Everything I Never Say ✓

[ thirteen ]

Thirteen

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His name was Elijah, my closest male friend.

More than just that — he was one of my best friends too.

Elijah was always caring — so, so caring. Soft in his speech, soft in his nature; soft soft soft.

He was sunny mornings, and daisies in the wind, and sparkling oceans. He was canary yellow, apple green and periwinkle  blue.

He was Elijah, and he was my best friend.

He has always been a smart person, often the class-topper while I came in second with a gap of just a few marks. Didn't matter though; somehow, to everyone's bewilderment, we never once viewed each other as competition.

We had an easygoing friendship, him and I.

Until, of course, there came the day when he confessed his feelings towards me ran a lot deeper than I could've ever imagined.

Elijah's always been a smart person; I still don't know why he went ahead and did something as ignorantly stupid as losing his heart to me. To me.

To me.

I was seventeen, and attending a Halloween-themed party being held at my Sixth Form college. My body was wrapped in devil's red, my dark hair flowing down my back in all it's wavy glory, and gracing the crown of my head was a band with two horns rising up from each side. My lash lines were outlined with Kohl; eyelids coated with a shimmery grey and black; and my lips adorned a velvety red hue.

Ironic, Elijah telling me how utterly in love with me he was whilst I was dressed up as the devil. A demon. Someone barely human —something with the ability to crush and destroy.

Anybody who broke the heart of someone like Elijah Woods had to be an absolute demon.

"Hey," he said as he came up behind me, "what are you doing out here in the hallway all by yourself?"

I looked away from the long mirror running horizontally along one side of the hallway walls, having finished wiping off a smudge of lipstick from my front tooth.

"Just wanted to make sure my makeup was still fine," I answered, smiling softly, telling him half the truth.

Elijah rolled his eyes, shooting me an incredulous look right after the first gesture. "I don't even know why you bother with makeup. You never wear it to school, and you still look great without it."

I laughed it off, knowing it was him being nice again. That was Elijah, the nice guy who wasn't stingy with remarks that could potentially place a smile on someone's face.

And then, feeling comfortable all of a sudden with just him there with me, away from all the noise of the party, I let him in on the other half of the truth.

"Actually, it was a little too crowded also," I admitted, shrugging with a sheepish expression. "And I kind of wanted to be away for a while. Sometimes I feel claustrophobic like that."

Elijah furrowed his eyebrows then, frowning to himself. "I was actually surprised you even came, Deb. You don't really like parties, unless it's a crowd you know very well and are comfortable around."

"I don't know?" I said truthfully, tilting my head to the side. "I wanted to make memories during my last year at school, maybe? Put myself more out there? I'm always so indoor-ish."

"Indoor-ish?" His lips twitched.

"Indoor-ish." I confirmed, smiling.

"All these years," Elijah sighed with a certain fondness in his voice, "and you haven't changed a bit."