clueless [ T. SMITH ]

xviii.

REAL LIFE
' you're the girl i'm after '

TODD KNOCKED ROUGHLY on the door as eli opened it, glaring at the boy as he smiled sheepishly. "sorry, i thought maybe you knocked out after i called you," he shrugged as she rolled her eyes. "yep."

he slung an arm over her shoulders and walked by her side to the couch, plopping down as she dropped a few feet away. "seriously?" he scoffed as she raised a brow. "we're both in a relationship. let's not cross boundaries," she spoke emotionlessly and todd shook his head and grabbed her forearm, pulling her into his chest. "you're in a relationship, not me, and, this isn't cheating at all. you're basically family," he snapped and handed her the sushi box.

"yea," she murmured softly, ignoring the sting in her heart as he called her family. "what movie did you get?" she changed the subject as todd grinned, handing her the dvds. she picked 'the hills have eyes' almost instantly and she reached to put it in, moving so todd could turn the light off.

staring intently at the screen, eli popped a sushi roll into her mouth, ignoring todd as he did the same. she hated sharing the delicious snack on her couch but exceptions were always made for him. "do you think you and tristan are gonna date?" she muttered as he glanced down at her, their position having changed to her head resting on his lap.

"i don't know. she's nice, don't get me wrong, but i feel like she's just not the girl i'm after," he admitted and eli felt her heart swell with hope. "and who are you after?" she pressed as he shrugged. "i have no idea elle, what's the big deal about relationships anyway? they're kinda sucky," he sighed and turned back to the movie as her swelled hope deflated.

she remained quiet after that, glancing at the clock that screamed 3:04am at her. when she felt todd's grip tighten on her she closed her eyes and labored her breathing. todd, having mistaken her forced comfort for slumber, gently ran a hand through her hair before sighing.

"it's you, elizabeth. you're the girl i'm after."

if he had uttered the words seconds before, her conscious mind would have leapt up to attack his lips with her own, instead, todd had spoken words of such meaning to the girl who had finally fallen asleep.