"Grams!" I exclaim, forgetting about the stranger next to my car. I run up to the front porch and we hug, while I take in her familiar lavender scent. I inhale deeply, admiring the smell.
"Was that Eli you were talking to?" She asks. I laugh slightly and pull away, looking back at my car.
"No," I say, looking at the figure still standing next to my car. As if he could tell I was watching him, he slowly starts backing away before turning around and walking back to the Bennix house.
"Eli still lives there, right?" I ask hesitantly.
"Yes, but he's moving out in a few months. He started working for the government last year once he graduated high school," she states, looking up at me kindly. She was always small, short, and round, while I was tall, lean, and skinny.
"He's about to turn nineteen, right?" I ask. Eli is the same age as I, but his parents put him in school a year early, making him a grade above I. In my opinion, was a good decision. He was always the smartest in our school. "Valedictorian, I'm assuming?" I ask with a smile on my face.
My grandmother grins up at me. "You know it." She opens the front door and guides me into her house. "Come on in."
"Oh, I didn't grab my stuff."
She smiles at me and guides me into the beige-colored kitchen. "I'll have Eli bring them in the morning."
I smile back at her and think about Eli. I wonder how he's been? A job with the government? That sounds interesting. I wonder if he still had the same short, sickly skinny figure he did when we were young.
"Do you want anything to eat?" My grandma asks, snapping me out of thoughts. She starts washing the small pile of dishes next to the sink.
I smile at her, then gesture to the stairs. "No thanks, I'm gonna go to bed."
"Okay. Have a good night's sleep," she says, drying her hands and then walking over to me and giving me a hug.
"Love you, goodnight," I respond, hugging her back.
I turn around and walk back into the front foyer, looking around. The dark colored wood banister seems to blend in with the darkness of the house, the only source of light coming from the kitchen. I walk up the white carpeted stairs, turn left, then walk down the hallway a little more before I enter a door to my left.
The room is a light pink with white swirly designs. The canopy bed is pushed against the far corner, with a small white side table next to it. Along with those pieces of furniture, there's a white desk with a black swivel chair, a light pink dresser with white trim, and then a door next to the dresser.
After taking in the room, I decide I'm too exhausted to change. Instead, I quickly pull off my Nike tennis shoes, then collapse on my bed and fall asleep.
|/|/\|\|
I wake up to the sounds of pots and pans banging in the kitchen downstairs. Glancing at the alarm clock to the right of my bed, I notice it reads 8:30.
"I should still be asleep," I mutter to myself, getting up from my bed. As soon as I do so, I immediately miss the soft warmth of the covers on top of me.
Sometime throughout the night, I had pulled the covers over top of myself, but I'm still wearing my black leggings and basketball t-shirt from yesterday.
I get up and tie my knotted hair up into a messy bun, hair still sticking out of it. I was about to walk to my dresser when I remembered my stuff is in my car.
A few of the stairs creak loudly beneath me, but I ignore them, continuing on my trek down the stairs until I touch the front door handle. I begin to turn it when I hear a voice behind me that makes me jump.
"Adelaide, I told you Eli would bring your stuff in."
I turn around and take in my Grams. She has a floral apron on and is standing with a hand holding a spatula on her hip. She looks at me with a raised brow, before turning around to walk back into the kitchen.
"My stuff isn't up in my room," I reply, following after her.
"Well he hasn't gotten here yet," she says while going back to the oven. I look over her shoulder and realize she's making chocolate chip pancakes, my favorite.
I turn to my left and open the white fridge's door, a sudden stream of cold air hitting me.
Shivering, I reach out to grab the spreadable butter, then reply to Grams. "I can just walk out there myself, it's probably a fifty-meter walk, Grams."
She turns around to look at me, all the while, still flipping her pancakes. "Just let him do it, Adelaide. He's looking forward to seeing you again."
"Really?" I ask, excitement coating my voice.
She smirks then turns back to her pancakes. "Didn't you two-"
"Hey, Grams." A deep voice interrupts before she can go any further. Grams turns around and a big smile appears on her face. I turn around as well and take in the enchanting stranger.
His strawberry blonde hair is the first thing I notice. It isn't long, but not too short either. He lets it lay naturally, not needing any products.
Next, I look down at his face. His grey eyes and perfectly symmetrical nose seem to scream the word, "familiar," but I ignore it.
While taking in his perfect jawline, I realize how achingly familiar his face seems. It's like I've seen it so many times before. His face remains expressionless, but even from where I'm standing, I can see that his eyes seem to give away a little happiness.
"Good! You're finally here!" My Grams points out. She runs up to him with open arms while he bends down to hug her, and he smiles in delight. I notice how he basically engulfs her with his height. And I thought I was tall.
After he and Grams stop hugging, he averts his gaze to me, and I swear I see his eyes widen. He looks from my face to my hair, to my chest, stomach, and then down to my legs. This time I'm absolutely sure his eyes widen even more. Not only that, but I hear him gasp.
"Eli, surely you remember Adelaide," my Grams says with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Holy shit!" As soon as the words leave my lips, I raise my hands to the front of my mouth in both shock and embarrassment.
The handsome man standing in front of me was Eli Bennix. My childhood best friend. Hell, he was basically my brother.
And I didn't even recognize him.
I look over to Eli who has his brows raised with a small grin playing on his lips. He did another once over on me, this time lasting a lot longer than the last, while I stare at my Grams with a look of disbelief in my eyes.
"Elaide, you've... upgraded." I look over to Eli and give him a death stare, both embarrassed and pissed at his statement, but I notice how a burst of warmth seemed to explode in my chest as he called me by my old nickname.
"Wish I could say the same about you," I say. Obviously, I was lying, but let's hope that training and working with the UA means I'm a good liar.
A glint in Eli's eyes told me otherwise, though. I could tell that he could see right through my mask.
"Oh, will the both of you stop being so mean to each other? You haven't seen each other in seven years!" My Grams exclaims, interrupting our staring contest.
At her words, Eli's face breaks out onto a huge grin that shows off his pearly whites, and he walks over to me.
Smiling looks really good on him.
Shut up, Adelaide, he's basically your long lost brother.
Before I know it, I'm being engulfed in a hug, and the sudden smell of cologne and after-shave hits me. Dang, he smells so good.
I hug back without hesitation and smile against his chest. Man, how I've missed him.
When we pull away, I look up at him, disbelief still clouding my eyes. I cannot believe this was Eli Bennix. He's grown so much I didn't even recognize him. Did he recognize me?
"Why don't you two catch up?" My Grams suggests, turning back to her pancakes. "After you eat, of course."
I glance at the clock on the wall and gasp. "Oh gods, I'm going to be late." I shoot Grams a sympathetic smile, and turn to Eli, noticing the grim look he has on his face. "Sorry. I have work," I say, quickly jogging out of the kitchen and back up into my room.
I throw on tight black leggings, a low cut black shirt, my black trench coat, and my tall high heeled black boots.
I glance at myself in the full-length mirror by the door, coming to the conclusion that I look creepy. Like, I'm going to kill someone creepy. I mean, I probably am going to be killing someone, but still.
Eli is downstairs.
Oh well, he's going to have to deal.
Without another thought, I grab my phone and descend down the wooden stairs.
"What time will you be home, Adelaide?" I turn around to my Grams' voice and hesitantly look back and forth between her and Eli's stare. He looks me up and down, eyes glittering with interest.
"I don't know Grams, love you, bye!"
I turn around and quickly open the door, slipping outside, but not before I hear my Grams say, "That girl just never stops moving."
I chuckle quietly to myself, then start walking to my car to drive to the office.
I wonder what job Hermione has for me today.
|/|/\|\|
Apologies if there are a few rough patches. I didn't really have time to edit this, but I needed to update, so here you go.
What do we think of Eli so far?
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