not mi madre."
"Um, what's even going on?" Aubrey interrupted timidly.
"This dimwit," I said, pointing to Ben, "had the brilliant idea of lying to Elliot... Really, Benjamin, just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber, you do that. Can you grow a brain or something?"
"So you're not dating?" Ethan confirmed.
"No," I groaned.
"No offense, Char, but that'd be gross," Ben said. "Why would I date her?"
"If it's gross, then why did you suggest it in the first place?" Delaney asked.
"Thank you!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air. "At least there's one person at this table who has a brain."
"I was just trying to piss him off," Ben shrugged. "I thought he would make a move on Char or something. I was following the plan."
They had a plan? Why wasn't I informed about it? Did Eli know?
"You clearly thought wrong," Delaney scoffed. "You aren't included in the actions of the plan. You're just in the know so you don't fuck anything up. I'm starting to regret that decision."
"Yeah, you just made it a million times worse," Aubrey chimed in. "We were making progress, Benjamin. Real progress."
"And this? This is why we can't have nice things," Ethan added.
"Sorry," Ben said sheepishly. "I thought I was helping."
"It's fine. It's too late to undo the damage anyway," I sighed. "Eli never answered me. What did I do to him?" I looked around the table, seeing if anyone had any information to offer.
The girls shrugged. Ethan subtly bit his bottom lip and looked elsewhere.
"What, Ethan? Do you know anything?"
He grimaced. "We saw you and Ben hug yesterday."
"That's it?" If that's how he acted over a hug, he would likely turn murderous if he ever found out about the kiss.
"It kinda looked like you were about to kiss."
Ben snorted. I glared at him, reminding him he was already on thin ice. One false move and he would fall into cold water and die. It was in his best interests to skate back into whatever hole he spawned out of.
"Wait a minute," Delaney said. "Why were you even hugging Ben?"
"We were hanging out. It was a platonic hug. Elliot's just blowing everything out of proportion."
Ben nodded and stayed silent. Good boy.
"And how did Eli see this?" she asked. "I still don't understand where Eli entered the equation."
"Benjamin dropped me off at home after we grabbed lunch. We hugged before I went inside and Elliot must have seen us through the window. He was hanging out with Ethan in the living room."
"Babe, you shoulda told us," Aubrey said, shooting an annoyed look at Ethan.
"Why? It wouldn't have made a difference."
"So we could have warned these two idiots," Delaney said, pointing to Ben and me.
"Why am I one of the idiots? I'm innocent." It wasn't my fault that Ben had a pea-sized brain.
"Guilty by association. Ever heard of that?"
"Ugh, whatever," I replied. "What do I do now?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Aubrey asked. "Go. Find. Him."
Delaney scoffed, "You say you're smart, but a smart person would have chased right after him. But, no, instead you sat here and talked with us for five minutes."
"I am smart. I just don't think he'll want to talk to me right now. I know Eli and know that he needs time to cool off."
"Just do it," she urged. "What do you have to lose?"
I don't know, a whole-ass friendship?
"Yeah, Nike," Ben said, trying to be helpful.
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Don't be scared, Char, you'll make it out of this mess."
"Alright, I guess." I started packing up my lunchbox. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck," they chorused as I walked away.
* * *
Just as I had predicted, Eli was sitting on the stands next to the football field. He didn't go to great lengths to hide, so I assumed that deep down, he wanted to be found. It made things a hell of a lot easier for me, too.
"Hey," I said as I sat a few feet away from him. I didn't want to get too close, though. He was like a feral dog. No matter how cute he was, there was still a chance my fingers would get bitten off if I got too close.
"Just fuck off, Charlotte," he said unenthusiastically.
It wasn't forceful enough for me to leave, so I stayed put. "No."
"Just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you right now."
Then why was he talking to me? It seemed like poorly thought out reasoning to me.
I ignored him. "Ben was kidding. It was all a joke—not a good joke, but you know what I mean."
He grunted noncommittally. "Yeah, right."
"I'm being serious. Just look at my face and you'll see."
He ignored me and continued looking off into the distance. "Why would he lie about that?"
"Well, why would you? You said the same thing to the guy at Revere."
"That's different," he grumbled.
Sure it was.
"C'mon, you know Ben. He has his head so far up his ass, he doesn't know when to shut up."
That got a small laugh out of him. It was better than nothing.
"Okay, fine."
"Fine?"
"Yes, I believe you," he said, begrudgingly meeting my eyes.
"So we're all good? You're not mad anymore?" I tried to keep the hope out of my voice.
"Yeah, we're good, Hanson."
"That's not enough for me. Do you pinky promise?"
"I pinky promise," he chuckled.
I exhaled and all the tension from the day left my body. "Good. I thought you hated me."
"Nah, I could never hate you."
"Really? It seemed like you did ten minutes ago."
His breath puffed out into the cold air. "I was a jealous ass. I'm sorry... I shouldn't have gotten that mad over a hug."
"It's okay. I get jealous, too."
He turned to look at me. "No, it's not okay. I really shouldn't have gotten all worked up. It was a fucking hug. You're free to hug people and there's no need for me to get jealous."
Well, I did the same thing weeks ago, so I guess we were even. But, he didn't need to know that. I was satisfied with him thinking he owed me.
"Can I have a hug? You know, to even things out?" he joked when I didn't respond.
"Eh, I don't know if you really deserve one," I deadpanned.
He held his arms out and gave me his go-to puppy dog eyes. "Pwease?"
"Fine," I sighed dramatically. "Come here, you goof."
He closed the space between us and wrapped his arms around my torso. I squeezed him back, gladly taking in his warmth. If it were up to me, I'd stop time to stay in his embrace forever.
"You're freezing," he said.
Well, then it's your job to keep me warm.
"No," I protested, trying to conceal my shiver.
He took his sweatshirt off and handed it to me.
"No, I can't take it." I definitely wanted to wear it, but didn't want to deal with the implications. Wearing a sweatshirt was a couple thing, and we were definitely not a couple.
"Take it. You're cold. It wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to let you freeze."
"But you'll be cold," I feebly protested.
"Charlotte, shut up and take the sweatshirt."
I unwillingly grabbed it and slipped it over my t-shirt.
I wouldn't admit it out loud, but I liked—loved—wearing his sweatshirt. It was big, soft, and warm from his body heat. It even smelled minty, just like Eli.
"Thank you."
"No problem," he breathed, looking at me with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. It surely couldn't have been love, like Ben suggested. No, it looked more like relief. He must have been relieved that I wasn't mad at him. "So, uh, do you want to come over after school? I could make you cookies or something to make it up to you."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Great." That grin I was becoming increasingly fond of appeared on his face, causing me to grin in response.
We sat there, grinning like idiots in the cold for several minutes.
"Uh, we should probably go inside," he said, looking away from me. Why did he always do that? It was getting frustrating.
"Oh, right." My face reddened, but it wasn't because of the chilly breeze.
* * *
A/N: Thanks for reading chapter 20! Please don't forget to vote, comment, and add BOHB to your library! 💚
QOTC: What is your favorite word and why? (serious answers only plz)
My answer: eloquent. I am obsessed with saying this word because I love the way it rolls off the tongue and how fancy it sounds.