I don't own Degrassi.
When I had gotten to the destination where I was meeting Eli, I noticed him waiting already. He wore a Dead Hand shirt, black skinny jeans, and black converse and walked over to me the minute he saw me.
"Let's go." he said and instantly I was whisked away and pulled inside an arcade. Eli had given me a bunch of quarters and I looked at him curiously. "Try something new, let's play some games. Have some fun." he said and I shrugged, we are 16 after all. I put a quarter in the Skee Ball machine and it was relaxing. It took my mind off everything and soon Eli was on the machine beside me and before I knew it time flew by.
"Think you can win me one?" I asked pointing to a little gray bunny holding a heart. It's part of the "Love Collection" and there are tons of items for it, I don't know anything about the collection other than it has bears, bunnies, puppies, and cats that come in pink, blue, purple, yellow, and tan, grey, but I love the gray bunny most and also have a bunny cell phone charm, key chain, and notebook. I watched as Eli moved the claw and moved to both sides as he moved the joystick, as luck would have it the bunny dropped into the prize box and Eli handed it to me.
"I have to go to the bathroom." he said and walked away leaving me with my bunny as I watched a couple play a game for two minutes. Unfortunately when my game ended, there was no Eli beside me. I went to the bathroom and asked gave a kid coming out Eli's description hoping he'd be able to help, but he said he was the only one in the bathroom. I knew he'd call me and wouldn't leave me alone and I saw Eli hiding in the vending machine area with a can of soda on his eyes as he sat in a chair.
"Did you get hurt?" I asked and he stayed quiet, it was then that I noticed he was crying and removed the can. "Why did you invite me out?" I asked.
"I invited you out because I thought you'd be crying too. You're the same as I am in that sense..." he trailed off and I put my bunny on the floor along with his soda, moved between his legs, and just held him.
"I am sad, I couldn't kiss Jake because I knew he kissed Julia. I wanted to slap him so hard for what he did, but I knew that would be meaningless especially since you knew about it for so long and didn't say anything." I explained as tears fell down my cheeks.
"I kept it hidden and often locked myself in my room." he shrugged as his arms wrapped around me and we cried together. After we regained our composure, Eli hugged me tightly and took my hand as we walked. It didn't feel weird like I thought it would, but it cleared my head.
Eli dropped me off at my house before it got too late, he knew my parents due to the fact we'd have to work on some projects together and even though we have different beliefs, they got used to us going over each other's houses to work on school projects. Though we've only gone to his house once due to his parent's leniency, when my parents found out they often let Julia spend the night, that was it. Though there was no way Eli and I would've done anything, my parents still didn't approve.
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The next day, everything seemed the same. I walked to school by myself and seeing Eli in his seat already let me think he did too.
"How are you?" I asked.
"I'm ok." he answered and handed me a grey bunny wallet. "As a thank you and an apology for breaking down."
"Thank you." I smiled and moved all my things in it from my old wallet as Jake walked in.
"Can I speak to you?" he asked and I walked into the hall with him still carrying my wallet that Eli gave me. We sat down on a bench together.
"That looks like it's from the Love Collection." he said and I looked at him.
"Who taught you about that?" he asked curiously.
"A girl in my class has a pink puppy, I didn't know they made gray bunnies. She also told me there were cats, bears, and bunnies, but I thought they were all the same color." he shrugged. "Anyway I never got into it."
"What girl is that?" I asked wondering if it were Julia, I knew they were having an affair, but it still stung.
"Just some girl. She has a boyfriend anyway." he shrugged and I felt my heart breaking knowing he was talking about Julia and that I've had a gray bunny charm on my phone way before we started dating. It was the first Love Collection item I ever received and it was from my dad as a good luck charm when I was in ninth grade. Without a word, I ran back to the classroom and looked at Eli.
"Does Julia have a pink puppy from the Love Collection?" I asked looking at him.
"Yea, she has a cell phone charm and a few other items." he confirmed and I nodded.
"They're having an affair, Jake noticed Julia's charm before mine." I said honestly.
"You've had yours since ninth grade. Julia got hers last year." he explained. "Your friend, Ali, did you tell her?" he asked.
"No because she'll kill Jake and right now I don't want that. I don't want to see him, but I don't want her to hurt him." I said knowing it doesn't make since, but I think Eli understood because he just rubbed my back as I placed my head on my desk and then school continued just like normal only after school, Eli and I knew Jake and Julia weren't waiting for us.
"Julia still thinks I'm busy with renovations." he sighed as we waited in the class for the halls to clear while I texted my mom telling her I'm with Eli and not to worry since she knew Jake only took me home on Fridays due to her strict rules.
After a few more minutes, Eli and I walked down the quiet halls and out the doors. "Are you hungry?" he asked as he lead me inside a quiet cafe. I didn't answer, just followed, sat down across from him, and looked at a menu. "Order anything." he said as he looked at the menu. I had decided on a triple chocolate cupcake, something to help with my emotions. Eli ordered a sundae milkshake as I ordered my cupcake and smiled softly at me. When the waitress bought out the milkshake it had two straws in it that she placed in between us and placed my cupcake in front of me.
"I guess she thinks we're dating." he shrugged and moved the milkshake towards him, but I took off one of the cherries and ate it since there were two.
"Don't hog it to yourself, Goldsworthy." I said calling him by his last name. Something I do when teasing him and he raised his hands in defense.
"I won't." he chuckled a bit and moved it back to the middle. We ended up sharing both the milkshake and my cupcake since both were delicious and Eli, being the gentleman that he is, paid the bill and walked me home.
"It's nice to see you again, normally wouldn't you take Julia home?" my mom asked waiting for us.
"No, she's been leaving early." Eli lied.
"Is everything ok with you two?" my mom asked digging in deeper since it's been a while and Eli just shrugged. "You can come in and talk.' she offered.
"Mom, if Eli comes in and the three of us talk, he and I are both going to end up crying. The way things are now are complicated, but we're helping each other." I explained and she allowed Eli and I to say our goodbyes.