Chapter 9: Thomas

A/N: 27.04.20

Another update, yay!

What is the first thing you guys do when waking up?

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*Thomas's pov*

I was in detention with Eli, but he's been quiet ever since we started scraping the tables. I could tell that something was bothering him, and he kept glancing my way like he's been doing for the entire day but remained silent. I was getting bored and the fruity aroma of dried gum was getting unbearable. I needed something to get my mind off this inhumane punishment, so I decided to start a conversation.

"You might want to put a leash on your boyfriend." Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to start one.

Eli's eyes widened, quickly looking around as if he was scared someone might've overheard.

"Relax," I mumbled. "We're the only two idiots here."

When he realized that we were alone, he let out a small sigh of relief before stabbing me with another one of his unfriendly glares.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Right, 'cause it's complicated," I said, making air quotation marks. Eli looked like he wanted to punch me. Good. He'd probably break his knuckles.

"You didn't tell anyone, right?" I could tell that the question was eating at him.

"This again?" I groaned. "I told you, I'm not interested in your high school drama."

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't looked."

Is he dumb or is he dumb?

"You think I wanted to see whatever was going on under that table?" I scoffed.

"You didn't look away," he accused.

"Like you wouldn't stare," I snorted. There was a short pause.

"Did Steven talk to you today?"

"Confessed his undying love for me," I smirked and Eli scowled. "Oh, don't look so surprised, it's not like he isn't already cheating on you."

Eli looked stung by my words but someone needed to tell him that his "boyfriend" was being a douche. What did he see in that guy anyway? Three brain cells and mass muscle? Money really made miracles, didn't it?

"Just don't hurt him," he snapped defensively and I looked up in disbelief.

"Hurt him?" I scoffed.

"I heard rumors about you," Eli said slowly. Great, more high school rumors, just my cup of tea. "You fight people and beat them up. Some students even call you 'Maddog."

I don't think I've never laughed so hard in my laugh. Eli scowled.

"I'm serious!" he pressed, his cheeks flushing pink.

"Who the hell calls me Maddog?" I cackled, rubbing away my tears with my arm. The question seemed to make him realize how dumb he probably sounded and he raised one shoulder, looking away.

"People."

"Damn, I thought people were calling me 'the spawn of the devil'."

"That'd be too long. It wouldn't catch on."

I rolled my eyes but smiled.

I guess he did have a little sense of humor piled under that prejudiced mind of his.

"They say you kill people for money," he murmured, his voice quieter as if he was telling me some kind of spooky ghost story.

"I'm poor, not a psychopath," I chortled, but Eli didn't seem convinced. "Eli," I sighed, and he flinched at his name. What was up with that? "I don't kill people. And nothing will happen to Steven as long as he stays out of my way. You thought my breath was stinky? I wonder how you stick your tongue down his."

"Just don't-"

I hooked my arm around the nape of his neck and pulled him towards me, our noses almost touching. His bright blue eyes widened from the lack of space between us, and he held his breath, pressing his lips together as if he was scared that I was going to kiss him.

"You know, the more you whine about your oh, so glorious boyfriend, the more tempted I am to tattle," I growled in a low voice. "So shut up about it. I said I won't tell."

I let him go and he quickly pulled away, turning his face to the side. I could tell that he was blushing, and his ears were burning bright red.

Did I scare him that much? I hope he doesn't start crying.

Eli remained silent and I started to feel bad. I didn't mean to make him shit his pants. Then again, he thought I was some kind of mob gangster.

Maybe I should start making gang signs with my hands just to scare him some more.

But to my surprise, instead of teasing him, something else slipped out of my mouth. Something that I didn't expect myself to say until the end of the week. The words just rolled off my tongue on their own.

"I fixed your bike," I said, breaking the silence. His head snapped towards me, his eyes widening. I averted my gaze and focused on the ugly piece of gum I was trying to chip off. The more I stared at it, the more it looked like a squashed brain. Wonderful.

"You what?" But he didn't sound grateful at all. There was an edge to his voice, almost as if he was annoyed.

"I found it on my way home and decided that it was bad to litter. I had some extra time on my hands and decided to fix it," I said. Lies. I spent a good two hours hammering the dents back into place. There was a long silence that followed, so I asked impatiently, "You want it back or not?"

"Why did you fix it?" He sounded like he was accusing me of a crime.

"A thank you would have been nice," I snapped back.

"I didn't ask you to fix it."

I turned towards him in disbelief, anger building up my throat. Just how arrogant does this guy have to be? I went through the trouble of fixing his stupid bike and now he's judging me for it?

"Wow," I murmured. "Just wow. How spoiled are you?"

"I said I didn't ask!" he shouted.

He grabbed his bucket and went to a different table.

"You can't be serious," I spat. He ignored me, trying to flip over the table which annoyed me even more because he couldn't lift it on his own. "You're too weak."

"Leave me alone," he growled, still trying.

"I said that you're too weak," I sighed in annoyance, getting up to help him. Why did I even bother? He was probably going to scold me for helping me anyway. But I got up nonetheless.

"I can do it myself!"

"Yeah, obviously," I laughed when the table didn't budge. "You're doing a great job, honey."

He turned towards me, his face bright red, eyes filled with anger. "Stop making fun of me! You act like you're so great at everything when you're nothing! You have nothing! You're nothing but a poor, filthy rat!"

I twitched. Why was he so mad? "And you think you're any better?" I shouted back. "You think money can fix that trashy attitude of yours? That your life is so great 'cause you have a couple of extra cash?!"

I laughed bitterly, raising my brows. "Wait, don't tell me," I said, watching his face turn as white as a sheet of paper. "I've done nothing wrong, did I? You're just angry because your dolthead of a boyfriend is going around kissing another girl, isn't that right?"

Eli raised his fist at me. I knew he was too much of a wimp to actually punch me, but I grabbed his wrist anyway and pulled him towards me, and our faces were only inches away from each other. His gold hair fell in tousled locks over his forehead and I don't think I've ever seen anything as blue as his eyes.

He was angry. I was angry. But there was something other than anger that created tension.

"Come on, punch me," I sneered with so much hate, glaring into his fiery eyes. "I fucking dare you."

Eli clenched his fists, his dainty little hand trembling in my grip, but he didn't move. We glowered at each other and I realized that we've been shouting so loudly that we were both out of breath, panting. His eyes probably reflected mine: full of anger, frustration, confusion, and maybe, just maybe, something more.

I glanced at his lips and the second I did, he pulled away from me, blushing like a bush of roses.

"Sell my bike for all I care, you'll need the money," he growled, pivoting on his heel and storming away. Oh gosh, what a drama queen.

"Detention isn't over, dumbass!"

He flicked me a finger.

"You sure that doesn't go against your Holy Bible?" I retorted harshly.

"Screw you!"

"You wish you could!" I barked.

He pushed the doors and stormed out of the cafeteria. I muttered a string of unintelligent words under my breath but then leaned against one of the tables, shaking my head and laughing in disbelief once the tension evaporated.

Good.

He's gone.

Because if he stayed even a second longer, I probably would have kissed him.

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When there's so much sexual tension that you don't even notice that there was even any until he's gone 😳

Thoughts on this chapter/Eli/Thomas? I'd love to know! ;)

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