"You should be almost done with your piece by now," Valenches noted as he stopped by Mia's easel. "And yet I'm staring at a half-done canvas. What's wrong, Mia?"
What was wrong? The guy she was drawing whom she had thought was just a tattooed badmouther, was in fact a genius whom she now shared the most fucked up relationship with. The same guy was currently also living at her place with his best friend's little sister that had started asking after her big brother who was on the run-and-hide, because apparently someone was after – yup, you guessed it – the genius mastermind she was fucking/drawing/living with.
And then there was the thing that one of her best friends now knew about their fucked-up relationship and had decided to completely pretend as if Mia didn't exist.
"Nothing is wrong," She replied and glanced at Valenches. "I'm just taking my time."
"The final notice is in three short weeks, Mia. By then it'll have to be done so I can approve it. I know I say never to rush art, but if it's not done by then..."
"I'll flunk." Mia finished for him when he allowed the sentence to hang in the air. "I know. It'll be done by then, I promise."
Valenches nodded and then offered her a smile. "That's all I needed to know. Proceed."
Classes were really getting demanding. Mia was struggling to keep up, not just because she was finding it hard to find spare time between battling the tense home life and the tense school life, but because everything just seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Zoe had become the poor victim stuck in the middle of the crossfire between Anna and Mia. Anna was doing everything to keep Zoe glued to her side and keep her away from Mia, while Mia really just needed a friend to talk to. She didn't have many other friends than those two, she had always been a bit of a loner in a way. Never popular. It had always just been the three of them, but now it seemed that Anna and Zoe were throwing her out. Or at least Anna was trying to.
After class, Mia packed up her bag and headed for the cafeteria. She was in a rotten mood when she suddenly in the corner of her eye – without realizing she was actually looking for him – spotted Eli standing in a excluded corner behind a pillar, talking to... Anna?
Mia stopped in her tracks and clenched her fists.
Why were they talking? Why did Eli even bother listening to her after all the shit she called him the other day? And why was Anna standing so close to him?
Jealously prickled in Mia's stomach. It twisted and turned until she couldn't stop herself; She marched up to the two of them, Eli noticing her approach first since Anna was standing with her back to the hall.
"What's going on?" Mia demanded to know.
Anna and Mia's eyes met. Anna looked at her as if she had cursed her entire family and damned them to a life in Hell. "Can't even talk to your fucking boyfriend without you getting all territorial. Afraid I might steal him?"
"You mean like you're trying to steal Zoe?"
"If you two are going to fucking bitch fight again, I'm outta here," Eli announced, taking a step away from them.
Anna reached for his arm in that moment and stopped him, making fury spike up in Mia's stomach like a stalagmite.
Get... your effing hand... off my man.
– But he's not your man.
Don't care.
"Remember what I told you," Anna said and actually offered him a sweet smile. "Call if you ever need advice."
Anna then left without a second glance at Mia, brushing her shining black hair over her shoulder. It gave Mia a waft of her vanilla scent.
She suddenly hated vanilla.
Not realizing she was actually shaking with pent-up anger, she turned to Eli who just stood there, glaring after Anna as she walked away. Was he staring at her ass?
That's it, Mia thought. "Empty studio, now."
"What am I, your fucking bitch?"
"Eli."
He muttered something under his breath, and if Mia wasn't totally mistaken, it sounded like Hebrew. Not that she was an expert in Hebrew, she just knew when it wasn't English. She reminded herself to ask him about that later, but for now it could wait.
He followed her to an empty studio, the same they had fucked in that time. Slamming the door after Eli had hauled his ass inside, Mia then turned and glared at him. "What the hell did she say to you?"
"Why do you fucking care?"
"Because she's raging some kinda war against me and I want to know if she's using you as one of her players."
Eli glared at her for a long moment, clearly controlling some urge in his head. She suspected it was the urge to pound on something, like how he had pounded on shit in front of Elana. He controlled himself however, and instead took three threatening steps closer to her until he was standing right in front of her, glaring down at her. "You think I'm fucking stupid?"
Oh great, she could tell this was going to be one of those fights. "Eli..."
"Nuh-uh, answer me; Do I look like a fucking idiot to you?"
"Eli, seriously––"
"Answer me, or don't you understand?" He mocked. "Want me to say it in Latin? French? Spanish? Swedish? I can also say it in layman's terms if you prefer. In fact I can come up with a whole fucking onomasticon of ways to say it, so why the fuck can't you just give me a simple yes or no answer?"
Oh, how she wanted to slap his pierced face. Nothing would bring her greater satisfaction in that moment, but she refrained from doing it. "No, I don't consider you stupid, which is why I can't fucking understand why you were talking to––"
"She came up to me," He said, leaning down to her, piercing her with his lethal glare. "She started talking to me, wanting to know why I'm staying with you, what the deal with Elana was. I told her it was non of her fucking business. Then she started talking about deaf-mutes, blasting all this shit knowledge I already know. She thought she was helping because, well, I'm just a brainless criminal fucking her best friend, aren't I?"
Oh. As always, jealousy never did anything but create chaos and leave you with a horrible aftertaste. This was no exception. "Why do you think she's trying to be nice to you?"
"Hm, I wonder why."
"She's trying to sleep with you," Mia snapped, feeling the anger and jealousy flame up again. "She thinks you're just a fuckboy who'll tap anything that shows interest in you."
"So?"
"So?" Mia echoed. At this point she didn't even know what to say anymore. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Do you wanna fuck her?"
He rolled his eyes. "You've gotta be shitting me."
"No, come on, I know she's gorgeous, I saw how you looked at her ass," Mia snarled, balling up her fists when he turned away from her and ran a hand over his hair. "Don't deny it, you think she's hot, she's got a nice ass––"
"Yeah, she fucking got a nice ass, and I can fucking stare at it if I want." Eli growled back. He was pacing the floor, trying to shake off his anger.
Don't slap him. Don't hit him. Don't kill him.
Mia's blood was racing, rushing inside her head, making her see red. "That's fucking great! You know what, why don't you just go fucking be with her if you like her ass so much! And as I recall, you looooove chocolate––"
"SHUT. UP!" Eli stalked up to her in a matter of seconds and then slammed her up against the door behind her, grasping her by her throat. Mia screeched in shock and placed her hands over his, not that he was squeezing her, only gripping her hard. He stared straight down at her, thunder in his eyes. "You don't get it, do you?! I don't fucking want to be with Anna, you crazy jealous bitch! I'm here, with you, that's where I'm fucking staying! Get it through your goddamn head, Jesus."
"Why?!" Mia croaked up at him. "Just answer me, why?! We got zero to nothing in common! Why'd you talk to me that day? Why did you decide to fuck me, huh? Was I at the wrong place at the wrong time, or was I just a lucky fucking girl?"
"You were bitchy as fuck and you still are," He growled, gripping her jaw instead. "I've never met me a goddamn spoiled chick like you before with a mouth as rich as yours. Nobody cooks my shit like you do, you're a bitch. You're a fucking bitch."
"You're an ass––"
His lips mashed against hers, taking them with brutal force. All air left her lungs as he mercilessly gripped her hair, coiling it around his hand like a rope. The other hand yanked her closer, pushing her against him, while simultaneously pressing her up against the door.
Mia couldn't breathe. Her head swirled in a daze of thick fog as his tongue plunged into her mouth, savaged her, wrecked her into pieces. A low growl elicited from his chest and he gripped on to the roots of her hair, forcing her lips to meet his until they felt red and bruised.
Mia moaned and kissed him back. It took her body a few seconds to agree with what her brain wanted to do, but once it finally cooperated, she curled her hands around his neck and drew him down, closer. He obliged and pressed a leg in between hers, rubbing it against her core. The friction was enough to make her squirm in his grip, wetness flooding her panties.
His lips traveled down her neck, suckling on her jugular, down her throat. His tongue coaxed her vein to throb powerfully against his mouth, to almost beg him to take more. The grip he had on her hair forced her to crane her head up as he yanked, ripping a cry from her.
Oh shit, Mia thought as her body succumbed to the things he did. When his other hand climbed up under her shirt, following the curve of her waist, she felt herself burn up. Heat was making her cheeks flush, her lungs burn, her throat dry out. Moan after moan rippled from her mouth as she bucked against him, prayed that nobody heard or saw them.
"You... make... me... crazy," Eli growled between biting and sucking her neck. He finally let go of her hair, only to grab the side of her throat and jab a thumb under her jaw, keeping it elevated. "Why do you have to be... so goddamn infuriating?"
"Why do you have to be... such a goddamn prick?" Mia croaked, actually quite proud that she could form a sentence. She was hyperventilating and her brain was the equivalent of mashed potatoes.
Eli tightened the grip on her throat, making it even more difficult for her to breathe than it already was. "Say that one more time."
Don't do it. Oh God, don't do it.
"Prick."
His hand dived down and gripped her ass so hard, it ripped a startled cry from her. The next second his mouth was on hers again, muffling her cries. She squirmed against him as his hand sought out the front of her pants, diving into them.
Oh shit, Mia thought again and let out a garbled breath when his hand cupped her sex. Her body went completely rigid. They seriously couldn't do this again. Not here, they couldn't risk it.
"Eli," She breathed, gripping onto his shoulders. "Eli, no, w-we can't do this here. I'll get thrown out."
"Wanna see if I care?"
His middle finger rubbed against her clīt, making her gasp and dig her nails into his shoulders. He let his finger rub back and forth, in a circle, back and forth, then in a circle again. Mia clung onto him, shaking from the sweet torture.
"Eli... please... we... c-can't..."
"There are so many fucking things I want to do to you right now, Mia."
His mouth was somewhere on her throat again. Mia couldn't function. She needed to stop this, needed to pull away. This was wrong, what the hell were they doing? Were they fighting or were they fucking?
"What are we, Eli?" She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. When his movements abruptly stopped, she knew it had worked.
He drew away from her, let her go. Mia had to grab on to the doorknob to steady herself as he stepped backwards, not meeting her eyes. She couldn't meet his either. Straightening out her clothes, she stepped away from the door so she wasn't leaning against it. After another moment, she finally forced herself to look at him.
"What are we, Eli?" She repeated. "What is this thing we're doing? What do you call it? Lovers? Friends? Enemies? I need to know, what am I to you?"
His piercing dark eyes met hers, and as always, she felt nailed to the spot. A muscle in his jaw clenched, but then he exhaled. Slowly, he walked up to her, but it turned out it wasn't her he was aiming for. It was the door.
Pausing in front of it with his hand on the doorknob, he slowly turned his head to look at her. Mia felt herself go completely cold by the flat look in his eyes. And then he spoke.
"Wrong."
• • •
Drama drama, I want a llama.