Bookworms | ✔

thirteen

Elijah pulled a sleepy Nicholas out onto the field. Nicholas glared at the back of Elijah's head, cursing the day he was born for waking Nicholas up at the ungodly hour of eight. The sunlight irritated Nicholas's eyes and he wished it would begin to rain, hating the warmth he was feeling when on the inside he felt nothing.

It was too early for this.

"Nick, could you not be a vampire? I get that you're as pale as a wall, but being a blood sucker is getting you nowhere in life," grinned Elijah.

"You have some nerve talking to me like that, you ass," he scowled.

Elijah tsked, wagging a finger in his face. "Now, Nicholas, is that any way to treat your elders?"

"Can I go home now?"

"Absolutely not," scoffed Elijah as he continued dragging a stubborn Nicholas.

Nicholas planted his foot firmly on the ground, halting his steps. He refused to follow Elijah deeper into the fields, there was no point. All Nicholas wanted was his soft bed and his comfy pillow, nothing less and nothing more.

Today was his day off from work, although he was disappointed, he figured Dina wouldn't even show up. That alone was enough to ruin his mood. She had slowly become a major part of his life. He was distracted without her, she was the breath of air that he needed to survive.

Elijah tried pulling his arm harder, but Nicholas would not budge, he was firmly rooted to his spot. That didn't stop his ambitious best friend. Instead, Elijah mustered up all the strength he had in his skinny figure, grabbing Nicholas's arms, and pulling with an even greater force than he did before. Nicholas strained his muscles to stay still, to not move an inch even though his grip on the ground beneath was slipping.

"You're making this more difficult than it has to be, Nick," Elijah forced out.

Nicholas shook his head. "I don't care. I'm not going," he replied, pulling in the opposite direction. "Stop playing tug-a-war with my arm and release me!"

"Never!"

The two young adults kept tugging at each other, one forcing his friend and the other trying to escape. They made an unlikely pair of best friends. People walked by, whispering to one another as they tried to stifle their laughter.

Their words meant nothing to Nicholas, a couple of snide remarks from strangers never bothered him, it was from the people he loved that it hurt the most.

"Elijah," strained Nicholas, feeling his muscles start to weaken by the second. I can't keep this up any longer.

"Surrender to the festival," demanded Elijah.

"Do you have any idea how demonic you sound?"

Elijah ignored him. "Surrender!" he yelled.

Tired of fighting, Nicholas stopped struggling, making Elijah fall over. Nicholas watched his friend slide against the floor before landing on his bottom with a slight groan at the impact. A smile grazed the corner of Nicholas's lips. He felt a little bad, so he offered his hand to Elijah, who graciously took it as Nicholas pulled him back on his feet.

"A little warning next time would be much appreciated," remarked Elijah.

Nicholas shrugged, "I thought you'd get the memo."

"Let's go. You've done enough."

Chuckling, Nicholas followed his friend, who led them to the center of the baseball field. Couples had started to gather around, holding hands and sharing passionate kisses, which Nicholas cringed at. Anthony and his group of immature friends stood on the sidelines, flexing for a couple of googly-eyed girls, who simply giggled.