'No! B-but it's not like I just did it for no reason.'
He tilts his head at my answer, hard gaze peering into my own brown eyes as if he's trying to decipher whether or not I'm telling the truth.
'What do you mean?'
'I didn't block you until the day I saw Alexander and Dominic together, I promise. I did it because I was scared that Alexander might have told you.'
And it was true, I hadn't even thought again about the fact that I had him as a contact when he had first put his number in my phone until the night I barged in on the two kissing. And then I remember blocking him in my state of paranoia and fear because the last thing I wanted was to be getting hassled by Eli about having accidentally barged in on Alexander's private moment every time I turned on my phone. It honestly had been such a small and spur of the moment thing for me to do that I had completely forgotten about it until just now.
He keeps his hand wrapped around my throat for a further second, dark eyes still searching my face until he finally seems to find reason to believe me and releases his grip. I uncertainly watch him take a step back, appearing to think of something as his eyes suddenly start searching my bedroom. He seems to find what he's looking for a moment later when he heads for my desk and immediately returns to his position right in front of me, now with my phone in his hand.
'Unblock me then.' He demands as if that will prove anything, pointedly throwing the phone in my lap and gesturing towards it.
'...Okay?' I mumble and shrug as I cast him a strange look, not really getting why he's being so weird about this when it's not exactly like we're besties who are texting each other every minute of every day anyway.
In fact, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even have any intention of texting me anytime soon- which is kind of ironic considering how relentless he's being. The only way I can see him voluntarily texting me first is either to send me an insulting message for his own amusement or to ask for something.
'Erm... Are you just going to watch me?' I ask incredulously when I proceed to unlock my phone and go to my contact list only to notice him hovering over me in observation.
He looks surprised for a second, head snapping towards mine as if he really hadn't been expecting my question before he quickly recovers himself.
'Yeah. Is that a problem?' He snides, looking right back at me as if I'm the one acting suspicious.
'Fine, don't shout at me though then.'
'Why- Why would I shout at you?' He unsurely asks after a moment of silence passes, a look of what can be only described as pure confusion on his face.
I don't reply to him, instead just looking back to my phone and causally scrolling to his contact to tap the unblock option.
'There, done.' I dismiss as I shrug my shoulders, about to put my phone down when he suddenly rips it out of my hands.
I'm not actually surprised at his rude behaviour for once, considering I had completely been expecting this reaction from the second I saw him lingering around above me instead of walking away like I had initially expected.
'What the hell, why do you have me saved like this?' He barks in outrage, scoffing in disgust at my phone. 'And what's up with the fucking devil emoji?'
He seethes at my phone for a further second before suddenly turning it my way so that I can see his contact name- as if I'm not the one who set it in the first place.
'Because I wanted to.' I innocently shrug at his earlier question, raising an eyebrow as if ask what he's getting so worked up about and letting my gaze drift over to the screen.
I won't lie and say that I don't feel even the least bit satisfied when I see what I had saved him as again.
do not answer 💀⚠️👹 ~
His eyes darken at my answer, not seeming to find the humour in my comment at all. I watch as his jaw clenches in irritation at my nonchalance and he shoves my phone into my face.
'Change it.'
Another brief silence fills the air as we stare at each other, him with a look of overwhelming annoyance directed at me and I with an air of casual disbelief at how immature he's being.
'You know I could just change it right back when you leave, right?' I quietly challenge in a dry tone as I peer up at him, wanting to see if this all too honest point will evoke a reaction from him.
I mean, it is true after all.
'Change it.' He bluntly repeats again, not seeming to care about the point I raised as his piercing gaze continues staring me down.
I soon realise he's actually being deadly serious when his gaze refuses to leave me and he continues fixing me with a look of pure aggravation.
'Fine... There.' I mumble, sighing as I quickly tap away to reset his contact name.
He waits patiently as I do so and soon I'm holding it up in the air for him to see again.
I'm expecting a neutral look to wash over his face now that I've done what he's asked for, instead however his frown just deepens when he scans the new contact.
'Seriously? 'Eli Walters from school'? I've known you since we were in nappies and that's the best you can come up with?' He scorns, breathing in through his nose as though to calm himself.
He proceeds to give me the dirtiest look I've received in a while, lips set in a thin line as he awaits my response.
'There's nothing wrong with it.' I pout in defiance, looking at my phone again in thought and scrunching my eyebrows in confusion when I'm still really unable to see why he would have anything against it. 'Your name is Eli Walters and you do go to my school.'
He fixes me with a look of disbelief, harsh gaze now turning into one of disappointment as if I am speaking complete gibberish and need to rethink my life as soon as possible.
'It's not even that big of a deal. Anyway what do you even have me saved as?' I quiz, raising an eyebrow at his sulking figure and now eagerly looking up towards him in curiosity.
I watch in utter fascination as he seems to default at my question as if he would have never dreamed I'd turn the tables on him like this. His eyes that were previously so hellbent on being locked on mine a second ago now drift away from my face, instead choosing to stare at anything in my room that isn't me. He brings his hand up to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck, suddenly looking guilty like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
'That's none of your business.'
It's a short and frank response and if anything, it just furthers my interest. But judging by his sharp tone, I can tell he's not going answer me anytime soon and that any efforts of prying further will just succeed in rattling him even more.
And I don't really want to be dealing with a moody Eli right now. I mean, frankly speaking I don't really want to be dealing with Eli right now, full stop.
'Then that rule should also apply to what I save you as on my phone, should it not?' I cooly ask in a clam manner, redirecting his defensive answer back at him when he proceeds to shake me off.
I try to hide any smugness in my tone as I stare him dead in the eye and force my gaze to look as casual as possible even though I really want to shout 'ha, in your face' at him. He glares back, equally as intense if not more so and despite my composed demeanour- my heart is racing inside my chest.
About a minute passes of him just watching me and I almost think he's trying to challenge me to the stare down game he seems to so dearly love playing with me. It's as if he's just waiting for me to get intimidated and look away, I don't know why he always does this. Knowing him, I'd guess he probably gets off on it. I can see me losing and looking away as being something that would feed his ego just that little bit more in his eyes. And while this may be just another thing boosting his already inflated enough arrogance for him, I absolutely hate it. Eli seems to enjoy nothing more than using just his gaze to make me feel as small as possible, however it couldn't be further from the dentition of fun to me.
Looking into his eyes like this feels wrong and awkward. I guess it makes sense considering that I've spent many years of my high school life almost training myself to do my absolute best to avoid catching his attention.
That's why I feel so relieved when he finally looks away, rolling his eyes as he turns to walk towards the window. Now leaning against the windowsill and facing me again, he does his signature smirk and a shiver goes down my spine.
'Touché.' He muses, shrugging as if in agreement that he can't find anything wrong with my previous statement.
I breathe a sigh of relief, forcing my eyes to stray from his figure as I fiddle awkwardly with my fingers in my lap.
'You know, you're really weird.' He suddenly and bizarrely observes and I look up to see him rubbing his chin in thought as if this has just dawned on him.
'Me?'
'Yeah, how is it that sometimes you have the balls to try to argue with me like you're doing right now and sometimes all I have to do is look at you and you're shaking in your boots?' He asks, shaking his head in disbelief at the thought.
'Okay first of all, I wasn't arguing with you. I merely stated a point, that's it. And second of all, if anyone is strange here- it's you. You're the reason why my behaviour changes like that.' I say, firmly shaking my head in denial at his hypothesis.
'What do you mean?' He protests, posture straightening up a bit and eyes suddenly narrowing at me as if in warning but I don't let it faze me this time.
'Look at earlier for example, the reason I was so called apparently 'shaking in my boots' is because of the way you were looking at me, like you wanted to kill me or something. And you do that all time, just act really cold with me for no reason at all. And now you've just barged into my room- and you're actually kind of being, dare I say, civil. You change moods more than a girl on her period.' I defensively argue in an almost offended tone, nearly out of breath by the time I finish.
My rant almost makes me feel a little lighter, as if I've managed to get something off my chest that I hadn't even realised was there in the first place. But everything I say is true and something that I've always wondered about.
I've never understood why Eli's attitude with me would change so frequently. Like don't get me wrong, he's almost always an ass to me. But sometimes he can just be a teasing ass who'll try and scare me by jumping out at me in the halls in the hopes of seeing me scared for his own sick amusement- and this is something I can handle. And yet other times he's an asshole full stop whose sole aim is seemingly just to want to see me upset and nearly in tears, and that I absolutely hate. It's like walking on eggshells, I always feel apprehensive whenever I catch sight of him at school but it drives me crazy trying to tell what kind of mood he's in that day and whether or not he'll be out for my blood.
He appears to pause at my argument for a second, tiling his head and lightly scratching at his jaw in thought.
'Hmm... This is true.' He eventually nonchalantly hums in agreement.
To say I'm irritated at his response is an understatement. From the way he was acting and how long he was taking to reply, I had almost gotten up my hopes about him actually possibly having something intelligent and reflective to say about the topic for once.
I have to force myself to take in a deep breath at his relaxedly spoken words, my blood almost boiling at his careless response. Anyone would think he was agreeing to something as typical as a comment on the weather rather than me having pointed out how erratic he is in his ways of tormenting me. It's almost a slap in my face, especially when he was the one who accused me of being weird about it in the first place.
'Seriously, Eli? Anyway what did you even want in the first place?' I huff in anger, crossing my arms across my chest and raising an eyebrow at him.
Of course, he picks up on how displeased I am at his previous answer and my glare only intensifies when his only response to this is to widen that annoying smirk on his face. He chuckles beneath his breath, shaking his head at me a little before he opens his mouth again and asks me a question I really don't expect.
'What do you want?'