Chapter Seventy-Eight: One and Only

'The One': a term used to describe an intense romantic attachment to someone that you'd want to spend the rest of your life with them.

*

"I was surprised that you asked me out, Landon," Elizabeth said as we walked through town, "I mean, I'm flattered and you're really nice, but wow."

I frowned, "Why's that so shocking?"

"You had a pretty intense thing with Alexis," she explained, curling her ponytail with her fingertips, "That and I wasn't expecting to be your choice of a rebound girl."

I was taken aback by her description and shook my head, "You're not a rebound girl."

It had been two weeks since Alexis had left, in that time I had only gotten one video call from her and unanswered text messages. The depression that befell me was a lot harder and sudden then I anticipated. I quickly realised I wanted some form of a connection, a relationship of some kind, just to have someone who wanted my company and wouldn't accidentally pity me like my dormmates.

I had hoped I wasn't treating Elizabeth like a rebound girl. When I asked around, Mia came back to me saying Elizabeth had been interested. And at that acknowledgment, I realised I was curious about the head cheerleader too. I wanted to see if there was more to the preppy personality that I couldn't tell was for show or not. So far, she hadn't disappointed.

We had decided to go down to the local arcade, an activity she was overjoyed at doing with me. We versed a few rounds on DDR and played some shooting games and obeyed the cliché of the boy winning the girl a prize; a light pink mouse. She was funny, and cool, and made me laugh when she geeked out about a handful of sports stars, something I honestly didn't think we'd have in common.

While she maintained the pretty chic look Elizabeth was known for, with her styled blonde hair and manicured appearance, she had a cosy fashion sense outside of the uniform, one that made even me want to cuddle her from how comfortable she looked. Her green sweater reminded me somewhat of Alexis' cardigan however…

Elizabeth hugged the plushie mouse to her, surprising herself when it squeaked.

"So, did Alexis end up graduating?" she asked as we passed some of the smaller stalls selling little knickknacks.

My throat felt somewhat tight at the mention of Alexis, but I answered, "Yeah. She had enough credits, she just isn't participating in the actual ceremony like everyone else."

Elizabeth nodded, examining a small wooden statuette of a wolf. "What's going on with you then? You think of going to New York for college?"

I shook my head, pocketing my hands. "Not necessarily. I'm hoping to get a scholarship somewhere. I may not have the luxury of being picky."

Elizabeth nodded, replacing the figurine and leaning forwards to look at key chains, she rested the mouse on the table so 'it could have a look too.' "I hear that," she cooed. She started looking further down the stall front.

I widened my eyes. "What?" I caught her shoulder and turned her around, "I thought you came from money or something, your parents have a freaking empire or whatever."

She chuckled and nodded, "I don't wear diamonds for fun." She clicked her tongue as she slightly shook her head, "You have no idea how much people want to get with a Harrison daughter, people will do some crazy shit for the promise of having a sliver of an empire." She turned on her heels and continued looking at what was on display, "Yeah, I come from money, but I don't like using it, ya know? It's not really mine and I would much rather my accomplishments be because of, well, me, not because of who my parents are or whatever strings they can pull to just give me whatever I want." She smiled about something. "Like, it took the school three years to get that my last name Harrison, was the Harrison empire Harrison. You have no idea how suddenly talented I was to them."

I scoffed, "Seriously?"

She nodded, "I expressed an interest in the Debating Team, and the next thing I know I'm fast tracked to be the closing speakers for our national team. Cheerleading is the only thing I know I did on my own."

"Ouch," I commented.

She chuckled, "It happens when you have money. Kinda sucks sometimes." She held the pink mouse up and gave it a quick squeeze, "Thanks for this by the way. It's really cute."

I smiled, unsure what to say. "Umm… so how's cheerleading then?" I asked.

Elizabeth smiled, dropping her arms as we continued down the path. "Going fine. We're working on a new routine and stuff. Kendal and I are excited to perform it."

"How is Kendal?"

I was having fun for the most part on this date. Elizabeth was easy to talk to, but easy didn't necessarily translate to interesting. As we strolled back towards my dorm, she was talking about some of her acrobatics classes, differing sporting things and could even talk to me about cycling. I liked her, Elizabeth was cool, but there was something weird about it, it wasn't the type of click I was expecting.

As the date was ending, we stood at the gate of our dorm waiting for the car picking up Elizabeth. She leant on the brick wall, giving me a playful wink.

She hipped me, "Hey."

"Yes?"

"Wanna hear a bad joke?" she asked.

"How bad is bad?"

She shrugged, "Pretty bad."

"Like funny bad?"

"More roll your eyes bad."

I smirked and nodded, "Yeah sure."

Elizabeth pushed off the wall and stood in front of me, making a fuss about me standing in a very specific spot and making a dramatic build up to what she was going to say, only to say, "Up-dog."

I raised a brow, "What?"

She nodded, "Up-dog."

I blinked, wondering if I misunderstood her. "I don't know what you're trying to say."

"Up-dog," she said with a wider smile.

I pursed my lips, shaking my head in defeat, "What is Up-dog?"

"Not much, yourself?" The smirk on Elizabeth's face was like she had just said the punchline, and it took me a few seconds to understand.

"Oh, yeah. Fine. You got me, what is up dog? You're funny."

Elizabeth started laughing, clapping her hands as she heaved over holding her stomach, "I kid you not, I have never in my life managed to get that to work." She pressed a hand to her face, her eyes tearing up from how hard she was laughing.

I laughed along, more at her laughter then at the silly joke. "You seem really proud of yourself."

She nodded, wiping her eye as she composed herself, "I am. I really am." Her attention went to a car approaching from the top of the hill, slowing down when it saw us on the side of the road. "I had a good time," she said as the car pulled up beside us, "This was a lot of fun."

When I agreed, a silence formed between us, not necessarily awkward, more anticipation. I took a step closer, prompting her to lift her chin, and we kissed, the both of us hesitant at first, but it was soft and nice.

But I felt no spark, no feeling in my chest or buzz in my head that I had felt before. When we kissed three times, it didn't feel like it came from a place of passion, more from obligation, which was a horrible feeling.

What solidified the guilt running through me was that I think Elizabeth was equally aware. There was a moment where we both lingered, when I opened my eyes and took her in, her eyeline rested at chest height and she sucked in her lips, slight irritation forming in her expression before that façade of perkiness took over. "I see you around, Landon, okay?" she said coolly, turning and opening the car door.

"Elizabeth-"

"It's fine. Really, I promise you it is. Give me a call when you're actually ready for a relationship," she assured, giving me a wink, "Thanks for the mouse." With that, she disappeared into her window tinted car and drove off. I could only manage a wave goodbye.

"You bloody dickhead, Landon," I hissed, pocketing my hands and kicking at the ground, "You heartless son of a bitch…"

I kicked at the gate when it wouldn't open immediately, continuing to scold myself as I opened the door. Estelle was in my face immediately, "So…" she cooed, "How'd it go?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Star," I grumbled sidestepping her.

Estelle frowned, turning with me and shadowing me all the way to the kitchen, "Didn't you guys share a kiss though? It can't have been all bad."

I opened the fridge, raising a brow, "Were you spying on me?"

She dismissed my outrage, "It's hardly spying when you're just standing in the front yard in view of every front facing window."

Bonnie, Robyn and Mia were in the lounge room, doing activities ranging from radio listening to homework. "She's got a point," Bonnie called, "I mean, do anything at your own risk."

"Can you stay out of this?" I snapped, startling everyone.

"Ouch, it really didn't go well," Estelle remarked.

I closed the fridge, biting the inside of my cheek. "No Estelle, it was great. Wonderful! I got her a mouse plushie and she's really cool and has hair that smells like strawberries and we talked about tonnes of stuff that we liked and-"

Estelle made a loud gasp as she stepped away from me. "Oh my god you friend zoned her!" she exclaimed, "You friend zoned Elizabeth freaking Harrison!"

This caused a collective odd look from the girls, even Mia, who dialled down the volume on the radio to listen. I was confused. "What? No. I didn't friendzone, Elizabeth."

"You totally did!" Estelle pointed at me, "Otherwise your little make-out session would've been much more intense!"

"You kissed her?" Robyn signed.

Estelle nodded. "Oh, you should've seen it, it was the smallest snog session I've ever seen." As she spoke, she made kissing gestured with her fingers.

Bonnie somewhat came to my rescue. "That doesn't necessarily mean he friend zoned her. People just starting out don't always go straight into the physical stuff," she said as she rolled towards us, "When's the next time you're seeing her?"

I paused, suddenly feeling bashful. "I… I don't think we will, at least for a while," I confessed.

Bonnie blinked. "I need an explanation here, Landon. People don't just disagree to another date with a Harrison."

"I… didn't want a date, and the feeling seemed mutual," I informed.

"It didn't look mutual when she stopped by the house," Robyn signed, "She seemed excited."

"Okay, look. We kissed, I didn't feel anything, I guess she felt the same way, she left. And I am under the impression she thinks I rebounded her, not friend zoned her." I spoke quickly and simply, so Estelle wouldn't continue to dwell on this.

"Landy, Landy, Landy," Estelle started, putting an arm around my shoulders, "There's a difference between talking and date talking. Normal talking leads to friendship not romance!"

I pulled her arm off me, "Oh my God! Bonnie help me!"

Bonnie puffed out her cheeks and shook her head, "I don't think I can dude. At worse, it sounds like you friend zoned each other."

"And she liked you," Mia chimed in, sitting on one of the counter chairs, "What am I supposed to say to her at training? What if she asks me if you think she's ugly?"

"She's not going to ask you if I think she's ugly," I assured, growing tired of this conversation.

"Yeah, she doesn't need your assurance, she's hot. She knows it!" Estelle exclaimed. In the same moment, Ava walked in, one earbud in, reading a magazine. When Estelle called out to her, she listened, "Ava! You like girls. Is Elizabeth hot?"

Ava blinked, too out of context to understand. "Excuse you, I like Robyn," she gestured, "She's hot to me."

"You tell 'em, babe," Robyn replied, Ava offering a kiss face as she reinserted her earbud and walked to the lounge.

"So, what happened? Did you seriously not like her?" Estelle badgered.

I shook my head, "No. She's great!"

"Then why isn't there a second date?" Bonnie asked.

"She didn't say there wouldn't be a second date, just that it might be a while," I informed.

The girls exchanged a look. "What's a while?" Mia asked.

"What exactly did she say?" Bonnie demanded.

I sighed, throwing my arms in the air as I answered, "Give me a call when you're actually ready for a relationship."

My words silenced all the girls' fusses, a look of simultaneous awe and fright washing over their faces. "You aren't over Alexis," Mia finally announced.

I sighed, turning my attention to the walls, the window, anywhere but the girls. "No, Mia. I'm not over Alexis. Quite frankly, I don't know when I will," I admitted, "I thought, maybe if I found another relationship, it would make it easier. But I just went out with a lovely girl who saw straight through that, and now likely resents me. Meanwhile, the woman who I gave way too many craps about is living it up in NYC and hasn't made the time to reach out to me!" I didn't mean to sound so harsh, but I just felt a rage in my chest, a rising heat that made me wonder if I'd taken my medication yet or not.

Estelle bit the inside of her cheek as she checked the time, "How much more daylight do we have?" she asked.

"Maybe an hour or so," Bonnie answered.

Estelle nodded, pressing her hands together in thought. "Okay, we're doing this, you have zero say," she informed, pushing me aside to get to the freezer. After some rifling around and one attempt at me trying to leave, soiled by Ava who blocked the doorway, Estelle pulled out ice-cream containers. "We're gonna have a proper grieving session."

I shook my head, "Estelle, that's a girl thing. I don't need an ice-cream cry session." Ava placed a hand on my shoulder when I tried to pass her.

"Fine. We don't have to talk, but we do have ice-cream, and this is clearly something you're bottling up like an immature man-baby," Estelle slighted.

I shook my head again, "I don't need ice-cream Estelle."

After a moment of silence, Estelle sighed and started packing up the ice-cream, "Fine." She stacked them on top of each other, pausing before she was going to put them back. "Are you aware that she left us too, Landon?" Her tone was dismayed, her eyes covered by some of her hair as she looked down, "She's been too busy to talk to any of us. And to you, maybe, what we had with her was nothing compared to what you had with her, but she was our friend too. She made artworks on us just like she had with you, she knew us just as well as she knew you." Estelle's hands turned white from how tightly she held the ice-cream, relaxing as she sighed, "You might not need this, but I sure as hell do." She unstacked the ice-cream and walked to a drawer, pulling out a handful of spoons.

The other girls slowly wandered over to the kitchen counter, Robyn going straight over to the princess to comfort her, as she had suddenly become distressed by admitting this.

I puffed up my cheeks and sighed, rubbing the back of my head as I turned to face the girls. "What kind of ice-cream do we have?" I asked.

Estelle straightened at my question, managing a smile as she wiped her eyes and nodded, "We've got… chocolate vanilla mix, cookies and cream, mint and plain strawberry for Plain-Jane-Mia." Mia made a triumphant nod at the mention of her flavour taste.