Chapter 11: Two Completely Platonic People
"Elliot," I greeted him. He told me he'd be here this morning when I warned him that I had to talk to him.
"Grace," he nodded as he sat at the highest point of the bleachers.
"May I ask why you chose the top of the bleachers?" I muttered as I trekked up the steps.
"No, but you can ask yourself why not?" he reiterated.
"Oh, I know the answer already- because these things are so high," I replied as I dropped beside him.
"Scared of heights?" he asked me.
"No," I answered before staring at my hands.
"What'd you have to talk to me about?" he inquired.
I continued to stare at my palms. I don't exactly know how to start it. I'm not quite sure what you'd call the events that took place at homecoming committee yesterday. We stood awfully close and it was quite awkward. The only thing I could think about was Elliot and his stupid theories. I placed my hands on my head.
"I think Phoenix almost kissed me yesterday," I told him. "And I don't want to hear 'I told you so' because I swear I will rip out your jugular." As I looked at Elliot, he started laughing. "It's not funny!" I snapped as I shoved him. He fell over slightly before sitting upright again, continuing his laugh fest.
"I'm sorry," he finished chuckling. "Actually, I'm not. It's pretty funny."
"Of all people, why'd I come and talk to you?" I grunted.
"How did it happen?" he furthered his questioning.
"Well he was blocking off the doorway, and I tried to squeeze by. He grabbed my hand and he had this look on his face," I explained.
"A look?" Elliot asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah, he was, like, biting his lip and he just looked...I don't know, like he wanted to kiss me," I told Elliot. "But it's nothing, right? He probably would've wanted to kiss any girl in that situation. It was my fault for trying to squeeze by, you know? I doubt it meant anything."
"You literally just explained that he wanted to kiss you. Now you're talking about it meant nothing?" Elliot asked with a flat look on his face.
"If it meant something, that means you'd be right, and you're not right," I bluntly retorted.
"What would you have done had he kissed you?" Elliot asked.
"He can't," I replied.
"It's not that hard to kiss someone. You just lean in and...you know," he responded. Actually I don't know because I've never been kissed but I'll pretend I do know for the sake of conversation.
"No, I mean, he can't kiss me unless I ask him to," I told Elliot.
"Gee, for people who are completely platonic, you talk about kissing pretty often," Elliot expressed, earning a glare.
"What do I do? Things are so awkward now," I groaned, ignoring his previous statement.
"Talk to him about it," Elliot shrugged.
"Are you crazy?" I asked him. "Can I get some plausible advice? Thanks."
"You come to me for advice, but refuse to listen to what I tell you," he sighed.
"I'll just pretend it didn't happen," I muttered before perking up. "That's it! I'll just pretend it didn't happen!"
"That's not a very good-," he trailed but I cut him off, standing up.
"You're a genius, Elliot!" I exclaimed as I began jogging down the steps.
"It's a bad idea," Elliot called from behind me.
"Thanks again!"
+ + +
Like usual, Phoenix was at my house later that day. I was sitting in the kitchen with my mom, who was cooking. "Ask Phoenix if he's staying for dinner," my mom requested.
"He always stays," I told her, trying to find an excuse as to why I shouldn't duck my head into the stairway and shout to see if he was staying or not. And I left my phone on the charger upstairs, so texting him the question isn't an option.
"Just ask him, Grace," my mom sighed. "And don't yell. I have a headache." I grumbled unhappily as I got up from my stool, approaching the stairs. I began going up them, dropping my feet, creating a loud noise. "Gracelyn Addison Jacobs!" my mother practically screeched from the kitchen. I immediately jogged up the stairs silently, wondering why she was yelling if she had a headache.
I walked towards my brother's room, peeking into the opened door. The two boys were sat in front of the television, playing videogames with focused expressions on their faces. I cleared my throat quietly as I rubbed my hands along my sweatpants, remembering what Elliot had said. Pretend it didn't happen. "Phoenix," I spoke from the doorway.
Almost immediately, the game was paused and he turned to look at me. "Yeah, Grace?"
"Seriously? You're going to pause it right after I spawn into enemy territory?" my brother sighed as he stared at the screen of the television.
"My mom wants to know if you're staying for dinner," I informed him.
"You really had to come up here and ask that? Like you don't already know the answer," my brother snapped.
"Shut up, Leo. She told me to ask," I retorted.
"Yeah, I'm staying," Phoenix responded. I didn't look at him as I ducked out of the room. Ignoring whatever happened in the library and pretending nothing happened is a lot harder than it seems. Elliot should've warned me at least.
I made my way down the stairs and informed my mother, and my father, who had just arrived, of the fact that Phoenix would be staying for dinner. "What's new?" my father chuckled.
My mom told me to start setting the table and I sighed as I put a plate at each spot. It was a six seater table, and there seemed to be just enough seats for everyone in the house. I wished there were only five so I could eat in the living room to avoid the awkwardness that was about to take place.
Usually when Phoenix eats here, I keep my head low, scarf down my food, wash my plate, and then rush upstairs. However, my father is actually home for dinner today and he'd die before he'd let me leave the dinner table early. I chose the seat at the end of the table, which is beside Avery and across from my brother. Phoenix usually sits at the complete other end.
"Good evening, Mr. Jacobs," Phoenix greeted as he ambled down the steps. My father grinned at him and they ensued in conversation while I waited for Avery to appear from the top of the steps. My brother jogged down the steps, followed by my groggy older sister. I tried to silently tell her to sit next to me but she walked to the seat closest to the stairwell, the shortest walk, and dropped, moving her plate forward to make room for her heavy head.
Phoenix walked over and plopped in the seat across from me, laughing at something my brother said, who took the seat beside him. I groaned quietly under my breath, watching as everyone else took their seats. My mother sat beside me and my father sat beside her, directly across from Avery, who was now sitting up, but slowly dozing off. We all began digging in, even my drowsy sister.
Casual conversation followed and once my father noticed I wasn't joining in, he leaned over slightly to look at me. "You okay over there, Grace?" he inquired.
I nodded sheepishly, staring at my favorite meal, which didn't seem as good now that I could feel Phoenix watching me. "Yeah, my stomach just hurts."
"Cramps?" my mom attempted to whisper from beside me. My face burnt red and Avery snorted, trying to cover it up with a slight cough.
"No, mom, I'm fine," I told her, cringing as I stared at my food.
"Maybe you should eat, honey," my mom expressed and I sighed and weakly lifted a bite to my mouth. I chewed the cooling food, aware of the fact that everyone was staring at me. I had a large bite of food in my mouth with a red face. I could see why they were staring.
Once dinner ended, it was my job to wash dishes. Because my brother said he was going to take a shower, Phoenix decided to take it upon himself to help me with the dishes by drying them. My mother thought it was a phenomenal idea and was happy to be relieved of the job. I sighed and kept my back towards him as I quickly scrubbed the dishes and shoved them back towards him.
"Are you ignoring me?" he inquired curiously.
"No," I retorted, scrubbing a plate quickly.
"Okay," he answered doubtfully. "So how are you doing?"
"Fine," I blurted, shoving the dripping dish towards him.
"You missed a spot," he told me. I sighed and extended my hand, waiting for him to place the plate in my hand. When I didn't receive the dish, I turned and he was holding it at his side. It still had suds all over it. "Let me wash and you dry."
I scoffed and wiped my hands on the sink towel, backing up a few feet for him to take my place. I grabbed the towel from him, waiting for him to hand me the next plate. Instead of cleaning in silence, he insisted on speaking. "Have you made any progress with Elliot?" he asked me.
"No," I curtly responded.
"When do you plan on asking him to homecoming?" Phoenix inquired.
"Don't know," I answered, sighing loudly to try and alert him of my need for silence.
He turned around with his dish and looked at me. "Are you mad at me?" he inquired.
"No," I responded as I grabbed the dish from his hands, staring at it as I ridded it of its moisture.
"You sure about that?" he asked me.
"Yeah," I snapped as I opened the cabinet and tried to place the plate on the top shelf. When I switched to one foot instead of two, Phoenix decided to grab the plate from my hands and place it in the cabinet while trapping me against it. Once he retracted, I turned and glared at him. "I could've done it myself."
"You were about to fall," he told me. I glared at him and crossed my arms. "If it's about what happened yesterday in the library-," Phoenix started but I cut him off.
"I don't want to talk about it," I told him.
"Okay, but at some point-," he started.
"I'm going to go. You can handle this on your own," I told him curtly before turning on my heel and heading upstairs, feeling a rush of heat to my face.
+ + +
Showers are always relaxing, even when you have a million things to do. I sighed as I turned off the water. I dressed quickly, trying to evade the cold air that managed to freeze my toes. Wrapping my hair in my towel, I exited the bathroom, blinking in confusion when I saw Phoenix sitting on the edge of my bed, tapping his feet quietly.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Phoenix. I saw my diary on my bedside table and my eyes immediately widened. "Did you read my diary?" I snapped. I had hid it earlier in a very good spot. I put it in my closet this time, but I had been writing in it so it was out of its new hiding spot.
"What? No, I didn't even notice it was there," he spoke as he looked at the table I was rushing towards. I grabbed my diary quickly and he stared at me with a slightly suspicious look. "Why? Is there anything about yesterday in there?"
"Why are you in here?" I snapped, shoving my book under my arm.
"You didn't answer my question," he noted.
"You didn't answer mine," I retorted.
"I want to talk to you about what happened," he pressed. "I know you don't want to hear it but-."
"I know what happened and you know what happened. What is there to talk about?" I asked him in an exasperated manner.
"Okay then, what happened?" he inquired.
I sighed loudly, placing my face in my hands as feelings of embarrassment overwhelmed me. "I don't want to say it," I told him.
"Say it," he insisted.
"No," I responded.
"Then I will," he announced.
"No," I told him.
"We almost kissed," he told me.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, there is no we. It was all you," I told him.
"Okay, I almost kissed you," he confessed and I stared at him with wide eyes. Is he serious right now? I half expected him to start laughing and telling me how funny his joke was while also expecting him to try to kiss me again. "Don't you have any questions?" he asked as he walked around my room.
Why? How? What? I could only stare at him. I opened my mouth to speak twice, opening and closing it several times to try and form words. He just stared at me patiently, waiting for the words to flow from my mouth. "What time is it? Adventure Time comes on at 8."
He stared at me for a minute before exhaling noisily and running his hands through his hair. He walked out of my room, closing the door behind himself and I could only stare at his retreating back. I immediately sat down on my bed, trying to blink away the awkwardness that just took place. I rolled over on my face and sighed loudly.