The One Where Elliot’s Excited About My Car Trouble

'Hey. It's me, Thalia.' I text Elliot after a lot of contemplation.

It's nearly 10 at night and I have been thinking about what happened between us since she dropped me home. I have the whole house to myself because Tara and Teagan are at the movies on a friends' date and they are going to stay over at Tara's house because her place is closer.

I am very grateful for the solitude because if those two were here, they would keep pestering me about it and I generally make better decisions all alone.

After a lot of contemplation, I decided that there's no harm in giving it a try. Elliot hasn't done anything that makes her come off as a bad person. Or someone who'd even hurt a fly. She is really genuine and kind. So, why not? But I do want it to be a secret for a while. Or at least not very in the open.

'Hello, Mystery Girl. Sup?' The text pulls me out of my thoughts and I sit up, crossing my legs.

'I thought about us.' I text back, biting my lip. A nervous lump blocks my throat when the typing bubbles disappear.

Shit… I messed up. I did something wron-

Before I could spiral any further into self loathing, Slumber Party by Ashnikko starts playing. Elliot's name shines in bold and I groan before answering the call.

"If I wanted to talk, don't you think I would've called you?" I ask as soon as her face comes in view. She grins at me sheepishly.

"I missed your pretty face." I can't help but chuckle at her. She looks so adorable. All domestic and all. Her hair is in a messy bun and she seems to be in bed.

"Flattery would get you nowhere, Fernsbury." I lie down too, "But yeah… I did think about you and you are right… I want to find out what this is that we have." The smile that spreads across her face is priceless and makes my stomach feel all ticklish.

"I was worried you'd say no…" She shrugs, looking sad for a moment but lightens up immediately, "But I am so happy that you didn't!" She exclaims and I giggle at how excited she is, "I mean now I can put all my date ideas to use! I have so many!"

"You know… I thought I was a dork." I grin at her. "Now we can be dorks together!" She laughs, her nose wrinkling and her eyes shut. I take a screenshot before the moment is lost forever. "But I… uh… can we keep it on the down low till we are official?" I ask, a little hesitant. She can shoot me down because this is like literally being shoved back in the closet.

"I'm cool with it. The only problem is I am extremely touchy. My love language is physical touch." She looks worried.

"Bitch, me too!" I exclaim a little too excitedly. "I mean… Yeah I get it. We can hide in plain sight. Let's just not say anything, act how we would with someone that we are dating and if anyone asks anything we'd just tell them we are sleeping together." I shrug. She raises her eyebrows, looking amused.

"Someone's naughtier than I thought." A smirk takes over her features, making me blush a deep crimson. Thank God, I dimmed the lights in my room.

"I am not a goody two shoes. And it's not a secret to any of our friends that I would sleep with you the first chance I get. I just didn't know you were interested in me. Especially after today's incident." I am still bitter about Cynthia. Her name alone pisses me off.

"Cynthia is not something you should be worried about." Elliot assures me. I can see that she means it and it's just my insecurities.

"But she is your ex." I sigh heavily.

"I have no feelings for her, Thalia. She's just okay in bed and I needed something to blow the steam somehow."

"I'll take your word for it and I won't tell you to stay away from her but if we are doing this, I want to be exclusive." I say seriously. This is not something I am kidding about.

"Obviously. This is exclusive. I am too possessive for it not to be." She grins and I roll my eyes.

"You don't have to worry about me. No one likes the boring ol' me."

"You aren't boring and trust me, the way people stare at you in the hallways makes my blood boil." She nearly growls at the end. And I would be lying if I said that wasn't attractive.

"Okay then. I think we are dating." I say with a small smile.

"Your sister and Tara would be very happy." I groan.

"I'd never hear the end of it." Elliot cackles like crazy as if I have told the funniest joke ever.

"You aren't supposed to laugh at that! You are supposed to protect me." I grumble, my brows furrowing at her. She calms down to chuckles.

"Sorry, babe. I do not come between sisters." I decide to ignore the zoo in my stomach at babe and roll my eyes again.

"Have fun kissing my ghost then."

"I draw the line at necrophilia." Her nose is wrinkled in disgust. I chuckle at her.

"Hey, do you know a good mechanic around here?"

"What's up? Car trouble?" She asks, her eyes glowing with curiosity.

"My Grandpa gave me his old car and I just finished saving up for it. I want to get it painted black and looked at. It makes a weird noise everytime I try to start it." I frown. I have had so many memories with the car and I don't want to scrape it.

"What's the model?" She asks, sitting up. She looks like a kid loose in Disney World.

"'67 Chevy Impala." The noise that comes out of her before she puts her hand over her mouth and her ears heat up, is the cutest and the funniest noise I have ever heard. It's like an excited squeal and a mouse's squeak.

"Please let me take a look at her! I am really good with cars! I'll even only take the money for the parts." I look at her skeptical about her ability but she looks really excited and confident. "I brought Jaxx's car out of death. And I fix my bike every time something happens to it and I am working on a Mustang. I swear I am good at it." My loud laughter makes her voice trail off at the end and she resembles a kicked puppy. I hold my finger up to tell her to give me a second and sober myself up.

"You are so cute! That was hilarious." I gawuff as Elliot frowns at me.

"You know what? I break up with you. You are mean." That makes me laugh even more.

"Aw… baby… I wish I could squish your cheeks right now and kiss you." I gush.

"I wish I was there too." She smiles goofily, "But it's late and we have school tomorrow."

"Yeah… You can come over and take a look at the car after the charity event." I tell her, making her squeal again.

"Thank you so much! I promise you won't regret it." She looks very sincere and I find myself believing her.

"I believe you. Also, is there anything you can't do? You are an amazing student, a basketball star, a great singer and guitar player and now this? There's gotta be one thing you are bad at." The mischievous twinkle in her eyes makes me dread the next words that are about to come out of her mouth.

"Well… I cannot bottom for sure. So there's that."

"Really? That's what you come up with? There has to be something more substantial. You can't be perfect." I deadpan.

"Just putting it out there." She shrugs innocently. I roll my eyes before deciding that two can play this game.

"Well, that might be a problem since I'm a top too." I smirk at her. She snorts and rolls her eyes at me.

"Yeah, right." I feel offended by the sarcasm in her voice.

"I am!" I exclaim.

"And I believe you." I huff at her raised eyebrows before we change the course of the conversation.

"Hey, New Girl." I turn around to find a guy leaning against the locker beside me. His eyes roam over my body and I have to control myself from shivering in disgust. He looks like trouble. His dark brown, nearly black eyes seem to be eye raping me and I feel excessively uncomfortable, "I'm Adrian." I nod at him before turning back to my locker. "Come on, now. This is no way to treat a guy who wants to show you a good time." I shrug off his hand from my shoulder before fixing him with a hard glare.

"I am not interested in you." I gather my books, thinking that he would leave but he does not budge at all.

"Everyone is interested in me. You don't have to play hard to get, you know? I am already attracted to you." The smirk on his face makes me want to gag and I find myself comparing it to Elliot's. I mean… hers is like way hotter.

"The girl said no, Adrian." An arm around my shoulders brings me back from my daydreaming. The familiar Axe deodorant invades my senses and makes me relax visibly. I look up to find Elliot already staring down at me with a smile, "Hey, Mystery Girl."

"Good morning." I greet back with the same pleasant smile.

"So, you are one of the f*gs. That explains it." I watch as Elliot turns to the guy with narrowed eyes. Her arm around me tightens and I can feel the anger start to take over her body.

"What did you just say?" Before anyone else can even blink an eye, Elliot has Andrew pinned against the locker that he was leaning against, "You want to say that again?" She growls, her jaw clenched so tightly that I fear it might pop.

A pleasurable shiver runs down my spine and I shake my head to get it thinking straight again.

"Come on now, Fernsbury… Let me go." He smirks at her. Elliot wounds her fist back and I jump in. I caught her fist before she could swing and turn her head to face me. Her eyes soften a little as she meets my gaze.

"Elliot, you have a charity to play at. This will mess that up. He's not worth it." I remind her, placing a hand on her chest. Her racing heart calms down a little the longer she stares at me and I feel her relax under my touch.

But of course… People are jerks for no reason.

"F*gs." Adrian coughs and Elliot smirks at me evilly.

"You're right. I don't want to mess up my hand." She turns back to Adrian and I have never feared for anyone's life so much before.

I do not want Elliot to ruin her life and go to jail for murder.

She grabs Adrian's head and brings his head down on her knee. A crunch echoes through the corridor. The people who weren't staring at us previously are now super focused on us.

"Son of a bitch!" Adrian yells when Elliot lets him go and grimaces at her jeans.

"You got blood on it. Sad. It was my favorite pair." She mumbles as he leans over, holding his nose which is bleeding profusely.

"Elliot…" I trail off, a little scared of her. I never thought someone so filled with sunshine and rainbows could have this much anger inside them. She looks at me and her eyes widen in alarm.

"Shit… Thals… I am so sorry." She apologizes and extends a hand towards me. Before I can even react to her, a deep voice booms from down the hallway.

"Fernsbury, Jace and Mathews! My office! Now!" The Principal is standing there with her fists clenched tightly. I gulp again and look at Elliot's outstretched hand.

Oh well… We are in this together now.

I take her hand in mine and pull her along with me to face the doom.