Chapter 12: Superfluous

After finally convincing a reluctant Cayden to go on our group date, I found out that convincing Olivia was going to be just as hard.

“What if Nate thinks I’m cheating on him? What if he breaks up with me? I don’t want him to break up with me, Ash.” Olivia said this in a small voice, her fear plain in it.

I patted her back comfortingly, a small smile upon my face. “It’s not like you’re going on a date with him. It’s just a movie, plus you’re just going as friends.”

She sighed. “It just feels wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t go. Then Cayden could go hang out with his latest fling and maybe I wouldn’t feel so guilty…”

“You do realize how long it took me to get Cayden to even think about coming? All of my hard work will be wasted if you don’t come!”

“I know…but…”

“No buts about it! I know Nate will be okay with it. Besides, you came here to have fun. It’s not fun to just stay in the apartment all alone.”

“I guess you’re right…” She trailed off, finally making her decision.

“When aren’t I? Now go pretty yourself up.” I stood up quickly, a big smile on my face.

***

Eli waited to buy our tickets while the others were in a deep conversation or deciding on movie snacks. I’m glad both groups were getting along because that meant I didn’t have to serve as a buffer. “Do you want anything to eat, Cutie?”

“Popcorn!” You never couldn’t get popcorn if you were going to see a movie in theaters; it was like a rule.

He ordered a large bucket of popcorn with butter heavily coating each kernel. While he got our drinks, he gave me the task of picking the seasoning that would be sprinkled on top of the popcorn, as he didn’t have a preference. At least, that’s what he told me.

I opened the lid to the nacho cheese flavoring and dumped it into the bucket. I heard a whooshing sound and a slew of orange-colored powder rushed out of the bottle. I quickly tipped it back up, attempting to distribute evenly. Unfortunately, it was too much to even be appealing. I grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and began blotting it, sweeping it onto the floor. I was trying not to draw attention to myself, but Eli had other plans.

“Ashlyn!” he shouted from across the room. “What do you want?”

“A coke!” I said quickly, desperately wanting him to shut up.

Minutes later, he sauntered over to me with the two drinks in his hands. He peered into the bucket and almost dropped the drinks. “Got enough nacho cheese in there?” he choked.

“I opened the wrong side of the lid…”

“Don’t you look before you start pouring willy nilly?”

I shook my head and bit my lip, giggling nervously. “Apparently not...would it be wrong to add white cheddar seasoning in?”

He stuck his head in the bucket and pulled out a piece with his teeth. He made a face and swallowed. “It couldn’t make it worse.”

I offered a smile, causing him to roll his eyes. I started to pick up the bottle, but Eli said, “Stop. You’re not allowed to do that anymore.”

“I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

“Eli, I got this.”

I opened the lid, making sure it was the side with the holes, and gingerly sprinkled it on. “That’s enough!” Eli barked. “You’re going to make me more cheesy than I already am.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Come on. We’re going to miss the movie.”

Once we got situated, I heard him mutter, “While the others are watching an action movie, we’re watching Brave.”

“I heard it was a good movie! And it wasn’t my idea, it was yours.” There was no way I was going to let him blame me for this.

“I guess so…and it’ll be worth it. We’re going to cuddle, right?”

“Only if you’re lucky.”

“I’m a lucky person.”

“Count your blessings, Eli.”

“You’re one of them,” he winked.

I shushed him as soon as the opening previews began. They were one of my favorite parts of the movie theater experience. Halfway through the movie, he let out a yawn and draped his arm around my shoulders—a classic move. I rolled my eyes. I expected him to be more creative with it, but at the same time, I didn’t. But I wasn’t going to complain. I rested my head on his shoulder, which was perfect height for my head, if I may add, and popped a piece of popcorn in my mouth. It wasn’t too bad once you got past the lip-puckering taste.

I absentmindedly flicked popcorn at Eli. I’m not sure how it happened, but I recognized what I had done too late. His mouth hung open in disbelief. I smirked and gently closed his mouth by closing his jaw. “I don’t want you to get flies,” I whispered.

He scooped up a handful of popcorn, my eyes widening when I realized what he was about to do. “Don’t you dare…” I warned.

“What’re you going to do about it?”

I clamped my teeth on the hand that was slung around my shoulder, making him yelp. Instead of jumping away like I had wanted him to, my plan backfired because the popcorn was flung at me. My hands instinctively covered my face and batted the pieces flying at me away.

“What was that for?” he demanded, swatting the stray pieces that came his way.

I batted my eyelashes innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He glared and I sank back father into the velvety seat, occasionally flicking bits of food at him.

Brave had a shorter runtime than the movie that the others saw, so we had about half an hour to kill before the others would show up. After getting free refills on our drinks and popcorn—with no seasoning—we went over to the section to the side with arcade games and a photo booth.

I convinced him to try and win me the little blue bear with a black bowtie that caught my eye. It was just too adorable. After him trying several times and failing, I told him to give up. “Forget about the bear,” I sighed. “You’ve been at it for twenty minutes. You’re not going to get it.”

“Just one more time,” he persisted. He was determined to win me that bear. I think it killed a guy’s ego if they couldn’t win a stupid prize for a girl, or anyone for that matter.

I took his hand and dragged him away before he could waste anymore money on that pointless game, not when we could be eating out. “I don’t want that bear anymore, Eli. I have all of these.” I smiled and gestured to the five stuffed animals that he had won me in the attempt of getting me the bear.

“You’re lying,” he accused. “I can see you still eyeing it.”

“I’m not eyeing it!”

“You are!”

“It’s just a silly bear. Let’s go do something else, like take photos!”

I pushed him into the box and slid the curtain shut. After putting in the necessary bills and selecting our background, the countdown on the screen began. “Say cheese!” I cried.

“Swiss!” Unfortunately, Eli was just beginning to say it, so he ended up looking like he was puckering his lips or making a duck face.

I only laughed for a second. The pictures were timed out, giving us a five second countdown/break between each of snap of the camera. The second one was of us making silly faces, the third was me kissing his cheek, and the last was us kissing while giving each other bunny ears. We climbed out and the machine spat out two copies of the photo strips. We examined them.

“We look hot,” Eli said.

“The hottest,” I agreed. “We should probably be heading back to the lobby now. The movie’s probably done by now.”

Just as we got there, they came flooding out the theater, chatting about what I assumed was the movie they just watched. Prescott was the first one to spot us. “Where did you two go off to?”

“A different movie,” I replied before Eli could say something ridiculous and over the top. I don’t think he did that to brag, but to infuriate me.

“Sure you did,” Aaron said, winking.

“What did you guys see instead?” Alexis asked.

“Brave.”

“You ditched us to see Brave?” Olivia asked appallingly. “If you wanted to watch something else you should’ve said something.”

“Eli decided we needed to get away or something.”

“I won’t be going home with your guys tonight,” Cheyenne piped, leaning closer into Zander. “I’m meeting the parents.”

I made a face. “Isn’t that a bit soon?”

“Our time together is limited.”

I shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.” I just hoped that they weren’t rushing it only because it was a long-distance relationship, but I suppose if they did live close together she would’ve already met his parents.

“We’re going to head out now. Bye!” Marcus said, grabbing Alexis’s hand.

Everyone slowly filtered out. It was just Eli and my friends from New York (aside from Cheyenne).

“You two are so adorable together,” Allie chimed, referring to Eli and I, “don’t you think, Liam?”

He just grunted non-committedly, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room but the tacky carpeting, clearly showing that he did not. I felt slightly more awkward around Liam now. Not that I felt comfortable around him before, but it was weirder now because he told me that he still had feelings for me. It wasn’t fair to Allie and I wasn’t doing my job as a friend to protect her. But maybe he could learn to love her. After all, she was a nice girl.

“I said, don’t you think they’re cute?” Allie repeated, except more forcefully.

Liam still didn’t give her a coherent answer, so she repeated it yet again, only this time she elbowed him.

“What?” he yelled. “Do you want me to agree with you even though I’d be lying?”
“It’s fine, Allie,” I interjected. “It doesn’t matter if he thinks we make a cute couple or not.”

Eli stood there grinning like an idiot the entire time. Bless his soul.

“You know who’d make a cute couple? Me and Ashlyn.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him and flashed a smile. “Don’t you agree?”

I slapped his hand away, looking around at my friends’ reactions. Allie looked hurt and shocked, but who wouldn’t be? Eli…well he looked like he was about to kill him. That silly grin was wiped off without a trace.

“What is your deal?” I confronted him. “You have a wonderful girlfriend who also happens to be one of my closest friends and I have a…a…” I couldn’t find the right words to describe what Eli and I were. Were we boyfriend and girlfriend status, friends with benefits, or none of the above? “I have Eli!”

“You still love her, don’t you?” Allie asked quietly, her voice dripping with hurt, realization, and disappointment.

Liam sent me a glance before nodding. “Yeah, I do.”

I think she always knew that Liam had feelings for me and not her, but the fact that he said it out loud was too much for her to handle, so she ran away with tears streaming down her face.

“Good going, Liam,” I spat. “Way to change.”

There was no sign of guilt in his eyes. “I did this for us.”

I shook my head. “You did this for you. You’re still that heartbreaker I knew back in New York. You almost had me fooled, Liam.”

“You’re not being fooled, Ashlyn. My feelings for you are as real as that popcorn bucket is. My love for you is endless like the morning sky. My heart yearns for you like a baby needs nipple milk.”

“Babies don’t need nipple milk.”

He didn’t make any more comparisons after that.

***

After Allie, Olivia, and Liam exited the car, Eli wanted to talk. “Do you still have feelings for Liam?”

I sighed. “Some part of me will always love him, Eli. He was my first love and I just can’t forget that. But there’s no chance that I would get back together with him. It’s not like you and Rachel where you two can just be together. We have a rocky history.”

“Oh…”

“Let me rephrase this for you: you’re the only one I have eyes for right now. Better?”

“Much better. Good night, Cutie. Sweet dreams.”

He placed a soft, tender kiss on my cheek and drove away, after making sure I got safely inside. He was such a sweetheart. I felt a little bad that Allie was feeling so down and I was just feeling…elated. My love life right now was seemingly perfect. But I had to push that aside and do my duty as a good friend.

I opened the cupboards and fridge, grabbing anything with sugar and fat—comfort food. As I piled bags of chips onto the island, Dakota walked in. “Ashlyn, can you explain to me why there is a dog in my apartment?”

“He’s mine…you know Scottie! The tenants allow it. I checked.

“I don’t care about the stupid rules. Did you forget that I’m allergic?”

“Does this mean he can’t stay?”

“He’s going home with the others. I’m not exactly keen on being admitted to a hospital.”

“Fine,” I sighed. I never expected Dakota to agree for him to stay, but I guess I shouldn’t have been so careless. I didn’t want my brother to die so young.

Allie was in my bedroom crying her pretty, green eyes out. Her red hair clung to her face, giving her a bearded look. Mascara was running down her cheeks, which was one of the reasons why I opted for the waterproof kind. Olivia was patting her back steadily, whispering soothing things and telling her that Liam didn’t deserve her—the same things she told me when it happened to me. Even when Liam and I were dating, I had an intuition that Allie had feelings for him.

When Allie lifted her head, she pointed an accusing finger at me. “You stole my boyfriend,” she hissed. “Why can’t you just let me be happy? You already had your chance with him.”

I held my hands up defensively. “Whoa, I didn’t steal him.” It might’ve looked like that though, so I see where she was coming from. He mentioned me directly, which wasn’t a very smart move.

“You did!” she raged.

“You’re just hurt and angry—”

“All because of you.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you came down here. In case you didn’t realize, you weren’t exactly invited.”

“It was inevitable. You were going to steal him back anyways. It just happened a little sooner than I expected.”

If she expected for them to break up, why didn’t she just do the dumping? “Allie, I want to be with Eli, not Liam.”

“You—you do? I’m sorry, Ash,” she blubbered. “I’m such a mess.” She dried her tears with the bottom of her shirt.

I handed her a box of tissues, and she took it and blew her nose into one.

“Romantic comedies with tons of junk food?” Olivia suggested.

Allie nodded. “Thanks, guys. Even though I’m ruining our vacation, you’re still the best friends a girl could ask for.”

“Let’s go get in some comfy clothes, okay?”

We all changed into sweats and threw our hair into buns and ponytails. Liam was going out with Dakota and Cayden for the night as a favor to me. I broke out the chocolate and ice cream and inserted the first movie: Dear John.

By the end of the movie, we were all in tears. “Why can’t I meet a guy like that?” Allie bawled, jerking her finger at Channing Tatum.

“Don’t we all want a guy like that?” Olivia sighed. I’m not sure how she forgets about Nate the majority of the time, but she somehow manages to do so.

“You’re so lucky,” Allie said to me. “You get all the good ones.”

I shook my head. “No I don’t.”

“Sure you do,” she insisted. “Liam wants you, Elijah wants you, and everybody always wants you. What’s your secret?” She leaned in closer.

“You’re talking about the girl who was cheated on about a billion times. There’s a difference between a relationship and a fling, and the guys that I’m with want a fling. Eli and I’s relationship ends in a month. I wouldn’t call that lucky at all.”

“Liam said he was willing to try with you.”

“Liam’s a liar.”

“At least someone wants to be with you,” she muttered.

“Allie, you’ll find someone, someday. You never know, you might have a secret admirer back home.”

“Then why haven’t they showed up yet?” she moaned.

“Because you’re looking for them.”

“I’m just going to stab my eyes with a pencil and go blind. Then I can’t look for them.”

I laughed.

***

The rest of the week was filled with girl time, except for Cheyenne, who was spending all of her free time with Zander. Liam was avoiding us, or rather Allie. He tried to talk to me every chance he got, but that didn’t work out too well as I was being a bodyguard to his most recent ex. So he spent his time with Dylan and Prescott, whom he had gotten quite close to.

Before I knew it, it was time for them to leave. “Bye, honey!” Olivia cried out the window, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. “See you in August. I’ll be sure to have the chocolates out for you.”

“Bye, Ash!” Allie said, giving me a hug. “Good luck with Eli.”

“I’m so glad you went to Jangles this summer!” Cheyenne said. She smacked her hand over her mouth. “I mean because you met Zander and everything. We would love to have you home.”

“I know what you mean. See you!”

Liam was the last to say goodbye. “Bye, Ashy.”

“Goodbye, Liam. Try not to break other peoples’ hearts.”

He winked. “Don’t worry, I will. But if you ever take me back, I won’t ever break yours.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll be waiting for you. Have fun with Eli.” It was forced, but appreciated.

I smiled. “I will, and Liam? That means a lot.”

He nodded stiffly and got in the backseat with Cheyenne. I was glad I wasn’t going to be part of that awkward car ride.

***

“What are you doing here? We didn’t have any plans, did we?” I asked. I would feel so horrible if we did and I forgot.

Eli shook his head. “My mom wants to know if you have dinner plans. She wants you to come over.”

I wasn’t going to say no to real home cooking. “No, I’d love to come over, but you know you just could’ve called or texted me.”

“True, but I wouldn’t have been able to do this over the phone.”

He leaned in and kissed me. I returned the favor by planting kisses all over his face. “Good idea,” I said between smacks. “Phones are overrated anyway.”

“You’re leaving in a month.”

I groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

“Let’s have a date everyday this week.”

“Aren’t you going to get sick of me?”

He shrugged. “We already see each other everyday. Why not?”

He made a good point. “Well I’m not going to turn down a date.”

“Great! I already have one planned for tomorrow.”

"Really?”

“Yeah, but don’t get your hopes up. You don’t get to know the location.”

“Do I at least get a hint? Or even better hints. Wait, do I get to plan one of them?”

“Sure, why not? You can plan Wednesdays, hump day.”

“Joy. So about tomorrow’s hint…?”

“It has something to do with trees.”

Trees…trees…“Are we going to a forest?”

“Nope, but good guess.”

“So it’s not like a pretty meadow in Twilight?”

“I’ve never even seen that…”

My mind kept drawing a blank. I couldn’t think of anything else that could relate to a tree besides the woods. I needed to get out more and have some sort of imagination like Eli. “Can I have another hint?”

“Nope.” I knew he would only give me one. “So did you want to ride over with me now or have me pick you up at dinnertime?”

“Hm, stay here alone or go hang out with you? I think I’ll stay here.” He gave me a stern look and I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m joking, let’s go. Wait—let me do my hair.”

I invited him in and excused myself for a second to comb my blonde tresses. I decided to change while I still got a chance. I didn’t exactly want to be a slob and go over there in yoga pants and my class shirt.

“Why’d you change?” Eli asked.

“I felt like a slob…”

“As long as it’s not some hooker costume, my mom doesn’t care how you dress, Ashlyn. She really likes you.”

“Your mom seems to like everyone.” And I wasn’t just saying that. Marsha just had that loving personality. I couldn’t ever see her hating anyone.

“I guess so, but she’s been talking about you a lot lately.”

Marsha was the first to greet us when we walked into the house. I think it was her mom ears that let her hear Eli’s engine roaring down the road. Either that or he needed a new muffler. “Hi, darling!” she greeted, giving me a hug. I laughed when she completely dismissed Eli. I felt flattered.

“Dinner’s in the oven, but in the meantime, how would you like to see some of Eli’s baby pictures?”

Eli was sending his mother a death glare and shaking his head furiously. I grinned in spite of him and politely, yet smugly, told Marsha, “I’d love to.”

As Marsha led us into the living room and got out several photo albums off a bookshelf, Eli whispered, “Look at them and you won’t get any more kisses from me.”

I stopped and accused, “You’re bluffing.”

“I’m not.”

“Then I guess that’s a chance I’m willing to take. Seeing little baby Eli is worth it.”

We were going on seven dates this week and there was no way Eli could possibly resist me for that long.

I strutted into the living room. Marsha was already leafing through the albums. When she spotted me, she patted the spot next to her. “Come sit next to me, darling.”

I flipped through the pages and pages of newborn Eli. His nose was all scrunched up and his hair was in little wisps. He was such a cute baby. Marsha kept telling me stories from when he was younger. There was a sad glow in Marsha’s eyes as she talked about her youngest son. Talking about the past and the memories really made her realize that Eli was just getting older.

The next section was filled with his toddler years, followed by his elementary, middle school, and finally his high school years. There was a separate album for his senior and graduation pictures. I came to a conclusion that he had been good in his past life—time wasn’t cruel to him. He went from a super adorable baby, to a semi-awkwardly-but-still-cute-kid, to a hottie of a man. Okay, I wouldn’t go as far as man, but you know.

“Nice baby butt,” I joked, pointing out the picture of a four year old nude Eli in the bathtub.

“Shut up,” he murmured.

“Elijah,” Marsha scolded. “We don’t talk to ladies like that. Apologize to Ashlyn right now, young man.”

When Marsha looked away, I stuck my tongue out. He mumbled a weak ‘sorry’ and went back to sulking in an armchair across from us. I continued to tease Eli about his childhood pictures while his mother was setting the table. I offered to help her, but she insisted that I keep making fun of Eli, which I put up no argument to.

Eli kept chucking decorative throw pillows at me. I caught most of them, clutching my stomach as I laughed, and threw them all back at him when he ran out. He screeched and held his arms up in defense. “I give up!”

“Good. I’m glad you see it my way.”

Marsha called everyone to the dinner table. There were dishes of chicken noodle casserole, steaming broccoli, and a basket of dinner rolls sitting on the center of the table. There was a glass pitcher filled with ice water. Placemats and glasses were set neatly at the appropriate spots.

“So are you two dating?” Marcus asked, gesturing to Eli and I with his mouth full of bread.

I glanced at Eli. “I guess so.”

“That’s wonderful!” Marsha exclaimed giddily. “Eli hasn’t had a serious girlfriend since—”

“Mom,” Eli coughed.

She looked up with wide, doe eyes. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t realize…”

“It’s alright, Marsha. I know about Rachel. And we’re not really serious, as it’s only for the summer.”

She frowned in disappointment. “What a shame. You two are awfully good together.”

I smiled. It was a shame that it was only for the summer. I didn’t even have to try and earn her approval because I already had it. If only it was only this easy for everyone else’s parents. But we both agreed to the terms. It would be a clean breakup; none of the nasty fights, accusations, or tears. We didn’t need any of that.

I wondered if I had made a mistake in not taking Liam up on his offer. What if his apology was sincere and he really did change? He was my first love and I knew that nothing could ever change that, but was I lying to myself all this time? Did I really have feelings for him or were they should bittersweet leftovers from the past leaking into the present? I needed to sort and figure it out, but I would put it aside until later, because right now, I needed to focus on the Clemens and the beautiful meal that was laid out before me. My mouth was already watering from the thought of having dessert.

It was already nine o’clock when Eli took me home. I stayed after dinner to play Apples to Apples with his family. Ethan won, hands down. He dominated, which was weird because we were playing by funny rules, not serious. But Eli says that Ethan always wins, so it wasn’t really a big surprise to them.

We were now standing outside my door. “Since we’re not doing the whole one-kiss-a-day thing, can I kiss you?” Eli asked with a hint of nervousness.

I threw my head back, laughing. “You don’t have to ask, Eli.”

Before I even finished saying his name, his lips were already crashing onto mine.

“See you tomorrow at four. Dress casual and something you don’t mind getting dirty in.” I winked at him and he chuckled, shaking his head. “Not like that, you pervert. But if you wanted to wear something under it…”

“I was joking. Who’s the pervert now?”

“So you’re not going to wear anything?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“Good night, Eli.” I blew him a kiss and gently shut the door.

From the other side, I heard him shout, “Night, Cutie!”