This choice: Go back to Elsie and her friends • Go Back...Chapter #20A Blossoming Relationship by: rugal b.   "Are you—" you begin, however you stop yourself.
How could he be interrupting anything? You've barely known this girl for an hour; you don't know much more than her name so what's there to interrupt? Sure she's been laughing at the things you say—although she seems giggly in general—and she's been quick to grab you and nuzzle you. And okay, she's very cute and you like her smile and the fragrance of the perfume she's wearing. But that doesn't really man anything. After all, Lisa was kind of the same and she... no! You don't even want to think about about it. Except you do and it's like pouring water on a fire.
"No, I guess not. I mean, we only just met," you say a little dourly.
"Gotta start somewhere, man," he replies. "Seems to me that you were starting in a pretty good spot though. She was all over you."
"She wasn't—"
"Man, look, I said I'm not gonna cockblock you. It's cool, we'll do it another time." He slaps you hard on the back, pushing you back towards the direction of the table. "Where you parked at, by the way?" You tell him where your truck is and he nods. "Alright, we'll catch up with you tomorrow if we don't see you tonight. And if we don't catch up to you tonight," he smiles, "you're gonna have to tell us about it."
* * * * *
"You know that slab of meat?" asks a glasses-wearing brunette, Samantha you think her name was, as you sit back down.
"Kind of," you answer. "I actually only got to know him this week. We, uh, got partnered with something in a class and he's turned out to be a pretty cool guy."
"What is he? Football or something?" asks Declan, a mop-haired guy who—from close he is with her—is probably Samantha's boyfriend.
"Wrestler."
"Oh, eww!" exclaims Deanna, Elsie's friend and the girl sitting opposite of her.
"The wrestlers at our school are so..." Elsie trails off as she shivers, grabs your arm and places it around her shoulder as she squeezes up to you.
"I think that's where they send all the mutants and jackoffs," Samantha dryly observes.
"Laurent and his buddies are... uh, intense I guess," you say. "But they don't seem like bad guys or anything. Our jackoffs are spread out."
You regale the group with some tales of some of the jerks and assholes you have to deal with over at Westside. About how Gordon Black barrels through the hallways, bowling over anyone in his path. Of Jason Lynch's sniggering psychopathy. Of Chelsea Cooper's overall domineering bitchiness. You even bring up David Kirkham to show that even the orchestra has a bully or two, inadvertently letting slip that you've been on the receiving end of his fists a fair few number of times. But that doesn't seem to elicit any kind of derision from the others towards you, in fact Elsie coos sympathetically while once more resting her head on your shoulder.
You like these guys, you decide. They seem fairly down to Earth, they're not judging you and, well, Laurent was right. Elsie is all over you. So when another guy with blonde hair and glasses comes over and says some people are gonna blow this place and go hang out at the river, you decide to pack up and head out with them. After all, it becomes hard to say no when Elsie insists you do.
So you send a text to Laurent telling him that you're leaving with Elsie and her friends and that you'll try and catch up with him tomorrow. He responds back with a thumbs up emoji and a message that he left you a little present. You don't know what he's talking about until you get out to your truck. Elsie, Declan and Samantha (who all came out with friends) decide to ride with you so you're clearing some stuff out from the back and spot something on the floorboard: it's a small white bag and inside is the mask and the band that was going to be used on Marc.
You quickly grab it and, along with some of the other clutter, toss it in the bed.
* * * * *
You learn a little more about Elsie and her friends on the drive out. Elsie's last name, for instance, is Flowers (Samantha's is Berg and Declan's is O'Donnell) and she plays the euphonium... but she likes dancing too. But she likes the euphonium more. But both are totally fun! Declan and Samantha—who are indeed an item—are in the marching band too but moonlight in other music groups; he's a saxophonist in the jazz band while she plays flute in the orchestra. Declan talks to you about some video games you both like and he and Samantha also turn out to vaguely know Christian Knouse and his crew of RPGers (they'd tried playing a few times but realized they weren't into the tabletop scene).
Elsie isn't into any of that and her tastes, from what she talks about, run more normal and less geeky. But she doesn't really sound dismissive of you either and her mood towards you never seems to sour. In fact, once you're at the river she makes it a point to clasp your hand as you walk up and join of the people there and while you sit around at a small bonfire that's been started and talk, she continues to pull in close to you, or pull you in close to her, wrap her hands around your shoulders and squeeze. It's very pleasant but at the same time a little weird because you can't help but wonder if you're being baited into something; if there's going to be some kind of rug pull moment.
"You're worrying over nothing," Declan says later when it's you and some of the other guys hanging out; the boys and the girls having split into separate groups. "That's just how she is."
"Yeah, she gets touchy-feely and all that," declares Tyler Weldon. He's the guy who came over to the table back at the Warehouse. He also, as it turns out, happens to be the student president over at Eastman.
"So I guess I shouldn't really think anything about it then?" you say with what must be audible disappointment because Declan seems to try to pep you up.
"Well," he stretches out the word, "I wouldn't say that. Maybe she likes you. You'll probably know by the time everything breaks up for the night."
"She's just... she's Elsie," adds Austin Rush, a somewhat burly (but about as geeky as you and your friends) orchestra member. "Very open and direct about things," he smirks, "kind of an airhead though."
"She's not an airhead," Declan jumps in. "Like you're not going to wonder how she ties her shoes. She just... she goes at her own pace. But if she likes you, you'll know. She tends to make up her mind on that stuff pretty quick."
"Okay, so what about you guys?" you ask trying to steer the subject away from yourself. "You all got girlfriends or anyone you like?"
"Definitely not me," Declan deadpans.
"Sure, I guess so," Tyler says, then a little more nervously he adds, "You go to Westside so, uh, you know Kim right?"
"Walsh? Wait, you like Kim Walsh?" He seems to turn red at that so you have to backpedal a bit on your surprise. "Look, I'm not saying that's weird or anything. I'm just surprised. I think she's just kind of a workaholic because I've never seen her with anyone."
"Dumb on his part because Kerri totally likes him. Everyone can see it," says Austin.
"Yeah but... I don't know if I like her. She's nice and all but, I don't know," Tyler responds wistfully. "Kim is... I've seen her around and I like that she's hardworking and smart. And, uh, nice to look at too."
You nod in acknowledgment. "I get you. There's this one girl in a few of my classes, Cassie. I think she likes me but I don't know. She's just... she's a total chatterbox. She's exhausting."
"Cassie... she a redhead?" asks Austin, which you confirm. "Yeah, I've seen her a few times. She works up at the thrift shop with Susie. She's hella cute, man. I'd get with her in a second," he say as he looks at you with a dopey grin. "If you're getting with Elsie, maybe hook me up."
* * * * *
It's now past midnight and everyone's since broken off for the night. You'd offered to give Elsie a ride back to her place and you're now sitting in the bed of your truck with her in the driveway of her home in a neighborhood off of Fillmore, not too far from Eastman itself. She'd said that she wasn't worried about getting in trouble with her parents since they're going to be asleep and they trust her. You'd complained that you had to practically beg to get an extension on your curfew because your dad is such a hardass.
"Aww, and I'd wanted to spend some more time together," says Elsie when you tell her.
"Hey, yeah, about that. Do you, uh, like me or something?" you ask.
"Sure, yeah!" comes her bright reply.
"But, I mean, we only just met."
"Hmm, I guess, but I think you're cute," she answers. "Like when I saw you I thought 'Gosh, he's cute,' and you seem nice too. You're like a little rabbit, all fidgety and jumpy you know. I think it's cute."
"That's it?"
"Well, like, I don't need some super complicated and deep reason to like someone, right?"
"I guess not," you say. "So does that mean we're going out then?" Suddenly that feeling of what happened with Lisa during the summer comes rushing back to you.
Elsie doesn't say anything but instead leans over and kisses you. It lasts or a while before she pulls back and then once more rests her head on your shoulder. "Yeah, it totally does. I'm not going to kiss someone if I don't want them to be my boyfriend," she says.
In that moment relief washes over you. You think back to what Declan and the others said earlier. This isn't like Lisa at all, it's the total opposite. No mixed signals or ambiguity. Like Austin said, she's open and direct. You hadn't set out tonight with the idea of getting a girlfriend but suddenly, of the blue, you have one. You almost want to thank Laurent since if he hadn't pushed you into coming out this wouldn't have happened.
And that's when you spy the bag with the stuff in it off to the side. He put it in your truck because he wants you to use it right? Did he want you to use it on Elsie? Could you actually use it on your new girlfriend?   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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