“Boys are so oblivious.” I hope he doesn’t see the way my jaw clenches.
“Now, now, now,” Elijah scolds me from across his bed, hugging his legs to his chest. “There’s no need to be so feisty.”
“I’m not trying to be feisty, but whenever I point out she’s flirting with you, you can never see what’s in front of your face.” I aim and throw one of my favorite stuffed animals at his head. I’ve tried to take it back home multiple times, but he says he likes having a piece of me here.
He waves me off. Tossing the stuffed bunny in the air, he says, “I understand where you’re coming from … I do. But what does it matter? I don’t like her back.”
I glare at him. “It matters because she’s doing it to spite me. Whatever I have, she always wants.”
He raises a perfect brow. Smirking, he playfully teases, “Well, she can’t have me.”
“It’s not that simple.”
I pout, and a slow smile spreads across his face.
“It could be if you just stopped overthinking.”
“But what if you do start liking her back? I know she’ll try to make you hate me.”
He leans his elbows on his mattress, and the serious look in his eyes makes my stomach clench. “Nothing could ever make me hate you. Even if you killed me with your bare hands or Jesus himself told me to hate you. I’m fucking obsessed with you.”
I glance away, then quickly back again. Since when did I start feeling nervous and flustered around Elijah?
“Obsessed with me?” I laugh off the blush I’m sure is coating my cheeks.
He throws his hands to gesture around us. Mischief sparkles in his eyes. “Have you changed the status of our relationship without telling me? We’re best friends; we spend every waking moment together. I will never think differently of you.”
How can he, at fourteen, make my heart feel like it’s melting by just his words?
I never wanted to think about the bullying too deeply when I was younger. I thought Luna and Mia would get bored and leave me alone. But over the years, it’s only gotten worse. The torment they cause me isn’t only with their words; they’re physical blows now. They’ve only become bolder and bolder.
What really boils my blood is how Luna has grown an addiction to Elijah. I know he’s handsome, probably the most good-looking boy in school. I see the way everyone looks at him. They smile more when he’s near; they laugh a little louder. Everyone tries to grasp his attention. In our school, he’s already a rock star. I can’t imagine what would happen if he actually became a star.
It does make me a little mad. Or maybe jealous? Every time I feel these feelings, I try to push them to the back of my head. Having a crush on him would only ruin the friendship we’ve had since we were in diapers.
He taps my knee with his knuckles. “They’re just trying to bug you, okay? That’s what they do best; think about how sad that is.”
When I lie down flat on my back, he joins me. “Tell me what you’re afraid of.”
Well, this has turned into an awkward conversation.
Biting my lip, I intertwine my fingers and rest them on my stomach. “I guess … losing you.”
The bed dips as he moves to his side to face me. Feeling his hot breath on my cheek makes me turn my head. Pink lips greet me.
“I’ll always be by your side.”
I watch as a piece of his light-brown hair falls into his eyes.
“Even when you get super famous and rich?”
He leans in a little closer when he says, “Especially then.”
When he twists a lock of my black hair around his blistered finger, I plead, “Your hands are covered in blisters. Maybe you should let them heal before you start playing like a madman again.”
“I can’t. My band is counting on me.”
His loyalty to the people he loves has always been something I admired about Elijah.
