Who Else Will Love You?

When the pair arrived at school, Echo and Eden parted ways without so much as a 'goodbye.' Eden thought maybe it had been because of her abundance of annoying questions. Eden already had horribly low self-esteem, so Echo's comment about her asking questions made her very self-conscious. She came to the extremely incorrect conclusion that he no longer wanted to be her friend because of her dumb questions and her annoying personality.With her thoughts were clouded with self-hatred and longing to be Echo's friend, she sat through her first three lessons without paying much attention at all. She skipped lunch, opting to go to the library instead. She headed over to the computers, logging onto her favorite website: Tumblr. She scrolled through her dash until she heard the bell signaling that lunch was over. Opting to skip her last half of the day, she left the brick prison and began the somewhat long walk to the hospital. She stared at her feet the whole way, counting the steps it took to get from one slab of pavement to the next. After several twists and turns and many street crossings, Eden arrived at the run down hospital. She walked inside and greeted the people at the front desk. They'd come to know her by now, and most of them pitied her; she visited her dying grandmother every single day. She made her way to the rickety elevator, stepped inside and pressed the button marked with a four. The elevator took a good ten minutes to reach the fourth and final floor before the doors rolled open. Eden took the familiar path down the white hallway to her grandmother's hospital room. She knocked on the door frame to announce her arrival.

"Hey, Gramma." Eden smiled.

"Hello sweet girl!" Gramma said. "What brings you in this early?"

"I got sad so I left school." Eden said.

"What's wrong?" Gramma asked, her face scrunched with concern.

"I uh did something and now I think Echo hates me." Eden confessed.

"The boy you met yesterday?" Gramma questioned.

"Yeah." said Eden.

"Oh boy, this is gonna be a bumpy ride." Gramma remarked making Eden giggle.

"Well after I visited you yesterday, I went home and Mom came home with her drunken friends and I wasn't having any of that so I stole a bottle of vodka and went to Echo's house where we inevitably drank it and may or may not have made out just a little and then I asked a lot of questions and I think he hates me because I'm annoying and ask too many questions." The story spilled form Eden's lips.

"Woah slow down, Eden. My hearing ain't what it used to be. Say that again."

"After I visited you yesterday, I went home. A bit I after I got home, Mom came home with her friends and they were all really drunk. I didn't want to be around that so I went downstairs and ironically stole a bottle of vodka. I put it in my bag and went to Echo's house. We drank and made out a little and I ended up spending the night. This morning I was asking a bunch of questions and he got sassy with me and now I think he hates me." Eden explained.

"You are such a teenager, Eden. You spent the night at a boy's house? That's dangerous!" Gramma scolded.

"I know." Eden said, bowing her head in shame.

"How about you have a sober experience with this boy. Get to know him. Give it some time." Gramma suggested.

"Okay." Eden agreed. "So how have you been?"

~

Eden sat in her room, mindlessly browsing the internet, much like she usually does. While she browsed, she thought of her and Gramma's conversation earlier that afternoon about what happened with Echo. Gramma had told her to give it time, but how could she possibly give it time when Echo obviously hates her? She began to let herself get caught up in her thoughts just thinking about what happened with Echo. In all reality, it wasn't that big of a deal but to her in that moment it was crushing. Just one more friend she had lost. After several minutes of stressing, her phone buzzed on the floor beside her. She grabbed it and tapped the message icon. It was a text from Echo.

From: Echo
Hey:)

To: Echo
I thought you were mad at me???

From: Echo
Why would I be mad?

To: Echo
This morning. You got all sassy, and didn't even say goodbye.

(That text was incredibly difficult for Eden to send. Admitting things that bothered her was hard for her).

From: Echo
You just ask a lot of question. Just a statement. Nothing more. Promise.

To: Echo
Oh. . .

From: Echo
You probably thought I hated you huh?

To: Echo
It's like you read my mind

From: Echo
Wanna hang out?

To: Echo
Sure

From: Echo
Can I come over? My dad is home. . .

To: Echo
Lol sure

And sure enough, fifteen minutes later Eden heard Echo pull into her driveway. She raced downstairs and opened the door to greet him. He walked past her with a nod of his head and examined the inside of her home. As he walked past, Eden could smell his cologne and she almost swooned. An attractive boy that smells like heaven.

"Nice place." Echo commented as he looked around.

The place was a tad messy due to the absence of her mom and Eden's lack of motivation to clean, but it was still relatively nice. Hardwood floors, pale blue and grey walls, beige sofas. A very naturalistic theme that Eden's father put together when he lived with them.

"Thanks." Eden said. "C'mon."

She led Echo through the house and up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Woah." Echo said as he looked around her room in awe. "This is like really cool."

"Thanks." Eden giggled.

Echo took a seat on her bed and she sat down on the floor, but still facing him.

"Why the floor?" Echo asked.

"It's comfy." Eden answered.

Echo moved to floor, sitting directly in front of Eden. He felt the floor with his hands and nodded making a sound of approval which caused Eden to laugh.

"Wanna play a game?" Eden asked.

"Depends on what game."

"A game that lets us get to know each other better."

"Okay."

"It's called bowl of questions. You'll ask a question about yourself and I'll guess the answer, and then you'll tell me the answer if I'm wrong." Eden explained.

"Okay."

"Ready?"

"Yeah." Echo said, a lopsided smile on his lips.

"Okay." Eden smiled.