Almost Always You

Chapter 19

Monday. The day I hate the most. I was ready to face Xander. I made my way to the class. Xander was already seated. I decided to sit beside him so that he knew what he did yesterday didn't bother me. He heard me coming and looked up. I sat down beside him. There was an awkward tension between us. Students were coming in, and the class was almost full.

"El! I… We need to talk. What happened yesterday was …"

I cut him off.

"Xander, please, it's already awkward for me to talk to you after what I saw. I mean, it's not like we are together or something for you to explain the situation to me. I think what we need to do is focus on our assignment. We have wasted a lot of time. I don't want to fail, and neither do you, so let's just focus on that."

I tried to keep my voice casual so that he couldn't understand the hurt he has caused me. Xander seems to buy that and didn't say anything. Mr. Tucker came in and said we have to submit our assignment next Monday.

The class was over. Xander stopped me when I tried to get up. I looked at him; he was looking at other students. After everyone left, we made our way outside.

"I know after yesterday it will be awkward for you to come to my place, so for the rest of the week we'll do the assignment at your place. Is that alright?"

Just then my phone pinged. I looked and saw Peter had texted me.

'Date with Nate. Tonight at eight. Don't be late ;)."

I smiled at the rhyme. Xander tried to look at my phone. I thought about replying later and locked my phone.

"Can you come by at three? I have to go out tonight. Something just came up. Can't avoid it." I was excited for the date because I'm desperate to move on from Xander.

"Okay," he said, looking at me for more answers. I bid a simple goodbye and made my way to the next class. I replied to Peter, saying I'll be ready by 6:45. He texted back saying he'll pick me up.

The day was over, and I was back in my room. I just ate an apple for lunch. I needed to control my weight. Mercy came a little while later. I told her about my date. She was a bit quiet.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" I Iasked.

"It's nothing. I'm happy for you," she said blankly and looked at me from head to toe. I felt weird. I wanted to cover myself up because of the way she was looking at me.

"Ella, are you alright? You look like you've lost weight in two days. Are you sick?"

"What? No. I'm perfectly fine." I changed the topic and asked her about Josh. She said he's busy with his friends tonight, so she'll be staying in. We soon got to do our thing. Mercy later helped me pick out an outfit for my date.

We picked a black crop top with red hearts on it and matched it with high-waisted black jeans. She told me she will help me with my makeup later on. I was really excited and anxious as well. I just want this date to go well so that I can take my mind off Xander.

It was almost three when Xander arrived. He came in and greeted Mercy. We start doing our assignment quietly. Hours passed like minutes, and soon it was six. I had set an alarm, which went off. Xander looked up at me.

"Can we continue tomorrow? I have to go out," I told him.

He just nodded his head and didn't say anything.

"Go and take a shower, girl! I'll take out the makeup kit and be ready for you," Mercy said.

I jumped happily and made my way to the closet, ignoring Xander. I took out my toiletry bag and made my way towards the bathroom.

Xander's POV

I never wanted to have s*x with Nikki. Whatever happened with us on Sunday was all because I was losing my mind over El. I was starting to get feelings for her again. When she agreed to have s*x with me, I felt like the luckiest. guy on the planet. It was casual at first, but the way her body reacts to me when I hold her and kiss her is so intoxicating that all those feelings I had for her back when I was in the States came back. El was the first person I had such deep feelings for, and I can never have those feelings for anyone else.

I needed to get distracted from all these things I was feeling. That's why when Nikki came up to me asking if I wanted to fool around, I agreed and settled for something less. I decided to satisfy her needs and forget about El. I was not cheating on El or anything, plus it's not in the conditions of our deal. The condition was not to have s*x, and I was not going to have s*x with her. When El was late for our meetup, I thought she wouldn't come. She was not supposed to see us in that position. She ran away. I went after her immediately, but Peter stopped me, saying that I needed to give her space and i agreed with him.

Seeing her at class on Monday, unbothered by the incident, made me mad. She should feel angry towards me after what I did, but she didn't create a drama like I expected and wanted her to. When I went to her room for completing the assignment, she kept a fair distance from me and was constantly looking at her phone. It bothered me so much. She was going out tonight, and I didn't know with whom.

When I sneaked glances at her, I noticed that she has lost a bit of weight in the last few days. But I thought I was imagining it and chose to ignore it. Her alarm went off sometime later. She went to the bathroom to get ready; that's when I asked Mercy.

"Where is she going?"

"She has a date," said Mercy, looking at me. I was losing my cool, but I didn't want to create a scene in front of her. El is going on a date, and she didn't say anything to me. Does that mean our deal is off? I don't know.

"You like her, don't you?" Mercy asked. She can read me like a book.

"How do you always know what I'm thinking? It's really scary, and I hate that about you."

She gave me a weak smile.

"Part of studying," she said.

"Who is the guy?" I asked.

"Someone named Nate. He goes to our college, but I don't know him."

Nate? I thought, "I don't know any Nate," but whoever he was, I wanted to kill him.

"If you want El to stay with you, then you should at least tell her how you feel. You can't bottle up your feelings forever."

"I can't. She sees me as a friend. I don't think I will be able to give her what she wants, you know. I don't do relationships. Plus, after what happened yesterday, I don't think i might ever have a chance with her."

"If you would set aside your ego for just one minute, you would have noticed she's crazy about you, but you didn't. I know you think you lost her, but believe me, you will get your chance with her again, and when that happens, please don't screw up again."

"What should I do?" "Let her go on to date so she can realize she likes you." "Okay, I thought about it, and she's right.

"But I honestly don't know what to do," I said.

"Leave that to me and Peter."

"Peter?'

"Yes, he says you guys are dumb for not seeing that you have feelings for each other." I smiled at her.

As if on cue, El came into the room dressed in blue jeans and a white crop top. I was so tempted to kiss her right now, but I controlled myself. I packed my things and left without saying anything.