I can’t speak. I just shake my head no, and he pulls me into a hug, holding on to me as the wave of emotions hit me again.
“Come on,” he whispers. “Let’s get out of here.”
He keeps me close and guides me outside of the school to the parking lot. I try to ignore all the stares we’re getting and just cling to his comfort. Once we reach his car, he unlocks it and opens the passenger side door.
“Next period is about to start,” I tell him.
“We’re skipping,” he says, nodding for me to get in.
“Why?”
“Because we need to get away from this place for a little, away from these people.”
“But…you don’t even know what happened?”
His face and voice both soften. “You can tell me over ice cream, then. I heard Jeni’s has the power to fix all the problems in the world.”
I let out a small laugh and nod. “Okay.”
* * *
The smell of sugary ice cream and fresh waffle cones makes it pretty hard to stay in the sad thoughts. It’s like the scent was curated to pull you out of your head and remind you that joy still exists.
After sitting down at one of the tables outside, we just eat our ice cream in silence for a few minutes before Eli finally speaks.
“What happened?” he asks softly.
I try to keep the emotions at bay so I can talk about it without getting choked up.
“A few girls were talking about us…“ I shrug. “The same as always, I guess…but then Harper came in, and they started talking to her about me. She didn’t know I was there, and when it was just me and her…I guess we finally kind of said our piece to each other.”
“Was it bad?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
Eli reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “They’ve never been your real friends. I tried to tell you.”
I hum in agreement and look off into the distance.
He squeezes my hand, bringing my attention back to him. “You’ve got me, though. I’m not going anywhere.”
My phone buzzes beside me, but I ignore it. I let out a small, bitter laugh. “Yeah? What about next year…when I’m stuck here alone after you graduate?”
“It might be better foryou once I’m gone. You can just keep your head down, finish the year out, and then it’ll just be us again. The world will be ours outside of a school. We’ll finally be adults and have the freedom to do what we want. Start our lives together.”
“What happens when you go to college, and you meet all these new college girls that have a lot more to offer than me?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing is going to happen. I told you, Lydia. You’re it. I’m gonna marry you one day.”
I freeze at those words.
Marry. He wants to…marry me. Do I wanna get married? Would I want to marry Eli?
I look up at him over my ice cream. “Really? You’d wanna marry me?”
“Of course. There’s nobody else I wanna be with.”
Those words are supposed to feel good, feel reassuring. So why do they feel so…empty?
