Summary: Explores the friendship of Eli, Adam, and Claire…and possibly more? Who is Eli beneath his emo boy mask? And what is going on with Fiona and Declan? Read and you shall see. :O I'm bad at dialogue, so bear with me until I get farther into the story and it runs more smoothly. your typical Eli
The Truth Hits Close To Home
Eli, Adam, and Claire sat at the bench besides a tree, eating lunch outside to avoid the rest of the crowd. Crowds, they weren't exactly Eli's thing. He marched to a different beat, you could say. They were the school freaks, but there's one thing people don't tell you these days: it's a good thing to be a freak.
Eli keeps thinking about Julia, but there's a lot of things about Julia that Eli never told Adam or Claire. He just didn't see the point…the past is the past, right? The past stays in the past. Even if it's still a part of you? Well…yes.
Julia was a lesbian. Eli was Julia's boyfriend. How the hell does that work? Well, it's actually a lot more complicated than that. Anyways, Julia's dead now so it really doesn't matter. Eli dates strictly straight chicks these days, with the exception of the occasional gay dude.
"Dude, why are you so quiet?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, you're really quiet today, it's unlike you," Claire added.
Eli shrugged his shoulders. He didn't want to admit that he was thinking about Julia, not about the day she died, but the days they were together. Eli certainly doesn't miss those days. Eli misses Julia, but he's pretty sure she wouldn't love him today. Or maybe she would. He'll never know.
"Nah, man, I'm just thinking," Eli said.
"Are you thinking about Julia? Because you know it's not your fault she died," Claire said sympathetically. It was almost like Claire could read Eli's mind. Good thing she couldn't really.
Eli shrugged. "I guess," he said. But if Julia never met Eli, maybe Julia would have never gotten into that car.
They finished the rest of their lunches in silence, enjoying the wind. The silence, the absence of noise, penetrated their skulls. It was sort of beautiful in a strange sort of way.
As they were gathering their stuff to go back into the school, a teenager with long auburn red hair was walking past them. They didn't recognize her, she must be new. At the last second, the red head turned around and looked at Eli as if she recognized him. She had a strange look in her brown eyes.
"Jessica?" she said, blinking. "No, wait. Did Jessica have a brother? Are you Jessica's brother?"
A stange look flashed across Eli's face, but it was gone as soon as anyone had a chance to notice. "Sorry, I have no idea who you are or who you're talking about," Eli lied.
After the redhead left, Claire asked, "Who's Jessica?"
"What makes you think I know any Jessica?" Eli asked stubbornly.