The Paths We Choose

Chapter 11 (elias pov)

Her friends started eating their morning breakfast. Her eyes met mine a few times, but she quickly looked back at her plate when she caught me staring. My sister engaged in conversation with someone I overheard is named Liana.

"Do you know where the trash can is?" My attention snapped back to Catherine holding her plate out. "Here, I'll take your plate," I said as I followed her around the island for her to hand it to me. Just then, I leaned down. "You cannot wear that to school," I said in a low demanding voice.

Her face instantly filled with disgust. "I like this outfit, thank you very much." Anger grew in me. Just then, she spat out, "I might've laid in your bed last night, but you have no control over me." She might as well have gagged me with her words. My jaw flexed before I took her plate to the trash.

POV Elisa

I've never heard of a boy with so much pride. If he hadn't been gracious to me the night before, his words would have left me undeniably pissed, but I used my words to show him the little amount of class I had left.

"I'll drive you and your friends to school, Adora," him offering made me even more mad, because it was a nice offer, meaning I no longer could be upset. "Why? You never offer," Adora said again, puzzled by him. "Or don't. Doesn't make a difference to me." Others might find his behavior confusing, but his expressions of care swiftly turning into indifferent responses are a coping mechanism I wish I weren't familiar with.

I wasn't surprised by his vehicle, a big four-door truck; it represented him perfectly: a dark exterior with a tan interior, high on its wheels. Describing his hard expressions, nice actions and his head he held high.

As I went to step up into the back of the truck, I was surprised by his hand that helped me up. His acts of kindness led me to believe his dark presence is nothing more than an act.

When we arrived at the school, Liana stepped out of the truck. I was about to follow her before I was hit in the face with a hoodie. As I removed it from my face, our so-kind driver turned to me. "Put it on," before he stepped out of the truck and headed towards the school entrance. Is this his way of showing he cares, or is he just an asshole?

"Are you coming?" Liana's words snapped me back. "Yeah," I stared at the hoodie before putting it over my head. The scent reminded me of the night I laid in his arms. If I don't keep my distance, I might fall for a guy I shouldn't.

Liana's locker snapped shut. "So when you both returned to the hot tub together, it was because he stitched you up, and this morning you returned from his room? Oh my god," of course, I had to fill in my closest friend. "Would you keep your voice down? It's not like we did anything." "He's a man, Lisa. What do you think he was thinking all night?"

Liana begins to leave for class. Looking down at my wrist, I noticed the hoodie he gave me. I looked at it a little longer before removing it and shoving it in my locker. Wearing it began to make me feel like I was being branded.

As a girl, I'm not unaware of the looks that sometimes come my way. The hunger boys have for a body of a girl they've never met is disgusting. Amongst my head was a very intelligent brain, and beyond my chest laid a heart full of compassion, but none of them knew that. They never saw past the parts of me I was "gifted" with from my mother, meaning my ass and tits and long blonde hair.