Us
1137 Words
Elaina’s POV
I barely slept that night.
Not because I was excited about being Daniel’s girlfriend.
Well…
Maybe a little.
But mostly because of his last two texts.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
And then….
“And I don’t know how you’re going to take it.”
What was that supposed to mean?
I’d stared at those messages for at least ten minutes before finally typing:
“Daniel, you’re scaring me.”
He didn’t reply.
I sent another.
“What happened?”
Still nothing.
Eventually, I gave up and put my phone down.
Whatever it was, he’d tell me tomorrow.
At least, I hoped so.
The next morning, my phone buzzed before I even opened my eyes.
Daniel
“Good morning, girlfriend.”
I smiled.
I hated how quickly that worked on me.
“Morning, boyfriend.”
His reply came almost immediately.
“Still sounds weird.”
“You asked for it.”
“And I’d ask again.”
I smiled at my screen.
Then I remembered the messages from last night.
“So… what was that thing you needed to tell me?”
The typing bubble appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then
“I’ll tell you later. Promise.”
I frowned.
“Daniel.”
“Elaina.”
“Don’t “Elaina” me.”
He sent a laughing emoji.
I stared at my phone.
He was avoiding the question.
And I knew it.
By lunchtime, I’d almost forgotten about it.
Almost.
Daniel was sitting beside me, stealing fries from my plate like he hadn’t just ordered his own food.
I slapped his hand away.
“Those are mine.”
“You have plenty.”
“You have your own.”
“Yours taste better.”
“They’re literally the same fries.”
“Not emotionally.”
I stared at him.
“What does that even mean?”
He shrugged.
“I don’t know. It sounded good.”
I laughed.
Across from us, Hazel dropped her tray onto the table.
“Can you two please stop?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Stop what?”
“Whatever this is.”
I frowned.
“This is lunch.”
“No. This.”
She pointed between us.
Before Hazel could complete her sentence, Jayden stepped in.
“That could be us.” Jayden said with a smirk.
Hazel looked up. “And you must be?”
“Jayden.”
“Okay.”
He waited.
“That’s it?”
“Did you need a welcome speech?”
Daniel nearly choked on his drink.
“Back to you guys.”
Hazel said, turning her gaze away from Jayden.
“You’ve been together for, what, twenty-four hours?”
“Twenty-five,” Daniel corrected.
Hazel stared at him.
“That’s somehow worse.”
Grace laughed.
Emma shook her head.
“I give them two weeks before they become unbearable.”
“Two weeks?” Daniel looked offended. “Have some faith.”
“You’ve already become unbearable.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I’ll take it anyway.”
I laughed.
For a moment, everything felt normal.
Easy.
Exactly how it had always been.
Except every now and then, I’d catch Daniel staring at his phone.
And every time I looked at him, he’d quickly put it away.
After school, Daniel walked me home.
Again.
Apparently, being my boyfriend meant he’d decided my fifteen-minute walk home was now a full-time responsibility.
“You don’t have to walk me every day,” I said.
“I know.”
“So why do you?”
“Because I want to.”
I smiled.
“You’re going to get tired of me.”
“Never.”
The answer came so quickly that I stopped walking.
Daniel looked back.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You keep saying that.”
I smiled.
“Maybe I’m just trying to memorize this.”
He laughed.
“You’re copying me now?”
“Maybe.”
We continued walking.
Then he reached for my hand.
When we reached my house, I pushed the gate open.
“You coming in?”
He looked at me.
“Are you inviting me?”
“Don’t make it weird.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
He laughed as he followed me inside.
The second we stepped through the door, I heard my mom from the kitchen.
“Elaina?”
“I’m here!”
“Can you come help me for a second?”
I looked at Daniel.
“You can wait here.”
He nodded.
I took two steps before he followed me.
I turned around.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m coming.”
“You can sit down.”
“I’ve known your mom since I was like five. I’m not scared of her.”
I laughed.
“That’s exactly why you should be scared.”
We walked into the kitchen.
My mom looked up.
Her eyes immediately landed on Daniel.
“Oh, Daniel.”
He smiled.
“Hi, Mrs. Hart.”
“You’re back again?”
Daniel shrugged.
“She invited me.”
My mom looked at me.
“I did not say he could stay for dinner.”
Daniel laughed.
“I wasn’t asking.”
She shook her head.
“You two haven’t changed at all.”
I rolled my eyes.
“We’ve changed.”
My mom raised an eyebrow.
“Have you?”
Daniel looked at me.
“No.”
I hit his arm.
“Traitor.”
He laughed.
Mom smiled before turning back to what she was doing.
“Daniel, you can stay if you want.”
“Thank you.”
I looked at him.
“See? She likes you more.”
“She always has.”
“That’s actually not true.”
“It definitely is.”
I shook my head.
He really was never going to let me win.
Later that evening, Daniel and I sat in the living room, working on homework that neither of us was particularly interested in.
At least, I was trying to work.
Daniel was drawing football players in the corner of his notebook.
“You’re supposed to be doing Chemistry.”
“I am.”
I looked at his notebook.
“That’s not Chemistry.”
“It is if you believe in yourself.”
I laughed.
“You’re hopeless.”
“Yet you agreed to date me.”
“I’m starting to regret it.”
“Too late.”
I smiled.
Maybe this was what being with Daniel was going to feel like.
Nothing complicated.
Just laughing over stupid things, stealing each other’s food, walking home together and having him sitting in my living room like he’d always belonged there.
It felt comfortable.
Familiar.
Like nothing could possibly change it.
I didn’t know then how wrong I was.
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