Jo
WHEN ELOISE'S HEAD pops in by the door, I don't expect it at all so I jump on my seat like someone's who has been caught stealing candy from a kid and she grins.
"I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"
"Kinda?" I say laughing even though I'm hurriedly backspacing the words I'd searched up on Wikipedia. How to get over a crush in 24 hours.
She gives me a mischievous smile. "I was just going to tell you that the pizza's here."
I sigh and run my hands down my hair. "Thanks."
She turns to leave but then I quickly call her name.
"Yeah?"
I try to look nonchalant as I speak. "Do you think Flynn is still going to show up tonight?"
She frowns like she's thinking about it and then she shakes her head. "Probably not. I'm not a hundred percent sure though but I don't think so."
"Okay." I nod. That's good enough for me. He's the last person I want to see after what went down at the field today. I smile. "I'll be out in a minute."
I grab my insulin and head into the bathroom and when I'm done with my business, I step into the bookstore just as Otis flips the sign outside the door.
I take a seat on the multicolored rug at the corner of the bookstore and heaven makes it way to my nose immediately Eloise flips the pizza box open.
"Oh, this should be good." Otis grins and maniacally rubs his hands together like a villain in a cartoon.
Pizza slices are passed round and trivial conversations begin but I zone out pretty quickly as I nibble on my second slice and stare at the life outside the window. Different thoughts race through my head as a result of the events that happened yesterday and today and I sigh before facing forward to meet the curious faces of my co-workers.
"What?"
Eloise is the first to speak. "You seem lost."
"I assure you, it's a boy problem." Otis says confidently as he snags another slice.
I drop my half pizza slice in the box and groan out of frustration. The need to talk to someone about the persistent thoughts in my head is ever growing. "I have a problem."
"Called it." Otis shrugs and Eloise nudges him in the ribs.
"We're listening," she says attentively, suddenly putting on a serious face.
"I'm not sure but I think I have a crush on two people at the same time."
Eloise cracks her Pepsi open. "Not unusual, hon. Carry on."
"What concerns me is if any of these people like you back," Otis says, raising a brow.
"I don'tâI don't know."
"Oh you poor little thing."
"No, I mean, I'm not sure," I frown. "I can't say. It's not like you can tell what goes on boys minds or anything. Look, that's not even the problem."
"You developed a crush on both of them at the same time?"
"No," I shake my head. "The first one has been a while. The secondâ" I lick my dry lips and fold my arms. "Very recently."
"Well, I think that if you'd actually really liked the first one, you wouldn't fall for someone else besides them."
I blush and shake my head. "There is no falling in this situation. It's just a measly crush. I'm sure it'd be over by the time I wake up."
Otis snorts. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not the way it works."
"What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
"Look," Otis says, holding my face in his hands and squishing my cheeks together. "As your big brother and sisterâ"
"You're only six months older than I am."
"Doesn't matter," he waves his hand to the side. "The point is, I think you should be honest with yourself."
"About what?"
"About who you like more."
"Look," Eloise tells me. "If you talk to two of them and you lead them on, you've just got to make up your mind on who you really like so you don't hurt either of them. But if you wanna date them both, then go ahead. Polyamory is still a thing by the way."
They both stare at me, waiting for my response and then I blink and wave my arms defensively. "I think both of you need to chill."
Otis blinks. Once. Then rapidly. "Why?"
"Because, you're making it sound like a big deal."
"Matters of the heart are kind of a big deal, Jo."
I can't tell if he's serious or joking.
"Do you really still like the first one?"
"Um," I hesitate. Why did I just hesitate? "Yeah, of course."
Eloise hums and goes back to her slice of pizza. It's cold now, so she tosses it back into the box. "You don't sound too sure."
I feel a headache coming and then I rub my fingers against my temples and groan.
"Now, now," Otis coos. "Let's not put any pressure on the child."
I roll my eyes and sigh. I just wanted to talk. Now I feel like some damsel in distress. Boyish distress.
Eloise nods dramatically. "Right? So who's the other guy?"
"What?"
"Who's the other guy?" Otis asks, wiggling his brows. "Everyone knows Flynn's the first guy, I mean, obviously. So who's the other guy? The very recently guy?"
Eloise leans against the shelf. "I bet it's that preppy guy that stopped by the other night."
Otis' mouth drops to the floor. "D The snob?"
"I'm sorry, D The snob?" I stare at the looks they exchange and my brows shoot up to my hairline. I have so many questions.
"Oh yeah," Eloise laughs. "Otis said he looked like a snob that night. So we gave him a nickname."
Backtrack. Backtrack. "Okay, first off," I start, shooting a finger upwards. "Flynn's the very recently guy and Daniel's the first guy. And what'd you mean by 'everyone knows'? Who's everyone?"
Otis nudges Eloise's shoulder. "Me and this chick."
A sigh of great relief leaves my mouth and then I narrow my eyes at both of them.
"What?" Eloise laughs. "It was obvious. I'm surprised Flynn's the other guy and not D snob. Lookâ"she pats Otis' shoulder like he's not sitting right next to her. "Even better."
"I don't know what you're talking about." I say defensively even though my face is heating up. "I hated Flynn for a pretty long time."
"Sure you did," Otis says. "I'm sure he did too. You know, cos from the first day you got a job here, his face wasn't so scarce anymore."
"Plus," Eloise wiggles her finger at me. "Each time he drops by and you're cooped up in that office, he initially stops by the counter. And what does he do?"
"Oh, do I take it from here?" Otis asks giving me a shit-eating grin because he knows I want to hear everything.
"Yes please." Eloise responds.
"It's always like this. El, you're El. I'm Flynn." He points to himself. I swear to god, I hate these two.
Eloise grins and nods. Then she grabs the pizza box and imitates herself writing something in a book.
"Jingle, jingle, jingle."
I frown. "He starts with a Christmas song?"
"No," Eloise shakes her head. "That's the sound the door makes when it opens. You know, cos he's walking in now."
I scoff but it sounds more like an amused laughter. I fold my arms and watch their dramatics.
"El," Otis nods and then he gestures to an empty space. "Dude."
Eloise looks up from the box. "Sup Flynn."
Otis takes on a cool expression. "Is she in?"
"Always."
"Does she ever come out?"
"Once in a while. I think she does a lot of work in there."
Otis schools his expression into that face Flynn makes when he's concerned about something. "You think she's had anything to eat?"
"I'm not sure." Eloise breaks character and turns to me. "Sometimes, he asks if you're in the mood to talk."
"And then, he reminds us to check up on you."
"And he also tells us not to tell you about any of this."
"Which you just did."
They both nod solemnly.
"So you don't check up on me because youâ"
"Oh no, no, no, no, no," Eloise quickly interrupts me. "No. Don't say it like that. I see different faces at that counter everyday. It's only natural to forget sometimes. Flynn does a great job reminding me."
I smile. "I was only messing with you, but, I have no idea of what you and Otis are insinuating." That's a big, fat whooping lie. "You've just got to promise me you won't tell him about any of this."
"Cross my heart and hope to die." Otis says and then he frowns. "Actually, just ignore the second part."
"We don't snitch." Eloise laughs. "Ever."
They just did but I'm just going to ignore that.
"Good." I get to my feet and grab what is left of the pizza and its box. "It'll be over before you know it."
Otis starts to laugh but when I shoot him a glare, he shuts up immediately.
That's right. I tell myself as I open the door and flip the sign back to Open. So what if he asked those questions? He cares about me. It's not unusual for friends to care about each other. It doesn't mean he's in love with me or anything. It's just me, overthinking. Like I always do.
I dump the contents in my hand and brush my hair back as a comforting plan begins to make its way into my head. It'll be over before you know it because girls like me don't go out with boys like Flynn Cauley. Not in real life.