Things smelled something like dying outside, but at least they smelled. The summer had brought with it a fantastic volume of expression. It seemed cliche to talk about the sky, but lying there inside his bedroom, Elijah stared out the window, clouds nestling by, periodically squeezing into view from where he lay, and then just as effortlessly leaving. He tried to feel nothing about it, but found himself worried. Each cloud passing felt like another moment missed, seconds spilling through holes drilled in the floorboards. And yet, Elijah did nothing about it.
Summer had started a few weeks ago and Elijah’s productivity had plunged below a threshold he had ever experienced. High School was over and the whole world was open to him with fresh opportunities and blossoming experiences. But Elijah chose to sit beside his bed, watching the clouds, lamenting the clouds, wishing he could just stop one dead in its tracks.
A short vibration startled Elijah from his trance. He extended his hands above his head, pushing his chest out, feeling as his vertebra realigned from bottom to top. Blinking, Elijah stood up and turned to find his phone still alight with a new text message. Grabbing the phone, he noticed it was an unknown number to him. He frowned and unlocked his phone.
SHEA: Elijah? This is Shea. Hope you haven’t already forgotten me ;)
Elijah hadn’t.
That name had hung in his mind the last few weeks. Admittedly, the name had started to fade, but hearing it again recolored it, crisped up the lines and Elijah was eager to respond.
ELIJAH: I’m glad you texted me. How have you been?
He set the phone on the bed and continued to stretch. He’d probably been sitting close to the whole damn day, certainly longer than he’d intended when he got up early that morning.
“Speaking of which,” he muttered to himself, grabbing his phone again. 3:30. Damn. He’d sat a lot longer than he’d intended. His phone buzzed again, a new notification marking the front.
SHEA: Yeah. Sorry it took a bit. Summer has been busy. How are you?
ELIJAH: Haha. Sorry to hear that. I’ve been taking it REAL easy!
Elijah sat back on his bed, pulling up a book off the floor as he set the phone nearby. His phone buzzed again, almost as soon as he set it down.
SHEA: Lazy! You been out of bed since May?
She wasn’t entirely wrong… she was close to right at least…
ELIJAH: Nope! It’s been a blissful coma! What have you
been up to?
SHEA: I lifeguard at Waterworks. :/ Pays well enough
though. You still at the grocery store?
ELIJAH: You’d better believe it! It does not pay well enough. Haha
ELIJAH: Hey. When are you free next?
SHEA: Thursday. Maybe. Why?
ELIJAH: We could do something if you’d like. I’m pretty much
always free.
SHEA: Something? What do you have in mind?
Good question. Elijah hadn’t much considered it. He looked out the window, his neighborhood visible from this vantage point. He looked as the trees shuffled, indifferent and whispering. The passing clouds cast shadows over the trees, a tremendous wind overtaking the day, something new rolling into town.
ELIJAH: I’m open-minded. You could come over!
SHEA: And what would we do, Elijah?
ELIJAH: I don’t know… I’ve got plenty of board games. We
could watch a movie or play cards?
Elijah set the phone aside, pretending to get into his book. He sighed, watching the phone. It was disappointing how concerned he was with when she would text back. He returned his eyes to the book, but his mind lingered on the phone, his ears agape with waiting, he wanted to get that text already! He forced himself to take in the words that lay on the page before him, but his eyes just scanned, skimming the words with an empty mind. Or, rather, a mind rattling along with thoughts about-
SHEA: You could always come here if you like.
ELIJAH: What would we do at your place?
And there the conversation lingered for a good long time. Elijah sat with his legs crossed on the bed, phone beneath him, with a book set in his lap, blocking the view of the phone. It was set to vibrate, so he would certainly feel it, should Shea respond. But she hadn’t. It had really only been 15 minutes, which was a reasonable amount of time for someone to be away from their phone. Certainly there was nothing encoded there, no hidden message in the silence, no cue in the absence that he was supposed to pick up.
Elijah moved the phone, setting it under his pillow as he climbed off the bed. He groaned and wandered to the door, looking back to the bed before leaving hesitantly. Smells meandered upstairs from the kitchen. It smelled like some variation of chicken, something Elijah had become all too familiar with eating this summer. By the time his mother got home from work, she was exhausted and didn’t really have time to prepare anything fancy. Since Elijah was too lazy to prep anything himself, the family usually ended up eating something quick or ordering something in.
“Smells good,” Elijah began, walking to the fridge to grab up some milk, looking up to see that the woman cooking was not his mother. “Oh! Sorry, I thought you were… you… who are you?”
“Anne,” she chuckled, watching Elijah’s confusion. “You must be Drew’s brother…” she trailed off.
“Elijah!” he picked the sentence up, extending a greeting hand. She took it and nodded to him. “I-I’m sorry. That was really rude of me! It’s a pleasure to meet you Anne!” she smiled back cordially.
“No, you’re fine,” she returned to cooking, a strand of light brown hair slipping out of her ponytail as she faced the skillet. “I guess Drew didn’t tell anyone that I’d be coming over…” her voice edged at inquisition.
“No surprise there,” Elijah kidded, grabbing a glass from the cupboard to pour himself some milk. It was pretty steamy in the kitchen at the moment, the humid summer air clustering with the hot mist of the skillet. Elijah wiped his forehead and checked the thermostat. “Jesus, Drew, you want to turn on the air when you get home?” he called out, not sure where his brother was.
“You were the one here all day!” Drew called back from the basement. Elijah rolled his eyes and nodded. He opened his mouth a few times, but no meaningful words came out. Drew was right. So, Elijah opted to flip the switch, the air bellowing awake.
“So, how do you know Drew?” Elijah approached Anne, just as the stairs clattered with the hooves of his older brother.
“Drew and I were in an acting workshop a while back,” she turned to face Drew as he came up the stairs. Elijah had all but forgotten his brother’s acting stage, a brief stint a year or two ago where he believed he was going to be some incredible stage actor. Oddly, now Drew wanted to be a minister. A good, homebred, white bread, whatever-the-hell bread you want minister. Elijah nodded as Drew squeezed between them, awkwardly leaning against the counter to place distance between Elijah and Anne.
“Wow. That was a while ago! And his acting didn’t scare you away?” Elijah looked to Drew, a smirk prepared on his face, intercepting the disgusted sneer Drew shot back his way. Elijah and Anne chuckled at Drew’s expense.
“I dunno, somehow I decided to stick around,” Elijah nodded back to Anne as she answered, turning to look at Drew. Elijah squinted at Drew, darting his eyes back to Anne and then tilting his head in her direction as well. To sell it all, Elijah put up his left hand in an O shape, taking his right index finger and pointing at Drew and then poking it through the hole. The question had landed. Jaw clenched, Drew rolled his eyes and walked toward Anne, peering into the skillet she was working at.
Elijah nodded to no on in particular and opened the cupboard, pulling out an assortment of ceramic plates. “Is anyone else joining us tonight?”
Drew looked up and shook his head. “No. Should just be us and Anne.” Elijah nodded and set out 5 plates, glasses and silverware sets. His mother got home just as he finished adjusting the mats, completely readying the table for dinner. She began conversing with Anne and Drew, smiling and laughing along with them. Her eyes continued to leap to the skillet, the smile erased from her lips, only to return moments later when her gaze would return to Anne.
Elijah took this opportunity to head back upstairs and check his phone. There was a wish in his head that sealing the phone under the pillow and ignoring it would make it impossible for Shea not to respond, like a Schrodinger’s Cellphone where there was only one possible outcome. He swept the door out of his way and plopped on the bed with both knees. The pillow hit the wall with a silent puff as Elijah threw it away and flipped his phone over with all the anticipation of a birthday boy ripping back the wrappings on a mysterious box.
Nothing.
The phone had no new notifications on it. He slid the phone open, noting the near 45 minutes chasm that had been torn into their conversation by Shea. Perhaps Shea had less torn the conversations and this was more like a consuming black hole, beginning small and unassuming, taking on greater, deeper meaning through merely being left alone. Elijah sighed and flipped the phone over, replacing the pillow atop it, straightening out his bed. He listened eagerly for a buzz as he closed the door behind him, but it did not come.
He returned to the dining room to find his father sitting, ready to eat, while the rest still stood around talking. Elijah sat at his usual spot across from his father, who was texting away on his phone. His father looked up nodding.
“Drop a hint for me?” He said, his eyes darting to the socialites behind Elijah. Elijah coughed and patted his stomach.
“Man, I’m starving how about you, dad?” Elijah smiled. He leaned back to see if anyone noticed. They had. He looked back at his father.
“Subtle,” chuckled his father, setting his phone away as the others finally arrived at the table, a suitable dish of chicken set in the center of the table, still steaming and aromatic. Anne did the honors of cutting into the chicken and serving it up to everyone. They each thanked Anne for their portion before Elijah’s mother carved into a prayer, before Elijah’s dad could do the same with the chicken. Once their choir of “amens” was recited, they cut in. Elijah’s stomach rejoiced with one final, celebratory gurgle.
But as the chicken hit his mouth, Elijah’s anticipation was not sated with savory, moist, consumable meat, but with aridity. Simple as that. The chicken, somehow, looked incredible, but it was ashen and tough. The table was quiet, glances darting from family member to family member. Anne smiled, fighting a scrunch on her face.
“What do you guys think?” she inquired slowly. Almost in unison, the rest of the table went into a fugue of compliments, repetitious and empty.
“Just fantastic. Thank you, it was very generous of you to cook for us!” Elijah’s father finally wrapped up as the rest of the family nodded to her.
She nodded, taking another slow bite, slowed further by the utter sawing she had to do before a consumable piece fell free from the slab. Elijah opted to focus his energies on the sides. Certainly he could consume enough nutrition from the rest of the meal, even if he avoided the meat.
The saving grace of the entire situation was that conversation picked up and became the focal point of the gathering. Elijah’s parents took an interest in Anne, curious about her past, her present and her ambitions. It was likely more inquisition in the direction of “what are you intentions with Drew?”, but it made it easy to ignore the food and that was all Elijah wanted for now.
About an hour passed and Elijah started clearing the table as conversation slowed, his father joining in. They set a pile of plates in the sink, his father getting close to Elijah.
“Want to get a pizza?” Elijah chuckled at his father’s proposal, but ultimately nodded.
“You don’t think that would be rude?” Elijah inquired. Elijah’s father’s gaze slipped away, his cogs working out the social math.
“More pertinent question,” Elijah’s dad pointed, “Do I care?” They both laughed.
“Probably not,” Elijah answered, grabbing his car keys off the hooks. “Hawaiian, I’m assuming?” His dad nodded. Elijah walked to the dining room, the other three still conversing at the table. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Elijah was interrupted by Anne’s phone going off. She stood up and gave the ‘I’ll be back in a moment, I have to take this’ finger.
“Hey! You done?” she said, leaving into the living room.
“Pizza?” Elijah asked the other two, jingling his keys. They nodded eagerly. “Pepperoni and a hawaiian sound good? And do we need desserts or anything like th-
“Sorry about that! My sister,” Anne interrupted. “I have to go pick her up from work, but then I’ll be right back, ok?” she nodded for them and started to head out, retrieving her purse from the back of her seat. Drew quickly hopped up from his seat and followed Anne.
“Elijah was just about to pick up a something at the store, so we could pick her up, save some gas!” Drew volunteered, much to the disappointment of Elijah. “Where does she work?”
“She’s just up at Waterworks on Locust, b-but I don’t want to be a hassle. I really can go get her, it’s no problem.”
And that was the moment it all clicked for Elijah. At first Elijah wasn’t sure if it was just that Anne had one of those faces, but she looked a lot like someone Elijah knew, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Until now. “Who is your sister, Anne?” he furrowed his brow inquisitively.
“I have two younger sisters, Shea and Carrie… Why?”
“Shea Brown?”
Anne replied with a nod. Elijah smiled and pointed at Anne.
“I knew you looked like someone I know! I know Shea! I’d be glad to pick her up. She could even come hang out too!”
Anne smirked, nodding in slow comprehension. “Small world,” she remarked.
Shea stood outside the water park, phone out. Her shoulder length hair was hanging loose since it was wet. A small duffle bag sat at her sandaled feet. She wore her grey sweat pants and a light blue hoodie over her one piece swimsuit. She sighed, rubbing her neck, checking the clock on her phone. How long ago had she called Anne? She always took her own sweet time with these things.
But suddenly, twilight was erased from her attention as a set of headlights, unfamiliar headlights, pulled into the parking lot and stopped before her. The driver’s side window slowly rolled down, a familiar face staring back, a confusing face to see in this context, but a familiar one.
She couldn’t stop a smile from breaking on her face, but she knew that confusion was the dominant expression she wore as she offered a quiet “Hey”.
“Hey,” Elijah called back, the rear window winding down to reveal Shea’s sister, Anne.
“How do you-“ she was frozen there with confusion, almost more delighted than confused by this little development.
“Just get in Shea. We’re gunna get some pizza at the store and hang out at their house, if you’re cool with that!” Anne insisted. Shea followed order, tossing her bag in the back and hopping in beside it.
“But you guys have to explain this! What a small world!” she said with a chuckle.
“That’s what I said! I know Elijah’s brother Drew and I was over there for dinner-
“You’re Drew’s brother?! You two are nothing alike!” Shea laughed, shaking her head. It seemed to all still be registering with her.
“Thanks!” Drew and Elijah said in unison. They probably both meant it, too. Shea spent the rest of the car ride just getting her head on straight, but she adjusted quickly, considering the short amount of time all of this information had flooded into her. “So, you want to grab dessert and soda, Shea and I can grab the pizzas?” Elijah suggested. The gang agreed and they split up to acquire the goods.
Shea and Elijah walked over to the kitchen, rummaging through the pre-made pizzas.
“You always this much of an overachiever?” Shea teased, “I thought we were hanging out Thursday?”
Elijah looked up from the pizza in her direction. “Oh yeah? I never got a text back, so I wasn’t sure! Figured I’d take matters into my own hands,” he smirked, finding a pepperoni in the mix. Shea tilted her head back and laughed.
“I was at work, thank you very much! And you got lucky! How long have you known Anne is my sister?” she folded her hands across her chest and bit her lip lightly.
“Oh, I’ve known forever! Everyone knows about you two!” he stood up, finding the other pizza. “Anne and Shea, Shea and Anne, it’s a classic!”
“Wow! Really? But how could you know that if we just moved here a year ago?” Elijah slowed his walk, peering over a shoulder to read Shea’s expression. It was just as smug as he’d expected it to be.
“U-uh…” Elijah weathered his bottom lip, rolling through his mind, seeking out a good excuse. But he was caught.
“I’m only kidding. We’ve lived here forever. I was just testing you… Liar,” her cheek creased into a small dimple when she smiled, her soft lips tightening around her pearlescent teeth. She dodged past Elijah, finding the others and running for them.
They gathered up their spoils and checked out. The drive home was speedy, riding along the winds that carried a pillow of clouds to nestle over town.
“Think it’s going to rain?” Shea inquired of the breezy, gray skies. The air was just that perfect warmth that let up when the breeze crawled past. The humidity sat on Elijah’s skin as he pulled the bags from the trunk.
He opened the back door, adding “It might. I didn’t check the forecast today, but it sure looks like it.” The other three meandered in, Elijah’s parent’s eagerly inspecting their selection, so eagerly, in fact, that they forgot to greet Shea. The pizzas were in and cooking well before his parents even noticed that anything was the matter. They quickly corrected themselves, however, and introduced themselves, shaking Shea’s hand.
“Nice to meet you both. Not to be demanding, but do you guys have anywhere I could change out of my swimsuit?” she inquired to the flustered adults. Elijah’s dad indicated that the bathroom upstairs was free. She thanked him once more and ran up the stairs.
“Pizza smells good!” Elijah sat on the couch next to his father, who was busy watching the national news.
“Yeah, thanks for doing that bud,” he pulled a $20 bill out of his pocket and handed it over to Elijah. Elijah accepted the payment, hopping up.
“No problem, I’ll be right back!” he darted up the stairs, humming a tune as he bolted to his bedroom door. Clicking it open, Elijah could hear something moving inside of his bedroom. A patch of flesh flashed before his eyes, quickly darting behind the bed, offering a timid “sorry”.
Shea was curled up behind the bed, half stripped of her clothes. “I- the bathroom was occupied!” she said as Elijah backed out of the bedroom. The door clicked closed once more, Elijah’s grip frozen clasped to the doorknob. He could feel the rush of his pulse against the cold, hard doorknob, his body stuck in the ‘freeze’ response from the whole situation. He could feel sentience start to bleed back in, filling in the holes were adrenaline was wearing out of his blood.
He backed away from the door, waiting for color to return to his face, or leave it, he wasn’t entirely sure. Well, he’d just have to wait for her to be done then. He gazed down the hallway at the bathroom door. The floor creaked beneath his feet as he approached it. He leaned in, touching the door, feeling as it eased open, unlocked. The bathroom was completely empty, light off. He looked back at his own door blinkingly. Had she-
The thought was flashed from his mind as his bedroom door opened, a fully dressed Shea emerging. She wore a loose, black tank top with a navy bandeau underneath. She wore an exceptionally short pair of shorts that accentuated her endless legs so nicely.
They extended a “Sorry” in unison and tonal perfection, provoking slight laughter. Nothing more was exchanged between the two as Elijah headed to the bedroom and she headed away. He set the 20 dollar bill in his bank and stood in the space for a moment. Her scent lingered on in the room as curiosities lingered on inside Elijah. Elijah was excited at the notion that there might be a game afoot, but was frustrated as doubts entered his mind, begging whether or not there was truly a game. He didn’t want to play a game by himself, so his only strategy was to discover if there was, in fact, a game at all. How stupid…
The smell of pizza permeated the kitchen as Elijah returned and Drew emerged from the basement. Shea was on the couch with her sister, the parents browsing through possible movies they could all watch tonight. Right now it seemed to be between the second Mad Max and Pride and Prejudice. It appeared that Elijah’s mom was going to leverage the fact that she had a potential voting bias that could equalize things. Usually the boys just utilized their majority in order to enforce the film they wanted to watch, but tonight was different. There were two female guests and they were two female guests who could potentially sway two of the male votes.
“Pride and Prejudice looks so good though, yeah?” she looked around the room, attempting to rally the other women present.
“I feel like we just watched Jane Eyre, like, last weekend,” Elijah piped up.
“Ooh, which one?” Anne inquired. Elijah frowned, looking her way.
He sounded pained asking “There’s more than one?” Everyone laughed and Anne nodded. “Couldn’t we do some kind of a compromise? Isn’t there a comedy we all could enjoy?” Elijah offered.
“You’re always wanting to watch comedies! That’s not a compromise, that’s just what you want to watch!” Drew chimed in, “I say we stick with Mad Max.” Drew wasn’t wrong. It didn’t mean that Elijah was happy about it, but Drew wasn’t wrong. Anne scrunched her face at Drew, not saying anything, just mangling her face in distaste.
“Hey, wait, what difference does it make? Who wants to watch a comedy?” Elijah spoke up.
His father replied, looking away from the screen for a moment. “I vote for Mad Max just because you want to watch a comedy so bad.” Elijah rolled his eyes and watched as his chances at a comedy slipped away in the wake of what would probably become Pride and Prejudice. He looked to Shea who smiled back at him, laughing at his father.
“Mad Max sounds good to me,” Shea voted, peering intentionally at Elijah with a devilish smirk. Elijah looked to his mother, who’s mouth was slightly agape, eventually sealing into a frown, her gaze bolting to the television, avoiding any glances peering her way.
“Fine, we can go with Mad Max,” Elijah sealed the deal, rather disappointed himself. And without any hesitation his father leafed back through the options, finding Mad Max. The alarm went off for the pizzas and Elijah got up to retrieve them.
A blast of heat hit him as he opened the oven, reaching in for the pizzas. Sweat beaded on his skin. He set the pizzas down on the stovetop, checking them over. They were finished.
“Looks good,” Shea said, standing nearby. She startled Elijah, who leaped from the oven slightly. She laughed, “Sorry. I was just looking to get a glass for water,” she said.
“R-right here,” Elijah caught his breath, pointing to the cupboard.
She reached inside the cupboard and peered at the cup. She looked up to Elijah, “Thanks,” she turned on the sink, running her hand under the stream, searching out the temperature. “You not about Mad Max?”
Elijah, who was cutting the pizzas up, peered behind him. “I’ve just seen it before is all. But, guests take priority here, so no worries.”
“We could do something else, if you like,” she said.
Elijah wished she had said it quietly or more indicatively, but her voice did not waiver from her baseline. It seemed like a genuine suggestion. Elijah finished cutting the pizzas and placed them on a larger platter so the movie watchers wouldn’t have to get up. He turned to Shea and said “Well, I still have cards, like I offered before.”
“Hm,” she said, turning off the water and taking a drink. She watched Elijah, eyes unmoving, face expressionless. She froze there, swallowing the water, her eyes finally squinting as she peered out the window behind her. “It’s raining,” she spoke quietly. Elijah watched out the window, the rain lightly splattering the glass, the wind whistling by. He wouldn’t quite qualify it as “raining”, more “sprinkling” than anything, but it had certainly started. They were quiet, watching everything happening outside. It was no longer light out, so all that appeared out the window was that which glistened from the rain in the dim floodlight out back.
“Pizza done yet?” his dad quipped, almost causing Elijah to flip the whole pan. He quickly turned and headed for the living room.
As he headed out of the kitchen, Elijah overheard Shea quietly say “I thought we might do something more exciting than cards.” He turned back to look at her. She wore a smile and a soft look, her head tilted slightly.
“Gimme a minute,” he said, turning around to deliver the pizzas. There was a game afoot, he knew if now. There was absolutely no denying it! He gripped the tray, trying to hold off his excitement. He wasn’t sure how serious of a game was being played, but he was excited to partake.
“Where’s Shea?” Anne asked as Elijah dropped off the pizzas.
“I think she’s still getting a drink of water,” Elijah replied, taking a slice and stuffing his mouth. These things often turned into interrogations and he wasn’t about to endure that. Luckily for him, everyone else followed suit, devouring the pizza up as they watched the film. Soon thereafter, however, Shea emerged from the kitchen, glass of water in hand. Without a word, she sat down on the floor in front of the couch, eyes locked on the television. Elijah watched on in disbelief. What happened to ‘something more exciting’… this wasn’t more exciting! Elijah blinked and plotted through his options, which really came down to watching the movie. With a sigh and another slice of pizza, he sat down next to Shea and resigned to the movie.
Mad Max wasn’t necessarily the worst movie for Elijah, but it wasn’t his usual fare. His interests lied in comedies. He tried to not let this on since he would be vetoed simply for having a preference. He lived in a family of vicious animals, at least in the context of movie selection. It made it a little better sitting here next to Shea, but every time he thought about her, his head just rung with ‘something more interesting’. If there was a game being played here, she was very good at it. He might just be along for the ride, whether he liked it or not.
Elijah grabbed for another piece of pizza, some of the cheese slipping off. A single piece of pepperoni spilled off the crust and on to his shirt. “Oh,” Shea said as Elijah pulled the pepperoni off his shirt, a little circular sauce stain left behind. “You got a little something,” she said, licking her finger and rubbing the spot.
“It’s really alright,” Elijah whispered, “It’ll come out.”
“Will it?” she said, her hand trailing slightly lower. Her palm brushed against his crotch before she recoiled, her attention returning to the film. Elijah tried to make eye contact with her, staring a moment. What was that? Well, likely that was whatever the hell game she was playing, but the rules were unclear to Elijah. He didn’t even know how to approach this one. He tried to resume watching the film, but his mind was electric, running wild with thoughts of her. What was she up to? How risky was she trying to get? And, perhaps most importantly, how was Elijah going to make the next move?
He finished his slice of pizza, mind still unstable. He felt like he could come up with an excuse to get alone with her after the movie was over, but they weren’t even a half hour in. Elijah unintentionally let out an audible sigh. He panicked and covered his mouth.
“You alright there?” Shea asked, looking at him.
In that moment he decided to play dumb, offering her a quiet “Hm?” eyes wide with confusion. She frowned at him slightly.
“You just sighed. Whats up?” she whispered, leaning in close to him.
“Did I?” he asked, “I’m sorry.” Elijah placed his palm on the flesh of her thigh, where her shorts left her exposed. She nodded and went back to the movie. He pulled his hand back. Nothing. No indication whatsoever, no smirk, no glance. She was cooler than ice about this whole thing. Or maybe she wasn’t even aware of it. Elijah combed through the evening so far. She was definitely friendly and she was comfortable with him, but she really hadn’t put any major cards out on the table. ‘Something more interesting’ could easily be interpreted a few different ways. Her hand on his crotch could have been a mistake. The whole thing could be a devastating misunderstanding.
Or perhaps his hand on her thigh was too much. Maybe she was considering it, her confidence and curiosity supported by a thin membrane of safety that his palm devastated upon touching her. Maybe she was being keen, but he was being too much. He peered over to her. She didn’t move, she just watched the film. Her eyes flickered around the screen, her expressions consistent with what was occurring. Elijah tried not to stare, but for a few reasons he couldn’t stop himself. She was quite radiant, even in this low light. Her face was so soft, the skin just draped there, effortlessly. Her lips seemed to float on one another, no tension, no contact.
Elijah had met Shea in class this last semester. They connected over her My Chemical Romance shirt the first day of class, exchanging banter and meaningfully greeting each other from then on. She always wore some kind of band memorabilia, a self-proclaimed audiophile. Elijah was nowhere near the band junkie that she was, but he could keep up. He knew enough about music to be meaningful. And she knew enough about sarcasm to be interesting.
Taking a deep breath, but not sighing this time, Elijah did his best to release the sexual tension he was feeling. She had been a good friend to him for the last few months and he wasn’t going to exchange that for the sliver of a possibility at sexuality. Healthy as her lips may have been. Twinkling as her eyes may have shown through. Healing as her smile may have been. And then a sigh came, all on its own, once more.
“ALRIGHT! We get it!” Drew and Elijah’s father chimed in at the same time, “You don’t want to watch the movie. Go do something else then!” Drew smacked him with one of the pillows.
“No, no I’m fine. I’m fine,” Elijah insisted.
“Shuuuut up! Just go do something else,” Drew was insistent. He wasn’t going to have his movie ruined by Elijah, even though the sighs had nothing to do with anything about the movie they had selected. But, Elijah obliged, crawling over Shea and escaping the screening.
“Where are you going now?” she inquired as he crawled past.
“I dunno. You want to join?”
She nodded and crawled behind him. They made their way back to the kitchen, Elijah grabbing himself a glass of water. He could feel the tension crawling on his skin in the form of sweat. He hoped that by cooling himself off, he could make things better. He drank down a glass and then filled up another.
“I’m not prying you away, am I?” he inquired.
Shea leaned against the counter, “Nah. I’ve seen it before. Plus, I want to know what you’re going to get up to.”
Elijah opened his mouth to talk, but was quickly interrupted by Shea, “I swear to god though, if you suggest cards one more time, I’ll walk home in the rain!”
Elijah laughed, “What is your problem with cards?”
“What is your obsession?” Shea fired back.
“I mean, it’s something to do, yeah?”
Shea’s brow dropped into a disapproving scowl, but her lips were fighting to not curl into a smile. She shook her head. “Alright, hot shot! What’s your game?”
Elijah paused, his mouth agape a little as he searched for any words relating to cards. He really hadn’t thought it through to be quite honest, he just knew that cards were something that-
“Oh, c’mon! See? Not even you want to play cards as bad as you want to play cards!” She laughed at him outright, Elijah contagiously responding.
“Well then, what do we do instead?” he made eye contact with her, a smile wide on his face. Her eyes looked wide, as if her head was facing slightly down and she was angling up to look at him, but she seemed to be looking right at him. She didn’t break eye contact, she didn’t break anything onto her face either. An abrupt shrug broke the focus as her eyes rolled up into her head, returning to him.
“Beats me. You’re the host, it’s your choice.”
“Then I decide cards,” he replied.
“Except cards,” she smirked back, unable to hold back a laugh. His frustration bubbled up into some small form of admiration, twisted in with some good humor. He joined in the laughter, bowing his head.
“Ok. Uh.. Damn, I don’t know! I mean, it’s raining, so we can’t really go for a walk,” he tried to reason, but she shrugged in response, looking outside.
“Could be fun,” her eyes were wide again.
“I’m not walking in the rain,” he insisted.
“What, just cause I don’t want to play cards?” she tossed her hands up, extending her neck forward. Elijah nodded defiantly.
“That’s exactly it. It’s more on-
“Shut up!” Drew called from the living room. “It’s not like we’re watching a movie here or something!” Elijah looked at Shea and rolled his eyes. He flew Drew the bird, mouthing ‘fuck you’. Shea suppressed a laugh. Elijah motioned for her to follow him. They headed down the stairs and into enemy territory.
“Isn’t this-
“Yeah yeah. But he has a nice porch off his bedroom, so we’re allowed to sneak through as long as we don’t mess with anything,” he guided her through the mess of clothes and books and leaves of paper that were strewn about the floor. “Not that he could tell if we did,” Elijah snatched up a dollar bill off the floor before making it to the backdoor, opening up to a small porch, screened in and roofed. “I figure this is a decent compromise.” Shea eyed the space as Elijah flicked a switch. An array of stringed up lights lit up before them, dousing the room in low, honey light.
“It’s nice,” Shea said, moving slowly to one of the chairs. She took a seat, listening to the pattering on the rooftop. She sighed, her body sinking into the seat, her whole body turned rosy, peace blossoming up at the surface of her. Elijah smiled, grabbing two cans of soda out of the cooler they had down there. He set them on the table, popping his open immediately. He took a swig, fizz filling his mouth and burning all the way down his throat. “So you’ve got a nice place here,” Shea chimed in as soon as Elijah was comfortable, “It’s cozy. And your parents seem nice.”
Elijah shrugged, “Perhaps ‘seem’ in the important word there,” Shea watched him intently. After a pause, Elijah shook his head, putting his hands up, “No no. Nothing bad. They’re just, y’know, parents,” he grimaced, “But they’re good parents. Yours?” Shea nodded lightly.
“Can’t complain. They haven’t hit me yet and I know I deserve it,” she smirked, “They do all the parent stuff. Buy me things, listen to me, y’know.” She trailed off without much consequence as if she was hoping for Elijah to pick the conversation up when she left it off, but he had nothing to offer. It was hard to feel pressed to talk when the rain was coming down like it was. It was definitively raining now, pooling up in low-lying areas and howling more than raining. Elijah resumed watching Shea. Her attention didn’t really seem set anywhere, her eyes floating, her expression heavy. Her lips were not curled up into a smiling expression the way they had been before, the way they always seemed to be. Her face was usually on the razor edge of a smirk, but here, her face rested somewhere safely solemn. But just as she had seemed to settle into the expression, Shea’s head turned and Elijah found Shea looking at him. “What?” her face scrunched up.
“N-nothing, you trailed off there. I wasn’t sure if you had more to say,” he watched her closely to see if the lie landed or not.
“Oh, no. Sorry, just got lost in thought.”
“What about?” Elijah asked.
Shea picked up the can of soda he had left for her and she smiled, “You.” She popped open the can, taking a sip, eyes locked on him.
“M-me, what about?” Elijah’s heart picked up, tremorring his hands. He tried to maintain his breath, but he was veritably freaking out.
“I don’t know. Just, you.”
“Wait, you can’t just say you were thinking about me and then not tell me what you were thinking about!” Elijah sat up, his arm leaning on the table. Shea sat up and echoed his position.
“Yes I can… Why do you even care?” She took another sip of her soda, unable to hold a laugh. Elijah was glad that she at least had a sense of humor about this. He just wished that maybe he could get one.
“I-I… I don’t know,” Elijah sat there, quietly, seeing his pulse in his eyes, feeling the sweat on his skin. He crossed his legs and leaned on them. “I…” Shea just stared at him as this chasm opened up in the conversation, sucking the life and light and sensibility right out of it. “Whatever…” Elijah shrugged and that was that. Shea nodded slowly, taking another sip. Her eyes sunk low as she leaned back in the chair. And there it went. Any chance he had to change this relationship into something else, it had just sailed away. It sunk away into the seat with Shea. Elijah echoed her posture this time, letting out another exasperated sigh. He slipped his phone out of his pocket. There was nothing new, no new texts or notifications. He slipped the phone open and looked at their earlier conversation. It was so much easier to text her. Of course, Elijah figured that was just the nature of texting. It made everything so much easier. He looked at his last text to her.
WHAT WOULD WE DO AT YOUR PLACE?
3 hours ago. And here Shea sat, better than a text message and yet Elijah had pushed himself into a space where she may not even respond to him in person. He set his phone on the table and took another drink of his soda, eyes moving to Shea. She had her phone out now as well. She was texting someone.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/4jpgnw/elijah_and_shea_part_1