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CHAPTER 21:

"When will I see you once again?
So, not to forget,
I keep a picture of you in my head.
And your eyes see right through me still.

...

You've grown on me
And I'll sing along with you.

...

And I love the way you sing your song
La la la la la la la la la
And I love the way you hum along."

Just Jinger (Your song)

Why couldn't I stop thinking about him?

Up until yesterday I couldn't stand the thought of Elliot in close proximity to me. Had he grown on me? I hated to admit that he had and, worse than that, that I liked being close to him... really close to him... kissing him.

That single kiss lingered on my lips long after. I even thought about it the next morning at school. Would things be weird between the two of us today? I really hoped not. He'd become so easy to be around since my first day of work at Enzo's.

As I walked to class with my books in hand, I ran into Elliot. Before I could think of how to greet him, he flashed me a smile and swung his arm around my shoulders.

"Hey," is all he said and escorted me to class.

Easy. No hesitation. That was Elliot.

I was a little bit nervous trying to fight my sudden conscious attraction to him. His grey t-shirt didn't help the battle as it failed to hide the contours of his chest.

As we walked side-by-side through biology class, every student couldn't help but stare. Maybe it had something to do with the rumour that Marcie started.

Or not.

I tried to capture some of Elliot's overflowing confidence so that I could walk to our table as if the stares didn't matter.

The class settled after Coach entered the room. He gave us the task of checking the heartbeats-per-minute and blood pressure of our partners. I remembered when Vee and I did this assignment a couple of months back.

One partner had to lie on the lab desk for 3 minutes before the other partner could record the beat count. The next step would be to check the blood pressure.

"Okay. I'll go first!" Elliot offered, sliding easily onto the desk.

I smiled at his playfulness. "All right then. I know it's a little tough for you but you have to be still for three whole minutes. That means no talking."

He zipped his lips, closed his eyes and relaxed on his back.

While he wasn't looking, I took the chance to check him out. His hair had fallen away from his ears and I noticed he'd pierced at least one ear. I followed the length of his muscular arm to his hand. I had the urge to hold it like I did in the park.

Three minutes were up and I put my index and middle finger together against the left side of his neck where I found his pulse beating hard against my finger tips. I counted for a minute then recorded the number.

He sat up to face me and held out his right arm. I tied the blood pressure band around his bulging bicep and felt his right hand sneakily clutch my hip.

"You're supposed to relax," I smiled, picking up the pump.

"You need to relax, Nora." Then his left hand grasped my other hip.

I squeezed the pump rapidly in my clammy palm. I felt Elliot's eyes (and hands) on me.

"When the patient's arm goes numb, it's a good time to stop and release the pressure."

I broke out of my trance and breathed as I released the pressure in the band. I'd been put under a spell by Elliot's seductive touch. I undid the band after scribbling down some made up number.

"Do you want to do it again?" he smirked.

"Do what?"

"The blood pressure."

"No," I automatically responded. "I got it."

"Okay," he hopped off the table. "Your turn." Then he grabbed me by the hips and popped me on to the table, in front of him. "Let's do your blood pressure first," he told me as he strapped the navy-blue band around my bicep.

He held the pump in his hand for a moment as I waited for him to begin. I looked up to ask what was keeping him, when he surprised me with a quick kiss to the lips. He pulled away, looked at me then smiled. I couldn't help but return a flushed smile.

He completed the blood pressure check flawlessly then wrote down the reading.

"Do it again," I said.

"The blood pressure?"

"No. The other thing," I hinted.

He smiled when he caught on, then stood up against the desk with my legs on either side of him. He put his hands on the table on either side of my thighs and leaned closer to me. He wasn't going to move in all the way. It was up to me.

He was less than an inch away from me. I've waited for this since we kissed yesterday in the park. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him slowly.

"Is that a new method for checking one's pulse, Mr Saunders?" said Coach, his voice only a few feet away.

Elliot quickly moved away and we both saw Coach standing at the corner of our table. Elliot thought quick on his feet. "Yes. It's modern science. I'm still conducting further tests though."

"Test that elsewhere. In this class, you do it my way," Coach said with his hands behind his back.

"Yes, sir!" Elliot saluted.

I let out an embarrassed laugh once Coach had moved away.

"Let's check your pulse now," Elliot said, rubbing his hands together.

"Oh, I think it's working," I mumbled, lying down on the table.

Elliot took a seat next to me. He checked his watch counting down the seconds, and I watched him.

"Stop checking me out," he faked annoyance.

"Your eyes are so blue," I remarked.

"Why, thank you," he fluttered his eyelashes. I giggled.

After Elliot took my pulse count, as if perfectly timed, Coach announced, "Switch partners! Those that are the patients, remain on the tables. Doctors, please move one table down. If you're at the back, move to the front tables."

I watched Elliot leave me for the front desk, and when I looked back to where he had been seated before leaving, I found Patch looking down at me with his black eyes.