working on getting each other in trouble. I suppose it gave me a bit of insight into why you ended up sleeping together despite everything."
Wow, I must have been really wrapped up in my conversation with Jonah the Whale (must stop calling him that) to have missed this juicy bit of information!
"Oh yeah?" I asked incredulously. "Care to elaborate on your findings? Because I still have no idea."
"Well," she looked kind of uncomfortable, but tough! If she thought she had some glimmer of understanding then she was damn well going to have to share it with the class. "Don't you think it could have had something to do with homesickness? Like he was missing home and you reminded him of the good old days or something?"
I stared at her for a moment and then laughed loudly as all expectation of her imparting some kind of wisdom about Elliot's thoughts on that night evaporated in an instant.
"Oh sweetie, it's a good thing you're not doing psychology," I chuckled, "because that was the worst diagnosis I've ever heard."
As was pretty much her wont these days, the rest of the walk was taken up with Abi gushing about how lovely Jonah was, Elliot completely forgotten. This was fine by me as it gave me time to zone out and focus on giggling internally at her suggestion uninterrupted.
It wasn't a secret that Elliot's parents weren't exactly the cuddly types, but I knew better than most just how truly cold and unfeeling they were towards their only child and how gladly he'd left their house.
A fresh wave of amusement hit me and I shook my head. Elliot Sinclair homesick? If there had been one thing that had made him sick, it had been home.
----------
They stood outside the café and watched the girls go.
Physically, Elliot mused, they were about as different as you could get, but he could see that they'd done that weird absorbing each other's personalities thing that girls sometimes did. It'd thrown him a couple of times while talking to Abigail when she'd said something or tilted her face in a way that was Rox through and through.
He'd had a weirdly good time at the lunch, he decided. Abigail had been genuinely good fun and any time spent in Rox's vicinity at least guaranteed you were never bored; certainly worth a few puncture wounds here and there.
"So what do you think?" Jonah asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but betrayed by a tense expression that suggested a negative appraisal on Elliot's behalf would be an offence worthy of beheading. Considering this was a feat Jonah could easily have achieved with one swipe of his massive hand, Elliot was glad he didn't have to lie as he said,
"Abi's cool, mate. I like her."
Jonah's whole body relaxed and he nodded. "Yeah, she is cool."
There was a pause during which Elliot found himself looking back over at the retreating forms of their erstwhile lunch mates. He saw Rox steal a quick look over her shoulder then say something that made Abigail laugh, and had absolutely no doubt they were talking about him. That meant that when, in the next second, Rox seemed to trip on absolutely nothing and whip her head round to stare at her friend, he wished he'd been closer to them and could’ve heard what had just been said.
"Funny seeing Cinders again like that. She got hot, right?" Jonah knocked him with his elbow and Elliot suddenly realised that he'd gone from wondering what the girls were talking about to just plain staring at the swing of Rox's jean-clad arse as she walked away.
Quickly focusing instead on his friend, he gave him a shove back and grinned. "Steady mate, I just got through meeting your girlfriend, don't tell me you're moving on already?"
Jonah shook his head and looked irritatingly knowing. "Nah, I'm just saying. I reckon I see how the other week happened now."
Elliot jostled him again and then changed the subject.
Yeah, Rox had done something to her hair since she'd started uni that made it bounce about as madly as her thought processes, and there was no denying
Wow, I must have been really wrapped up in my conversation with Jonah the Whale (must stop calling him that) to have missed this juicy bit of information!
"Oh yeah?" I asked incredulously. "Care to elaborate on your findings? Because I still have no idea."
"Well," she looked kind of uncomfortable, but tough! If she thought she had some glimmer of understanding then she was damn well going to have to share it with the class. "Don't you think it could have had something to do with homesickness? Like he was missing home and you reminded him of the good old days or something?"
I stared at her for a moment and then laughed loudly as all expectation of her imparting some kind of wisdom about Elliot's thoughts on that night evaporated in an instant.
"Oh sweetie, it's a good thing you're not doing psychology," I chuckled, "because that was the worst diagnosis I've ever heard."
As was pretty much her wont these days, the rest of the walk was taken up with Abi gushing about how lovely Jonah was, Elliot completely forgotten. This was fine by me as it gave me time to zone out and focus on giggling internally at her suggestion uninterrupted.
It wasn't a secret that Elliot's parents weren't exactly the cuddly types, but I knew better than most just how truly cold and unfeeling they were towards their only child and how gladly he'd left their house.
A fresh wave of amusement hit me and I shook my head. Elliot Sinclair homesick? If there had been one thing that had made him sick, it had been home.
----------
They stood outside the café and watched the girls go.
Physically, Elliot mused, they were about as different as you could get, but he could see that they'd done that weird absorbing each other's personalities thing that girls sometimes did. It'd thrown him a couple of times while talking to Abigail when she'd said something or tilted her face in a way that was Rox through and through.
He'd had a weirdly good time at the lunch, he decided. Abigail had been genuinely good fun and any time spent in Rox's vicinity at least guaranteed you were never bored; certainly worth a few puncture wounds here and there.
"So what do you think?" Jonah asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but betrayed by a tense expression that suggested a negative appraisal on Elliot's behalf would be an offence worthy of beheading. Considering this was a feat Jonah could easily have achieved with one swipe of his massive hand, Elliot was glad he didn't have to lie as he said,
"Abi's cool, mate. I like her."
Jonah's whole body relaxed and he nodded. "Yeah, she is cool."
There was a pause during which Elliot found himself looking back over at the retreating forms of their erstwhile lunch mates. He saw Rox steal a quick look over her shoulder then say something that made Abigail laugh, and had absolutely no doubt they were talking about him. That meant that when, in the next second, Rox seemed to trip on absolutely nothing and whip her head round to stare at her friend, he wished he'd been closer to them and could’ve heard what had just been said.
"Funny seeing Cinders again like that. She got hot, right?" Jonah knocked him with his elbow and Elliot suddenly realised that he'd gone from wondering what the girls were talking about to just plain staring at the swing of Rox's jean-clad arse as she walked away.
Quickly focusing instead on his friend, he gave him a shove back and grinned. "Steady mate, I just got through meeting your girlfriend, don't tell me you're moving on already?"
Jonah shook his head and looked irritatingly knowing. "Nah, I'm just saying. I reckon I see how the other week happened now."
Elliot jostled him again and then changed the subject.
Yeah, Rox had done something to her hair since she'd started uni that made it bounce about as madly as her thought processes, and there was no denying
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