Chapter Four
On Sunday Eli called to ask me to go out to dinner with him at the same diner as Saturday. We talked about family and friends, problems that we need help with and our likes and dislikes. I know that Mom would have approved.
During work on Monday Eli came in. He was with his little brother, the little boy that had attempted to read Harry Potter Friday. Later that evening Dylan and Miley came in to get some picture books.
"Hey, Zoey. Where are the picture books?" Dylan asked.
"Aisle seven. Miley likes the books that are on the third case on the left side. I would start there," I offered, pointing at aisle seven. I noticed that Eli and his little brother Max were looking at a book from that same aisle.
Dylan smiled. "Thanks. Is that Eli?"
"Yup. And his little brother Max. Go say 'hi'," I answered as I put a set of 39 Clues on the shelf I was restocking. "Max and Miley will get along very well."
"Okay. See you at home," he told me before leading Miley over to Eli. As they whispered hello and talked about books for little kids, I heard Ms. Brooks call me over to clean some books in the back.
As I was disinfecting, I glanced up every now and then to see how Eli and Dylan, two of the most important people in my life, were getting along. Before Dylan and Miley left, Max gave Miley a hug and Eli and Dylan shook hands, a grin stapled to their faces.
When I was off for the night, Eli took me home and walked me to my door. "Well, I should get going. Max is in the car and I never know when he'll wake up or what he'll do. Goodnight, Zoey. See you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Eli," I said.
He pulled me into a tight embrace and kissed my forehead. "Night sweetie." With that, he was down the stairs and back in his truck.
The door was pulled open and I was facing Dylan. "I approve. He's a nice guy. Spends a lot of time with his brother and he likes Miley. Said that she was cute."
"I told you," I replied, pushing my way past him and heading towards the shower. "Glad to know that you approve. It makes me happy that my two favorite guys can stand each other."
"Well, it was hard, but I managed," Dylan joked as he handed me a clean towel.
"Oh, you're a liar! You like him, Dylan, admit it," I answered with a smile.
"Yes, yes, I like him. He's a cool dude. Did you know that he's fixing up a Harley?"
"You know I'm not interested in cars. If it looks cool, then I'm all for it. No specific stuff. It's way too boring. You of all people should know that." The water for my shower heated up fast and I hopped in. As I shaved my legs I heard Miley argue with Dylan for another story.
That next morning was the last day of school. During first period many people were questioning me, wondering if me and Eli were an item yet. I tried my best to ignore them. The same went on through second, third and fourth.
At lunch I sat with Claire Hager, Megan Klux, Eli, Matt Slather and John Glen.
"So? Are you guys really boyfriend and girlfriend? Didn't you go on one date?" Claire questioned, curiosity filler her eyes. Eli and I both knew that they all wanted to know but were trying to act like they really didn't care. Except, of course, for Claire.
"We went on two if you don't count when I visit her at the library. And I guess you could consider us boyfriend and girlfriend," Eli answered with a casual tone, sneaking a peak at me every once in awhile to make sure he didn't say anything wrong. At the end, I gave a slight nod.
"That's cool. Now that that's out, I wanted to let everyone know that Megan and I are dating," Matt announced while looking at Megan with an unstoppable smile. Megan blushed and smiled, looking down at her food.
"This is weird. John and I are boyfriend girlfriend, too. Huh." Claire looked around the table.
None of us really knew what to think besides that this was very weird. But isn't everyone weird these days?
School my sophomore year went by really fast. Before I knew it, the summer hit. I know it's only been about a week since that day at lunch, but it seems more like five minutes.
Since then Eli and I have turned seventeen, Dylan has one more year at school and Miley is now planning to attend kindergarten this fall. One more week till she is five!
"Hey, Zoey," Eli greeted me and kissed me on my cheek. We were going to go have dinner at his house today to let me meet his family.
"Eli! How's that motorcycle comin' along? Almost done?" Dylan called from the kitchen. He was making Miley's dinner; spaghetti, green beans and milk.
"It's coming but not quite done. Another month or two and it should be good. Don't worry; you'll be one of the first people to ride it. Besides Zoey, of course," Eli replied, winking at me.
We slipped out of the house and talked about his future motorcycle till we got to his house.
"What if they don't like me?" I asked when we were outside of his door.
He put his hands on my neck and bent down to kiss me. "They will love you. Besides, Max already loves you. All you have to worry about are my parents and younger sister, Minnie. And Minnie is ten. She won't be hard to win over. Plus, my mom could love a murderer."
My arms went around his neck as I pulled him back to me again. "Alright. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
The door was flung open by his mother. She had a smile as bright as the sun against her white apron. "Why, you must be Zoey. It's so glad to finally meet you. Eli talks about you all of the time and Max is always beggin' to go to the library and see you. Come in, come in. Meet Ed and Minnie." She ushered us into the dining room where a gray haired chubby man sat at the end. Minnie was a tiny little thing on his left with Max seated beside her.
"Zoey!" Max yelled as he ran over and jumped into my arms.
"Hello, Zoey. How are you?" Ed asked.
"I'm fine Mr. Marlinton. How are you?"
"Oh, just swell. Well go on, have a seat. This here is Minnie. Minnie?"
"Hello," Minnie acknowledged me and went back to staring at the white empty plate in front of her.
Eli pulled out my chair, next to his mother, and took the seat next to me.
The dinner went great. Minnie warmed up and turned out to be a talker. Max smiled the entire time and pitched in with random thoughts from books that he has read. Ed and Eli's mother, Ruby, were very nice and did end up thinking that I was a very sweet girl. That worry was gone.
Eli carried his plate to the kitchen and I followed with mine. "Come on, we can go watch T.V in my room." We went upstairs and laid on his bed, his arms around me and holding me against him while I played with his fingers. Max ended up coming in later on and falling asleep against me.
By the end of the night, I had won over all of his family and achieved the hard-to-do honor of having Max fall asleep in under an hour. That made his family love me even more.
"They're nice. And I was worried," I said when me and Eli were sitting in his room. We were lying down again, but this time, he was flat and my head was on his chest. I was counting his heartbeats and fell asleep.
I awoke the next morning in my own bed with Eli lying shirtless on the floor.
"You fell asleep at my house so I picked you up and drove you here. Dylan was asleep so I let myself in with your key and put you in your bed. I didn't want to drive home when I was so tired so I just crashed here," Eli explained as he crawled up into bed with me.
My clothes from last night were still on.
"I didn't want to change you. It felt wrong," Eli said when he noticed I was looking at my outfit.
I smiled. "I'll be back then. It is going to be a pajama day." Gathering my pajamas, changed in the bathroom and slipped into bed again, kissing Eli good morning.
We laughed as I turned on the radio and Eli pulled me tightly against him and kissed me. I wound my fingers through his hair and wrapped my right leg around his waist. I felt his hands slide down to my waist and he pulled me even closer than before.
"Zoey! Miley and are going to go scout around for new clothes and birthday presents. We'll be back about one. It's 9:30," Dylan called before I heard the apartment door shut.
Eli rolled on top of me and propped himself up with his left elbow. My fingers went to pull him close against me. His abs were rock solid as I did so.
When he pulled away we each had a smile that went ear-to-ear.
"We have three and a half hours to ourselves," Eli informed me when he pulled me on top of him instead of the other way around. He moved his hand up and down my back as I ran my hands through his hair.
"Indeed we do," I replied with a smirk. He pulled my face down to his and I pulled myself up his body to reach him.
My fingers wrapped around his neck while his went around my waist.
We stayed like that for a good ten minutes taking time to breathe every so often. From there we went into the kitchen and had breakfast.
As I threw the poptart wrappers away, Eli's hands pulled me against him again. A giggle from me and a laugh from him. My legs were pulled up to rest on his hips while he gently put my back against the wall.
Our lips fit perfectly together, my fingers went carelessly through his hair and his hands held me up on him.
That night Miley and Dylan stayed at our grandparents.
Eli said that he was staying at a friend's house but the night was spent with me.
We finally started to go to bed at one in the morning.
He slept in a pair of Dylan's shorts and I in a soft blue nightgown. My body was pressed against his, each keeping the other warm. Nothing but sweet dreams went on.