Chapter 26: A New Plan of Action
Well, I kissed Elli yesterday. I don’t even really know why I did it. I probably freaked her out though. Ha, her face was pretty priceless. When I pulled away from her, her mouth was hanging open and eyes were…as wide as I have ever seen and she was just standing there with her arms sticking out at her sides in complete shock. Is it wrong I get so much amusement out of her discomfort? Anyway, I wouldn’t even classify it as a real kiss. Meaning it only lasted like two seconds, tops. Plus it was all one sided. To any bystander it would have been considered a friendly peck on the lips.
Did I mean it as a friendly peck? I’m not really sure. I mean I always go on and on about how Elli is too young for me and she’s jailbait and her mother would kill her if something was to happen between us, but I also admitted to you that I am attracted to her and I was jealous of her relationship with Trace. This brings me to another fork in the road. What if Trace really does like Elli? I can’t be pushin’ up on some girl my best friend wants to get with. For all I know they are already dating. I don’t have the courage to ask for fear I might get the answer I don’t want to hear.
So I basically have two options here. I could both pretend like nothing happened yesterday and just go on with my life as normal or I could try to pursue something with her. Or maybe I’ll just act affectionate towards Elli whenever the mood strikes me and let her handle it from there. I mean if she doesn’t appreciate my advances she can simply tell me to stop and I will.
I could really use some good advice right now. I could call Mamma, but I hate talking about my love life with her. As soon as I mention there’s a girl involved she’ll want to meet her. Then there’s always JC, but he might figure out who I’m talking about and I’ve already heard his lecture about how Elli is way too young for me”blah, blah, blah. This really sucks. There is like no one I can call and talk to about this without being lectured because they’ll figure out who I’m talking about. I chew on my thumb nail in thought. There has to be someone I can talk to….Ah! I got it!
~*~*~*~
“So what’s the big emergency I had to rush over here and miss my nail appointment for?” She asks with a somewhat annoyed tone as she brushes past me and into the living room. “Has your mother been here lately? It looks like your house had just been cleaned.”
“No,” I shake my head at her random questioning. I immediately beginning to question whether or not Elisha is the one I should have called. She shrugs and gingerly sits on the couch, crossing her right leg over her left. I join her on the sofa. “I’m having some women issues.”
She perks up with interest. “Ah, my specialty.” She smiles broadly, leaning in towards me. “So what’s her name?”
I’m unable to suppress my groan. “I was hoping she could remain anonymous.” Who knows who she’ll blab to about this. She has been known to gossip and I do not want this to end up in some tabloid tomorrow.
“Why?” She asks, her attitude beginning to surface. “Do I know her?”
“No, but””
“Then tell me her name.” She demands and I know I have to tell her or we’ll get no where.
“Elli.”
“Awe, that is the most adorable name.” She gushes, “You know that is a name I’m considering for my children someday. You know when I’m married. And who knows if that will ever happen. It seems like all the guys I go out with lately are either””
“Lish,” I interrupter her ramblings. “Can we focus on me please?” She laughs an apology for getting off track. See when Elli rambles it’s cute, when Elisha does it, it’s annoying.
“So what exactly is the problem? Do you not know if she likes you? Does she have a boyfriend already? What?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know if she likes you or you don’t know if she has a boyfriend?” She asks, her face scrunched in confusion. She thinks she’s confused. I’m the confused one.
“Both.”
She out and out laughs at my answers and again I question why I bothered to call her for advice. “Have you ever talked to this girl?”
“Yes!” I cry in frustration.
“Then how do you not know if she has a boyfriend?”
“Well you see she’s been seeing a lot of one of my close friends and””
“Would this ‘close friend’ happen to go by the name Trace Ayala?”
Shit, now she’s gonna get pissed off. I know no matter how I answer this question she’s going to know it’s really Trace I’m talking about. They used to date and just broke up like a month ago. They couldn’t handle the distance thing apparently. Trace was always with me and I was always on tour or doing interviews in New York. Trace is my PA, what was I supposed to do? He new he always had the option to leave. But I know Lish kind of resents me for not insisting he resign.
“I told you I didn’t want to use names.” I whine, running my hands over my buzzed head. This conversation is not going the direction I wanted. Pretty soon we’ll have forgotten the subject of my feelings for Elli and be on her and Trace and why their relationship didn’t work out.
“Okay so you don’t know if Trace and Elli have a thing going on or not?” I nod miserably. “Why don’t you just ask him?”
“I can’t. After what an ass a make of myself the last time I brought them up I’m sure he’ll blow a gasket or something.”
“What happened last time?” She asks curiously. There is no way I’m about to get into that again. I’m doing my best to never have to think of that morning ever again. I can still see the hurt look on Elli’s face after my idiotic accusation. I was a dick, plain and simple.
“Lish, it doesn’t really matter.” I snap as unwanted memories flood back to me.
“Geeze, sorry.” She apologizes, holding up her hands in surrender. “If you want me to ask Trace then I’ll ask him. He knows I’m not afraid to speak my mind.”
That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. She has to be the most outspoken person I know. Elisha is just one of those people who just say what ever is on their mind without thinking about it first. Even though it can really piss off a lot people it’s on of my most favorite of her qualities. Her spunkiness it was first attracted Trace to her. You get used it.
“I know they’ve been on at least one date because he old me so. He kissed her and everything but besides that””
“He kissed her?” She gasps and grabs hold of the side of the couch in anger. She looks ready to rip the upholstery from the sofa. “That little butt-monkey!”
“Lish!” I exclaim when she begins to get off topic yet again.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Her vice grip loosens and I see her visibly relax back into the sofa. “Why don’t you just go up to this girl and ask her out? I mean I’ve never known you to be shy around women before.”
This girl is different. I can’t just go up to Elli and ask her out. She’s too shy and she probably wouldn’t even be able to respond to me. You see how she stumbles over her words in just everyday conversation.
“I can’t do that with her.” I try to explain but know that it’s really now use. Lish doesn’t know Elli so she wouldn’t understand. “I mean I kissed her yesterday and I think she freaked out a bit.”
“Wait, how old is this girl that she’s freaking out from a kiss?”
I was hoping the age thing wasn’t going to come up. Elli’s age it the major reason I’ve been denying my feelings for her for so long. I still think she’s too young for me and I know I shouldn’t feel the way I do. I should not be attracted to a seventeen year old and that is exactly what Elisha is going to tell me.
“Seventeen,” I mumble into my hand making sure she can’t understand me.
“Excuse me,” She leans towards me with raised eyebrows, “Did I just hear the word teen in that response?”
I nod, moving my eyes from her to the floor. Is it wrong that I feel ashamed for liking Elli? It has nothing to do with her personality or the way she looks or anything like that; it’s all in the age difference.
“What is she nineteen?” She asks as if that would be no big deal and I’m sure I wouldn’t have been if that was the truth. I shake my head no. “Eighteen?”
“Seventeen,” I speak softly, silently hoping she didn’t hear me or at least that she won’t go postal on me.
“What the hell is Trace doing with a seventeen year old?” Elisha exclaims as she stands from the couch in her rage. Here we go. “I can’t f**king believe he’s out there dating a juvenile just one friggin’ month after we broke up. I haven’t been dating anyone because I was so upset about losing him but apparently he doesn’t give a shit about me.”
This is exactly why I shouldn’t have call Elisha. Now I’m going to have to comfort her and I won’t get the advice I desperately need. I don’t know why they even broke up in the first place. They could have gotten over the distance thing. They were like the perfect couple when they were together. Trace was completely infatuated with her and I think Lish felt and still feels the same way. I always wanted what he and Elisha had. That’s part of why me and Brit didn’t work out, besides that she cheated on me like the f**king ho she is. I would compare us to Lish and Trace and we didn’t love each other liked they did.
“Why don’t you just tell Trace you still love him and you want him back?” I ask as though the solution to her misery is simple as pie. I know Lish and she is way too stubborn to go crawling back to any man.
“Who said I still love the son of bitch?” She bites angrily, still pacing the floor.
I roll my eyes at her stubbornness. “Don’t even try to deny it. You wouldn’t be this upset over this thing with Elli if you didn’t give a damn about him.” I answer rationally. She may not admit it but she knows I’m right.
She’s silent for at least a minute before she turns to me with her hands on her hips and a deep frown imprinted on her face. “Weren’t we talking about you?”
I can’t help the chuckle that escapes. I should have known that would get the attention back on my problem. “Well what I was thinking is that we all go out together and then you can judge for yourself whether or not you think there is something there.”
“Are asking me to go out on a double date with my ex?” She asks with a loud snort that is followed by her laughter. I know you’re thinking this idea is really stupid and won’t really accomplish anything. My real plan is to get Trace and Elisha in the same room so they will make up and I won’t have to worry about Trace moving in on Elli. I’m not nearly as dumb as I look. “That is rich Justin.”
“It doesn’t have to be a date, just a group thing. Please Lish.” I beg pulling out the puppy dog eyes and the infamous Timberlake pout. There’s no way she can resist it; no one but my Momma can.
“Just so you know I’m not agreeing to go because of that ridiculous face you are making,” I do a silent cheer in my head. “I just want to ream Trace for being the asshole we both know he is.”
“Friday work for you?” I ask with a broad smile as she nods in confirmation. There is now way my plan could possibly fail….no f**king way.
TBC.....(Sorry about the non-post...post. I was trying to add an author's note to My Happy Ending and am so used to adding chapters to this I added it to the wrong story. Brain-fart ;) ....sorry.)
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