Elijah McCay and Me

Vol. 2: Eleven

VOL. 2: CHAPTER ELEVEN
ELIJAH'S POINT OF VIEW

I was pissed. I'd told Gage when he left last night to call and let me know when he got home. But of course, I never got that phone call. I didn't say anything, which was a little unusual of me. But I wanted to address the problem when we saw each other in person again. Because I will not be hung up on.

     I'd spent the entire morning stomping through my apartment with heavy and irritated footsteps, with Aaron repeatedly yelling and asking me to stop. "Stop acting like a little bitch and call him." He'd said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

     "No," I spoke stubbornly, a deep scowl on my face while I laced up my sneakers for our morning run that Aaron and I did every morning before class. "If I call and talk to him about it over the phone, he'll yell at me and then hung up on me."

     "Well, maybe he should," Aaron retorted, arms crossed over his chest. I quirk a brow as though daring him to say it again. "You're being weird about it, Eli. He doesn't have to call you and tell you when he gets home. That's like, borderline husband shit."

     I laugh humorlessly, standing so that he and I are face-to-face. "I'm not being weird about anything, and yes, he does have to call me when he gets home because he's a stupid kid right now and I'm just trying to make sure he's safe."

     "You're not his dad or his big brother," I push back the urge to say that I know I'm not his sad or older brother, because I don't think I'd feel this way if I was. "He isn't Corey or Cameron. He doesn't need you to monitor his every move."

     I deeply regretted spilling all of the beans about Gage and I's complicate relationship to Aaron after a long night of both beer and marijuana. Now, it's like he thinks he qualified at giving me advice. Even while in a relationship with Marianne.

     "And plus," he begins again, grabbing onto his sweater that was hung on the coat rack by the front door. "What if he wasn't home alone."

     Just as I was about to reach for mine, I stop almost instantly and turn to him. All previous thoughts fell from my mind and the only question remained, "what the hell are you talking about?"

     Aaron rolls his eyes, obviously done with this conversation. "I'm talking about, what if he had someone over and didn't want to make a phone call in front of them."

     "Someone over? Like who?" The questions fell from my mouth before I could even stop them. My arms felt heavy all of sudden, and I dropped them down to hang freely. A lightheaded sort of feeling filled my head while my stomach began to turn.

     The man in front of me makes a face, as though trying to get me to say it. "Someone like a guy."

I leaned my back against the vacant wall that lead into our living room, my breathing starting to deepen. Was it possible? Could Gage really be blowing me off for some guy? If he was, that would mean us having an entirely different conversation when I saw him again.

"That's not it," I said, "he wouldn't do that."

Already feeling completely done with the conversation, I loathed the fact that Aaron seemed like he could go on and on with no end. What did he know, anyway? He didn't even know Gage—hell, he hardly knows me.

That's a little unfair.

"So what if he did. Let him have a little fun, he's an eighteen-year-old boy, of course he's gonna be drinking and partying, and hooking up with guys—"

"Alright, fuck, you've made your point—he was probably with a guy." The words left a salty sort of aftertaste in my mouth, like it didn't at all feel right saying that out loud.

For years, when I'd looked at Gage, I'd see an awkward skinny guy with absolutely no romantic or sex appeal—but was it possible that other people didn't exactly feel the same way?

I mean sure, he isn't ugly or anything . . . Actually, he's really good-looking for someone his age. His hair was thick and curly, but he always had it tamed and perfectly combed through. His eyes weren't bad either, they were brown but carried a curious glint in them, like his youth was practically pulsing through him and out in the open for anyone to see.

For a while there, his legs were really long and skinny, and his stomach looked as if he hadn't eaten in days.

But suddenly, when I'd gone back home from Michigan, he was taller, more built—not as much as I was but still, I could tell he wasn't the same old fifteen-year-old spazz he'd been when I left.

And now, he's all sorts of toned from his years of playing baseball as a teenager, and apparently had every guy out to get him into his bed. What the hell was going on? And why the fuck did I care so much?

"—Eli? Eli! Elijah, we need to go and get the run over with or you'll be late for the midterm." Aaron slapped an arm on my shoulder, pulling open the front door and leaving me to stand there like an idiot.

I hadn't even noticed that I was spacing out, in deep thought about Gage and what he did with guys in his free time—that did not sound right.

After Aaron and I's morning run, I'd ran home for a quick shower and a small breakfast, then left my apartment again with my backpack and bottle of water. The drive to my government class had my leg shaking up and down while I sat in the drivers seat.

I'd always hated taking tests, especially timed ones because the question always remained; what would happen if I didn't finish in time?

The anxious thoughts were cut short when I pulled the parking lot of the building, finding the parking spot closest to the door. When the midterm was over, I simply wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

My professor, Jenn as she liked her students to call her, sported an oversized cardigan with a turtleneck beneath it that seemed to be chocking her from the neck up. Then, my eyes zeroed in on the rainbow-colored pin that was pinned to her bright yellow cardigan.

My eyesight must've lingered longer than intended because when I looked up, I was met with her staring down at me in my lecture seat, thin lips pressing against one another awkwardly. "Everything all right, Elijah?"

My words became caught in the back of my throat, the sound coming out like the croak of a frog. "Y-Yeah, everything is fine—just fine."

She watches me for a little while longer, a piece of bright red hair falling into her eye. "Mhm."

For the remainder of the midterm, my mind wasn't at all on the assessment before me, but on the curly-haired boy who I had still yet to hear from this morning. And a part of me prayed that he wasn't where Aaron insisted so annoyingly he'd be.

And I still wasn't sure why.

A/N - Short but necessary! Also, Elijah's backstory and personality will be a lot more explored in this book!"