I awkwardly stood at the end of the lunch line, holding my food on one of the ugly gray trays.
Sure, I had made up with Eli; however, I was still feeling unsure of what to do. I had not eaten in the lunchroom for the last two weeks, and it felt strange to sit back down with the group as if nothing had happened.
I didn't have to think about it too hard because a giant hand was placed on the small of my back, and Eli led me back to our old table.
Owen looked extraordinarily pleased, and Taylor couldn't hide the smile on her face with our locked eyes. I sat down between Eli and Kyle.
Jones looked wide-eyed at Eli, and Eli gave a slight nod. To let him know that everything was okay and maybe things could go back to normal. Maybe.
Once again, I did not have time to dwell because the breath was knocked out of me by Kyle, who squeezed my body tighter than I thought possible without exploding. A big sloppy kiss was planted on my head, and then I heard a smack as Eli smacked the back of Kyle's head.
"Stop it, you jackass!" said Kyle, "she's back! This is great news. No thanks to you."
He was glaring at Eli playfully and still holding me close.
"Hey, I'm the one who brought her back!" Eli explained in defence.
"Yeah, well, you're also the one who scared her away!" scoffed Jones from across the table. Taylor gave him a look and then me.
"Okay, so, Betty? This isn't all your fault?"
"Of course, it's not Betty's fault!" Owen growled. "This should have never been an issue."
"Damn it, Owen, I know. It's fixed now can we just drop it?" Eli growled back. I didn't realize this had been such an issue among them.
I almost opened my mouth to apologize for causing issues, but a hand smothered my mouth. I looked at Eli, wide-eyed.
"Don't you dare apologize again, Betty."
I smirked into his hand, and he removed his giant palm from my face.
Taylor looked at us with an incredulous look on her face. "Is ANYONE going to tell me what's going on. You know I love yall, but I just can't handle the secrets."
Owen and Jones were glaring at Eli. They didn't like keeping secrets from Taylor either.
I looked at Taylor and Jones, and I noticed how close they were sitting. I guess I have no idea what is going on with the two of them since I have been so wrapped up in my drama.
I looked over at Eli, who was ignoring all of the glares and was staring at me. I didn't want any of this to come from me, and he could tell that from the hesitation that I had to show any sort of emotion. Of course, I would love it if he just was honest with everyone.
Eli sighed.
"Okay fine."
I thought Eli was going to go into a long story about how he hid who he was because he felt guilty about his mom's death, but instead, Eli stood up on the bench, pushed his trey out of the way with his foot, and hopped up on the table.
We were all staring at him. What the hell was he doing?
"Hey!" He called out to the entire cafeteria.
A few of the closer tables looked over at us, but there was still a loud chatter.
So, he tried again. "HEY EVERYONE!"
In the moments that followed, you couldn't hear a pin drop. Everyone stopped talking, and one of the lunch ladies even popped her head out from around the corner.
"HALLOWEEN PARTY AT MY HOUSE, SATURDAY NIGHT!"
Gasps erupted from around the cafeteria before a few boys in the senior year started cheering, which got the whole cafeteria going. It was probably good that Eli had managed to get down from the lunch table before one of the angrier looking teachers made his way into the room.
Taylor looked at Eli, her eyes as big as saucers. "Your house?"
"My house," he said grinning.
Kyle started laughing. "Well, that's one way to deal with an issue."
I looked at Eli, "Are you sure?"
He chuckled, "well, if I weren't, it would be too late now, wouldn't it."
"I like how you said Halloween party at your house when no one knows where you live, dude..." said Jones.
"Snap...Insta... use your head. We will get the information out there." said Kyle.
"Wait," Taylor uttered "is this what this was all about, was this about the weird thing that you don't want anyone to know where you live?"
Eli nodded, "I mean, it's a bit more complicated than that."
"Uncomplicate it," said Taylor, crossing her arms grumpily.
Eli sighed and went into a much shorter version of his mom and living situation than he gave me.
After the story, Taylor and Owen looked a bit soberer.
"Okay, so you act like a dick and let people think you're poor because you have the same stance on life as you did when you were twelve?" asked Owen.
I gasped, always a realist.
Luckily Eli took it well, "Well, maybe I am a little bit of a dick anyway, but you got it."
"That's stupid, but it makes more sense why you tried to take a girl back to my room in ninth grade to hook up with her. Lacey is a blabbermouth", grumbled Owen.
Taylor whacked him on the arm. "Stop!"
Owen stopped and looked at me with a guilty expression. I gulped. Trying not to react, but we all know how jealous I get.
Thankful for Taylor in this situation, she changed the subject, "so Halloween! What are we going to be?"
I grinned. I knew that we were going to spend a good chunk of the week finding Halloween costumes, so I guess starting now would be good.
---
I didn't think much about it after school on Monday since I had a Tuesday quiz to study for, but on Tuesday, I had a long talk about it after school with Vanessa and Claire, who were also going to go to the party.
They had decided that they were going to be aliens for Halloween months earlier, which was a lovely idea. I was glad that they would be coming to Eli's party. With everything going on with Eli, it was nice that they were going to be a little more of a constant in my life, and I was happy to take the time.
I also made time for Taylor again on Wednesday.
We decided that the thrift stores were going to be the best places to find costumes. I never liked to dress up in a Halloween store costume because they were always overpriced for an outfit that fell apart by the end of the night. Finding pieces and putting them together was so much more satisfying. I promised Taylor I would help her out if any sewing or modifications needed to be done, so she was super on board when she hopped in my car, and we took off at 4 PM to hit up the stores.
We had convinced the boys that we were all going to dress as Princesses and Princes, and although we had a bit of opposition from them at first, it was pretty easy for Taylor to win them over. Taylor had said that since they were all keeping secrets from her, she got to decide if they wanted her to forgive them. Owen negotiated that she was never allowed to hold this over their heads again, and she agreed because it would be too fun to take pictures together.
Of course, I loved the idea due to my love for fairy tales and happy endings. I never truly gave up hope that I will get my happy ending one way or another.
So I decided to be Cinderella.
"Have courage and be kind," said Taylor, grinning, when I came out of the dressing room in the perfect dress.
"I try," I said cheekily. "It's perfect, though, right?"
Taylor smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it is. Now help your Elsa find a hot two-piece!"
I giggled and looked around the store until we found a piece that I could cut in two to make the perfect piece. Taylor only argued with me for a minute when I said I would go home and work on it after school tomorrow, and then she could try it on Friday. "No, girl! Let me do this! It's what I like to do, okay?"
We came to a compromise, and she paid for my dress as well as her piece.
On Thursday, even though I desperately wanted to hang out with Eli, I kept my promise to make Taylors outfit. We had been texting a lot and seeing each other at school, but things were still left in the air. It was kind of like a pause.
We were okay, but what else were we?
---
On Friday, Taylor and I tried on our costumes with my modifications, and I was even shocked that everything worked out.
"Damn, girl, you are magical."
We packed away our costumes into my closet for tomorrow, and I drove us over to Eli's.
We were going to help set up with the boys. Brodie was going to 'help' as well, but I saw how much help he was during any sort of cleaning, so I was much more confident that he was going to follow us around the house making jokes.
We arrived at Eli's just after four, and I had to drag Taylor into the house because she was far too distracted by screaming about how big it was.
"What the HELL, Eli! Your house is HUGE!" screamed Taylor. I cringed. Eli was probably a bit uncomfortable with this, but I am glad he was trying to get over everything.
The house already looked great. The boys had done a great job with the decorations that I am sure Amber had designed, and we found them in the kitchen, packing food that was meant for tomorrow, into their mouths instead of into cupboards.
"Oh jeez," I said and watched them all stop chewing at once. The boys sheepishly put down the food.
"Animals, all of you." Taylor scoffed, obviously disgusted with the boy's habits.
She moved to sit down beside Jones, and they smiled happily at each other.
"So, do you boys have your costumes ready?" I asked, hopping up to sit on the counter in front of them.
Kyle grinned, "Yep, I am going to be Beauty since I want a girl that is a little bit like the beast."
We all laughed. Of course, he is.
Jones had decided to go as Aladdin. I can't wait to see Aladdin and Elsa dancing together.
Owen had picked King Triton. "Screw the princes; I'm the king."
I still had no idea what Eli was planning on going because he said he would figure it out when I pressed him.
I sat up on the counter, "it better be good."
Eli grinned and stood up from his chair to stand in between my legs at the countertop. "Don't worry; it will be." I blushed. It was almost embarrassing now to do this in front of our friends. I mean, I guess I had also been a bit shy about all this, but after our fight, it seemed a little bit strange.
Eli didn't seem to think so because he wrapped his arms around me, and I hid my face in his shoulder while Owen made an aww sound followed by an 'Ow' after someone hit him.
We moved over to the table when Brodie came bounding in with pumpkins.
"Are we going to carve pumpkins?!" I asked, feeling my face break out into a huge grin.
"Yep!" Said Brodie happily, popping the p. "Dad brought these home yesterday for us to put outside."
Eli frowned, "People are going to smash them."
"That's okay," I said, "they're still fun to carve!'
I loved carving pumpkins, and I cannot believe we hadn't done so this year. Hopefully, I could carve pumpkins with my parents tomorrow in the morning. It was a tradition that I had utterly forgotten about despite everything.
I guess I never did make it on a hayride or to a pumpkin patch this year. My face fell.
"What's wrong?" whispered Eli, pulling me to the side.
"I never got to go on a hayride or to the pumpkin patch this year. I guess I just forgot to go," I explained.
Eli grinned, "I'll take you next year." he said.
I looked at him with wide eyes.
"Oh," I wasn't able to stop the grin that enveloped my face.
The boys got some knives and spoons for scooping.
"WAIT!" I said, making Kyle almost drop his knife.
"We have to take a picture before and after of all the pumpkins."
Taylor grinned, "I love that!"
"OOO, let's all be in the picture," said Brodie happily, screaming for Amber to come to take a picture of us.
She did so, and the seven of us proudly took pictures before and after of our masterpieces. All together.
By the end of the night, I had forgotten about missing out on anything because this was perfect.
---
2208
"I wanna dance into the moment
Kiss ya like ya never been kissed before me" - Cody Fry
are you excited? - Kayla