A City of Fools

Eli sighed as she looked down at the text message she had received from Lauren.

omg jack asked me out!

She was happy for her best friend, of course she was. In the past week at school, Jack had sat at their lunch table with all of them (the table reserved for cheerleaders and football plays) and they all had gotten to know each other. And to Eli's dismay, Alex had joined them. But to her enjoyment, he rarely spoke. He spent the lunch hour texting away on his phone with an annoying (albeit, adorable) smirk on his face.

But enough of that.

She typed out a quick reply, a congratulations with enough smile faces to give someone a cavity from sweetness, and shoved her phone into the first pocket on her purse. She climbed into her car, unaware as to why Lauren would text her when she was picking her up for school in five minutes, and made her way to her best friend's house. Lauren was sitting in the driveway, smiling, and she ran to Eli's car as it pulled to a stop.

“He asked me out!”

Eli nodded, smiling softly. She wasn't the exuberant type, which was odd since she was a cheerleader, and she wasn't the happy-go-lucky, giggling teenager that Lauren was. But she was happy for her best friend. “Good for you, Ren.”

Lauren's smile never faded as she buckled up and chatted animatedly on the way to school. From what Jack was wearing—tight skinny jeans, a black v-neck, and red Nike kicks—to his body language—shifting from foot to foot, biting his lip, nervous but so cute—to what he said—or stuttered; 'Um, I was, um, wondering if you would be interested in...you know...like, going out with me?'

Eli nodded in all the right places, adding the appropriate 'awh's' and 'how cute!' to the conversation, but she honestly wasn't paying attention. The only thing that occupied her mind was that she was going to be seeing a lot more of Alex. And she wasn't exactly thrilled about that.

“Eli? Are you even listening?”

“Not at all,” Eli answered honestly, her voice quiet.

Lauren sighed. “Jack and I are going on our first date this weekend,” she repeated.

Eli smiled, though it was only half-hearted. “That's great. Where are you guys going?”

She shrugged. “He hasn't decided yet.”

“Well, I bet you guys will have fun no matter what.”

“Yeah...” she muttered, trailing off.

Eli sighed. “What's wrong?”

“He wants to double date.”

“No.”

“He does! He usually hangs out with his band—“

“His band, Lauren? Really? They probably just do shitty Green Day covers—“

“Blink covers,” she protested.

“That's even worse! I hate Blink!”

Lauren smiled softly. “I know. But he canceled to go out with me... And, well, the others are cool with it. But Alex...”

“Stop right there,” Eli said as she pulled into the parking lot. She pulled into her normal space and shut off her engine before turning to face her friend. “I want to make something crystal clear right now. There is absolutely no way I will ever go on a double date with you and Jack if the other man is Alex fucking Gaskarth.”

Lauren bit her lip. “That's too bad.”

Eli frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I totally already promised that you would...”

“I hate you,” Eli whispered before letting her forehead fall on her steering wheel. She could put up the 'oh hell no' front as much as she wanted. But when it came right down to it, if Lauren asked, she would. She was just that kind of friend.

“One night, Eli,” Lauren said softly. “I'm begging you. It would take the pressure off of the whole first date thing. And if it goes well, then he and I will go out again. And I really, really like him, Eli. He's funny and he's sweet and he's charming and he's gorgeous and—“

“Shut up,” Eli said. She lifted her head from the steering wheel and frowned, eyes watching as the students walked into the school. She was quiet for a minute before she shook her head and sighed again. “One date?”

“Unless you two totally hit it off!”

“We won't.”

Lauren laughed. “One date.”

Eli groaned. “Fine,” she agreed, begrudgingly. “But you owe me like you have no fucking idea. And I mean Pizza Hut for the rest of your life.”

Lauren squealed before leaning across the seat, hugging her best friend tightly. “You're the best!”

Eli just frowned.

“I adore you,” Lauren said, pulling away and fixing her plaid tunic and opening the door. “Just one thing.”

Eli cocked an eyebrow as if to say, could it really get worse?

“Alex doesn't know that we're setting him up with you. I gotta go meet Jack! See you later!” she said before climbing out of the car and running towards the front of the school.

“I hate you with every fiber of my being,” Eli muttered towards Lauren's retreating form. She slammed her hands on the steering wheel before grabbing her bag and climbing out, shutting the door behind her.

Okay, maybe it could get worse.

She walked into the school slowly, not exactly excited to be there but not exactly dreading it. She saw Jack and Lauren standing by the cafeteria, those shy we-just-started-dating smiles on their faces as boundaries were tested and they slowly reached for the other's hand. She glanced the other way and frowned.

Of course Alex was standing in his usual spot. But something was different. He, too, was glaring at Jack and Lauren. Eli smiled softly, guessing he wasn't the type to put aside personal judgment for a friend's happiness. Her mind drifted back to the unfortunate double-date they had planned for the weekend and she sighed. At the most, it would be three hours with someone she...didn't really care for or have an opinion on. And wasn't that next to nonexistent in the grand scheme of things? Weren't there worse things she cold have to put up with?

Maybe not.

She sighed and looked back over to Jack and Lauren, who still had those stars in their eyes. It made her want to throw up, just a little bit, at their ridiculous cuteness. But at least she was willing to give him a try for her best friend. Maybe she should at least try to be civil with Alex, even though he was anything but with her. She could do that for a friend, right?

Maybe.

Eli slowly walked over to Alex, who's eyes had fallen back on the phone in his hands as he quickly texted away. She sucked in a deep breath before stopping next to him. “So, uh. I guess our best friends are dating now, huh?”

Alex looked up from his phone and just stared at her.

Eli suddenly felt nervous, as if her clothes didn't fit her right, and she awkwardly ran a hand over her hair. “Jack and Lauren... They're, like, a thing now...” she said, trailing off. Never in her life did she think that saying something so simple would make her feel as stupid as she did when Alex just continued to stare at her. She couldn't even place the look in his eyes—it wasn't quite anger, or resentment, or confusion, or apathy. It was just...a look. One she could have spent the whole day deciphering and still probably wouldn't have understood.

“Yeah,” he said simply. “Guess they are.”

Eli nodded, looking down at her Vans. Anything to escape those eyes. Those dark, dark eyes that she didn't even realize were so beautiful. But no, no—she refused to admit that; refused to even think it. Alex treated her like she was a plague—and he wasn't even trying to hide it. “So, um. Don't you think that...we should, I don't know, try to get along? You know, for them?”

Alex scoffed, a small smile on his face. “No.”

Eli's eyebrows shot up. It wasn't just the tone in his voice that caught her off guard, it was how completely breath-taking he looked when he smiled—and meant it. And maybe that meant that he found what she said to be genuinely funny, but she didn't see how. It was just a simple question but he obviously thought it was more. “I...thought you would want to try. I mean, for Jack,” she added as an afterthought.

“Maybe if it were anyone but you,” Alex responded before looking back at his phone.

“I actually can't believe I thought you would try,” Eli said softly, more to herself. She couldn't even bring herself to be mad at Alex—she wasn't the type to hold grudges. He was just being honest, anyway; the tone proved that.

“That's what you get for having expectations, cheerleader,” he said, sliding his phone into his back pocket. “You and I? We could never be friends.”

Eli didn't even respond; nor could she stop her jaw from dropping open at his harsh words. She simply stood there and let him walk away. Of course she would let him be an ass and then just leave.

After all, it was the story of her life.

+

Three classes; three hours. For three hours Eli had put up with Alex's shit. His glares in the hallway, the snide comments he made under his breath, the pushes against the locker from where he accidentally walked too close. She had never pegged him as the type to cause a scene, especially since they had never even spoken until that week, but apparently he was more immature than she had thought.

By the time lunch came around, Eli was fed up.

She had gum in her hair from an unfortunate accident in history and she had been forced to cut three inches off of the length in the nurses office. Three inches that would take her a good three months to grow back. She wasn't all about her appearance but her hair was important to her. Something that she thought Gaskarth wold have understood considering it looked like he spent so much time on his own 'do.

It apparently didn't matter.

She slammed her books down on the cafeteria table, surprising everyone sitting there, and causing Lauren to jump in her seat. She tore her eyes away from Jack—and if Eli wasn't so pissed off, she would have recognized the adorable moment she interrupted it—and looked up at her best friend.

“Who pissed you off? And what did you do to your hair?!” Lauren shrieked.

Eli frowned, green eyes flickering to Alex, who was sitting two seats down from Jack. “Your boyfriend's fucking best friend, that's who pissed me off. He's an inconsiderate jackass.”

Jack looked over at Alex, who was attempting to hide his smirk while he texted on his phone. “What did you do?”

Alex looked up, dark eyes wide, in a way that could only be described as...innocent. “What?”

“I know you heard every word I said, so stop acting like you actually have friends who are talking to you,” Eli snapped before sitting down in the seat and crossing her arms.

A small smile appeared on his face as he watched Eli fume three seats down.

“Don't you dare smile at me,” Eli said before turning to face Lauren.

Lauren bit her lip, mouthing an I'm so sorry to her friend.

Eli just shook her head and flipped her off. “You fucking owe me.”

“I know, I know, I know,” Lauren repeated. “I'm so sorry.”

“We both owe you,” Jack said quietly before opening his history book.

Alex sat up, leaning towards his friend. “What do you mean, you owe her?”

Jack looked up, his eyes wide. “I didn't say anything.”

“Yes, you did,” Alex said. “What do you owe her for? What's she doing for you?”

“Just a favor!”

“What kind of favor?”

“One you don't need to worry your pretty little head about,” Jack said, pinching Alex's cheek.

Eli watched them curiously. She didn't know why Alex was so closed off—and okay, maybe she didn't care. But it was always interesting to watch someone so...mean actually be, well, nice to someone. And even if he wasn't being technically nice, it was all in his posture, body language, his tone.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Whatever, bro,” he muttered before going back to texting on his phone.

Jack sucked in a deep breath before looking back at Lauren.

Eli just frowned. Their stupid little wanna-be-set-up-double-date-plan, thing, was still in tact. And for some reason, she wasn't exactly disappointed. She was definitely not a fan of Gaskarth at the minute, but part of her was actually looking forward to the look on his face when he realized that she was his date for the night.

He would be pissed.

And Eli couldn't wait to be the one to piss him off.