*Edited*
"What are you doing?" A voice hissed in my ear as a hand grasped my upper arm.
"Excuse me a second, Quinn," I said, turning around to face a seriously pissed of Elijah.
"Uh, okay..." Quinn trailed off, uneasily.
I placed my hands on my hips, raising my eyebrows at Elijah who openly glared at the new boy. I snapped my fingers in front of his face to get his attention.
His eyes flashed to mine and he growled, "Who is that?"
"Oh, him?" I asked, gesturing a hand at Quinn over my shoulder. "This is Quinn Clyde."
Elijah smirked, addressing Quinn. "Hey, Quinn. Your sister is...how should I say this?"
I held my breath. I knew he was about to say something to get under my skin.
I admit, I had been trying to give him a taste of his own medicine, but he had started it. He had no reason to be doing this to me.
He shot a look at me and thought about continuing his sentence. He clapped a hand on Quinn's shoulder without any sort of friendliness, and shoved past him. Jeez, what was his issue?
"Sorry about Elijah. He's my, uh...boyfriend," I said. Quinn looked surprised for a second before nodding.
"Oh he's..." He trailed off not knowing how he should end his statement. I laughed.
"It's okay. I know he's a bit extreme sometimes. Anyway, would you like to sit with me at lunch today?" I blurted without thinking. Elijah's head whipped around and he glared at me. Crap, he had heard me.
Quinn looked taken aback at first from my straightforwardness. He quickly got over it and gave me a smile. "Sure, sounds great."
Then I walked him to his next class, wondering if I should regret inviting him to my lunch table. Last year, I sat with Uriah, Elijah, and Mae. But this year, I figured I'd be sitting with Mae and I suspected Elijah to be there, too.
So when Elijah sat down with a girl who had bright red hair, I knew something was up. This wasn't how you behaved while you were in a relationship.
I arrived at our lunch table first, followed by Mae who's eyes drifted around the cafeteria. She pouted when she saw a certain someone sitting at a different table.
"I guess since Elijah and I broke up, he won't be sitting here anymore," she said, picking through her lunch until she pulled out a pudding cup.
She didn't know how wrong she was. Elijah should be sitting here. Except for a completely different reason.
I sighed in regret of what I was about to say. "Mae, Elijah is-"
"Hey, guys," Quinn said as he took a seat next to me. I bit my lip. Damn, every time I was about to tell Mae, I always got interrupted.
"Hi, are you new?" Mae asked, happily.
Quinn nodded. "Yeah, my name is Quinn Clyde. What's yours?" He politely asked her.
She told him her name and they quickly got into a solid conversation. I felt completely left out, but I didn't care because I couldn't stay focused on their babbling for the life of me. I was too focused on what my boyfriend was doing with another girl.
There was a lull in their conversation and I looked up to see both of them staring at me. Mae had her mouth slightly hanging open and Quinn had his eyebrows raised.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Quinn just asked you why your boyfriend was sitting with his sister. Veronica, I didn't know you were dating Elijah," she accused. Great.
Quinn looked between the two of us, giving me an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, Mae. I've been trying to tell you, but every time I was about to, I always seemed to get interrupted. I wasn't trying to keep it a secret from you," I said, honestly.
"How did this happen?" She continued. Yep, she definitely still liked him.
I raked my fingers through my hair, pushing it back from my forehead. "We got really close this summer. And it didn't help that he is my neighbor."
She took a deep breath before saying, "I'm okay with this. I understand why you like him." She smiled. "It's time for me to move on anyway."
I reached across the table and gave her a hug. She hugged me back and we sat back down.
Quinn offered, "Mae, would you like to grab a snack after school somewhere? I don't really know good places around here, so maybe you could show me?"
"Oh! Of course!" Mae said, bouncing in her seat. Hmm, maybe they could, you know, date or something.
But for now, I had more important matters on my hands. Mae realized it at the same time that I did.
"So, what are you going to do about them?" She whispered, flicking her head at Elijah's table. He wasn't only sitting with Allison. Bianca, Christi, and a few football players were also there. Bianca seemed to be dating the captain of the football team by the way she was practically attached to his side, which was so cliché that it made me cringe. I wondered when that had happened, but then realized I didn't care.
"I'm sorry about my sister. She's always like this; always gets what she wants. It's actually kind of annoying," Quinn apologized.
Mae surprised both of us by laying a hand on his forearm. "Don't worry. It's not your fault," she said.
"Excuse me for a second," I said, standing up when I saw Elijah lean down and whisper something in Allison's ear after tucking her fiery hair out of the way.
"Wait, Veronica-"
I didn't give Mae the chance to stop me as I strode right up to the popular table. All conversation stopped abruptly as everyone stared at me. Bianca sneered and Christi snickered, looking at my clothes.
It felt like the entire cafeteria was holding their breath, waiting to see what I was about to do. Well, they clearly wanted a show so I'd give them one.
I squeezed my hands in between Elijah and Allison's shoulders as I shoved them apart. I sat down in between the two of them and placed my hands on the table in front of me. I wasn't even nervous. I was way more angry.
"What's up?" I asked, casually as if I sat here everyday.
Elijah narrowed his green eyes. His dark hair flopped in his eye and he impatiently pushed it back as he glared at me.
"What's up with you?" He countered. I could feel everyone staring, but I took a deep breath and relaxed.
"Oh, you know, just hanging around with my boyfriend."
"Is his name Quinn?" Elijah asked.
My jaw dropped and I gawked at him. He couldn't be serious. "What the hell, Eli! You started this and you get pissed off the second I do it back to you. What was that all about in math class this morning?" I asked, pointedly.
"It's only natural to flirt with a sexy girl," he said with a shrug. Allison's cheeks reddened a shade lighter than her hair.
"You're an asshole!" I yelled, slamming my hands down on the table as I stood up. "You don't flirt with other girls when you're in a relationship."
"And you shouldn't flirt with other guys, either."
I threw my arms in the air. "For the love of God, Eli. I was only showing Quinn where to go. You and Allison were floating around in the back of my mind, so I asked him to sit with me at lunch and-"
"And you were jealous," he cut me off.
"Do you hear yourself right now?" I asked in disbelief. "Tell me what's going in right now or we're done."
My heart started pounding in my chest as he flashed his eyes to Allison's. The intensity of his gaze made her blush hard as she tucked her hair behind her ears. He looked back up at me and said, "Go have fun with Quinn."
The cafeteria "Ooo'ed" at his remark. My breath escaped me and I gasped. "Why? So we can one day be brother and sister in-laws? You're unbelievable. We're over."
I still didn't know the reason why he was acting like this all of a sudden. And I didn't need one.
Without thinking, I brought my arm back and whipped it forward with full force. The back of my hand collided with Elijah's cheek, causing his hair to be flung across his face when his head was thrown to the side from the impact of my slap.
Everyone breathed a collective gasp. Allison yelled, "Elijah!"
He slowly brought his head back around and I could see a red splotch already forming where I had hit him. His eyes darkened and I knew I was in trouble.
So I did what did best in this type of situation that I always seemed to get myself in.
I bolted out of the cafeteria as if my life depended on it.
And I was pretty sure it did.
***********
Why do you think Elijah is doing this to Veronica? Is there no reason?