“When are you going to tell him you like him?” I ask her.
She looks at me, surprised. “What? No—I don’t—”
“I see how you look at him. What’s stopping you?”
Her face drops. “I don’t know. I don’t know if he likes me like that. Plus, he’s hooked up with Katie before. It would be weird.”
“Katie hooks up with everyone. I don’t think she would care,” I tell her.
“You think?”
I nod. “I mean, I’ve seen her hook up with at least a dozen guys since I saw her kissing John. I don’t think she even cares about him.”
She sighs. “Maybe I’ll try to feel it out more. See if he even likes me like that.”
I shoo her away, telling her to go shoot her shot. She just laughs and heads into the kitchen.
If John is in here now, Eli must be back in too, so I get up to go find him, swaying a bit from the alcohol.
Walking around, I feel it hitting a little harder now. I stumble through the house looking for him when I run into a solid chest. I look up to see Eli, and his expression is dark.
“You’re drunk,” he snaps, grabbing my arm tightly.
I stumble slightly, confused. “What’s wrong?”
Without answering, he leads me roughly out to the car, practically dragging me.
“You smell like weed,” I tell him, taking in a deep breath.
“Yeah, someone had a joint they were passing around.”
“But…” I slur out, “you’re the designated driver?”
“And? It’s just weed? I’m not drunk; I can still drive.”
We get to his car, and he opens the passenger side door, guiding me in and slamming my door. Then he gets in and starts driving, anger radiating from every move he makes.
I look over at him. “Are you going to tell me what your problem is?” I ask, annoyed.
He scoffs, eyes fixed angrily ahead. “My problem?” he repeats sharply. “My problem is my girlfriend doesn’t know how to act when I’m not around.”
Confusion and anxiety fill my mind. “What are you even talking about?”
He turns briefly to look at me, and his gaze is ice-cold. “Someone at the party saw you dancing all over some random guy, Lydia. What, you thought I wouldn’t find out?”
My mouth falls open, the shock I felt quickly replaced with frustration and hurt. “What? Eli, no. That’s not even what happened—”
“Bullshit!” he shouts suddenly, making me flinch. “Don’tlie to me.”
“I’m not lying! A guy came up behind me. I thought it was you at first, but the second I realized it wasn’t, I moved away and told him I had a boyfriend. It wasn’t even two seconds, Eli!”
“So youdiddance with him, then?” His voice drips with venom, twisting my words.
I shake my head. “Not like that! I just told you what happened. I stopped as soon as I realized—”
He cut me off sharply, raising his voice even louder. “You shouldn’t have been dancing with anyone! You know better! You wanna embarrass me? Is that it?”
Anger sparks inside me, pushing aside the fear momentarily. “Embarrass you? Are you serious right now? I didn’t even do anything wrong! You’re literally always surrounded by girls, Eli, and I never say anything! And you’re mad atmeover something that lasted two seconds? You’re acting crazy!”
