The Falling of Lauren Johnson

Chapter Eleven

I can hear Elliot snoozing over on the couch, and I should be sleeping as well but I cannot seem to settle my thoughts. Why would Mulan want to prove herself to Shang? She could have just as easily completely botched all of the training and gone home to her family. Why would Elliot show me that specific movie? Why does he keep grabbing my hand and not letting go? Not that I'm complaining. Why is Elliot letting me sleep in his bed when he's suffering on the couch? If I were to get caught, how much trouble would I be in?

My mind must have been just as tired as my body because I fall asleep quickly after.

I wake in the morning and Elliot is still sound asleep on the couch. I quickly grab my clothes from yesterday out of my bag, leaving the bag on the bed, and rush into the bathroom to take a quick shower. The water feels good on my skin, and I'm sure to wash off all of the makeup from last night. I get dressed, and I'm surprised to see Elliot in just a pair of jeans standing over my bed with his back to me.

What is he doing? And then it hits me. Oh shit. Oh Shit. Oh shit. I run over and try to rip the sketchbook out of his hands. His grip is tight and he gently shoves me away and walks over to the other corner, flipping through my sketchbook.

"Elliot, please stop. Those are personal."

He looks up at smiles and me. "Miss Sassy Pants, these are actually quite good!" He continues flipping through with a smile on his face. He suddenly stops at one page and his eyes get big. He looks up at me. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. "Lauren, is this a drawing of me?"

I look down at my hands, as if telling them you did this. I slowly exhale and nod 'yes'.

I hear a tear and I whip my head up at him. The sketchbook is in one hand and the drawing is in his other. "Do you mind if I keep this? I don't mean to sound vain but, I don't think I've ever looked as good as I look in this drawing."

I nod. "Go ahead. Are you going to hang it up?"

He nods. "Something along those lines."

He walks over to my spot on the bed, and hands me my sketchbook. I take it and shove it back into my bag. I hook the bag's clasp back together and look over at him. What the heck, Elliot. Why would you do that?

"Sorry, Lauren, it was poking out of your bag and I have an insatiable appetite for curiosity."

I smile and shake my head, "Yeah, I know how that is."

"Really? If you're just as curious as I, then you know that I want to know everything about you."

"That sounded really creepy, you know that right?" I respond without thinking.

The corners of Elliot's mouth just turn up into a smile. "That's not how I meant it. You know, I feel incredibly drawn to you, yet we barely know each other. I'd like to get to know you some more if that's alright."

He feels incredibly drawn to me? Oh my goodness. Oh. My. Goodness. Does he know? Does he know about the soul mate clock? I've been doing my best to put it at the back of my mind and just let things play out, but he's just too damn gorgeous.

"I see no problem with that. It'd be nice to get to know the person with whom I've committed felonies with a little better." I joke and smile, hoping he doesn't get offended.

Elliot laughs out loud with a hearty, low chuckle. "You have me there, Lauren. Tell you what, why don't I make breakfast and we can tell each other some things about ourselves. Deal?"